Author Notes:
It feels weird posting a chapter and it not having taken several months. Well, it's a good things so it's okay. In this chapter negotiations went reasonably well, but of course we can't have it go too well or that'd be anti-climatic. Thusly, a game. Next chapter. Next chapter there'll be a game. This chapter was just talking, and I liked it for that. People talking to each other is one of my favorite things to write. Elden was interesting to write for. While he is a somewhat whiny and childish character, he does know how he's supposed to act, he's just not good at it. That'll show a little bit more during the game next chapter, so I'll talk about it a bit more then. What game will they be playing? Find out next time!
Chapter 8
It was finally the day Louise and her friends were to meet with Prince Elden, and Louise couldn't feel any better
"Darling, you look like your pet goldfish just drowned," Kirche noted as they sat in the waiting room.
"I wonder why," Louise says, not really in the mood to talk to Kirche.
"Shouldn't you be happier than this?" Kirche asks. "We're gonna walk in, say a few things, get everything sorted and we'll be a-ok!"
"Simple," Tabitha agrees.
"For starters I still don't want to be here, but there's only so many times I can say that," Louise begins. "Furthermore, I'm about to drop dead because of how little sleep I got. What's the point of forcing us to show up at six in the morning if he's just going to keep us waiting until eleven? Considering you kept me up rather late last night, I'm running on nearly empty. Also this is the worst castle I've ever been in. The decorations are so bright and distracting that either I'm getting a headache, or I've had a headache and this is making it worse."
Louise was also prepared to complain about the lack of sleep not being helped by Tabitha's sleep-hugging, but Louise felt that bringing it up would be rather mean to Tabitha, and it was not necessarily that big of a deal compared to the others. It wasn't like Tabitha was strangling Louise in her sleep or anything, Louise just wasn't much of a physical person, so the contact kept her on edge for the rest of the night.
"Yeah, that would explain the mood," Kirche notes. "Well, cheer up Darling. This'll take a few minutes at most, then we head back to Tristain and you can nap all you want."
"I'd really like that," Louise says. "I'd like that a lot."
Louise would have liked to spend the next few minutes thinking about how nice a nap would be, but unfortunately for her a royal guard walked into the waiting room.
"Queen Louise, soon-to-be Queen Kirche and guest?" the guard asks.
"Have a name," Tabitha says, almost angrily.
"Are you royalty of some kind?" the guard asks. "No? Then I've no reason to actually know your name."
"Good to see the employees are welcoming," Louise notes.
"Nah, there just idiots," Kirche says. "They can't remember that many people so they only keep track of the really important people."
"I'll have you know that I graduated top of my class!" the guard complains. "I resent the accusation that intelligence is up for question."
"And he still can't remember more then three or four names," Kirche says. "Here I was thinking that Germania had a pretty good education system. What a shame to learn I was wrong."
"Why you-"
"Didn't you have a reason for calling us?" Louise interrupts before the fight escalates any further.
"… Yes, Your Highness," the guard says, not content with the shift in topic. "The prince is ready for you three. He's waiting for you in the throne room."
"Thank you sir," Louise says with a slight bow of her head. "We'll see him at once. Kirche, mind leading the way for us?"
"No problem Darling," Kirche says. "I know this place like the back of my hand. Way better then some dumb guard who probably couldn't find his way back to his post."
"You damn-"
"Okaywe'reoffhavefunwithyourjob!" Louise gets the words out as quickly as possible before grabbing Kirche and Tabitha by the hand and dragging them away.
"See you later Mister Guard," Kirche says with a wink and a smile.
"My name's Tabitha," Tabitha reminds the guard before he's out of earshot.
After putting a reasonable amount of distance between her party and the guard, Louise finally stopped moving.
"What was that?!" Louise exclaims.
"Oh, we've never gotten along with the guards," Kirche says as she twirls a lock of her hair around with her finger. "They're loyal to a fault. Since they're only required to be nice to the royal family, they don't bother with manners when it comes to anyone else. Something that could really use some touching up, in my opinion, but not really something you can do anything about."
"Don't like them," Tabitha says.
"Yeah, I don't get what their thing with Tabitha is," Kirche says, throwing a glance at her companion. "Racism or something? I don't know why, we haven't exactly had that much racial tension in the past few thousand years. Ah, that's for later. Come on Darling, let's head to the throne room."
"Yay," Louise says as dryly as possible. "Another headache."
Kirche led Louise and Tabitha down a hallway, with their final destination being in front of a grand, highly decorated (even when compared to the rest of the castle) set of double doors.
"Ready to meet the prince?" Kirche asks.
"How much does my answer matter in this situation?" Louise responds.
"Very little," Tabitha gives Louise the answer she expected.
"Well, here we go," Kirche says as she pushes the door open.
The three walk past the door and into the throne room. Louise immediately hated everything about it. Everything in the room was so bright and hard to look at. Gold and silver linings on the walls, fanciful mirrors decorating the walls, several crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling and all sorts of polished metal statues are almost random spots in the room. She would catch a glimpse of something shining so brightly that it hurt her head and would look away, only to have something even more bright and garish enter her vision. Eventually Louise's vision settled on the one thing in the room that wasn't blindingly bright, the central throne. Sitting on the throne, was the person she had come so far to have a conversation with.
"Greetings, Queen Louise Valliere, ruler of Tristain," Elden says from his throne. "I am the crown prince of Germania, Prince Elden. It is certainly a pleasure to meet you face to face."
… Not a very imposing ruler, Louise thinks to herself as she looks at Elden. Although he was sitting down, Louise could tell that he wasn't a very tall figure, even if he was taller than her. He was of a rather average build, not particularly bulky, but not exceptionally thin either. He had somewhat wavy blonde hair that came down to his shoulders, and a pair of bright green eyes. He was wearing an outfit that seemed less like royal wear, and more like what someone thought royal wear looked like. His white, long sleeved shirt had shoulders that poofed out to an almost unreadable level, and his pants were embroidered with some kind of vine pattern running down the legs. In addition, he also wore a fancy cape that was decorated with the crest of the Germanian royal family, a small crown in side of a circle, with wings on either side that extended outside of the circle. Louise's thought immediately turned to the obvious question: Wait, why doesn't Tristain have a royal crest?
"Now, it is my understanding th- owowowowow!"
"You idiot, what do you think you're doing?" Kirche asks as she pulls Elden out of the throne by his ear. "What, did you think your dad wouldn't mind if he found out you'd been sitting in his chair?"
"O-ow, let go already!" Elden says as he struggles to get out of Kirche's grip. "Hey, you're gonna tear my ear off, stop already!"
"… A real imposing ruler, isn't he?" Louise asks.
"Definitely," Tabitha agrees.
"Seriously," Kirche says as she lets go of Elden's ear. "Acting all high and mighty on your daddy's high chair, huh? Who do you think you're trying to impress with this little set up?"
"Dad's out on some business, he won't be back for like an hour, I'll be fine!" Elden says as he rubs his ear to try and alleviate the pain a bit. "Besdies, I am going to be a king soon, aren't I? I figured if I started acting like one you'd start coming around."
"If I'm not falling for you when you're acting like your normal childish self, why would I fall for you forcing yourself to act like an idiot?" Kirche asks.
"I'm acting like a king, not an idiot!" Elden protests.
"An idiot king," Tabitha notes.
"Kings can't be idiots!" Elden protests once again. "They're busy leading their kingdoms to fame and glory! Idiots can't do that! Therefore, I can't be an idiot, because I'm going to be doing that."
"… This idiot is the one I have to talk to?" Louise asks in disbelief.
"Speaking of talking, why are you here?" Elden asks as he turns to Louise and attempts to regain control of the conversation. "I mean, I've expected you to show up in a week or two, because of the wedding, but you're hear really early. Something about business, was it?"
"Of a sort," Louise says. "You see… You see, it's hard to want to talk about much when the other party won't stop sizing you up?"
"Hm? Oh, right, sorry," Elden apologizes. "I was just kind of surprised. I expected you to be a lot shorter."
"Excuse me?" Louise asks.
"I obviously never really heard about you before you became queen, and all I heard after you were crowned was about how some childish runt took the crown," Elden explains. "I heard a lot of really negative stuff about you. Really emphasized how childlike you were for some reason."
"… I need to have a long chat with some people when I get back," Louise grumbles under her breath.
"I'd probably hear some different stuff now that you're a bit farther into your reign, but I've been busy," Elden says. "So yeah, you kind of caught me off guard. Wasn't expecting you to look so… Unchildlike? That's a word, isn't it?"
"Not even remotely," Kirche informs him.
"Ah, doesn't matter," Elden says as he walks towards the throne. He prepares to sit down on the throne, but a quick glare from Kirche changes his mind. "Either way, not like you're really my type."
"… I feel like I should be insulted, but I can't muster up the anger," Louise says.
"So, you're business?" Elden says, ignoring that comment. "I mean, you personally came all the way from Tristain with my fiancé and her best friend. I imagine it has some semblance of importance, right?"
"Right," Louise says, then immediately stops because she realizes she doesn't know how to begin. "Okay… So… How to put this…"
"Hey, take your time," Elden says. "Like I said, Dad's not gonna be back for a while, we've got plenty of time to work whatever this is out. Plus this is a pretty informal, off the records thing. No need to be all royal and formal."
"How nice of you," Kirche says. "You've never been that patient with me."
"Uncharacteristic," Tabitha agrees.
"Hey, I'm a plenty patient guy!" Elden says. "You're just too impatient yourself to notice."
"Right then," Louise says. "If no one here is patient, I suppose I'll just get it out then. Prince Elden?"
"Yes, Queen Valliere?" Elden asks, trying to adopt a royal attitude.
"I need you to call off your wedding with Kirche," Louise says.
"… Uh… Wanna run that by me again?" Elden asks.
"You're going to be marrying Kirche in a few weeks, right?" Louise asks. "I'm here to ask you to call off the wedding."
"Right, so I didn't misunderstand you the first time," Elden says with a nod of his head. "Now. Want to let me know why this matters to you at all? Why do you care if I marry Kirche?"
"I don't care that much," Louise admits. "However, I owe a favor to someone who does care."
"… Oh, I get it," Elden says with another nod of his head, before turning to Kirche. "Kirche, what the heck?! You really hate me that much that you feel the need to call in a royal favor? Is the thought of marrying me really that repulsive?!"
"Tie myself to you for the rest of my life?" Kirche asks. "Not appealing."
"B-b-but you'll be queen!" Elden offers. "Who doesn't want to be the monarch of a nation, doesn't everyone want that kind of power? Wait, of course you'd hate that, you can't stand politics."
"Aww, you know me so well," Kirche says with a smile.
"W-well that's okay!" Elden says. "I can handle all that stuff on my own, you wouldn't have to deal with any of that political nonsense! I'd be king, I can handle that stuff easily!"
"Pretty sure I heard that you're kind of unreliable," Louise says. "Can't do anything without help from Kirche, I think was it."
"That's completely untrue!" Elden exclaims. "I-I mean, of course I can't do everything perfectly on my own. Everyone needs a little help sometimes right?"
"Homework, essays, chores, school projects" Tabitha says.
"W-well, I'm busy learning how to become king," Elden says. "I'll be way better at getting stuff done on my own once I'm actually on the throne."
"Doubtful, which is why I'm against this particular idea," Kirche says. "I'd rather not be your backseat driver when it comes to running a nation. That's just way more power and responsibility then I'm comfortable with having. Besides, you're a bit too young for me."
"We're the same age!" Elden protests.
"Then act like it," Kirche tells him.
Elden sighs, and sits down on the throne.
"Look, this conversation doesn't have a chance to go anywhere," Elden says as he scratches the back of his head. "I'm just a prince, I don't actually have the authority to call off something as important as a royal wedding. That's dad's field of work. It doesn't really matter what I say or agree to, I can't do anything about the wedding."
"Well couldn't you just marry someone instead of Kirche?" Louise offers.
"Are you offering yourself up?" Kirche asks Louise.
"Denied," Elden says. "Like I said, girls like you and Tabitha aren't my type."
"Why would I offer that?!" Louise yells. She takes a breath to calm down and proceeds with the explanation. "If you can't call off the marriage and it'll happen no matter what you say, couldn't you just marry someone other than Kirche? The wedding'll happen on time, except Kirche wouldn't have to marry you."
"I mean, probably," Elden says. "Two problems with that. One: I'd still have to show the new fiancé to dad and get his approval for it, and he's a bit of a stickler for that, considering this is for heir, you know? The only reason he's alright with Kirche is because he knows her dad, so he knows she'd be an alright queen. Second, and more importantly, I want to marry Kirche."
"Excuse me?" Kirche asks.
"Well, it's obvious, isn't it?" Elden responds. "I mean, we've known each other since we were kids and you've always been around to help me when I messed something up. I know you don't like it that much, but I do rely on you for a lot of stuff. Like… basically everything. Yeah, the child me that you've always had to do everything for would be a crappy king. I'd probably be worse then the Tristainian rulers. … Er, sorry, I meant the older ones, no offense intended to the present Queen."
"None taken, I know we've had some bad rulers in the past," Louise says.
"Phew, okay then," Elden says. "So yeah, even if I were to put my personal feelings aside, Kirche is the most obvious choice for queen. I want to be able to do everything myself, but for the situations where I can't do something, or I screw something up really badly it's nice to know that I can count on my queen to help me out so I don't wind up ruining Germania."
"… I had no idea you thought about it this much," Kirche says.
"Well, I have some free time when Dad's away on business," Elden says with a shrug. He hops out of the throne and walks over to Louise. "So, I have a proposition."
"No, the proposition's are suppose to go to your future wife, not me," Louise says.
"No, not that kind of proposition!" Elden exclaims. "A deal, you know? Something like that."
"Okay…" Louise says uncertainly.
"So, since you owe Kirche, you don't want me to marry her, but I want to marry her," Elden sums up the situation. "We're at an impasse here. So, what do two people do in this world when an impasse is met?"
"They play a game," Louise answer.
"Exactly," Elden says, right before he frowns. "Wait, don't you have like, a crappy win ratio?"
"I-It's improved substantially!" Louise informs him.
"Three is substantially higher then zero," Kirche agrees.
"Shut up," Louise tells her. "There's no problem with playing a game here. What terms are you thinking?"
"If you win I'll… Well I can't call off the marriage for reasons already gone over, but I'll try and find a different finacé," Elden says. "But if you lose, the wedding stays as is, and Kirche has to go on a date with me."
"A date?" Kirche asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, yeah," Elden says sheepishly. "I mean, shouldn't married couples go on at least a few dates before the wedding? A-and I've… kind of always wanted to ask you out one one. It'll give me a chance to show you how much I've matured since we were children!"
"Seems reasonable," Tabitha says.
"I guess?" Louise says.
"Hey, as long as you win we have no problem," Kirche says. "You can do that much, right? You're gotten pretty good, right?"
Got to sound confident so no one here underestimates me, Louise thinks to herself. Have to make a good impression on them!
"Um… Probably?"
Nailed it. Louise is briefly amazed at her ability to find new ways to disappoint herself.
"Well, that's the best that I can hope for," Kirche says with a sigh. "Either way you're the one making the bet. Does it sound fine to you?"
Louise thinks about it for a minute and comes to a conclusion.
"Well, no it doesn't," she says. "I mean, the terms on their own are fine, but I'd rather not make a bet when I don't even know what game I'd be playing."
"Ah!" Elden exclaims. "Right, forgot about that. That's kind of the most important part, isn't it? Hmm… What to play, what to play… Got it! Alright Queen Valliere, follow me. We have a game room set up just for these kinds of situations. I'll show you the game, tell you a bit about how it works and you can decide then. Sound good?"
"Sounds a lot better," Louise says with a nod of her head. "Lead the way Prince Elden."
