Chapter 1:

|| Understanding ||

xxx

"Horace?"

The knight glanced up from his seat.

"What about this one?" Cassie asked, encouraging her maid to stretch out the material so he could have a better look.

Horace glanced at it, taking in the deep blue colour, the silk and the velvet, and knew he didn't want to answer.

Cassie pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, as her guard went back to reading the small report in his hand.

Since her resolution to discover Horace's true feelings, she had somehow fallen into a game that frustrated her to no end. Just when she was close to finding the truth, Horace would close up and be as unreadable as ever.

She walked over to him and snatched the paper from his hands, forcing him to look at her.

"Cassie, that's important, give it back!" He complained.

The Princess shook her head and waved them so he could see that she was in control.

"You're the one who wanted to come." She argued.

Horace sighed and leant forward, attempting to take them back. Cassie was faster, swiftly pulling them away from his grip at the last moment.

"Yes, because you've travelled all the way out to Caraway Fief, to see some tailor. I couldn't let you go on your own."

She pulled back, her green eyes glittering with annoyance.

"Well I'm clearly not alone; I have my maids and my own personal guard."

"And I'm the head of that guard. It's my job to protect you." Horace announced defiantly.

Cassie huffed and the two maids, who stood silently at the back of the room, resisted the urge to laugh at their mistresses' behaviour.

Her father's birthday was arriving soon, and she was trying to find an outfit to wear.

Having virtually nothing that interested her at home, she had decided to invest in a tailor-made dress.

If she was a conventional Princess, Cassie would have all her dresses hand-made to wear. But she didn't like to over dress often, and also resorted to wearing her mother's clothes, which were simple in design and complimented her light hair and emerald eyes.

She had her own tailors at Castle Araluen, but Cassie wanted to pick out her own cloth, and Caraway Fief was nice and close to the coast that it was able to bring in all kinds of trade.

So she was at a tailoring bazaar, privately sorting through the various wares in search of something that could be produced into a dress.

"Blue doesn't suit you." Horace eventually grumbled, crossing his arms as he watched her.

Cassie blinked, surprised that he had answered.

"Oh? Well what colour would you suggest?"

There was a moment of silence.

"Green, of course." He replied, with a tone that suggested it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"My lady," one of her maids called, entering the room with the fourth maid in tow. Between them they carried a simple white gown.

"We found this in the other room; we wondered if you wanted to try on the style so you could match a colour." One suggested.

Cassie's face practically lit up, taking in the reasonable cut, length and exposure.

It was simple, without too many trimmings, leaving plenty to the imagination but would still be able to flatter her figure.

"Oh it's wonderful, thank you Eilen, Ulsia." She reached over and touched the light fabric, disliking the feel of it. But it didn't matter, it was the design she was after. The two women beamed, happy with their find.

"Alright, Horace, out." She ordered, and the knight obeyed without question.

This was something he wouldn't argue about.

Minutes later, he was allowed to re-enter the room.

"So what do you think?" Cassie asked eagerly, twirling around so he could see it from all sides.

First off, the white bothered him; it reminded him of a wedding dress. But he couldn't deny that the fitting looked great on her. He imagined it in green and the slightest amount of heat rose to his cheeks.

"It looks... fine." He said eventually.

"Fine?" Cassie demanded, narrowing her eyes.

Horace nodded and then went to resume his seat in the corner of the room.

Glancing up, he noticed that all maids were giving him sympathetic glances. Ulsia was even shaking her head slightly.

The Princess breathed slowly: in and out.

"Right, well Gareth, Carter, come in here please." She called.

A moment later, the two door guards entered, confusion clearly written on their faces.

"My lady?" Gareth asked.

He was the senior of the two and a Captain in Cassie's personal guard. Carter was much younger, a few years older than Horace.

"What do you think of this style?" She asked them, studiously ignoring Horace as she did.

Gareth blinked, clearly startled by her question.

"Flattering, my lady. Do you plan to wear it to the party?"

Cassie smiled at his compliment. "Yes. I like the style; I'll choose a colour later. Carter, what do you think?"

The young guard grinned widely.

"Gorgeous." His eyes widened and he managed to stammer out, "my lady."

The Princess giggled. "Glad you think so."

The two guards shuffled nervously, wondering where this was all going.

Her Champion stood and folded his arms.

"You two should return to your posts." He ordered harshly.

Cassie held a hand to stop them, taking threatening steps towards Horace.

"I am the Princess; they'll leave when I command it."

Horace stood his ground. "And I am in charge of keeping you safe. They are compromising your safety while they stand here. They follow my orders." He ground out through clenched teeth.

Seeing a lost cause, Cassie relented and let the guards leave the room.

But it didn't make her anger dissipate in any way.

Seeing a fight on their hands, and as much as they wanted to watch, all four maids escaped from the room so they could leave the two to their argument.

"I don't get it, I'm trying to get an opinion on this," she gestured her hand over her gown, "and you won't give me an answer. But then my two loyal guards give me what I want and you get angry. It's not fair Horace!" She growled, using her hand to point savagely into his chest.

In his defence, the knight stood up against her barrage of insults and calmly pressed a hand to her shoulder, instantly stilling her with the contact.

"Cassie, please stop making a huge deal of this."

There was a moment of silence that seemed to stretch for eternity and then...

"HUGE DEAL? Horace!" And then she was off, swearing and arguing and being down right noisy.

Horace let his hand come up to his face while he let her vent.

Eventually she quietened, breathing madly as she tried to regain herself.

"Are you done?"

Cassandra glared at him for a few more seconds and then sighed.

"Yes I'm done."

"Look, Cassie, what I meant was don't make a big fuss over what you want to wear, or what anyone else thinks, okay?"

Deflated, she glanced up at him and frowned.

Then she noticed that he was fidgeting ever so slightly. Horace never fidgeted. Her eyes followed his curiously.

"And, to be honest..." She noted his face was turning the slightest shade of pink. "You'd look beautiful in whatever dress or colour you wore. So don't worry so much."

Without knowing it, her mouth twitched into a smile.

"Oh really?"

Swallowing every insecurity he had, Horace slowly nodded, his face a blank mask.

"Yes, now bring the girls back in so we can finish and go home." He said quickly.

With her attention distracted, he reached and grabbed the reports from her hand and went back to his chair.

Cassie, watching him through narrowed eyes, felt something blossoming inside her.

She realised, as he pointedly returned to reading his garrison reports; that it was the slightest, flickering hint, of hope.

A/N:

I have to point it out, right now: I don't want people thinking Cassie is a spoilt Princess.

This is where most of the dislike for her comes from, but in reality, she can't help her position in life.

So through all my chapters that involve her, I try and make her out to be a normal person, (who can be jealous and demanding,) but ultimately that's her weakness for trying to determine the feelings of someone she loves, whilst constantly being watched by the people of Araluen.

And honestly, I don't know why people don't like her. Clearly she has no chance with Will, so people can stop using that as an excuse. Who wants a Mary-Sue anyway? (Alyss is very close to that.)

Okay, my rant is done.

- Love Mae.