Hey guys! I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow, so no updates this week :( to make up for it, I'll double upload chapters today. I will be back and writing and posting on Sunday :)

Enjoy!

Len had returned to breakfast, catching the suspicious glances of everyone in the room as he entered. He avoided them all. Sitting in his chair, his only interest was finishing the delicious fish he had started before rushing out to help the princess.

Rin did not return with him. Instead, knowing her schedule for the day, she decided to skip the rest of the meal and head straight to lessons.

The Khaesea Palace Library was a wonder in and of itself. It was housed in the very center of the palace, a few floors above the grand hall. The entrance doors were nearly as large as the entrance to the palace, towering high above Rin as she slowly pushed one of them in, slipping inside. The main floor was the most open, with tables and chairs crowding the smooth tiled floor in front of her. But above, massive towers of shelves rose, reaching nearly to the ceiling, where glass skylights allowed the sun to filter into the room nearly a dozen floors above her. There was no other way to even hope of lighting it - the bookshelves blocked every wall-mounted candelabra in sight, and fire was a dangerous thing in a room full of such rich history and stories written on paper. The library was the largest area in the castle, and, along with the veranda where she often ate lunch, was one of Rin's favorite places in the palace.

Her mentor, one of the few elders in the castle, sat in a wooden chair at one of the tables, leafing through the pages of a history book. At the creak of the great door, she looked up to see the princess enter. She slowly pressed herself to her feet. "Princess," she greeted with a smile.

"You don't have to stand for me," Rin insisted, rushing to her side. "Good morning, Mei."

"You're too kind," she answered, lowering herself back down. "Today," the old woman began. "We will be going over the neighboring kingdoms."

Rin frowned. "Again?"

"You have trouble with these."

Her mentor was not wrong. There were just so many names, colors, and places to remember. "I know the ones that matter." She sat down next to Meiko.

The old woman frowned. "That is very rude, princess. Each of these houses has an important history, and all of them have had a significant part in getting you here today," she scolded. "They all matter. In one way or another."

Rin lowered her head. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I didn't mean it like that." The kingdoms had always frustrated her.

Mei sat straight in her chair, flipping through her book to the first page. "Go through them." The book was a mess of words, written in the sporadic handwriting of maesters past, describing who ruled in each kingdom during which time period, how many children they had and what their names were, where they lived and who they went to war with. The lists went on and on, and it was Mei's job now to continue filling in the many blank pages at the end of the book. She had yet to write about the recent attacks on the Kagamine family. She was not eager to.

Despite the walls of text, all she cared about while teaching her pupil were the titles, colors, areas of interest, and their crest. Only once she had memorized them all would Mei teach her the specific histories of each.

Rin nodded, trying not to look at the book as her mind searched for answers. "House Brighton, colors white and blue, rule in the city of Khaesea. Kingdom crest is a phoenix."

Her mentor pulled her lips into a thin, disapproving line. "You always begin with the easiest."

The princess sighed. They had been going over this subject for days, and she still could barely remember. "House Kagamine, colors orange, yellow, and white. They rule in…" she trailed off, unsure how to finish.

"Skip them," Mei said curtly, flipping through her pages.

"...House Yuzuki, crest is a snake-"

"Skip them, too."

Rin nodded, eager at the chance to skip the wicked family. "House Nekomura, colors red and black. Rule the southern isles-"

"Which one is their city on?"

"...Malrich."

"Correct."

"House Nekomura," she repeated, trying to jog her memory. "Kingdom Crest is a cat. House Megpoid-"

Mei rolled her eyes. "Of course, you remember the devils."

Indeed she did. House Megpoid was most famous for their use in magic. It was the only kingdom remaining that had a house sorcerer. Or, rather, sorceress. "Colors, green and orange. Rule in the Glacona Mountains. House crest is a raven."

Rin continued listing off the houses she could remember, which turned out to be quite a few of them. She surprised herself as well as her teacher. In the days since they had begun their study, she had not remembered this many.

She told of House Serle, the family her father's sister had married into. She told of House Aberardus and their city location, dangerously close to a dragon nest in the hills. She told of the Thancreds, the Hanns, and the Wilmonts, along with all others she could remember.

Which was a little more than half.

"Any more?" Mei asked after Rin took an especially long pause.

"I…" her pupil stared intently down at the table. "I don't think so."

Mei let out a sigh. "That was very good." Compliments were rare from the maester. "But you had many more to learn. Including…" Some light returned to Mei's voice as she flipped through her pages once more, landing on one with a smile.

"The Tohokus," Rin finished, lowering her voice and looking down at the page. "Colors blue and green. Rule in Casburg Bay. House crest… sea serpent."

Mei's wide smile did not reach the princess. "Lady Tohoku rules the city in place of her late husband, gods rest his soul. You will get to know her very well, soon," she promised. "Along with her son."

Rin knew what she was getting at.

Mei's smiled faded at the Rin's blank stare. "Are you not excited to meet him?"

"It is not for another year."

"Casburg Bay will be your kingdom, one day."

"Khaesea is my kingdom," she argued, trying to keep her voice steady. "No other."

Mei sighed, placing one of her wrinkled hands on Rin's in comfort. "It is a very beautiful city, directly on the ocean," she began. "They have fresh fish every night for dinner, with many exotics I bet you've never even heard of."

Rin stared down at the pages, unmoving.

"And it is always sunny. There is never any snow, no cold nights, no harsh winters. The people have festivals every month celebrating the new moon. Their culture is rich, based entirely on the creatures of the sea." Mei leaned in, lowering her voice to a whisper. "They say mermaids bask in the moonlight when no sailors are present. Sirens call to men at the docks, and only those with ancestors in the city can resist them. It is in their blood." She smiled. "They say it keeps the foreigners away."

Mei's comforting stories may have worked once, but Rin was not a child anymore. She was nearing adulthood, and soon she would be married off - castaway at sea. She could think of nothing worse happening to her.

"They say the prince is very handsome," she continued. "He has a passion for horseback riding. Hopped onto his stallion's back when he was just a boy. And your marriage will open up dozens of trade routes to the sea- "

"I don't want to marry out of politics," Rin spat. "I want to marry out of love."

Mei's words caught in her throat.

Rin could hear no more, but just as she was about to snap at her instructor once more, the doors creaked open in front of them. The king himself entered with his guards no doubt posted at the doors. He didn't look happy.

Rin already knew why he was here. And, of course, he had to catch her at this frustrating time.

"Maester, I need a word with my daughter," he commanded, motioning for the door behind him.

Mei seemed surprised - frightened, even - at his obviously sour mood. But she said nothing, standing shakily from her chair and drifting slowly out of the room.

Rin did not stand from the table. Her eyes were still glued to the book in front of her. House Tohoku, the top of the page read in big, bolded letters.

"What was that?" The king asked his daughter.

"What was what?"

"Don't play a fool with me," he demanded, walking towards her table.

Rin took a deep breath. "One of my maids… hasn't been feeling well. The prince helped me take her back to her quarters."

"I told you-"

"You told me to stay away from him, and then you sent me parading through the streets with him," she snapped, stunning herself as well as her father.

He straightened, hands resting on his belt. "You do not," he began through clenched teeth. "Ever speak over a king."

Rin said nothing, still staring at her book.

Bruno looked down at his daughter, the sight of his only child softening his anger. "Rin… I sent you to the construction sites with him as a purely diplomatic act. It does not mean I want you spending any more time with him than necessary."

"He was just helping me-"

"That boy does nothing unless it will gain him something as well," the king said, cutting her off as he sat at the table across from her. "He did not pay us the respect we deserve, he does not speak at our meals unless demanded, and he does absolutely none of his princely duties whatsoever."

"He isn't that bad."

It took everything in Bruno's power not to begin yelling at his daughter. What has gotten into her? "He is nothing but trouble. And I stand by what I said before: I do not want to see you with him."

Rin couldn't help but hide her scowl. Even if he was as bad as they all say, it was not her fault that he had chosen to help her. It was not her fault he had caused a scene during their meal, rising from his chair and following her into the hall. Why was she the one being punished?

Probably because he wouldn't listen, even if they did scold him, Rin thought.

The king glanced down at the book in front of her, catching eyes of the titled page. "This," he said, tapping the page with his finger. "Is your future. And I will have the head of anyone who tries to take this from you."

They were meant to be comforting words; a father promising his daughter a wonderful life. But Rin saw it as nothing but a threat.

"Yes, father."

It was nearly midnight when Rin heard a knock on her door.

She had been tossing and turning in her bed for hours after her maids left, the names of different houses running through her mind, along with Meiko's promising smile when speaking of Rin's future husband, and her father's stern words.

She sat up in bed, straight as a board. An invasion? Was her first thought, but she brushed it off. She would have heard it long before, and the guards would not knock when entering the room of a princess if their intent was to get her to safety.

It was a warm night. Miku and Luka had left the doors to her gardens open, allowing the cool night breeze to pass through her darkened room. The distant, fresh smell of the wilderness came with it.

The knocks came again. They were soft.

Rin crept out of her bed, holding her thick blanket over her shoulders and in front of her. She was only in her nightclothes, and wouldn't have time to change before her strange night visitor went away.

Her hand turned the doorknob slowly. She noticed a slight tremble in her fingers.

It was Len.

"Oh, you are still awake," he said with a grin. "I wasn't sure you would be."

"What are you doing here?" Rin whispered harshly. I'll have the head of anyone who tries to take this from you. Her father's words echoed in her mind. "This… this is very inappropriate-" Her hand gripped the door handle with white knuckles.

Len looked down the hall on either side of him. "You never brought your maid that blanket, did you?"

It took Rin a moment to even remember what he was talking about. "What? Oh, no. I… I didn't."

"Do you want to?"

She frowned. "It's garbage. She's better with what she has already."

"I think she would really appreciate it."

Rin met the eyes of the prince who was the reason she never delivered the gift in the first place.

He lowered his head at her accusatory eyes. "I was wrong to tell you those things. It was… rude of me."

"So this is your way of apologizing?" She asked, clutching the blanket to her chest.

I do not want to see you with him.

He did not answer, staring down at the floor.

"Give me a moment to change," she whispered, closing the door before hearing his response.

It was not five minutes before the two were on their way down the darkened halls. They walked in silence, listening intently for the sounds of approaching guards. Rin clutched the blanket to her chest, pulled out from under her bed for the first time in days.

"I… I'm directly violating my father's wishes, walking with you," Rin pointed out, speaking softly. The silence was becoming too much for her. "Especially at this time of night."

"Sometimes it is fun to rebel," was his answer.

"Why does he dislike you so?" She asked. "My… my parents say that you are trouble, but I have yet to hear any… stories."

He chuckled. "I could tell you some stories."

Rin smiled for the first time that day. "Could you? What, do you already have bastard children at the Acacia Falls brothel?"

"No," he answered, flushing a bit with his smile. "Women are not my vice."

"Then what is?"

He pondered this for a moment before finally answering. "Disobedience."

"I could have figured that out."

"When I was nine," he began. "I snuck out of the castle for the first time."

"The castle?" Rin gawked. Sneaking out of her room was enough.

"The castle," he confirmed, his eyes on the floor as he relived the memory. "I had a friend in the town that I had met at the celebration of Lenka's birth. The whole city was full of drunken joy and laughter - anyway, no one noticed when I played in the mud of the town square with the blacksmith's son. But on this night, the two of us were up to more than just playing in the mud.

"We had heard that one of the mares in the city stables had just given birth to a foal and we wanted to see it for ourselves. So we ran to the stables clear on the other side of the city from the palace. I think I ran that entire night, my legs were exhausted in the morning.

"When we arrived, the little thing was curled up next to its mother, and we thought it was because they were cold. So, we decided to light a fire to warm them up."

Rin's mouth dropped open. "No!"

"Don't worry, none of the horses died," he assured her with a reminiscent smile. "But the stables were up in flames in seconds. We were terrified."

"What happened?"

"When the townsfolk woke up, they started yelling to each other that there was a fire in the stables, and we just ran. We ran all the way to the edge of the village at the base of a large hill. We could still see the blaze from our hiding spot.

"They pulled all of the horses out and simply let it burn. No other buildings caught, thank the gods. But the stables were nothing but charred ash the next morning.

"It wasn't until then that my nannies found me missing from my bed. My parents thought we had been attacked, and I was kidnapped in the night. But then the guards found me and the boy sleeping in the grass of the hill."

"That's awful," Rin could only imagine the panicked shouts of the people as they ran into the flames.

"It was great fun, actually."

"What?" Rin barked in disbelief.

"If anyone had been harmed, I would look back on the memory with regret. But we were only children. The stables were back in order in a week, no one - person or horse - with even a trace of a burn."

"Your father must have been angry," she returned.

"He was livid. Less so because of the stables and more because he thought I was gone." Len cast a look over his shoulder at the empty hallway behind them. "His only son, kidnapped. So, naturally, I did it again. And again. Each time getting into something else."

"I hope none are as bad as that," Rin commented.

He rose an eyebrow. "Do you want another?"

"Does it involve fire? Or injury?"

"I don't think so," he answered.

Rin smiled. "Sure. Another."

"There was a time when I was fifteen that I escaped to a local tavern," he began. "They were having a cards tournament."

She laughed. "Cards? I never took you to be the type."

"I wasn't," he confirmed. "That's why I cheated."

"You cheated? As if you need the money!"

"It wasn't the money I was after," he corrected. "It was the title."

"There is no glory in cheating," Rin argued, still grinning at his tales.

"But there is in winning."

She shook her head in disbelief, almost impressed.

"It didn't work, anyway. Only a few seconds after I won the last hand, the barmaster caught me and called me out to everyone. Forty or so men, all packed together in that room, all having lost their gold to me. It was a good thing I wore a cloak, or they would have surely recognized me."

"What did you do?"

"I did what I always do when trouble finds me. I ran like hell."

Rin covered her mouth to suppress her laughter.

"Once I reached the gates to the castle, the guards were furious that I arrived with an angry mob in tow."

"And their gold?"

"I never took anyone's gold. It was under my stool in the tavern where I'd left it. As you said, I didn't need it."

Their banter had lasted them all the way through the palace. Before the duo knew it, they were descending the stairs into the servant's quarters together for the second time that day.

"Tell me another," Rin insisted.

"Well, once, Kokone and I were angry with mother because she refused to give us sweets after dinner…"

Awwwww my little forbidden lovers.

Thanks for reading! :)