"Princess Almira, sit with our guest." Ame sighed with barely suppressed frustration as her mother spoke to her sweetly. They were in the Great Hall (A/N: I'll lol at that for all the HP fans so you don't have to…LOL…-_-) a place reserved for when the royal family and their council took lunch and dinner; breakfast was usually in their own quarters or, for the girls, in their first lessons. One side of the hall was lined with a wall painted dark blue and in gold writing was the names of the royal family members, it dated back hundreds of years. On the other side were arches, framing a view to the King's courtyard; a pool of contemplation surrounded by flowers and blossoming trees. The family took their seats first, Ame's mother had placed her opposite Gaara, and then the rest of the council sat down. Servants came from hidden doors to begin filling their plates for lunch. As soon as this happened it was the cue for the people at the table to begin talking loudly to one another about matters that the princess' never wanted to talk about. Usually Ame's sisters were talkative and she ate in silence, she was the kind of girl who liked to listen and it took her a minute to realise they hadn't said a word. She looked up from her glass she was inspecting and saw all six of her sisters were staring at Kaze as though they had never seen a boy before. She looked across at him and smiled in a fake way that showed him she was still annoyed.
"So," the king began and all his daughters sighed; starting a conversation with this word in that way meant it was going to be a long and boring conversation. "A travelling jeweller?" The king said uncertainly and the way he said it, as though he was sure it was made up, made Ame choke on her drink. She'd tried not to laugh but the look everyone's face was hilarious. "Oh dear-"
"You swallow." The youngest two sisters, one sat on Ame's side of the table and one opposite, next to Kaze, spoke in unison. They were twins, easily the cutest of the family with dark blonde curls and green eyes. Ame blushed scarlet when she saw Kaze was secretly laughing at her.
"What exactly is a travelling jeweller?" Ame asked across the table; it wiped the smile off Gaara's face.
"You found me princess Almira," he said with equal forced politeness, "why don't you explain?" She looked over to her father and mother who were sat at the head of the table; they seemed to be watching the pair with great interest.
"Alright," she said "it's….a jeweller that travels." Kaze choked on his drink.
"You swallow." Ame joined in with her sisters as they told him. The girls along the table began to giggle and cast glances to their father. Kaze got over his fit and leant forwards.
"Yes your highness but I am on a quest." He whispered and there was something so intense in his ocean coloured eyes that for a moment, made the princess breathless. She leant forwards as well; something told her she could trust him, so what quest was he on?
"And what is your objective?" She asked smoothly and Gaara swallowed hard; the sunlight streaming in from the archways caught the shine of her dark hair and made her eyes sparkle. They stared at each other, both lost for words as they had become closer and realised there was something dangerous, seductive in risk almost, about the other-
"What is your objective?!" Gaara and Ame jumped; the king too had leant forwards and joined the conversation. Except instead of whispering he had shouted quite loud at the both of them. They both blushed as they moved away from each other and saw the sisters were all smirking; Ame always got into trouble, she was the worst princess out of all of them.
"It is to find a forgotten gem," Kaze said and leant back as a servant came to put a dish in front of him.
"Oh?" The Queen said; she was incredibly fond of jewellery and with this came a love of gems, stones, rare metals like gold. "What stone is this?" She smiled at him and Kaze ran a hand through his hair.
"No one is quite sure. For no one has ever seen it." He said and Ame rolled her eyes; if he thought he could fool anyone with that mystique he was in for a shock. "It could be the colour violet," he said and she looked up suddenly; there was something in his voice, that made her think he was speaking of her. "With a hint of gold." There was also something wonderful about his voice; it made Ame's sisters all sigh. They were buying it! Her entire family was captivated by the passionate and secretive way he spoke! It was absolutely ridiculous. But as she looked at him the same thing happened as before; she was captured by him in the same way her sisters were and she was sure now he was comparing her to a gem, that's so roman- "Or it could be really ugly." He concluded quickly and sat back in his chair. The princess' shoulders slumped in disappointment; this guy was just a jerk.
"That's going to make a wonderful story!" Hana shouted from a little way down the table; she had a love for stories about quests, adventures different to her own inside the palace.
"The man who found the rarest and most beautiful stone." Her mother nodded as well. Ame put her head in her hands; her whole family had fallen in love with him! Even her father smiled and nodded happily as the conversation continued about some other things Ame had no desire for. She stopped listening and stared around in disbelief as her family's conversation embraced the boy like he was a long lost soul they'd all been searching for.
"Princess Almira!" She heard her name being called a little while later and looked up. Jin was walking towards her; oh good, he always had something decent to talk about. He came up to her which Gaara found strange; he approached her like a friend rather than a member of royalty. He did not know that Ame and Jin had been friends since childhood; they knew everything about one another and recently had become very close. "I was wondering, if you are finished with lunch, if you'd like to walk with me?" He asked and Ame nodded; wanting to get away from this place as soon as possible. They looked to her father who, after a moment's deliberation, nodded his consent. As Ame stood everyone else at the table did too; a sign of respect for her, she nodded thanks to them all before leaving the hall with Jin. "What to you think?" Gaara heard the king whisper to his wife, she smiled at him knowingly and took his hand.
"They will be married within a month I suspect." She replied and upon hearing this Gaara choked on his drink for the second time.
"YOU SWALLOW!"
"What do you wish to speak about?" Ame asked as they walked along the brick pathway in the gardens. It was summertime, meaning the most beautiful flowers were blossoming, feeling the gardens with sweetened fragrance.
"How did you meet him?" He asked as Ame leant down to smell a yellow rose next to them, she looked up to him.
"Who?" She asked and he shook his head.
"You know who; Kaze." He spoke his name with such distaste that it satisfied Almira; she was glad someone else disliked him. She stood up and they continued walking. She didn't speak for a minute as it was a dignified way of wasting time; her father had taught her that diplomats do this often; they pretend they are phrasing a question but really their thinking of a plan to save themselves.
"My guard, Ember, had heard of him and suggested she take the necklace-"
"You trust her with such a treasure?" Ame gasped in offence.
"You know I trust her with my life…unless this is not a worthy treasure!" She said and held her head high and began to walk faster than him. He clicked his tongue with impatience and caught her arm so he could walk in line with her.
"This is the treasure I value the most, you know that!" He whispered urgently but Ame had had enough, she stopped walking and turned to him.
"Why do you want to speak of that…man!?" She wanted to use a bad word to describe him but couldn't; her language had been shaped by so many teacher's that she'd forgotten how to speak about people in a bad way.
"Because I do not trust him!" He said with equal anger. "Because I believe he is not what he says he is!" Oh no- if he found out Kaze was a rogue Kaze would surely tell him of her exploits.
"Well I trust him!" She exclaimed quickly, "he did wonderful work on my necklace and I think any person who's good at handicrafts should be trustworthy!" She concluded and Jin just looked at her like she was insane.
"Do you even know what you just said?" He asked her.
"I trust him." She said seriously, "and you should too; he is a good man." She was lucky she knew Jin well; if she'd remained angry with him he would have stormed off and began an investigation into Kaze's identity but if she was sweet to him he would forget everything.
"Alright princess," he said slowly and she smiled. "You're always right." He said slowly before putting a hand to her face and moving in a little further, Ame smiled and moved in as well-
"Your highness!" Ame's right eye began to twitch again and Jin sighed; he would never get the chance to kiss her. They both looked over to Kaze who walked to join them.
"What?" Ame asked scathingly and Jin was amused at the fact that Kaze didn't seem phased by her coldness at all; in fact it seemed to cheer him up.
"Your father says you are the best person to give me a tour of the palace-"
"This place is huge!" She protested and Gaara looked as disappointed as he could.
"Well then maybe you could show me the alley ways of the city; I'm sure you know them-"
"Alright, alright!" Ame shouted over him so Jin could not hear him speak. "Let's go." Jin bowed to her and nodded at Kaze before giving him a cold look and walking off. Gaara bit his bottom lip.
"Did I interrupt something?" He asked innocently and laughed at the look on Ame's face.
Ok, stuff will definitely happen next chapter…just building relationships...introducing characters...whatever!
Reviews appreciated!
