Chapter Three
Reaver didn't see much of his daughter while she was a baby which was good for Reaver. Babies did nothing but cry, wine and blubber all the time and Reaver wanted no part of any of that stuff. His first true encounter with young Alexia was when she was five years old. Reaver walked out into the garden after a particularly boring court session (all the court sessions were boring in Reaver's opinion but that one was the worst) out there he found that the young princess had somehow coerced her older brother into abandoning his studies for a while and playing heroes with her. He decided to watch them play, because he was bored and didn't have anything better to do. It seemed were they acting out some of their mothers adventures, Logan was playing Lucien while Alexia was playing Queen Sparrow but she was holding her toy gun the wrong way, Reaver decided that he simply had to correct her. He walked over to them and said pleasantly
"Hello there, what are you kids up today?"
"That's none of your concern Reaver" Prince Logan replied coldly, he may have been only eleven but he knew that this guy was bad news and didn't want him anywhere near his precious little sister. Alexia on the other hand was not aware of any sort of danger so she answered
"We're playing heroes, do you want join us mister ummm, what's your name any way?"
"My dear little lady, I am the famous Reaver, at your service" he replied with a grandiose bow "and I suppose I could join you for a few minutes-"
"We don't need any more players" Logan snapped Reaver however, acted as if he hadn't heard
"I must say that you are holding your gun the wrong way though"
"I am?" the five year old princess asked
"Yes, here let me show you properly" He moved toward the girl when her brother said very coldly
"I think you should leave now, before I call the guards" Although Logan was well aware of Reaver's reputation he couldn't believe that the rake was actually trying his moves on a five year old girl and no less a five year old than the princess herself, not while Logan was around he wouldn't! Just as Reaver was about to respond a female voice came from behind him
"There you are Logan" all three of them turned around to see Queen Sparrow approaching "Come; it's time for your history lessons"
"But mother" Logan protested while gesturing towards his sister and Reaver
"I'm sure, Reaver will keep your sister entertained won't you Reaver?" The queen replied. Reaver looked at the queen and then down at the little girl and gave a dramatic fake sigh and responded
"Oh, very well, I'll tell the poor ladies of Albion that'll have to wait a while longer" The queen simply rolled her eyes while Logan glared and the innocent little five year old cocked her head and asked "wait for what?"
"When you're older, you'll understand dear" The queen answered. The princess pouted she, like any kid her age, hated that response. "Logan, lessons now." Queen Sparrow ordered
"But mother!" Logan argued he couldn't believe that his mother would willingly let REAVER of all people watch his baby sister
"No more buts, Logan" The queen ordered firmly Logan gave Reaver one last death glare, but to his frustration Reaver seemed more amused by said glare than anything, then Logan headed back into the castle. The queen's eyes met Reaver's for a moment 'she's your daughter too; you should spend some time with her.' She seemed to say, without a single word. Reaver nodded to show he understood then the queen left.
"So, what were you saying about my gun" Alexia inquired holding up her toy. Reaver smiled and knelt down to the child's lever
"You're holding it wrong, here like this" he said and he briefly took the gun from her, took proper hold of it, though the toy gun's small size made it a bit difficult and then handed it back to her."
"You mean like this?" she asked showing him her new grip
"Perfect, see doesn't that feel better?" Reaver replied
"Wow, Mister Reaver, how do you know so much?" Alexia exclaimed with all the enthusiasm of a small child
Reaver couldn't help but smile, usually this type of thing annoyed him but for some reason coming from the little girl it was endearing and he replied
"Well, my dear, when you've been around as long as I have you pick up a few things"
"You don't look that old" the girl pointed out
"It's a gift" Reaver responded
"From who?" she asked him, taking Reaver slightly by surprise for once, he hadn't expected that.
"It's a secret." Reaver answered…that was probably a mistake
"You can tell me, Mister Reaver, I'm really good at keeping secrets!" Alexia pressed
"No, your mother will have my head!" Reaver argued
"You told mother but you won't tell me, that's not fair! You're mean!" Alexia complained
"Just ask your mother all right?" Reaver replied "There are some things you're too young to know about right now."
"If mommy says it's ok, will you tell me?" the girl asked
"If mother thinks its okay then she will tell you" Reaver replied knowing that given she was his daughter she would not be above tricking him
"Oh, all right" the little girl said but she kept pouting
"That's not going to work on me dear" Reaver told her
Four years later
Princess Alexia had been tired of being cooped up in the castle and so she had snuck out and somehow ended up in Millfields with no idea of how to get back. Reaver was passing by on his way to a late night party when he saw a small figure near the side of the road, his curiosity got that better of him
"Stop the coach" he ordered the driver obeyed Reaver drew his dragonstomper, one couldn't be too careful after all, and headed over to investigate.
When he reached the figure he demanded "Who are you?"
The figure turned and exclaimed "Reaver is that you?"
"I know who I am, who are you?" Reaver replied
"It's me Alexia" the figured replied as it approached and once it got into the torch light, sure enough it was Alexia
"What are you doing out here?" Reaver asked her. She started to answer but Reaver cut her off
"Never mind, get in you'll catch your death out here." He, of course would be fine no matter how long he stayed out in the cold, the wet, and the rain but Alexia on the other hand was vulnerable.
"Driver, turn the carriage around, we're going back home" The carriage moved and sprayed them both with mud. It spun around and pulled to a stop next to Reaver was furious and normally he would have shot the stupid man right then and there but these weren't normal circumstances, his daughter needed to get warm and dry fast; that meant the carriage driver would live…for now. The two muddy people climbed into the carriage and once they were aboard the driver took off. When they arrived at Reaver's mansion the driver stammered out
"Master Reaver, I'm sorry I-"
"Just clean up the carriage" Reaver snapped, not in the mood to deal with him right then, Together he and Alexia headed into the manor. Reaver ordered the servants to fetch two large tubs of hot water so they could wash themselves off and some new clothes for Alexia because hers were completely ruined. The tubs were brought quickly and to the princess's relief they were put in different rooms so she and Reaver could bathe separately. Unfortunately for Alexia none of Reaver's servants had children so the only piece of clothing that could be found that even remotely fit her was a black maid's dress but it was better than nothing so once Alexia was done bathing, which took quite a while she dried off and changed into it. Alexia sighed she was no longer cold and wet but she was starving, she hadn't eaten since breakfast, maybe the servants would fetch her something if she asked.
"Excuse me, ma'am" Alexia addressed one of the maids, the woman looked up, startled to be addressed in such a polite way "I'm really hungry, could you please get me an apple or something to eat?"
"Aren't you sweet, I'll get you something much better than an apple" the woman replied and dashed off. Moments after she left, Reaver came in. Normally Alexia would have been annoyed at being walked in on without so much as a knock but under the circumstances she could hardly complain
"Feeling better, my dear?" Reaver asked
"Yes, thanks to you." Alexia replied
"What were you doing out there?" Reaver asked the last time he had been that surprised was when queen sparrow somehow miraculously recovered the youth that the Shadow Court had taken from her…he still hadn't figured out how she had managed that little feat.
"I was bored…so I snuck out of the castle and I got lost" Alexia replied. Before either of them could respond the door opened and the maid from before walked in, carrying a tray loaded with a large piece of ham, a chocolate bar and a tall glass of water.
"There you are dear" the maid said as she deposited the tray in front of the princess
"What's this?" Reaver asked he certainly hadn't ordered any food brought in. The maid paled but the princess responded
"I asked her for some food, I haven't eaten all day." Her face had taken on a pleading expression behavior
"That's your own fault for sneaking out of the castle" Reaver replied. Now honestly, he was hardly in a position to complain about someone breaking the rules and normally he wouldn't care but this was his daughter, damn it; and if Reaver hadn't found her, she could have gotten in serious trouble. Alexia hung her head knowing he was right Reaver sighed "Oh, all right" then he addressed the maid "you can leave the ham and water but take the chocolate away" it was a compromise of sorts. The maid nodded grabbed the candy bar and left. Once she was gone Reaver turned to his daughter and spoke again "You can stay here for the night" he was not about to send her back out into the rain "I'll take you home first thing in the morning." Alexia with her mouth full of ham merely nodded "Good night princess" Reaver said and turned to leave. Alexia hurriedly swallowed the ham and said
"Lexi"
"I beg your pardon?" Reaver replied with no idea what she meant
"My friends call me Lexi" The princess explained. Reaver couldn't help smile, he was pleased that his daughter (even though she didn't know she was his daughter) considered him her friend
"Good night Lexi" Reaver said
"Good night Reaver" The princess replied and took a sip of water while Reaver left.
Early the next morning, the princess was awoken by the same maid who had brought her dinner the previous night
"Master Reaver requests that you join breakfast this morning before he takes you home." The woman told her. The princess yawned and said
"Ok, give a few minutes to wake up" the maid nodded in response. Soon the maid led the still slightly groggy (she was not a morning person) to the dining room where Reaver was waiting
"At last, the sleeping beauty has awakened" he announced without his entire usual Reaver attitude (he wasn't a morning person either) as a result of their both not being morning people they didn't talk much over breakfast nor later on their way to the castle. Once they arrived and the guards realized the missing princess was with Reaver, the pair was rushed to the Queen's and Prince Consorts chambers. Queen Sparrow was sitting on chair reading a book, Prince Consort Adrian was nowhere to be seen. When Alexia and Reaver arrived the queen snapped her book shut, loud enough to make Alexia jump; her mother was usually a very nice person but she was terrifying when she was angry
"So, where have you been?" the queen demanded Alexia gulped and answered
"I snuck out of the castle and I got lost. Reaver found me and brought me home"
"Is this the truth, Reaver?" The queen asked him
"As far as I know yes" Reaver replied for once making no efforts to flirt knowing that the queen was not in the mood for it
"Very well, Alexia you are confined to room until I decided what to do with you, go now" the queen ordered Alexia left as quickly as she could. Once she was out of earshot the queen's manner softened
"Thank you for brining her back, Reaver"
"Happy to help your majesty, after all, she's my little girl too." Reaver replied
"I'm glad you finally admit that, and I can tell Adrian I won the bet." The queen told him
"What bet?" Reaver asked
"The bet about whether or not you'd ever admit that you care about her." The queen answered with a mischievous smile and then her demeanor became serious again "you're not a heartless as you'd like us to believe Reaver."
"Your majesty, I have no idea what you're talking about" Reaver denied the queen merely shook her head
"Whatever you say Reaver" Then she opened her book again. Reaver taking it as a dismissal left without bothering to say his usual tatty-bye.