My thirteen days
Prologue
In the ancient mythical past when magic was still as common as the rain falling from the sky – okay, maybe it did truly exist but we will never know – the continent we today know as Europe was divided into smaller kingdoms, each with its magical ruler and each bearing upon their names a prophecy that would need to be fulfilled for all to thrive and prosper. The nations lived in harmony and the magic of each nation thrived as magic was the heart of all power.
But power is as good as it can be evil. One day, the balance was overthrown as a dark cloud loomed upon the horizon. The small nation of Champetre, hungry for power, sought out to destroy all the nations that could potentially grow more powerful than itself. Fuelled by the power to destroy, all nations surrounding it fell into ruin. All new lands upon which this power touched withered and died, as did many of the magical communities. It was in this way unicorns, mermaids and gryphons sunk to extinction, never to be seen again. Because of this a dying fairy, with her last breath, cursed the son of King Gabriel of Champetre. The son would become a great and powerful, mostly beloved, king, but only if he before his twentieth birthday would wed a princess. But, should he fail the consequences would be dire for everyone upon the land and no life would ever spire from its soil.
As each land was swallowed by the dark clouds of akumas and as chaos reigned the last princesses of neighbouring or conquered lands died or disappeared from all traces of history. As such the young prince would remain forever hidden, locked in the tower of his room, waiting for the day when disaster would strike, and the curse placed upon him would end the tyranny that once started by his very own father. To make things even harder, the essence of the magic that followed all rulers would set to erase all traces of this curse except for the poor king and queen, who were forced to raise their son with the notion that the end was steadily approaching.
And steadily, the days became weeks, weeks became months and months became years.
And the prince would very soon turn twenty.
That my friends, is where this story begins.
Chapter 1
Thirteen days left
Adrien sighed as his pale fingers touched the vine outside his window. The brittle stalk withered by the softest of touches and he sighed. He knew what it meant, and he couldn't help but to feel like he was a failure. His father once said that if he was to marry before he turned twenty the curse would end, and the land would recover. His mother, when she was healthy and not ill as his father claimed, had once told him that love would find a way when you least expected it. But now it was probably too late.
Thirteen days was all he had left, then he would be twenty and the whole kingdom would fall into ruins.
For years he had sent letters to every possible ally and neighbouring nation, but the responses were pretty much the same. Either the king or queen would be blessed with only sons or the daughters would have died in the purge or the aftermaths of the purge that happened when he was very young. Most of their neighbours had been absorbed into their own kingdom, so there had not been a huge selection of royal families to choose from and most of the Kingdoms that existed far beyond their reach regarded Champetre as the evil spawn of hell itself.
He longed for freedom. Because of his curse, because of his title and because of him being born in the age and time that he was, he had never been allowed outside his room. If he was not summoned for some conversation with his father his life was an endless loop of lessons and boredom. His window was the only way for him to see what the outside of the castle and he would often stand there, gaze at the sun as it rose and set, look at the stars and wonder how there could be lights in the sky or hear the sounds from the streets around the castle as people. His people went on with their daily lives most likely even not aware they had a prince.
He sighed and stared at the crumbled vine. The blackness of ash hung over the capital like thick clouds. The sun had not been visible for a few months, despite it being August. There were times when it looked as if there was nothing but thick smoke that covered all of the kingdom and he wondered how much more would crumble? Would the castle still stand upon his twentieth birthday or would it also turn to ash?
A sudden movement caught his attention and before he knew a black ball of fur dashed into his face. Plagg, his little rescue cat he had found the previous summer, had returned with yet another dead mouse in his mouth.
"Plagg, really?" Adrien exclaimed as the cat dropped the mouse by his hand.
Not like Plagg cared that he brought half eaten rodents anyway. Adrian turned to his other companion. There on his cabinet stood a large crystal bowl with a small turtle in it. It was another rescue he had found some years ago by the castle well. A small turtle that had been wounded, most likely from another animal.
"At least I've got you Nino to keep me somewhat free from that." He said and snickered at Plagg who now had moved to the bed and was busy cleaning his paws. The mouse lay forgotten where he had dropped it.
Adrien didn't really have friends. He had met a few people around his age when he was fairly young and his parents still allowed him to see people. During his mother's birthday, the year before she fell ill, there had been a grand ball and he had run around with children his age. But that was before his father had him locked away for good and he was certain the children had forgotten him.
A soft knock disrupted his depressing thoughts. The door opened. It wasn't rare for someone to enter his room, after all he was a prince and there were plenty of members of staff who had access to his chambers to clean, bring him things or even dress him in the morning. But this time it was not the maid who arrived, but a thin woman in a royal blue dress with matching peacock feathers sewn ornamentally in her hair.
"Your highness." The woman said. "Your father is expecting you to meet one of our guests. Please come with me."
Now this was unusual. Normally his father didn't seem to care that he had a son, much less than he had his son locked up in his tower and he had never asked him to come greet any of his guests. Adrien nodded and followed her quick strides.
They were soon joined by a large man with a big jaw and arms that could mow down even the greatest of fortresses. This was Adrien's bodyguard, the man who would normally stand outside his door and often walk behind him if he was allowed outside for once. Adrien had tried to escape him as young, but the man was well built and faster than he looked. He could never seem to get rid of him.
He sighed as Nathalie lead him down the familiar paths. He even knew exactly how many candles that hung on the wall on the way to his father´s study. 458, to be exact. Nathalie stopped outside the door, as did his bodyguard. Adrien knocked four times before entering.
"Come inside."
His father stood by his desk, gazing at the family portrait made shortly before the queen had fallen to ill health, some year before the purge. The older man, hair greyened by years of stress and the press of ruling, had his back turned to the door. By the desk two chairs were drawn. One was empty, but the other was occupied with a young woman with olive skin, olive green eyes and brown hair and a frown that made Adrien want to turn. He recognised her from the amount of engagement paintings that circulated the kingdoms and his heart fell. Lila Rossi was the daughter of the Rossi clan who ruled the valleys south of the volcano Vesuvius. He had not added her nor her small kingdom within his efforts to seek a bride because she was well known to be from a long line of witches and rumours said her heart was as black as the ashes of the volcano itself. No one in their right mind would trust a Rossi for so much as a spell to clear dust. They were known to drive a malicious bargain and could very easily exchange a gift for your very soul.
She nodded at him and smiled. Adrien nodded and copied her movement to sit down, but he couldn't feel his heart in the moment. He was mainly confused as why she was here and how his father dared to invite her.
"Well, what do you think?" Gabriel asked, but the question was not for Adrien, it was Lila. She smiled.
"I think this can be arranged." She said.
-oOo-
His shoulders vibrated as he muffled a cry of exhaustion and pain. His short excursion outside his room had been just that, an excursion. His father hadn't looked at him once, hadn't even acknowledged that he had sent for him. He had only been there as a piece of fabric to be shown as a sample. He was simply put just casual business in his father's busy life. Worse, he had clearly been deemed a failure in the only task his father had ever given him, to find a bride. He was such a failure that his father, tired of his failures, had reached out to the one candidate he had hoped would never be brought up. Adrien knew he was bad luck. He had never had a string of good luck in his life. Now, his bad luck had turned into even worse luck. Marry a Rossi? The universe had to hate him and their kingdom.
He could feel the weight of Plagg as the little black cat joined him on the bed. Adrien lifted his hand and petted the little creature on his head. Plagg's fur was softened at the top, while his further gradually got a thicker and more coarse texture the closer to tail that you got.
"I envy you" Adrien said out loud. "At least you get to roam however you want."
Plagg sneezed, Adrien smiled. At least he wasn't alone in his tower. He had Plagg and he also had Nino, though all Nino did was sleep or pop in and out of his shell from time to time.
"Well, I think that can be arranged."
Adrien jumped and his back hit the floor below. He wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not, it couldn't be, but it sounded as if Plagg had just spoken to him. Green eyes stared down at him from above.
"Well, you won't get anywhere from down there. Get up!"
His mouth hadn't moved, but Adrien could swear the voice came from Plagg.
"How… what…"
Plagg blinked.
"Yeah, I can talk. So what? So can you, and just about everyone else in this damn castle."
Adrien blinked.
"Stand up!" Plagg commanded, Adrien followed though his knees felt shakier than ever before.
"Take this." Plagg said and Adrien blinked to see a black onyx ring with green emeralds, like a paw print, fastened to the cat's tail. He detached it from the tail, his hands shook but Plagg didn't seem to notice, or care.
"Listen, my role is simple." Plagg continued. "Every curse had a cure, but cures are challenging to find for a reason. If it was simple it would make ruling simple and I've watched your attempts for a while now and they are all lacklustre. Really, you think princesses come on silver plates, purrlease! You've got thirteen days and you still haven't found. Simple kid, I've had it with your half hearted attempts so I figured you'd need a little extra help. I'm giving you the chance to find it yourself, unless you want to end up with that witch?"
"You mean Lila?"
"Yeah, she's got a bad rep among us black cats. No cat would ever bond with her, which is a huge thing among witches. No matter, long story short, this ring. It can create a disguise for you. It will grant you help to find what you seek. However, you cannot use it to run nor can you use it to gain. You will simply borrow it until your curse is broken and I can finally stop hearing you whine about fate and destinies."
"What do I do?" Adrien asked and slipped the ring on his ring finger.
"Simple, find a wife and the curse breaks."
"But, there are no more princesses…"
"Details, details…" Plagg said, his tail waving back and forth. "What is a marriage, tell me?"
"A union."
"Yes, and?"
"Well, a union between a man and a woman."
"Exactly, so go find yourself a nice woman and stop groaning about it."
"But my curse."
Plagg stared at him, he didn't even blink.
"But a princess…"
"Aren't you a prince? If you marry someone she automatically becomes a princess. Faeries are stupid that way, they constantly forget the gritty details."
Adrien blinked. Could it really be that simple?
"What… how do I use this then?"
"It's very simple, just say: Plagg, claws out."
The young man slowly nodded, not sure what to think.
"Plagg, claws out."
A warm tingling feeling fell over him. His usual silk and cotton robes melted to be replaced by soft leather. He ran to his mirror, to see himself, but not truly him. Gone were all traces of royalty. Instead stood a young man in black leather with a large black cape drawn over his shoulders. Warm leather boots covered his feet and his hands had been accentuated with clawed gloves that protruded right below the wrist. Over his back hung a short sword. But the most peculiar was the two pairs of black ears that seemed to appear from below his hairline and the black mask that adorned his face.
"Plagg?" he asked, not sure what to make of it all, but Plagg was gone.
"I'm down here." The cat's voice said, but the voice seemed to come from inside his head. 'Maybe I am going crazy' he thought.
"No, below your window." Plagg said. Adrien rushed to look down. A black stallion stood ready for him, probably the most amazing creature Adrien had ever seen.
"How do I get down?" Adrien asked in a slightly hushed tone. He was scared that the guards would look up and see him.
"Just climb." Plagg said and stomped the ground with a hoof. Adrien shrugged and to his surprise it was easy. It barely took him any effort to climb down the cracks of the stones. He climbed on top of Plagg and they were off in a quick pace. Laughter welled inside him. This was amazing, this was exhilarating. Is this what freedom was like?
-oOo-
Adrien had only visited the capital a handful of times and all of them as a very young boy when his mother would take him to meet their people. He barely knew the streets but followed the lit lanterns to the city centre square. The capital was large and shaped like a star with great walls surrounding it. There were six main gates and each gate had a wider street that lead to the heart of the city, which was the Square, a round open place that held one lone beacon that was rumoured to always burn. The castle was close to the southern walls, which were the most fortified, but the great avenue that lead the castle also connected it to the Square so that all of the town's people could see where their king and queen resided. Surrounding the Square were several narrower passages and the most popular shops. People were everywhere, hurrying between the shops, diving in and out from narrow passages, chatting, laughing. It amazed him. His mother had once said that the people of the country had the best attitude in the world and it showed. There were beginning of cracks and withered plants, but it seemed that whatever the curse that now ate on the land, it did not diminish the people's spirit. Adrien saw smiling faces that made his heart feel warm, but same time it ate at his guilt. Could he really be lucky enough to find a princess among his people? He had never been lucky, at least to what he remembered.
He felt proud of how well his people handled the upcoming crisis. As Plagg calmed from a gallop to a trot he contemplated how everyone must react to see him, now looking like a complete stranger with a mask. He did have some people look at him, but most minded their own business and stuck to whatever tasks they had set out to do. He even recognised one person, Chloé Bourgeois, the mayor's daughter one of the children he had once played with. She was unmistakeable and had not changed much, she still wore bright yellow dresses and carried herself as if she owned the world. She headed into one store signed: Wang Fu's tailor and dressmaker. Her yellow dress dragged in the ground, with her handmaid Sabrina running after her with boxes of what was most likely an 'utterly ridiculous' shopping spree.
Adrien stopped at the near pub, next door to the tailor, where a young boy met him to take Plagg's reigns so his companion would be well cared for. Adrien headed into the pub, which was just starting to fill with people stopping for a pint of ale or a glass of wine. Himself he chose a corner, ordered whatever the landlady recommended and simply listened. He wanted to learn more. Years of isolation made him hungry to get to know his people. His father had never liked the idea of mixing royalties and commoners and refused his request every time to go to the town to meet his people.
He realised as he listened to the conversations – his ears were magically enhanced to hear everything clearer – that he barely knew anything of what his people were like and his earlier presumptions were as wrong as the disguise he wore. His people were everything but happy. They had their share of complains, which surprised him because neither his father nor Nathalie, who had handled his education, had even mentioned the stirring unrest.
In a corner near the door a saddler complained how he barely made enough to feed himself and his four children. If the growing taxes would continue to grow, he would be forced out the capital to find someplace else, but he had nowhere to go. A maid with braided hair from a nearby town was anxious for the coming winter as crops had failed and withered. Many people outside the capital walls were worried if they would starve. Yet another lady, whom he guessed had to work with some kind of shop, was worried for the ever-growing darkness. He sighed. He didn't know how any of this could be fixed. He wondered briefly if people had to hate him.
Next to him sat a pair of young men, who looked like they knew each other quite well. "Look on the bright side" a red-haired man said to his, a dark-haired man with his pencil in a book. "I heard rumours, old rumours, that in a few days the prince ought to marry and once he becomes king it should all clear up. My gran' used to say: a nation in pain can only be saved when new leaders rise. I am sure it can only go uphill from here."
"We have a prince?" his companion asked.
"Well, they are throwing a big festival for something. My gran' used to say that the queen had a son almost two decades ago. And magic, once passed down, gets stronger."
"Well, I bet you my hat this is just a rumour and that this is just another scheme to get us to stop banging on the gates to complain."
Adrien didn't want to hear the rest. He placed a few copper coins by his now empty glass and hurried out to get Plagg. He felt like a shadow, who had invaded on his people. They didn't know him and few even realised he was there. He hadn't expected much, but he figured they must hate him. He also couldn't understand what they meant? Apart from his lifting his curse, could he ever help them with the taxes, politics, even understanding them? He had never been trained to be king, yes, he had lessons, but is father had ignored all things in his education when it came to diplomacy and what ruling meant. He rushed out the door, not sure this had been the best of ideas.
Plagg seemed annoyed at having been left at a stable – figures as he is a magical cat, not a horse. Adrien had to give him a few lumps of sugar before he would even let him get near him. Before leaving he gave the stable boy another coin and mounted the now somewhat calmer cat-horse and steered back toward the castle. By now the square was almost empty. Only the streetlights and the still burning fire from the tailor gave any light.
If he had paid attention, he would have seen the two small shadows that curiously looked at him from a corner of a narrow street and two hungry eyes eyeing the pub as the pub owner threw some leftover soup into the drains.
He scaled back over the walls, his leathered gloves acting like claws making the climb easier. Once back the spell broke and he was back in his usual princely attire of silk and soft cotton. For a moment he wondered if he had been dreaming. Plagg jumped up beside him, having climbed the wall as the cat he was.
"Well?" Plagg asked.
"I'm a coward." Adrien sighed.
"Yes you are, and that is just one day wasted upon you. Tomorrow I hope you have a better plan, or this is not going to work. I said you should find love, not find more problems."
Adrien sighed, threw off his outer shirts and buried himself within the futons and pillows of his bed. He dreaded the next couple of days.