Title: Princess by Mistake
Author: Life. In. Pixels
Disclaimer: I do not own CCS.
Summary: Sakura is thrown into a life that is not hers where she meets the infamous Prince Syaoran Li. She will have to be clever, deceitful and tactful in order to maintain her position of power. But we all know... a life built upon lies is no life at all.
Chapter Seven
Execute Plan
"I'm surprised. You didn't fight it as much as I thought you would," Eriol said as they were making their way to the carriages. Syaoran was moving at a fast pace and Eriol kept up behind him.
He ignored Eriol's questioning looks and curious tone and continued walking. They were nearly at the front doors of the Auren palace. In a few more minutes he would be back in his room and away from all the insanity.
"It was almost like you liked her," Eriol continued to say nonchalantly.
Syaoran grimaced. He wanted to be alone to think things over.
"I've spent the last twenty years of my life living with my father and visiting Aureoles… and if I have learned anything in that time; it's that they're too stubborn to argue with. I'll just be wasting my time."
Eriol lifted an eyebrow. The things the prince sometimes said… If he only knew that he was equally stubborn. "I assume you have some sort of trick up your sleeve?"
"Trick?" Syaoran replied smirking. The coachman opened the royal carriage for him and he climbed in. He signaled for the door to be closed behind him. Propping an elbow on the carriage's window frame, he looked back at Eriol standing on the steps. "I have two months, Hiragizawa, and I intend to use it to my favour."
The coachman whipped the horses and set the carriage into motion, leaving the chancellor on the steps, watching them leave.
"For goodness sakes, what are the chances that our culprit is the prince of Proto!" Kaptan was busy muttering as she left the banquet hall behind her. The prince had excused himself shortly after her little speech of acceptance and had left with the Proton chancellor and she had left shortly after him.
"Unbelievable," Sakura replied but her mind was already off piecing together the specific details of her plan for tomorrow.
"Fox told me that the boy saw his face which means that the prince will recognize Fox if he sees him again. I'll have to tell Fox to steer clear of you and refrain from being seen by the prince," Kaptan mumbled almost talking to himself now.
Meiling had been absolutely furious and Sakura could guess that she had a thing for her cousin. She liked Meiling well enough and would have liked to tell her that she would definitely not be married in two months' time. But that would be as obvious as shouting out that she was no princess. So instead she chose to make her escape from the banquet hall as Meiling erupted, blaming the Proton king.
Tomoyo was surprised but she, Takashi, and Chiharu politely stayed behind to discuss wedding plans and invitations. It seemed like king Aureoles was ready to set plans in motion; such a big party would require much time to prepare.
And so was she… she would not waste any of the valuable time that she had. She would move first thing tomorrow.
"…You need to wake up and smell the fresh air. This is our chance to restart our lives in happiness-" Kaptan was diligently telling her when she tuned back in.
"I'm very much awake, Kaptan. Thank you for your concern," she replied a bit miffed. "And luxury does not equal happiness. It would do you well to keep that in mind."
Kaptan stopped Sakura by grabbing her arm gently. "Look at me. I've just been made Captain of the Guards and I can assign good positions to my men-"
"And congratulations," she said dangerously. "But you knew this was not going to be permanent." She wrenched her arm free from his grasp and continued down the hall.
"Plans change." Kaptan hurried after her. "And now we want it to be permanent."
"You want it to be permanent. Not we. When I agreed to being a fake-" she stopped and glanced around to see if there were any other people in the hallway. When seeing none, she continued, lowering her voice, "When I agreed to this, I was under the impression that we were going to get in here and get out. Your. exact. words."
"You don't want it to be permanent. There are people that are already adjusting to this life."
"Too bad for them," she replied. "You are their leader. You tell them that this is not permanent and to wake up from their dream."
"It's no longer a dream," he said softly.
She sighed and stopped. "You want me to pretend to be this princess. Wake up every morning attending balls and parties. Listening to the disgusting lies that spill out of those lipstick-lined aristocrat's mouths with a smile plastered to my face and wait for… what? Fate?"
"Your life will be good," Kaptan defended himself. "It will be safe. No more running, no more-"
"I'm not interested in sitting around for two months waiting to be married off to some prince!"
He stared at her. "What's so bad about that, Sakura?"
Sakura looked down. "I've seen it happen to countless girls that are married off. I may be the princess, only heir to the Auren throne, but once I'm married to Prince Syaoran of Proto, I'm no longer anything. I become the wife of the prince and essentially I will have no say in anything. My duties will include sitting, nodding, greeting when told. If I step out of line," she pointed to an imaginary boundary, "He'll put me right back in place. And not in the pretty way."
"You're exaggerating."
"Am I, Kaptan?" she whispered softly. "I've seen it happen too many times. These husbands don't care about you. And Prince Syaoran Li is just like them: obnoxious and arrogant. Why would he who is powerful, rich, and influential take a second look at the boring girl he married when he can dabble in so many others? The man that these girls marry never will take the time to get to know who they really are." Sakura took a deep breath. "You were supposed to be on my side, Kaptan," she said softly. "You were supposed to back me up in there but you…" she trailed off and started to walk again.
"Look, I thought it was the best course of action."
"You thought wrong."
Kaptan ran a hand through his hair. She was right… he shouldn't have sided with the two kings in marrying off Sakura. A life built on a lie would crumble one day no matter how hard one worked to keep the lie going.
"What is your plan then?"
She hesitated. "Tomorrow. Early morning. I will get a carriage and head over to their vacation home just on the outskirts of the palace estate. I heard it's a ten minute ride. I need a distraction once I get there so I can look around."
Kaptan frowned in thought. "It sounds dangerously risky."
"It won't have to be," Sakura answered. "I gave it a lot of thought during the banquet. Fox described the brooch as golden but I'm sure it was junk gold…"
"…Which means that someone with the status of prince isn't going to carry a worthless brooch in his pocket." Kaptan nodded seeing where she was cleverly going with this.
Sakura smiled. "Which means it's probably in his house. I would guess bedroom."
"…or trash can," Kaptan suggested shrugging.
"Either way, it should be just lying around. Maybe even on the desk of his study."
They had reached Sakura's bedroom. Kaptan swung the door open for them as they entered.
"Initiate a distraction that has every household member out of the house-"
"False fire," she supplied.
"Yes. That should give you just enough time to do a brief search of study and bedroom."
She bit her lower lip softly, nodding. She looked up at Kaptan and offered him her hand.
"I'm sorry I got mad," she whispered. "It's just that I really need that brooch… not a good happily ever after life..."
Kaptan took her hand into his large one and grinned at her. "I deserved it. You put me in my place. The plan should be what it is originally. I let a title get to my head. We can live equally well on the things we steal." He pulled her into a bear hug.
"Better steal everything you can get your hands on then during these two months," she giggled as she returned the hug.
"Excuse me, princess."
She broke out of the hug, startled.
"Meijo," Sakura greeted the maid surprised. Kaptan and her had been so engrossed in plans for tomorrow that they hadn't noticed her come in through the door. Had she overheard anything? Sakura searched Meijo's face but saw nothing suspicious, just a small blush creeping its way up her cheeks. She could imagine what was going through the young maid's head.
"This isn't what it looks like," Kaptan exclaimed clearing his throat awkwardly. Turning to Sakura, he said, "I better go." And made his escape.
Meijo had a look of disbelief mingled with shock on her features. Was she consorting with a commoner?
Sakura offered no explanations and gestured for Meijo to help her out of the formal gown. She had a big day tomorrow.
"Good morning, your Highness," Niles exclaimed as he pulled the heavy dark green curtains from the window. A stream of sunlight poured through and brightened the dark room significantly.
Syaoran groaned and covered his head with his pillow. Was it morning already?
He tried to bury his head deeper in the comfort of his blanket and pillows, however, his butler's next words fully woke him up.
"The Princess Sakura is waiting downstairs."
"What?" he cried out appalled. "What time is it!"
"Seven, your Highness."
Syaoran jumped out of bed. That girl was crazy! "Where is she?" he demanded.
"She's waiting downstairs, in the parlor."
He threw open his doors and charged downstairs.
"Your Highness," Niles trailed off as he watched the prince disappear down the flight of steps, "…shouldn't you at least put on a shirt…?"
Sakura was in the open windowed parlor enjoying the warm sun on her face and the cold morning air coming in. She had already let her eyes skim around hoping that it would have been as easy as finding the brooch in the public parlor but it was not.
She had on mittens and a riding cloak over her dress. It was late November and the cold was coming. She had seen her breath rise in mists this morning when she had spoken to Kaptan.
She settled comfortably into one of the many seats that were placed around the room and waited for the prince to show up. She had spent last night tossing and turning unable to sleep and had been up since as early as four.
At half past six she had snuck out and woken up Kaptan who then woke up his men.
The Proton royalty's house was just outside the palace walls; a ten minute horse ride from the palace, fifteen by carriage.
Sakura heard him before she saw him.
He entered the parlor, shirtless. Before she could say anything or react, he had rudely hauled her up from the seat and dragged her away, muttering curses by the second.
He all but impolitely threw her into his study and closed the door behind them to avoid the curious glances of the servants.
"What do you think you're doing?" Syaoran asked her quietly, seething.
"I-I came to see you," Sakura stumbled out in reply. She couldn't believe it. She was already in the study. This is going to be a piece of cake, she thought smugly.
Syaoran ran his hand through his already tousled hair. "I know you're not from around here but here we do things differently!" He yanked her to face him. She wasn't listening to him, her gaze wandering around his study. "I call on you, not the opposite way around!"
Sakura raised an eyebrow. "So you're supposed to visit me and I can't visit you?"
"Yes."
"Got it," she answered smiling. After today when she got what she wanted, she wouldn't be visiting him anyway.
Syaoran groaned. She was so strange.
He was shirtless and she was almost tempted to trace the contours of his body. "Well, I'll wait here for you to… put on a shirt?" she suggested, a rose pink blush creeping its way up her cheeks.
In his haste to get Sakura out of the public parlor and away from prying eyes to protect his own reputation he had completely forgotten. He stared at her for a few minutes in shock before turning red. Then he turned and left the study.
Sakura smiled genuinely. He was adorable and somewhat cute. If she wasn't so hell bent on retrieving the brooch, they could probably be friends. She couldn't help herself and had let her eyes appreciate his body while he hadn't been paying attention. His well muscled and lean body, she had almost wondered what it would feel like under her touch. But what had particularly caught her attention was a small mark just under his collarbone on his chest. She hadn't been close enough to make out what it was but she had no doubt that she had found the prince's Royal Mark.
The study was a bit smaller than the parlor. It had a seat behind the desk, two in front, and a long couch-like seat near the side next to the fireplace. There were expensive foreign rugs on the floor and shelves lined with books all along the walls.
After he had left, she closed the doors quietly and made her way to the window.
It was time to execute the plan.
Wedging the window open, she stuck her head outside to see if there was anyone that might see her. When satisfied there was no one, she dropped her plain white handkerchief out of the window and watched it land on one of the shrubs.
She then closed the window and took a seat in front of the large oak desk.
And waited.
Skor was patrolling the streets just outside the Proton house. There was a tall black fence between him and the beautiful mansion-like structure. This was already his fifth round since Sakura had gone in.
He rounded the corner and saw it. A white cloth just below one of the windows. Sakura was in position.
He broke out into a run to where Kaptan and Tor were hiding under a row of hedges just inside the fence. They had snuck in when Sakura had entered through the main gate.
"She's ready," Skor reported.
Kaptan nodded and Tor crawled away to start the distraction.
Syaoran was in his room buttoning up his shirt when he heard the commotion and the sound of running.
"Fire! Fire!" someone was screaming.
Syaoran grabbed the only thing he cared about: his sword and exited his room.
The remaining servants who had been working upstairs ran down the stairs and out of the front door. He only gave the princess a small thought; sure that someone would be escorting her out, before he exited through the main entrance himself.
Sakura was up and out of her seat as soon as she heard the numerous footsteps running around.
"Fire! Fire!"
She smiled. Tor was right on cue.
As the last of the panicked servants rushed past the study, she started her search. She couldn't start earlier in fear that someone would walk in on her but now she was free to look and poke around as the rest of the household were busy filing out.
She started with the top of the desk. It was covered with numerous sheets of paper and parchment. She rustled through them but did not find what she was looking for.
Taking Kaptan's suggestion to heart, she kicked over the wastebasket at the side of the desk and searched through that. The only things she found were used quills, empty ink containers and lots of crunched up tossed-away paper.
Getting up from the floor she turned around and tried the desk drawers. Luckily they were unlocked; however they only contained more paper and writing utensils. She also found the prince's royal seal and wondered briefly what he would do if she was a thief and had stolen it.
Leaving it alone because she wasn't interested in it, she started searching the bookcases.
How many minutes did she have left? One or two minutes before the household members could gather themselves with buckets of water. They would start in the kitchen where the fire was most likely at and then work their way through the rest of the house. How many minutes would that give her? Two more for that? That would give her four minutes, give or take.
It was hopeless. If Syaoran had chosen to hide the brooch somewhere in his books, she would never find it in the few minutes she had.
Biting her nail in thought, she made the decision. It was probably not in the study. That would leave the only other viable place: his room.
She opened the doors of the study silently and peeked out. It was very quiet; everyone was outside by now.
Picking up her skirts, she dashed up the stairs to where the bedrooms were.
Niles was already in the process of instructing his men to start drawing water from the well on the east side of the house and to head into the kitchen. He had reacted fast due to his many years of experience as a butler and had managed to gather enough people in just a little over a minute.
He took note of King Protomes exiting the house with his guards surrounding and protecting him. The king was still in his night gown and rubbing sleep from his eyes.
Niles then searched for the prince.
He had two duties: One, make sure the heads of the house were safely accounted for. Two, stop the fire.
He saw the prince, sword in one hand, sauntering towards the group now gathered on the lawn from the main entrance. A small worried look etched itself on his features.
"Your Highness," Niles greeted him when they were within hearing range. "Where is the princess?"
Syaoran frowned. The princess should have already been out on the lawn by now. His study to the main entrance was close.
"What do you mean? I thought someone was assigned to get her out?"
Niles shook his head. "No, I thought she was with you so-"
"She wasn't," Syaoran cut in. "I left her in my study."
Niles's look of worry deepened. If the princess was to die in a fire in the Proton house… he couldn't even begin to imagine the devastating political consequences that would incur. He saw that the prince understood this too.
"I'll get her," Syaoran said out loud grimly. He sprinted towards the house again.
Niles opened his mouth to protest. It wasn't safe. But the prince was already halfway towards the entrance.
"Go and protect the prince," Niles instructed the four guards standing beside him. The guards broke off into a run towards the house.
The upstairs was heavily carpeted. There were five guest rooms in total. She had barged into the first room that she had seen and had immediately known it was not his. It was unoccupied, clean, and devoid of personal items.
She made her way quickly down the hallway. She was silently keeping count of the time in her head and she knew she was running out of time.
Just like she had guessed, the last room at the end of the hallway was his. The door had been left slightly ajar and she pushed it open.
Syaoran's room was not grand but it was definitely elegant. He had large dark green draperies and matching coloured sheets. The bed was not yet made. He had two wooden drawers at the side of his bed, a large couch in the corner by the fireplace, a tall mirror near the window, and a large closet.
Sakura's eyes skimmed around the room, rapidly taking in small details, using the light from the window to see. The top of the drawers had no brooch. There were only two unlit candles and some of the prince's personal items strewn on it.
She turned around trying to figure out where the prince would have left something like the brooch. Was she too late? Had he already thrown it away? No… she couldn't think of it like that. She had to believe that he still had it…somewhere.
She headed for his closet and threw the doors open.
It was a large rectangular walk-in closet with clothes hung up neatly on three sides.
Sakura groaned. He had tens of pieces of clothing if not hundreds in here. It would take way too much time to shake them all out and individually search each one.
She took one last look around the room. But she could not think of anywhere else obvious to look so she decided to try and plow through as many clothing as she could before her time was up.
She reached for the first one, pulled it off the hanger, and shook it out hoping that something would fall out from one of the pockets.
Nothing.
She threw the shirt on the floor and reached for the next one.
Syaoran was in the house with the four armed guards following closely behind. He headed through the parlor and straight for his study.
The doors to his study were open and he entered expecting to see the princess, probably scared out of her wits, huddled in the corner or something. Instead, an empty room greeted him.
The four guards were at attention behind the prince, keeping their eyes peeled for indications of fire spreading, but they had not seen any signs of smoke or smelt a fire.
"Your Highness…?" one of the guards asked when Syaoran had not moved. Syaoran was frowning, trying to come up with an explanation as to why his wastebasket which he kept at the side of the desk had been kicked over.
"She's not here," Syaoran said to no one in particular. His mind was racing. The nearest exit was through the front entrance and he was sure he had not seen the girl on his way in. Where would she go?
"Split up and start searching for her," he ordered. "You," he pointed to one of the four, "You're with me. We'll take upstairs. The rest of you search the library, the kitchen, and wherever else she might've gone."
His closet smelled distinctly of him and…chocolate? She wrinkled her nose. Now she knew the prince had a sweet tooth.
She had cleared out one side of the closet already. Just two more sides to go. A large heap of clothes were now on the floor in a messy pile. Still there was nothing. She was becoming more concerned as the seconds ticked by. She wasn't sure what her excuse would be if she was caught red-handed searching through the prince's personal clothing.
She pushed that thought of her mind and reached for another coat.
Just how many coats do you need to freakin' own! she thought angrily.
Footsteps.
Her time was up. Disappointment and frustration filled her. She always came this close but never succeeded…
She dropped the coat she had in her hands. What should she do now? Mind a blank, she made a mad dash towards the window.
She flung it open and peered outside. She was on the second floor and the ground below looked dangerously risky to land on.
Think about this, Sakura, she commanded herself as the footsteps steadily got nearer. She could hear someone calling out 'Princess'.
She looked back at the door. If she didn't jump out and make her escape, what was going to be her excuse?
Her mind was still a blank.
She could not afford to be caught so she saw no other choice. She lifted up her skirts and was one leg out of the window already when Syaoran kicked open his door and stormed in.
He took one look at the princess, skirts hiked up her leg, one leg out of the window, trying to jump and he immediately acted. He was next to her, jerking her in by the wrist before she could fall out.
"What are you doing?" he cried out. Since he had met her, he couldn't recall one minute without her exhibiting some kind of strange behavior.
"I-I…" Sakura stuttered, sitting on the floor stumped. She had been too slow. It was the dress with its frilly fabric and all. And now she had been caught. What story was she going to spin this time?
Syaoran glared at her, waiting for an answer. He had had enough! If she had jumped out of that window and ended up breaking something, Aureoles would have been furious with him, favourite or not favourite of the king.
"I…" she was still trying to come up with something. Unable to, she resorted to one last trick up her sleeve… crying.
Sakura's green eyes clouded with regret as she burst into tears. Part of it was a desperate final act; the other half was genuine frustrated resentment at not having found the brooch.
Syaoran was stunned speechless. He had certainly not anticipated this.
"O-Okay…" he mumbled trying to awkwardly comfort her when he could speak again. "It's okay. You're safe now."
"I ran upstairs because… because I thought in case of a fire, you-you were supposed to g-get to higher ground and jump through the window as a last option," she hiccupped.
Syaoran groaned. Where the hell had she heard that! But he refrained from voicing his doubts. Instead he got on his knees beside her and handed her his handkerchief to dry her tears.
"Alright," he sighed defeated as she took the handkerchief from him. "The important thing is you're fine now. Let's get out of here."
He offered his hand to help her to her feet when he suddenly noticed that his closet doors were open. He knew Niles was extremely neat and the butler would never have forgotten to close the door.
Frowning as suspicion nagged at him, he got to his feet, letting go of Sakura's gloved hand and headed towards his closet.
She panicked inwardly. She was done for.
Syaoran gently nudged the closet doors open and was startled to see almost half of his clothes thrown on a heap on the floor. He turned to look at Sakura and saw her face-down on his carpet, sniffling.
He was sure that she would have a story to tell him to explain her strange actions but he had to ask. "What were you doing in my closet?"
Just say whatever comes to your mind! she scolded herself. No doubt the prince already thought her strange and stupid. Another lie wasn't going to make much of a difference.
"I read somewhere that in the royal houses and especially behind the closets there were secret passages that lead underground…in…in case of a fire," she mumbled into the carpet.
Syaoran froze.
"What?" That was the dumbest thing he had ever heard!
"So I tried to find the passage behind the closet…" Sakura winced at her horrible lie. "As you can see, there was none."
"Alright, princess," Syaoran exclaimed as he strode over and grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. "I don't know where you're getting all your information but you need to seriously empty your head of them. Now we're getting out of here before-"
Niles walked through the door with two servants behind. "Your Highnesses," he reported, bowing. "There's no fire. Someone purposely set up a false alarm… we don't know why yet but we're investigating it."
Syaoran turned and looked at Sakura. Could it be…? he thought as he stared wide-eyed at her. Did she search through his trash can? A princess. Did she cause the distraction…? But why? There was no reason for it…
"What?" Sakura snapped at him. She could feel him thinking and suspecting her. She shouldn't have been caught!
"Nothing," he mumbled averting his gaze. "It's a good thing no one got hurt." He turned to Niles and ordered, "I want security around the gate and fence tightened. If someone's trying to sneak in, I want to know about it."
"Yes, your Highness," Niles answered, bowed and left to manage things.
He had not realized that he had still been holding her hand until she yanked it out of his.
"Don't tell anyone about… about me trying to climb out the window," she quietly said. "I panicked." She had no doubt she had looked very indecent with her skirt pulled up, one leg dangling over the edge… the last thing she needed was to have Aureoles on her back about decency.
Syaoran broke out into a grin as he recalled it. She had scared him when he saw her trying to jump.
"Sure," he shrugged unconcerned. "But you'll have to owe me."
Sakura lifted her chin defiantly. When he did not budge and still kept grinning at her, she sighed.
He studied her tear streaked face just a bit more tenderly. The Auren princess was sure strange and a bit stupid but she was endearing and almost likeable in her own way.
"How about some breakfast?" he offered kindly.
Sakura jumped at the opportunity and dug her claws in. Yes! Anything to be in the house longer.
"Yes," she mumbled blushing. "I am a bit hungry."
He offered his arm courteously and she took it. Together they left the room. Sakura threw one last longing look behind her, memorizing every single detail into her head before he closed the doors.
She'd be back. She'd definitely be back.
They were seated around a medium-sized table for breakfast. Niles was ordering food to be brought to the two.
The prince and princess hadn't spoken yet since leaving his room. He was wondering what to talk about. She was planning on how to return to his room to continue her search.
"So… how do you like the food?" he asked breaking the awkward silence.
Having been engrossed in less than noble thoughts, Sakura was momentarily caught off guard. Here, the prince was trying to be polite and make light conversation and there she was, thinking of ways to trick him and search his room.
"Um," she mumbled. She had just been poking around her food but now she took a spoonful into her mouth. Her eyes widened in surprise. "This is… good."
Syaoran laughed at the expression on her face. "Yeah. Breakfast here is always one of the best highlights of my day," he admitted.
Sakura smiled back. Heart achingly, she knew Touya would've liked these desserts if he were still here.
"Do you know why this tastes so good?" she asked trying to distract herself from her own thoughts.
He reached for the plate with the chocolate mousse cupcakes. "Why?" he responded a bit curious.
"Because food that's made with love always tastes better." She looked down at her plate willing herself not to betray the emotions she felt inside. Breakfast at the Proton house tasted just like what her father would always make them in the morning.
Syaoran grinned doubtfully. "Love?"
Sakura stared at Syaoran with his doubtful tone. "I'm talking about family ties. Your cook is probably very close to you."
Syaoran coughed in slight embarrassment. "Yeah. He's Niles's brother."
She nodded and tried the chocolate that the prince favourited. "So you don't believe in love?" she asked slightly curious.
Syaoran shrugged. "It's a waste of time, impractical, and-" he paused and glanced at Sakura who was studying him with interest. "What?"
"Perfectly put by someone who has never experienced love," she replied then giggled when he turned red.
He opened his mouth to retort when king Protomes entered the room.
"Aha! I love breakfast," he exclaimed jollily as he took his seat at the head of the table. "I'm glad to see you and the princess getting together already."
"Actually, she was just about to leave," Syaoran hinted.
"I was…?" she answered surprised. She thought they were getting along quite well. She must've said something to make him angry at her.
"Why?" Protomes asked disappointed. "I just sat down."
"My entire day is free," Sakura reassured him. She was not leaving.
Syaoran glared at her but said nothing.
"Good, good!" Protomes nodded happily. "I will get to know my future daughter-in-law then!"
"Father, I have not agreed."
Protomes waved Syaoran's comment away as he poured himself a cup of freshly squeezed grape juice. "So Sakura… May I call you Sakura?"
She nodded.
"Tell us about yourself."
She paused with the fork halfway to her mouth. Tell them about herself? What was there to tell other than more lies to invent up? But they were staring at her expectantly and she had to say something.
"Well, I…" she really had no idea what to say. She glanced around desperately trying to find a clue as to what to talk about.
Syaoran came to her rescue even though he really didn't want to, but needless to say, his father's question had his own curiousity piqued. "What you like to do in your spare time? What do you like?"
The question caught her off guard. What did she like…? She had spent way too much time on the road, running for her life, surviving, hating, and revenge planning. Somewhere along the years, she had lost the Sakura she used to be. She did only one thing in her spare time: searching for the one responsible behind her family's deaths. What did she like? Nothing anymore.
"Come on, princess," Syaoran broke into her thoughts with a sour tone. "You must like something… Have a hobby."
Yes… she did have hobbies before. She remembered days and days spent in the summer sun walking through the estate gardens where her mother had planted lots of flowers. She remembered delightfully picking some to put in a vase on the breakfast table the next morning.
"I like being outside in the summer sun," she answered finally. "When I was younger, hide and seek in the gardens was my favourite game. Sometimes when possible, I would be allowed to take the horse out for an afternoon ride."
Her brother and her father would always accompany her on those rides. Sometimes her mother would join in too, especially on her last birthday that she had spent with them. They had ridden to the lake and they had had a picnic. She smiled fondly.
"You know how to ride a horse?" Protomes asked mildly surprised. "I didn't know there were horses in the West."
Sakura grinned a bit uneasily. "The West is more like Aure than anyone gives it credit for." She knew one day she would be punished for her lies, but not today.
"Syaoran here knows how to ride a horse very well," Protomes exclaimed happily and a bit boastful. "Maybe one of these days you two can go on a picnic?"
He protested and she smiled politely, uninterested.
"Stop your complaining, son!" the king sighed. "After you left last night's banquet, Aureoles and I had a good old chat with his Chancellor. We realized that two months is barely any time to get to know someone-"
"Exactly," Syaoran said nodding.
"Don't interrupt me, son." Clearing his throat, the king continued, "So we decided that Eriol and Takashi will be in charge of sending invitations for Sakura's Winter Solstice party ball while Takashi's fiancée and that Daidouji girl will be in charge of planning Sakura and your days together."
"…days together?" she asked, dreading where this was going. Meanwhile, the prince had gone pale.
"Yes," Protomes answered grinning enthusiastically. "We figured that the only way two people are going to get to know each other in the short two months is if they spend every day together."
Syaoran groaned and buried his face in the palms of his hand.
Ignoring it, the king persisted. "Every day for the next two months, your days will be planned and scheduled for each other. Sakura will spend the mornings and the afternoons with my son and the evenings meeting and getting to know her court."
Her head was buzzing. She didn't want to spend every day with the prince and she for sure didn't want to meet any noblemen. She opened her mouth to protest but Protomes beat her to it by speaking quickly.
"This is necessary. No argument from the both of you. Aureoles and I will make it a royal order for both of you if you do not follow it."
"Well, breakfast has just been great," Syaoran said abruptly as he stood up from his chair. "But I have things to attend to before… this two month's thing starts."
"It starts tomorrow!" Protomes called as Syaoran bowed and hastily retreated.
"Where is my daughter?" Aureoles wanted to know. He and his chancellor were in the throne room. Aureoles had hoped to enjoy a first breakfast together with his daughter.
"The stable hands reported that the princess left for the Proton house early this morning," Takashi replied.
Aureoles drummed his fingers on the arm of his throne. He was a bit disappointed but at least his daughter was taking the initiative to visit Syaoran.
"What about news about the General?" Aureoles asked next.
"A messenger arrived early this morning with a letter from the General," Takashi said. "The General reports that he has completed his task-"
"Did she say yes?"
"He says that she said yes and he will leave for the palace as soon as she is ready. He predicts that they will reach the palace in a week."
"Good. Very good."
Syaoran was in his study when Eriol knocked, entered and bowed.
"You called for me, your Highness?" he asked politely.
Syaoran gestured to the chancellor to take a seat, busy scribbling on the piece of parchment he had.
Eriol sat down and mildly commented, "Seems like I missed a very exciting morning of fire-sounding and a somewhat interesting breakfast."
"Yes, you did," Syaoran replied frowning. "Where were you?"
"I had an early morning meeting with Takashi to discuss invitations."
"Right," Syaoran muttered. He stopped writing and straightened up in his chair. "I've called you here for a reason, Hiragizawa. Listen carefully."
Now extremely curious, Eriol was all ears. The prince hardly asked him to do anything. He guessed it had something to do with the impending proposal and marriage.
"I suspect the princess was searching through my stuff."
Shocked, he had definitely not been expecting that. Finally, Eriol answered, "I'm sure there's a misunderstanding… why would the princess be searching through your things?"
Troubled, Syaoran mumbled, "I don't know. But today I found my clothes in a pile on the floor during the fire distraction."
"Did you ask her why?"
Sighing, Syaoran ran a hand through his hair. "She always has an answer… believe me. And it's always a strange one. But even more, I found the paper on my desk ruffled through. Niles always cleans up the desk and neatly places each sheet in a pile. Today, it was everywhere on the desk."
Eriol frowned. "I don't understand what you want me to do about it…"
Syaoran leaned forward, his brown eyes solemn. "I want you to dedicate whatever resources you have to find out more about her. I want to know her every secret, what her agenda is, and what she's terrified of."
"She's a princess that was abandoned in the West by her own father," Eriol exclaimed. "You can't possibly ask me to investigate her motifs? She's bound to be somewhat strange."
"That's exactly what I'm asking you to do. Investigate her."
Eriol's eyes widened as he finally understood. "You're not really interested in why she was searching through your things, are you?" he accused. "You want to use her secrets against her!"
Syaoran looked embarrassed. "Today, my father ordered that I spend every day of the next two months with her. It took me this long but I finally realized that he and Aureoles are both dead serious about this marriage, so it's time I start moving too. I am not getting married."
"You intend to backstab her by telling her father about her bad habits or behaviour…" Eriol clarified. "That'll ruin her life."
"At least it won't ruin mine," Syaoran replied bitterly. He knew it was selfish but they had him trapped. He needed to do something before everything spun out of control.
"This is not a request, Hiragizawa. It's an order."
Author's Note: Well there you have it. :D
What is Aureoles up to?
Syaoran and Eriol team up time, but are they able to expose Sakura?
Next chapter: a marathon of S/S togetherness! =P
pinkngreen2043: Yup, it is :D And I believe it's coming up soon.
Next chapter up asap. Review if youuu liked it :]
To be continued…