Hey guys! School is officially back in session, and I will try to keep my updating schedule of every other day, but if I miss a few, don't be mad, okay? The next month or so is very, very hectic for me :( So I'm just trying to work everything out in my new schedule and hopefully keep my writing at a high priority. Either way, this fic is almost done, and I might take like a weeks break between this one and the next fic?
Oh, yeah. I have the next fic planned. Remember when I said I was going to take a break? Wellllllll what I think I'm going to do instead is update, like, maybe once a week for this next fic and then work on my book in between. I've never done two projects at the same time like that, so it might go really well or I might have the urge to set myself on fire. Either way, it's happening :)
That's enough from me. Onto the cute little prince and princess!
"I don't think you even need my help anymore."
"...I don't know about that. Some of these longer words are still… tough."
Rin laughed. "I think you're just looking for excuses to sneak into my room at night."
"I don't need an excuse to do that," Len pointed out.
The two of them sat on the floor of her chambers, leaning against the glass doors to the gardens. The further away they were from her door, and the two men guarding it, the better. They spoke barely above a whisper. Behind them, pale moonlight streamed in through the windows.
They had been talking for quite a few hours, as was their new nightly routine. As silence fell over them, Len's smile slowly faded.
"...How is he?" He finally asked.
Rin looked down at the book in her lap. "He is… bearable."
He merely sighed.
"It's the queen that terrifies me," she continued. "When he said he wanted us to spend more time together, I didn't think his mother would tag along on every occasion."
Len raised an eyebrow. "Every occasion?"
"Every single one."
"I don't like her either," he agreed. "Everything about her seems… off."
Rin nodded. "But besides that… I guess he's fine."
"You think so? Even after yelling at that maid the other day?"
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. That memory had been nearly forgotten. "He is at least kind to me."
"He acts just as stuck up as his mother," Len scowled, putting his book down on the floor next to him.
"He is a prince. He can act however he wants."
"I'm a prince, too. You don't see me waltzing around like I own the place."
"Not anymore," she accused.
He let out a huff. "I had an excuse. What's his?"
"That he's engaged to be married to someone he doesn't know?" Rin felt her voice raise slightly.
"Why are you trying to defend him?"
"Because he doesn't want this any more than I do!" She snapped. "Why do you ask me about him if you supposedly already know what he's like?"
Their eyes met. At the contact, the two felt their anger slowly dimish.
"I don't like seeing you two together," Len finally admitted.
She took a deep breath, moving closer to him and resting her head on his shoulder. "I know," she responded. "I just… if I have to do this, I might as well try to make it pleasant, you know?" She spoke slowly, afraid to let her anger bubble up again.
He nodded. "I know."
For a while, the room was silent except for the gentle breezes behind them and their own steady breathing.
"Do you need to talk?" She asked, her voice gentle. Still, it cut through the air like a sword.
He knew immediately what she was talking about. "No."
"It's been days, Len. You need to talk about it."
"I don't want to."
"What will you guys do? Go back and rebuild?"
"I said I don't want to talk about it."
She sighed, letting her fingers intertwine with his. "It's not good for you, keeping it all pent up like that."
No response.
She sniffled, resisting the urge to let tears fall. "With everything going on right now," she began, squeezing his hand. "I wonder if there is any happiness left in the world."
"Of course there is," he answered quickly. "There always is. Somewhere."
Somewhere. "Do you want to go to the river?"
He raised his eyebrows, looking down at her. "This late?"
"Why not?" Their noses were nearly touching. She imagined briefly what would happen if the guards were to burst into her room at that very moment. To her surprise, the thought didn't bother her much.
Despite himself, Len smiled. "Whatever the princess wants."
They pushed themselves through the door not even five minutes later, stepping food onto the soft dirt of the riverbank. The water trickled peacefully along in its path, reflecting the bright moonlight in its gentle waters.
Rin felt the tightness in her chest loosen ever so slightly, allowing her to breathe again. With a smile, she removed her slippers, sitting on the edge of the bank and lowering her feet into the water.
At first contact, she flinched, pulling her feet back out. "It's cold," she advised Len with a smile, taking a deep breath before lowering them back in.
He shook his head. "You're crazy. I bet it's freezing."
"Why don't you come find out?" she said slyly. She leaned back on her arms. "The princess wants you to."
He sighed. "Very well," he answered with a chuckle, rolling up the legs of his pants and removing his shoes as well. He took a seat next to her, letting the water flow past his ankles.
"It's so much better just being out of that room," she said, admiring the view of countless trees spread out before the distant mountains. "I almost feel free again."
"Cold water makes you feel free?" He asked.
She giggled. "I guess so."
"Well," he began. "You should love this, then."
She realized what he was doing just as he extended his arm out, attempting to push her playfully into the shallow waters, she let out a high-pitched laugh as she grabbed his arm, sending both of them tumbling into the waters with a loud splash.
The water was cold enough to steal Rin's breath directly from her lungs. She surfaced, taking in a sweet gulp of air. Len came up next to her. His wet hair clung to his face, his clothes completely drenched and hanging heavily from his body.
Had the water been any deeper, Rin might have felt a bit nervous at her body's unwillingness to move in the cold water. But feeling the sand beneath her toes, and knowing that Len was within an arms reach of her, she almost felt like a little girl again.
"Dammit," Len splashed at the water with a grin.
"You gotta be quicker than that!" Rin yelled at him gleefully. She pushed back her hair, trying to keep it from sticking to her face.
"How am I gonna sneak back like this?" He asked, looking down at his shirt. "It'll sound like I'm constantly stomping around in mud."
"At least your shoes are dry," Rin pointed out, laughing.
"Shut up," he pouted.
"That's what you get for trying to push me in," she answered, jabbing her hand into the waters, sending a small splash in his directions.
"You don't wanna mess with me," he teased. "I've spent my entire life annoying little girls. You don't stand a chance." He sent a wave back.
She dropped her mouth open in mock rage. "Little girls!?"
The river passed gently around them, interrupted only by the two of them wading around, laughing with each other.
"Your father has requested your presence on the war council, my prince."
Len sighed from his place at his desk. "Tell him I will be there soon," he called over his shoulder towards the servant.
"Of course." He closed the door to Len's chambers, leaving him alone.
It was much too early in the morning for any sort of talk of war, but Len's mother had been relentlessly insisting he plan an attack on the Yuzukis ever since he had revealed the dire fate of their home. King Kagamine was feeling the pressure and was inadvertently pushing it onto his son himself.
Len already had enough to worry about.
Nevertheless, he pushed himself away from his desk, the chair screeching against the wooden floors, and started down the halls.
He had retraced the path to the council room many times, so many in fact that he no longer had to look where he was going. Instead, he let his eyes roam the halls, scanning each corridor for any sign of the princess or her maids, who could possibly inform him on her whereabouts. Each night, it was becoming more and more difficult to sneak into her gardens. Seeing her during the day was soon going to be his preferred method of contact.
The council room was in the back of the castle, near the barracks and dungeons. Guards of all three houses; Brighton, Kagamine, and Tohoku - all swarmed the halls, some fully geared and others with their helmets tucked neatly under their arm. While the colors of Rin's and Len's houses mingled together, the Tohokus were never seen speaking to anyone except their own.
It was the same when we arrived, Len thought to himself. But it's been so long… my men might as well be Brighton's by now.
The thought unpleased him.
He began to turn a corner into the hall just before the council room as he bumped into someone.
He rose his head to offer an apology to the guard, but his expression darkened at the sight of Queen Tohoku. She jumped back at the sight of him like a startled animal baring its teeth. The moment she recognized him, she quickly recovered her composure and spoke.
"Ah, Len."
"What are you doing here?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.
She frowned. "What a rude thing to ask."
His eyes scanned the hall behind her. It was empty. "I don't see any guards to punish me," he pointed out. And he was correct; she was alone.
She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.
Len felt a vicious sense of victory. He had no idea what she was doing in the soldiers quarters, but it was obvious that she did not want to be caught. But she had.
"I am looking for them," she finally declared. "They were supposed to be escorting me around this dreadful place today, and when I left my chambers, they were no where to be found."
Len raised an eyebrow. "And your servants could not fetch them for you?"
"The servants here are no better than crumb-hungry rats," she spat. "The prisoners in my dungeons listen better than them."
He couldn't help but grin. Here was the real Queen Tohoku. She knew no false kindness was needed in the presence of the Kagamine prince. He wondered briefly if the same thing would happen if Len happened across her son.
She was obviously uncomfortable at his triumphant expression. "And what about you? What business does a prince have with lowly soldiers?"
"War council," he answered, still smiling. "With my father."
She raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So he actually will do something about this?"
She was trying to get on his nerves again and he knew it. This time, he would not let her. "He's been planning a long time. Carefully, as to not make any mistakes."
"Oh I'm sure," she responded, folding her hands in front of her skirts. "I can only hope he doesn't put his dear friend Brighton in danger by doing anything too… rash."
"Brighton has been kind to us." It killed Len inside to defend the king, but he would side with Rin's father over this witch any day.
"And what a shame that helping you could turn him into a target as well. Who knows? Maybe Khaesea is next."
"Yuzuki would have a much easier time raising Casburg Bay, I'm sure."
The queen took in a deep breath of air, her shoulders rising and falling with it as her face twisted into a glare of pure hatred at the boy.
He grinned.
She rose her head once more. "You'd better hope not," she finally sneered. "Else your beloved princess will end up just like the unlucky half of your people."
His grin disappeared. This time, it was Tohoku's turn to grin.
"You know, both my son and I are quite looking forward to our new family member," she continued. Her eyes glimmered knowingly. "How pleasant it will be, for her to give me grandchildren."
With narrowed eyes, Len felt his hands clench into fists.
Feeling she had finally won the conversation, Tohoku smiled. "Excuse me," she said, before drifting around him and down the hall, away from the council room.
Len took a deep breath, shaking away her words before continuing towards it.
I need to use these formatting lines more. They look so clean. I can't believe I forgot about them.
Also, I wonder what Tohoku was doing near the war council? Hmmmmm.
Just an FYI, if you guys ever want to talk to me directly about anything in my fics, please DM me :) I love talking to you guys and hearing what you think (good or bad!) about my fics. I almost never DM someone first, just because I'm socially awkward. Also, the first and last time I directly responded to someone who left a comment on one of my fics, I didn't know it sent to DM's and I'm still traumatized by it lol
You get the point.
As always, thanks for reading! :)