The Prince or The Cat
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based on 'The Lady, or the Tiger?'
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Long, long ago, in a mighty kingdom (the mightiest kingdom in all of the land) lived a peasant girl. Amu Hinamori had always lived within the confines of her village. In fact, in all her eighteen years, she'd rarely even stepped foot outside of the district she lived in.
But one day it was different.
One day (during the year her village had been cursed with famine) her family sold her to the palace of the King; King Hotori. Although this seems like a horrible thing for parents to do to one's offspring, Amu wasn't bitter. It was quite common for a girl of her status and looks to be sold to the palace.
She was a poor farmer's daughter, after all. A farmer whose crops had shriveled in the cursed land; a farmer with a daughter no family was willing to marry their son to because of her peculiar hair color. Now, everyone was quite fond of Amu in her village, so no one ever voiced any ill thoughts. However, it was well known through the land that those with peculiar characteristics were said to have been cursed.
Now Amu didn't believe she had been cursed at birth; but for this fact, she had expected to be sold to the castle sooner or later. That's where most of the undesirables ended up. In fact, she was almost excited to be headed there. She'd live in the palace; she would be free from the poorer district of the kingdom filled with dust and ashen faces. She would have enough food to eat every day, and her parents would no longer have to worry about feeding her.
It seemed the most logical and beneficial outcome for her life.
But there was one thing that bothered Amu on that day her parents sold her- a boy. They sent him to take her to the palace, but he seemed more interested in badgering her than escorting her. His name was Ikuto Tsukiyomi, she learned. He was attractive at first glance, though a few years older. With his blue hair (to which Amu thought looked rather "peculiar"), blue eyes that seemed purple in the sun, and rather tall and built frame, she had been struck shy at their meeting. However, his personality quickly overshadowed any type of feeling she might have felt for him in those first minutes.
She noticed from the beginning he was acting a bit angry. He told her that he was a close friend of the prince, and this "little adventure as delivery boy" (as he fell upon calling it) was only punishment. He had done something to anger the king. What that something was, he tactfully evaded. Then, after long hours of his (annoying) babble, he proceeded to ask her why the king would buy "her" when there were "much prettier girls around the kingdom", and "ones with much larger bosoms", and "ones that were better conversationalists" and a whole slew of other reasons as to why Amu was a horrible choice for the King to buy. He did mention he'd seen her out before, but Amu paid no mind to him after the first few minutes of hearing him bad mouth her.
Amu didn't like this Ikuto, to say the least, and was glad to be rid of him once they arrived to the palace. She was amazed by the golden arches, the animal statues and large iron gates; the towering palace walls, the green fields that stretched far behind, the small body of water that surrounded the entire building. It was magnificent. But Amu was especially amazed at the boy she met inside. Another maid had brought her into the library to show her whom she was to be working for. In front of her sat a beautifully dressed boy who looked to be her age. The older maid and bowed and backed out of the room, leaving Amu there alone.
He was in golden robes, with golden hair and the prettiest shade of mahogany eyes she had ever seen. His skin was pale and he was built a bit slight, but his smile was beautifully gentle.
And this boy's name was Tadase Hotori. He was the prince, and she was now his personal maid. He was very kind to her, and even let her sit down across from him. He told Amu she was very pretty, and he was glad his friend had told him to buy her.
This made her very confused. But she didn't dare question the prince on it. She hadn't said more than "Thank you." From that day on, she was treated nicely and given higher quarters than most maids. They spent part of every day together. She learned his quirks, his likes and dislikes, and little things in between. The prince took her everywhere he went, introducing her as if she was a rare diamond he had happened upon. Perhaps she was, because a few months later the prince took her back into the library where she had first met him and told her he loved her.
The perfect fairy tale, right?
Not quite.
He told her that because of her lowly status as a poor maid they could not be married, nor be seen as anything more than owner and slave. Amu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The prince loved her! And she admired him as well… but they could never be together. She knew this. She had known that from the start. It was logic that they could never be together. But soon after hearing those words from Tadase's lips, being with him brought her great stress. Her heart ached every time she saw him. She never knew how to act, whether to show affection or hide it. Amu didn't know what to do anymore and soon her life fell into a depressing pattern of heartbreak, secrecy and loneliness. The prince all but ignored her, except for when they were alone on very rare occasions.
Until one day it was different again.
One day the delivery boy came to visit Prince Hotori. Tadase asked Amu to come in to their meeting room and drink tea with them. Ikuto asked Tadase if he liked Amu, to which the prince responded more than life itself. Tadase thanked Ikuto for suggesting her.
And Amu had badly wanted to speak up at this; ask what he meant by "suggesting her". But she was a mere maid, and had no right to do so. So she sipped her tea quietly in the corner, looking over this Ikuto man. He was still very handsome, equal to Tadase now that they were side by side. She wondered if he was royalty as well. And now that Ikuto was talking with Tadase rather than herself, she found him less brash and annoying than she remembered him being during their trip. Amu also didn't fail to notice the quick glances he kept giving her, each one sending a tiny spark of lightning down her spine.
Quicker than she noticed, the two men were done talking. Tadase told Amu to show Ikuto his room because it was time they went to bed. The prince said his good night's before departing, leaving Amu alone with her deliverer. He wore a curious, devious smile-like expression as Amu walked through the many hallways towards the guest room. His smile was very unlike the prince's, she thought.
She opened the door to his room and bowed her head as the man walked inside. Before she could stand to close it, Ikuto's hand grabbed her wrist. He pulled her inside and closed the door behind her. She stood back against the wall, shocked. Words flew from her mouth without thoughts of her position as a maid. She cursed him and excused herself in the same sentence. She rattled off reasons why she must return to her own room, all in the span of 3 stuttering seconds.
Instead of answering her, he had smirked and kissed her.
Amu was beyond confused and startled. She had no idea how to handle these types of things. So she pushed him away, telling him she might be a lowly maid of the prince's, but she would not be used as present for one of his guests.
The boy in front of her smiled, a kinder smile than she'd ever seen on Tadase, and told her she was more than a present. He told her he was the one who told Tadase to buy her. Ikuto had seen Amu buying baskets for her parents in the market and had fallen in love with her in that one glance. It was as if "he had been cursed". He was no more than a traveler, he was too much like a cat to stay in one place for too long to gain any wealth; but he used his friendship with the prince to get her a better life.
He had been angry when he was sent to bring her to the palace, because he knew it was like handing her over to the prince with is very hands, something he had already been regretting. He learned before he left to retrieve her that Tadase wished Amu to be his personal maid. So Ikuto had attempted to send her running back to her parents with his hurtful words towards her, but she had stayed. He apologized for that, and she didn't voice it but she was thankful he had. He said he left after that because he didn't want to see her with the prince. Yet still, he said, in all his travels, she was the only thing he could think of. He hadn't been happy a single second until he'd seen her in that tearoom today. He told her she was the only woman he'd ever love.
He told her all this as his hands pinned her to the wall at her back in his dark, dark room.
Amu was stunned. She was no scholar, she couldn't read or write. Her simple mind couldn't wrap around everything he was telling her. She understood logic, but this wasn't logical in the least. He was the reason she was here, the reason she'd met the prince and the reason the prince was in love with her. And this Ikuto, whom she'd seen twice in her life, was in love with her too?
He could see the turmoil written across her face. Ikuto cupped her cheek and asked if she had fallen in love with the prince. She answered her heart was her own, and she wouldn't tell him whom she loved or whom she hated; it was none of his business, and she didn't believe anything he said. He smiled at her again and told her: "If that is what you wish, but I will make you believe." Ikuto kissed her again, and Amu kissed back. Why? She didn't know. The heat rolling through her body because of this man made her act without thinking. He stole her first kiss and took many more after that.
Her life took on a different pattern after that.
Ikuto stayed in the kingdom, living in the palace. During the day Amu would follow Tadase around, staying quiet and obeying his every command like a puppy. And every once in a while he would shower her with love and affection; when he was sure no one would see. In those moments Amu felt like a queen, but she didn't have the place to tell him that nor thank him for it. All she could manage was a smile, and sometimes say a small word or two. She knew everything about the prince, and adored it all. Yet she felt the prince knew very little about her.
But during the night, she would sneak into Ikuto's room. Here was the one place she was free to speak her mind, tell someone every worry of her day and every triumph of her life without being scolded or ignored. Here she was allowed to be Amu, instead of the prince's maid. Yet every night, Ikuto would once again ask if she had fallen in love with the prince. She would tell him her heart was her own, and only she would know the answers to the lock. One night he had gone as far as to say she was only using him because the prince would never touch her like this. Amu realized in that particular conversation that Ikuto knew nearly everything about her… and she knew very little about him.
But she understood why he had said it. She had been asking herself, too, if that's why she went to him night after night. Would she go to the prince if he allowed her? She never could find a truly honest answer, because Tadase didn't allow her. Ikuto did.
After their conversation, they would begin kissing. Amu wasn't sure how it happened, but soon kissing wasn't the only thing they were doing. And soon Ikuto had had all of Amu. She knew at that moment that they would be caught.
That was why one night- after Amu had scolded Ikuto for going out that day and getting in trouble- and after Ikuto had smiled and apologized- and while he was kissing her in a way that made her feel like she was burning- when the prince walked in and found them, she wasn't surprised. Ikuto and Tadase had gotten in a terrible fight. Tadase accused Ikuto of betrayal, while Ikuto yelled he couldn't stand to see her with the prince any longer. Amu found herself being ordered out of the room. She left not because of the order, but because of the guilt.
The next day was more different than any other day in Amu's life.
Amu was told she must go in front of the king. She was ushered into the throne room, where she fell to her knees in a bow. She thought that, surely, she was going to be exiled. And Amu believed she deserved it. King Hotori ordered her up and beckoned her closer. She noticed both Ikuto and Tadase were in the room, though on different sides.
Once in front of the king, she stood still with her head high, hiding her nerves. He examined her, from her (cursed) pink hair to her tiny toes and nodded. The king told her she had caused a great misfortune in the house, by making his son and one he loves as his son fall in love with her. He agreed that Amu was beautiful, but not of the status either one of the boys should marry. Unfortunately, they both had made up their minds and he must do what the rules of their society stated. He whispered something about how her curse had fallen upon the palace before sending her out. The king told her to go back to the maids, get dressed as eloquently as she could manage, and then she would be escorted to the arena.
Hours later she found herself in the huge dome facing up towards to podium and the king. The entire kingdom was seated in the stands waiting to watch.
The king stood, telling Amu she was a terrible omen to the palace. He told Amu that there were three doors around the arena.
The door on the right held the prince. If she picked this one, the two of them could walk hand in hand onto the podium and be married that instant, despite her being a poor maid. She would be crowned the princess and would rule the kingdom with Tadase at the king's death. She would be forbidden to ever speak to Ikuto again, or risk his punishment.
The door to the left held Ikuto. He was very sad it came to this because he cherished Ikuto as a son, he told Amu, but these were the rules of their kingdom. If she chose Ikuto, the third door would open along with his. Inside the third door was a tiger, and Amu and Ikuto could walk hand in hand to their death.
The king sat down, leaving Amu to the biggest decision of her life. It sounded easy, picking between gaining all the power in the world or death.
But Amu knew that wasn't it. In the end, she was merely answering Ikuto's question. Had she fallen in love with the prince? Tadase had fallen in love with a part of her, the small part he knew. Yet she knew everything about him.
Or had she fallen in love with Ikuto? She knew very little about him, but he knew her like the back of his hand. Yet, picking him would bring him to his own death. Could she do that to him?
But had she fallen in love with the prince? The answer was...
No.
She knew so much about Tadase and still didn't return his feelings. She knew a limited amount about Ikuto, but he still sent her heart into a frenzy. He was the key. But that answer had come to her too late, now.
So, should she choose Tadase? Become a queen? Never be happy for the rest of her days? Yet, allow her love to live whether he unhappily as well or not? This seemed like the most logical decision...
Or be illogical and choose Ikuto? The one who could make her happy? The one she had fallen in love with? Yet, condemn them both to death just to be able to tell him the truth and be happy for a split second... together?
Well my reader, her decision is up to you. What did she choose; the prince or the cat?
-starry.
review and tell me your thoughts :)
(and I will let you know, there is a single sentence in this fic that will give you the answer.)
let's see who can find it :)