Chapter One:
"And where do you think you're going?" Adrien looked up from the staircase he was currently hiding under, a cloak pulled over his head. A blonde girl, a year younger than him, was staring at him with icy blue eyes, her mouth in a tight line.
"Uh," Adrien dropped the hood and looked up and the girl, running his hand through his golden locks, giving her a sheepish smile, "hi, Chloe. I was just…" He didn't have a good excuse. Prince Adrien was known for escaping the castle and going on, what he called, adventures, and what Chloe called a colossal waste of time. He didn't want to continually look at Chloe's cross face so Adrien just hung his head and folded his hands. "There's a festival in the kingdom over, Coccinelle, and I really want to go." He had heard rumors about how the festivals that their neighbors threw were among the most beautiful and extravagant. He had wanted to try the sugary pastries and creamy custards. He wanted to see the lanterns that littered the sky like stars. Many of the servants had gone to visit the festival and they always came back starry-eyed, with tales of how beautiful it all was.
"The kingdom over? Coccinelle? Why don't you just ask father to throw one here?"
Adrien almost laughed. Father, throwing a festival in their own kingdom? "You know what he'd say, Chlo." Adrien puffed out his chest and pointed his nose in the air, and spoke with a lower voice. "Festivals are a frivolous affair that provide no support to us in the long run."
"So your solution is to run off and attend our enemies festival?"
"They aren't our enemy!" The three kingdoms, Papillon, his kingdom, Coccinelle, and Paon, had been at peace for the last two hundred years, and that didn't look like it was going to change any time soon.
"Then why does father keep building up the military?" Chloe sided with father on most things. She enjoyed the extravagant balls and the large ceremonies, but festivals benefitting the average citizen was a waste of time.
"Because he's paranoid!" Adrien let out a sigh, picturing the large army, clad with the insignia of his country, a purple and silver flag with a butterfly in the center. Butterflies were symbols of peace and grace, and while his father had grace down to an art the constant build up of army like there was an impending war was more than a bit unsettling. "I don't know why he's so focused on building up the military."
"He wants to keep us safe, Adrien, which is exactly why you shouldn't go to a festival in another kingdom." Chloe uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on her hips, leaning placing her weight on one foot. "I'm not going to be able to stop you, am I?"
"Nino's going to come with me."
Chloe rolled her eyes. "Like that makes me feel better. I don't get why you chose that nitwit to be your second in command."
Adrien sighed. He didn't want to get into this right now. If he didn't leave soon then he wouldn't be at the festival long enough to actually enjoy it. "I promise I'll stay safe while I'm there. Our own citizens don't know what either of us look like. Citizens from the neighboring kingdom would never guess I'm the crown prince."
She let out a sigh and began to rub her temples with her fingers. "Whatever. I won't tell father, but don't expect me to be okay with this."
"Thanks, Chloe! You're the best!" Adrien gave his sister a quick hug and darted out from his spot under the stairs, pulling a black hood over his head, running to the stables in a very un-royal way that his father would shudder at.
Nino was waiting in the stables. He had saddled up their horses, Wayzz, a gentle brown appaloosa that belonged to Nino, and Plagg, a spirited, somewhat lazy black stallion that belonged to Adrien. Nino was careful to find saddle blankets that didn't show the kingdom's crest, and saddles that were simple, just brown leather with no fancy embroideries. "Are you ready to go?"
Adrien spared the castle one last look then hopped on Plagg. "Yeah, head out."
The ride was only about an hour. They stayed on the path by the river, smiling as people waved at them from the ground, carrying baskets of flowers and herbs, until the sound of music started to fill the air. They crossed the border, and the music's volume continued to grow, only to be joined by the sound of people chatting, children laughing, merchants selling their wares at wooden stands. Adrien felt his excitement grow the louder the sounds became until, finally, the outskirts of the festival could be seen. Adrien hopped off of Plagg and tied him to a tree close to the stream and some fresh grass to graze, Nino doing the same with Wayzz, before pulling up the hood on his cloak and joining the crowd. He caught the scent of some delicious smell pastries and made his way over to where the smell came from, only to run into someone. He looked down to apologize, seeing a girl in a brown cloak, with midnight black hair and starry blue eyes. The hood fell off of her face when she fell and knights in armor started running towards her. "Your Highness!" they yelled. The girl panicked, grabbed Adrien's wrist, and made a run for it, losing herself in the crowd, pulling the cloak over her head, and running until they were both hidden in the alley of one of the streets. Adrien looked around, trying to find Nino, but couldn't see him among the chaos.
A knight peered into the alley and waved the others over. The girl jumped onto some wooden crates and climbed up until she was on the roof of a building, extending a hand so Adrien could join her up there. He took her hand and jumped up, knocking the crates over in the process, stalling the knights. The two ran across rooftops with onlookers pointing them out. Among the onlookers Adrien saw Nino, who was looking at him confused. Adrien shrugged and continued to follow the girl until they reached the edge of town, where she jumped off the roof of the last building, landing softly on the balls of her feet, before she toppled over, falling face fist into the grass. He extended her a hand and helped her up. "Keep going!" She grabbed his hand and sprang to her feet, running deeper into the forest.
They ran for what seemed like hours, but was probably closer to minutes. Both began to lose their breath, but pushed onward. "We're almost there!" she said, smiling at him, a bit of sweat beginning to form on her brow.
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see! It's just past this line of trees!"
When they burst through through a clearing made itself known. Plush grass and wildflowers surrounded a clear pool fed by a bubbling spring. The girl collapsed onto the grass, lying on her back, catching her breath, Adrien joining her, laughing through the deep breaths. "So," he said after a moment of lying there, "who are you?"
She turned to face him, mischief written all over her face. "You're the one who followed me to my secret hiding spot."
"Only because you dragged me along."
"You bumped into me."
"You ran away!" They looked at each other, then began to laugh once again, dissolving into a fit of giggles.
"Well," the girl extended her hand to him, "I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I'm the crown princess of this kingdom, hence the knights chasing us. What about you? I can tell you're not from around here. We don't really wear black, but that fabric is one of our exports, a high quality one, so I'm going to assume you're a noble, a Lord or Duke, from a neighboring kingdom?"
Adrien wanted to laugh at how ridiculous this was. He had escaped the castle and royalty for the day only to find himself, once again, with royalty. He held out his hand to her. "I'm Adrien Agreste, the crown prince of Papillon."
"Well, it is nice to meet you, Adrien Agreste, the crown prince of Papillon. I was under the impression that the heir to Papillon was a girl."
Adrien shrugged. "Maybe. That's my younger sister, Chloe. My father hasn't decided which one of us he wants to succeed him. Your kingdom was told the heir was a princess, but Paon was told that the heir was a prince."
"I wish I knew that sooner," she sighed, beginning to look at the clouds.
"Oh yeah, why's that?"
"I'm engaged to Prince Nathanael of Paon. He's nice but," she looked at Adrien, smiling, "he never would have run across the rooftops of Coccinelle with me."
"Well," Adrien leaned on his side, so he faced her, "if you need someone to run across rooftops with you, I always will."
This was the first time the two of them met, but it was far from the last time. Adrien's bad habit of sneaking out of the castle became routine. Nino always had Plagg saddled up and ready to go, sometimes accompanying his prince, and sometimes staying behind, offering up an excuse to King Gabriel or Princess Chloe, like hunting, or studying the trade habits of the citizens.
It was easy for Adrien and Marinette to fall in love. They were the only two in the world that could truly understand how the other felt. Neither really wanted to be next in line for the throne, and, while Adrien could throw it all away and give it to Chloe, Marinette had no one. She was going to unite Coccinelle and Paon. "Why don't you break off the engagement and marry me instead?" Adrien asked one evening. It was humid out, the sun had just set. They both had their feet cooling in the pool. Behind them, Plagg and Tikki, Marinette's red dun, stood tied up, grazing on grass. It was two years after that first festival.
"Marry you? Adrien," the thought of becoming engaged to the man she had fallen for brought a smile to her face, but she turned away from him. "You know I want to, but, breaking off the engagement, that could put us in bad terms with Paon. They're better off militaristically than we are."
"Will you at least think about it?" Adrien pleaded, looking at her with his emerald eyes. "I don't want to live without you, Marinette."
She leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder. "Adrien, a life without you is hardly a life worth living, even a royal one."
He placed a hand on the back of her head and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "If I asked you to would you run away with me?"
"What?" She was taken aback by the question. Run away with him?
"Would you run away with me? Would you be willing to leave the kingdoms, leave all of this behind? We could make a new life for ourselves."
She looked up at the stars. "My parents, your father and sister, they'd miss us, wouldn't they?"
"And search for us for years. We'd be living in shadows until we find somewhere out of the way."
"But we'd get to be together." She intertwined her fingers with his. "I don't know yet. I love you but, betraying everyone, my kingdom…"
He understood. He placed a kiss on her forehead. "Take all the time you need. I'll always wait for you. I'll always wait for you."
"I won't make you wait forever," she laughed. "I'll tell you my answer tomorrow. There's just a lot to think about." She pulled his hand up to her lips and passed a kiss on it. "I wouldn't fault you for changing your mind either, you know."
"I know you wouldn't." They sat there, holding one another, watching the fireflies come out of hiding.
Ha ha ha! Finally got this out! I know things are moving a little fast, and we're not seeing their relationship build really, but that's not what this story is about. For later chapters the two need to be rooted in their relationship. I hope you guys enjoyed. This is a really new genre for me. This is my first fantasy story. I'm experiencing a lot of firsts with this fandom... sci-fi with (which if you are on AO3 is currently undergoing rewrite and polishing so if you want to check that out that would be cool!) Let me know what y'all think! The reviews really help me know what's going good and what's not. Y'all's support means a lot to me! See y'all soon!