Disclaimer: I do not own She-Ra or its related characters. All is the property of Noelle Stevenson, Dream Works Animation, Netflix, NBCUniversal Television Distribution, Filmation, Larry DiTillo, and J. Michael Straczynski.
Inconvenient Arrangements
Chapter Eighteen: Princess Prom
This would be Hec-Tor's first formal event on Etheria. Academically, he knew it couldn't be anything like formal events in the Empire, but he was very much hoping it would also not be like 'formal' events on Eternia either. Etheria and Eternia were neighbors within the same solar system and there were numerous similarities between them. But they were still two different planets with their own different and unique cultures. They did not have to structure their balls and celebrations the same.
Hec-Tor just did not want to be in a room full of drunk, rowdy, scantily clad warriors, smashing beer tankards, and dancing on tables like how it was at Randor's coronation.
Okay, that wasn't entirely true. Hec-Tor did enjoy the scantily clad warriors part. Both the men and the women on Eternia seemed to dress exactly the same –even to formal events- loincloths of either leather or fur, belts, breastplates, occasionally a leotard. But no pants. No one on Eternia ever seemed to wear pants. A planet of bare legs and butt-cheeks. That was nice…
On Etheria, Hec-Tor already noted, that people did –in fact- wear pants. So, that at least, would be different from Eternian formal events.
The invitation also covered a great deal of etiquette and protocol that needed to be followed upon entering Princess Prom, and that too was different from Eternia. Rules for greeting, rules for eating, rules for drinking, rules for dancing. So, the chances of people jumping up on tables and smashing tankards on the floor were very low.
Hec-Tor smoothed his hands over his gown. A satin bodice with a plunging V-neckline going so low it almost exposed his belly. A panel of chiffon was sewn in and inlayed with diamonds that sparkled to distract from the discoloration that was exposed. More sparkling, diamond encrusted chiffon hung from his shoulders, unable to decide if they were sleeves or a cape, they just barely brushed the floor, as long as the skirt, whispering over the stones like the gossamer of a ghost. All of it a blue so dark it was almost black.
While a formal dress code was implied by the overall formality and tone of the invitation, no dress code was expressly stated on the form. Hec-Tor had checked very thoroughly, as had both his lieutenants. Princesses were not specifically required to dress-up for the occasion.
Perhaps that was why Entrapta bounced into the entrance hall, seemingly ready to leave, wearing the exact same overalls she had worn almost every day since the day Hec-Tor had met her. He would have thought she might throw on the dress she wore to their informal brunch, at least –even with its grease stain on the yoke.
But that was back on Horde World, and there was an old saying, 'When in the in the Horde, do as the Horde do.' They were no on Horde World anymore. Now they were on Etheria, and Entrapta was doing as Etherians did. She was being herself.
"Ready to go?" Entrapta cartwheeled around him on her hair.
Before he could respond, a robot appeared and opened the door.
Scorpia was on the other side, wearing a sleek black dress with a sweetheart bodice and an asymmetrical sleeve. She was holding a bouquet of flowers in one claw, the other one scratching the back of her head awkwardly. "Oh, hey guys! You look nice! Wow, Prince, are those diamonds?"
"Hey, Scorpia!" Entrapta smiled at her. "Were we supposed to go together?"
A datapad materialized from out of her hair and she began scrolling through her calendar app, legitimately wondering if she made plans with her friend and had forgotten. She was very good at remembering things pertaining to tech, her experiments, or her other interests. She was not quite so good at remembering interpersonal things like dates with friends, or birthdays.
"Uh, no… I'm actually here to pick up Catra." Scorpia told her.
Entrapta blinked, as if confused for a moment.
"I've been here the whole time." Announced Catra's voice from behind a billowing mound of Entrapta's hair.
The Princess lifted her hair to reveal Catra was, indeed, also in the entrance hall. Wearing a wine burgundy suit, tailored to fit her figure, and spats over her feet. It looked like she tried to include a bowtie, but was unable to tie it. It hung un-tied around her neck.
Catra looked Scorpia up and down. "You look really good."
Scorpia could only beam at her. "Wow, Catra, you look amazing!"
She offered her arm, and Scorpia and Catra left together.
Hec-Tor watched their retreating backs in confusion. A Princess with a… servant?
Entrapta, however, seemed completely unbothered. Not just unbothered, but genuinely happy. She did a backflip with her hair, smiling wide and cackling with glee. "I'm so glad Scorpia found someone to go with! And Catra get's to go too! We should all compare notes at the end. I wonder how our different variables will affect the data!"
Hec-Tor did not offer a comment.
…
Princess Prom was hosted by the Kingdom of Brightmoon.
It was Dryls neighboring kingdom, literally on the other side of the mountains that made up the majority of Entrapta's domain. It the mountains bordering it on one side, an enchanted forest encircling most of the rest of it, and one small little stretched of coastline that provided Brightmoon with sea access.
The palace was built overlooking the main harbor and they had put lights on the water for the event.
There were lights in the halls and corridors too, and floating up near the ceiling of the great hall that had been converted into a ballroom. Glowing orbs of magic in the colors of pink, white, blue, and lavender. Hec-Tor had seen Keldor make balls of light before. Small balls of a soft yellow light to read by. But never as many or as grand of these. It was said that the Queen of Brightmoon drew primal magic from the Moonstone, one of very few magical runestones that were the source of most magics on Etheria. Not only that, but she had married a sorcerer, the top graduate from the magical collage of Mystacore, Micah. Brightmoon was a kingdom rich with magic and it showed.
Hec-Tor and Entrapta bowed to the hosting couple, lowing the appropriate depth, and holding it for the specified amount of time. There were very specific instructions in the invitation for visiting leaders from other planets. Entrapta was not a visiting leader, but Hec-Tor was, and Entrapta was his spouse. It was a little confusing and there were room for interpretation, but one of them raised themselves up from the bow before the other and neither Queen Angella or King Micah were insulted.
"We welcome you under the Ancient Rules of Hospitality.Please enjoy the ball." Angella announced. The words of welcome that were outlined in the invitation which Hec-Tor expected. Words that signified the greetings were over and he and Entrapta were free to move about the party.
The room was already full of people. Every royal house of Etheria was represented, even some that were not technically royal, but none the less influential or important on Etheria.
A green-skinned reptilian creature with yellow-blond hair tumbling down their back, wearing a crop top and a pencil skirt, a feather boa draped over their shoulders that he did not recognize. A small child wearing a blue coat with white fur trim, which Hec-Tor did recognize as a Princess of the northern most kingdom. He saw Scorpia with Catra again, Scorpia smiling at everyone and everything, while Catra stood close to her politely embarrassed with her arms crossed over her chest. There was a woman with dark skin and dark hair, dressed in a sari, another Princess, from the sea fairing kingdom he thought. She was trying very hard to look like she hadn't come with a man who was dressed to match her and was making an utter fool of himself.
Hec-Tor was still taking stock of the crowd gathered in the room, trying to match faces to the dossiers he'd read in preparation for his move to Etheria, but Entrapta pulled him away. Wrapping her hair around his waist and pulling him halfway across the room. The chiffon of his sleeves billowing behind them to mark their path.
"Perfuma! Hey!" Entrapta shouted at another woman halfway across the room. "There's someone I want you to meet!"
Hec-Tor was plunked down back on his feet in front of a woman with sun-browned skin dotted with freckles, and golden hair. She blinked up at him, perhaps a little intimidated by his height, but more than anything confused. She chanced a glance at Entrapta, looking for more of an explanation. Why had she practically vaulted over the whole room to show this man to her.
Entrapta seemed content only to smile.
"I'm… pleased to meet you?" Said the blond –Perfuma. "Um, who… are you?"
"Oh! Right!" Entrapta cut Hec-Tor off before he could even begin an introduction. "This is Hec-Tor. My spouse. We're married. I'm married!"
She held up her hand. Which was gloved, and so no one could see if she was wearing a ring or not.
"Oh." Perfuma could only blink. It seemed she wasn't sure quite how she was supposed to react. She still seemed confused.
"I just wanted you to know that your hypothesis was wrong." Entrapta informed her. "I can only assume you did not account for all the variables and were working off incomplete data. As you can see: I did find someone to be with."
A tendril of hair coiled around Hec-Tor's hands, the strands intertwining with her fingers. It was remarkably like holding hands, only they weren't holding hands.
Perfuma's face turned a bright, mortified shade of pink. And Hec-Tor got the distinct impression that more was going on here than just introducing him to another royal lady of Etheria. There was some personal… something going on between the two women. Something he did not understand, but was suddenly pulled into the middle of. Hec-Tor watched the color in her face deepen from bright pink to deeper red.
"I-" she began through clenched teeth, "I'm happy you were able to find such a harmonious match." Perfuma put on what was supposed to be a smile, but it wasn't a cheerful one. It was like the suffering grins Imp would give when taking a photo. An unpleasant stretching of the lips to show teeth, but without any joy in it. "Excuse me, the aura's are a little thick over here."
Perfuma fled.
Hec-Tor waited until she disappeared into the crowd before he turned to Entrapta and asked, "Your rival?"
"Ex-girlfriend." Entrapta explained, her hair letting go of his hand.
Hec-Tor made an odd croaking sound with his throat. That was not what he was expecting. He knew Entrapta must have had lovers. She was too knowledgeable about sex on their wedding night to have been a virgin. Since she had lovers before him and did not have lovers now, then –obviously- she had to have sex-lovers. He just wasn't expecting her to drag him over to one and shove him in said ex-lover's face.
"I'm gonna observe some specimens." Entrapta announced. "The food table is over there." She pointed. "So you can take your medications."
He was carrying his meds and supplements in a small clutch purse.
Entrapta vanished from his side before he could reply.
Without his partner to escort, and with nothing else to do, Hec-Tor did what she suggested and drifted over to the craft services table to fill a plate with tiny, party serving sized food and a glass of water to take his meds with.
He was just washing down his pills with some spiced juice when someone he did not expect to see on Etheria at all, came striding up to him.
Before he even knew what was happening, Hec-Tor was pulled into a tight bear-hug and squeezed so tight, he almost spit up all the medication he just gulped down.
"Hec-Tor!" Roared the one who had accosted him.
A great beast of a man. Shorter than him, but wide and thick. Arms and shoulders bulging with muscles, face covered in a thick beard of auburn hair. He was earing a brocade vest over a tunic that fell just short of his knees. His bare legs below it bulging with just as much muscle as his arms. Eternian-style boots on his feet. A gold crown atop his head.
Hec-Tor gasped the moment he was let go. Not just because he was surprised to see him, mostly because he just had all the air squeezed out of him and, while his species didn't need much oxygen, he did still need to breath.
"Randor!?" He managed to heave before having to swallow suddenly to keep his medications down. "What are you doing here?"
Randor was Keldor's youngest brother, Hec-Tor's brother-in-law (or, former brother-in-law now that his marriage to Keldor was ended?) and he was the King of Eternia.
This was not Eternia.
"I'm escorting my daughter." Randor announced. He leaned over the food service table and filled an empty mug he had with him from a barrel at the end of the table labeled 'shiraz'. He filled it to the brim, then took a long sip from it before continuing. "She's engaged to the daughter of our hosts tonight. Princess Glimmer."
"Engaged!?" Echoed Hec-Tor. "Adora cannot be engaged, she's just a child."
Giving a bark of a laugh, Randor took another long sip of his drink. Gulping it down hard, almost draining the mug. Then refilled it before continuing. "I know right! She's my baby girl! Hard to believe she's already eighteen."
Randor tipped his mug in the direction he'd just come from. Hec-Tor followed the line of sight until he saw two women sitting on a sofa pushed against a far wall. One, he assumed must be Princess Glimmer, Angella and Micah's child.
She was stocky, and thick-built with a wide curve to her hips. Golden skin, and two-tone pink and purple hair that sparked in the lights. The other woman was unmistakably Adora. Hec-Tor hadn't seen her in the flesh since she was an infant, but she resembled the most recent pictures he'd seen of the Eternian Princess. Long flaxen hair, currently pulled back into a ponytail, a bit of a poof at the top. She was wearing a sleeveless red dress with a lighter red tabard overlay. More of an Etherian style than an Eternian one. Clearly dressing to impress her intended.
Except the two women were sitting with their backs to each other. Adora with her arms crossed over her chest, Glimmer with her hands gripping the cushions in frustration.
Hec-Tor shook his head. It seemed nobody went into an arranged marriage really liking their intended. Love was not something that struck a person suddenly like lightning. Love was something that grew slowly and developed over time.
"She cannot be eighteen already. She was born just yesterday!" Hec-Tor remembered he and Keldor traveled from Horde World to Eternia to celebrate the birth of Randor's twins together.
The boy, Adam, and his twin sister, Adora. That was the first time in his life Hec-Tor had ever held a baby. He and his own twin were the youngest of their generation and –at that point- Brother and Par-Is had not managed to produce a living child. Hec-Tor remembered Marlena showing how to hold baby Adora properly, supporting the head for her since her tiny newborn body lacked the strength to do it herself.
He remembered Randor shoving Adam into Keldor's arms. They were newborn infants, only a few weeks old, yet –somehow- Adam managed to grab a lock of his uncle's long hair and held it tightly and pulled hard. Keldor yelped in pain as the baby pulled on his hair. 'You've made a life-long enemy this day, you royal boob!' he remembered Keldor growling at little Adam.
Randor laughed again. "Yeah… it does feel like just yesterday, doesn't it?"
Adora and Adam were thirteen when Keldor went missing, and Imp was hatched from the vitrine. Keldor was missing five years now, Imp was five years old, and Adora was eighteen and legally old enough to get married by Eternian law. Crazy how time flew by.
"And how's my nephew?" Randor was refilling his drink again when he asked that.
"A menace." Hec-Tor answered, an affectionate smile on his face.
"Ha! Like Keldor!" Randor also gave an affectionate smile. "You know he punched me in the face before my coronation." A pause. "I deserved it, of course, but still. He's the only asshole in the universe ballsy enough to punch the soon-to-be King of Eternia in the face."
Hec-Tor remembered Randor speaking his vows or lordship and taking the throne with a large purple and blue blotch on the side of his face. Not just a black eye, it was a real shiner. The brow swollen so that the eye was half-shut, with a halo of dark purple extending almost as far as his ear. Hec-Tor wasn't present to witness the actual hit, he was held back on Horde World by business, so he arrived late, only in time for the coronation itself. When he asked Keldor why his little brother looked like he'd been in a bar fight, all Keldor had said was 'talk shit, get hit'.
"Keldor always was very bold." Hec-Tor said, thinking it sounded diplomatic enough and hoping his cheeks were not coloring. He was remembering all the times Keldor managed to convince him to make love in inappropriate places. His office, the palace gardens, the Enlisted's aft locker rooms aboard Monstron… Out loud he said, "He invited himself along, the first time after our marriage that I had to leave Horde World on military business."
"Keldor never could turn down a fight." Randor nodded. He gazed into his mug of shiraz, staring at his reflection in the wine. A distant and forlorn expression on his face. He was missing his brother. "I wish we found him." He said. "I wish- …we could have gotten closure. Even if it was just to bury his body." He took another gulp of his drink. "I still see him some times. I mean, I'll think I see him. I'll see a Gar from behind, wearing belts with the bones or the skull designs he used to like and I'll call out to them. But then they'll turn and it won't be him. It's never him."
Randor drained his drink and refilled it again.
"One time, I followed someone I thought was him. I was so stupid! Years ago, when he was just newly disappeared. I was taking my twins on a tour of the planet and we were in one of the villages near the border of the Dark Hemisphere. I saw a Gar dressed how Keldor usually dressed. The leather loincloth with the armored bits hanging down, those belts with the bones crossed on the chest, light shoulder plating for armor. Except he was wearing a hood over his head, so I couldn't see his face. Completely covered. And I thought 'maybe that is Keldor, maybe he's hiding for some reason'. So I followed him. It was so dumb. I followed him all the way into the Dark Hemisphere, we were almost at Snake Mountain before he finally managed to shake me off his tail. And I just kept wandering between the rocks like a moron. I didn't even realize how foolish I was being, until Man-at-Arms found me and dragged me back. My children were so confused."
"If only it could have been that easy." Hec-Tor muttered, looking at his feet.
"If only." Randor agreed, draining his wine again and refilling it yet another time.
The two of them stood there in silence.
They didn't really have much in common aside from Keldor. There wasn't much else to talk about.
Then the music changed. From the soft, easy to tune out melody that had been playing since Hec-Tor and Entrapta entered the palace, to a faster paced rhythm. The kind of music that made a person want to get up and start moving their bodies to.
Seeming to drop from the ceiling, Entrapta appeared at his side again. "Hec-Tor! It's time for the first dance to start!"
Then, before he could say anything more, he once again found himself encircled in Entrapta's hair and was being pulled across the room.
Dancing with Entrapta –or, more accurately, dancing with her hair- was the oddest experience for Hec-Tor. The steps called for the partners to hold each other. Hands on shoulders or waists as the partners turned about the room. But Entrapta did not touch people with her hands –even gloved-, instead she used her hair. One tendril on his shoulder, one tendril encircling his waist. More hair on the floor, lifting her up to be closer to his eye level.
She spun him around the room, the colored glowing orbs twirled in the air above them, making Hec-Tor almost dizzy. He looked back down at her, focusing on her face as a point of stability. Entrapta was smiling at him.
"I never thought I'd have a partner for one of these events." She told him.
It was one of those times when her energy and enthusiasm was infectious and Hec-Tor couldn't help but smile back. It actually was very fun. The lights, and the music, and being held and spun by a partner with a firm hold that he trusted not to drop him, or to catch him if he should begin to feel faint.
Then the dance reached a point where everyone had to switch partners, and Hec-Tor suddenly found himself held in the arms of another.
"How are you liking our world, Prince Hec-Tor?" Asked Micah, his arms the ones around Hec-Tor now.
"It is different from the capital." He answered diplomatically.
Then they changed partners again.
Adora lifted Hec-Tor up off the floor, displaying a level of strength that was impressive for her size. "I saw you talking with my father. Tell him I don't care what he says, I'm not getting married."
"You might feel differently once you are married." Hec-Tor told her. He certainly did. Both times, in fact.
"I'm not getting married." She growled again as she set him back down and spun him into the arms of another.
Hec-Tor was thrown off balance but, thankfully, caught in the gentle pincers of Scorpia. "Do you think Catra is enjoying the party? I hope she's been having fun with me."
Meanwhile, Adora shifted on the dancefloor into the arms of the very person Scorpia was asking about.
"Hey, blondie." Catra smirked at the partner that had just landed in her arms.
Adora threw on a taunting smile of her own. Meeting Catra's eyes and matching her smirk. "Who are you supposed to be? The Princess from the Kingdom of Bad Hair."
"Ooh, you're feisty." Catra spun herself in Adora's arms and leaned her back against her, resting her face just under Adora's chin. "Are you the Princess of Failed Insults?"
Before Adora could answer, they switched partners again. Catra twirled away smirking, she liked getting in the last word.
When the music shifted, the partner switching reversed, following the same pattern. Hec-Tor passed from Scorpia, back to Adora. "Uncle Keldor would understand, if he were here." She hissed at him. "He'd take my side. If you wanna honor his memory, you should too."
"It is not my business what marriages you father arranges for you." Hec-Tor informed her as he was spun away.
Micah held him again. "I see you've met Princess Adora. My Glimmer feels a little betrayed. Angella and I were a love-match and were not arranged. She thinks us arranging her marriage to Adora of Eternia is hypocritical."
"As I told Adora, it is no business of mine." Hec-Tor informed him.
Finally, he was back in the arms –the hair- of Entrapta.
It was so odd how relieved –and strangely safe- he felt when her hair wrapped itself around him again.
"How are you feeling?" She asked. "Are you tired?"
"Not very." He assured her. But it was nice that she was considerate of his condition.
As affectionate and loving as Keldor was, it did take him a while to get used to and work with Hec-Tor's limitations and needs. But then, no partner and no marriage was perfect. Entrapta was very clever, creative, and mindful of his conditions. But she was not very affectionate or romantic. She did not seem… very interested in Hec-Tor in that way.
Which was fine.
Totally fine.
Hec-Tor was still pining for his lost first love and was not in the right place emotionally to form new attachments. He was not ready to move on yet. But… It was still nice to be wanted. To know that another person found him… desirable.
But Entrapta seemed uninterested in him in that way.
As they spun through the dance floor, Hec-Tor lifted his head. Peering over the crowd, searching for the blond head of Perfuma. Entrapta's ex-lover. Golden haired, freckled, female, and… healthy. Nothing like Hec-Tor at all. Was that the kind of partner Entrapta desired?
If it was, what did that matter? They were not together and Entrapta was married to him now. They would not be the first couple to live in a loveless marriage. At least they had a functional and good working relationship. That was more than a lot of arranged marriages had.
"If it would not be rude to our hosts, I would like to leave soon." He informed her. "Perhaps, the end of this song."
"Okay." Entrapta nodded. "This song."
They continued to sway to the music.
If he were with Keldor, his hands would be on Hec-Tor's ass right about now. Entrapta's hands weren't even touching him at all. She held him with her hair, and her hair was very chastely and respectfully placed on his shoulder and upper waist.
Choosing to be bold, even for just a second, Hec-Tor moved his own hand from Entrapta's upper waist down to the small of her back. He stopped before it traveled to where the curve of her butt started. He was not ready to go that low just yet. "Is this… alright?"
Her breath hitched and she looked up at him with an expression he didn't know how to read. Lips parting for a half a moment before a tendril of hair slammed her mask down over her face. "It's alright."
She said it was okay, but he already noted on their wedding night that she lowered her mask when she was uncomfortable. So, it was probably not, in fact, 'alright'. Hec-Tor raised his hand back up to her waist. If she did not want physical intimacy, he would not press her. He certainly wouldn't like it if she pressed him. He would respect her boundaries.
Some people were just never meant to have passionate relationships, and that was fine.
Mutual respect and stability was just as fulfilling.
…