A/N: I'm only halfway through finals, but the monotony of studying was driving me insane! So, I took a break and ground out another chapter.
It's gonna get a little confusing when the two "Charmings" are in the same room, so I'm going to have to employ the oh-so-clever devise of calling Ella's husband Charming1, and Snow's husband Charming2 from now on.
Chapter 9Intersections: "The prince and the… knight?"
David still couldn't understand what he was doing here. When his mother had first informed him that the entire family would be making the trip to her good friend Queen Snow's kingdom in order to attend a royal ball, he had balked at the idea.
"If you need a babysitter, I can do that just as well here."
Queen Rose had replied in the same manner in which she dealt with all things unpleasant: a soft sigh of exasperation, and a pleading look in those soft blue eyes that she shared with her two youngest children. "David, we don't think of you as merely a 'babysitter'," she said, taking one of his hands into her own. "We want you at the ball… this is the type of thing you should have experience with for when you are king." Rose carried on, blissfully unaware of the subtle way in which her son cringed when she mentioned that last part, "Besides, it's good to get away from the castle every once in a while. Why, I don't think we've had a family outing since before Terry was born!"
So it was decided, in that utterly parental way in which such decisions are made without any concern to the children's wishes, that they would all be attending the upcoming ball. And somehow it had resulted in him scavenging the grounds of the unfamiliar courtyard of an unfamiliar kingdom, searching for one misplace blond sprite. "Becca?" he called out in that if-you-come-out-right-now-I-promise-not-to-get-angry tone that all parents, older siblings and babysitters have adopted at one point in their lives or another. "Becca, where are you?"
Yes, the asking—and answering—of such questions was not permitted in the rules of hide-and-seek, the game in which now found himself an unwitting participant, but he continued in hopes that his sister might decide to take it upon herself to set him straight. And by verbally refusing to answer his question, she would thus reveal her location. Not a very complex plan, David acknowledged, but hell, Rebecca was only five years old. How hard could it possibly be to outsmart her?
When the carriage had finally come to a stop at their destination, all four of the royal children had eagerly exited the cramped surroundings to which they'd been confined for the past several hours. Rebecca and Terrence's exuberance over their arrival had been expected, since it is a well-known fact that young children can never stand to remain in any one place for long periods of time. And naturally, as was also expected, the moment David turned his back on one so he could keep the other from running off, the first one disappeared. This time, that "first one" happened to be his sister.
So while his parents and his brothers went into the castle to greet the royal hosts, David was left with the task of relocating his youngest sibling. It was a task that would have usually annoyed him to no end, but this time he found that it did not bother him all that much. When the alternative was being introduced to a bunch of stuffy royals and then having to make idle chitchat, he would gladly entertain his little sister in her childish games.
Or so he had believed for the first half hour. When the second half rolled upon them, and still there was no sign of his target, he found that the alternative was becoming increasingly appealing. He wasn't too worried about Rebecca, knowing that there was little possibility that she might get past the guarded gates that encompassed the kingdom grounds, and most likely she had merely found an excellent hiding location and fallen asleep. It wouldn't be the first time.
He was a little surprised when he suddenly heard a high-pitched voice calling out, "Daaaveeey." Following the sounds, he soon found himself facing the ever-elusive object of his search.
Rebecca stood before him, nonchalantly bearing a colorful array of flowers, with an equally colorful wreath adorning her blond hair.
"What are you doing?" David asked confused as to why she had given herself away.
She scrunched up her nose to convey her own perplexity. "I forgot. Was I supposed to be hiding or finding?" But before he could answer, she continued on in a single breath, "'Cause I thought I was supposed to be hiding, but then you didn't come to find me so I thought maybe you was supposed to be hiding and I was supposed to be finding you."
"And what's with the flowers?"
"I got bored waiting so I picked them." Rebecca graced him with an enthusiastic smile. "Aren't they pretty?"
David crouched down before her, giving her a returning smile and replied, "Yes they are."
"Good, 'cause I picked some for you too." She pulled apart a handful of flowers that David could not have named even if his life depended upon it, and could only acknowledge to say that they were a lovely shade of blue. "See, to go with your eyes."
He looked at the proffered bouquet uncertainly. "Uh, Becca, you do know that my eyes are gray, don't you?"
"Course I know, silly," she replied with an indulgent smile that showed just how ridiculous his question was. "They're not the same color of your eyes, they just go with them. Blue and gray… they look nice together." Well, when you put it that way… David still didn't understand, but he wasn't going tell her that. "Here," she said, thrusting the blue flowers toward him.
"Uh, thanks." He took the bouquet and held it awkwardly for a few moments, unsure of what she expected him to do with it.
"Not like that." She snatched the flowers away, carefully placing her own set down on the ground. "Like this," she said, and began adorning his light brown hair, just as she had done with her own. When she was done, she leaned back and appraised her handiwork with a triumphant grin. "'Kay, all done."
Taking her word for it since there were no mirrors handy for him to examine his own appearance, he stood and pulled her tiny hand into his much larger one. "So are we ready to go in now?"
"Yep."
They began the walk to the castle, but were met partway there by Terrence, who collided into his brother's chest before he could drop out of his run. David let out a mental groan. These two were always colliding, falling, and stepping on or into him and he had the bruises to show it. "Dave, where've you been?" Terrence exclaimed, out of breath and cheeks flushed. "Are you wearing flowers in your hair?"
"Uh, yeah," David replied, suddenly self-conscious of the adornments that had been so lovingly set there by his sister. "Terry, can you do me a favor?" The younger boy nodded enthusiastically, always eager to please David in any way possible. "Could you take Becca in while I… take care of something?"
"Sure, Dave," Terry replied, taking his sister by the hand. "C'mon, Bec, let's go." Becca followed him obediently, exhibiting one of her rare moods of compliance, and David waited until several moments had passed since they'd left his range of vision before he used both hands to brush the mess out of his hair. He hadn't had the heart to do in front of his sister but there was no way he was going to let anyone else—especially Luke—see him like that.
He was just about to follow that path they had taken when he heard the unmistakable clang of metal behind him. Curious, he turned to see a small frame in clearly oversized armor making its way through the courtyard just parallel to him. Wow, this kingdom must be really desperate for knights if they're letting in such small ones, he thought as he watched the new arrival.
The figure turned toward him, as if suddenly conscious of his scrutiny, and came to an abrupt halt. One hand resting on the nonexistent hip of the armor (where hips would have been if there was no armor), head cocked slightly to one side despite the awkward movements of the helmet, a surprisingly high-pitched voice inquired, "Can I help you with something?"
David continued to stare. Were they letting in prepubescent boys now too, or… Before he could finish the thought, the helmet was flipped back to reveal a decidedly female face. "Well?" the girl inquired.
Taken aback by the discovery, for a moment all he could do was gape. Finally, he replied, "You're a girl."
Dark blue eyes watched him as a sardonic smile formed on her lips. "And you're a boy."
"I mean," David cleared his throat, realizing how stupid his remark must have sounded. "You're a girl wearing armor."
"And you're a boy wearing a flower in his hair," she answered back, unfazed by his reaction.
"What?" Flushing slightly, he raised one hand and thoroughly brushed hair, not satisfied until he saw the aforementioned flower fall from its previous resting place.
The girl studied the blue-petalled plant lying on the stone cobbles. "And one from my mother's garden, no less."
"Your mother's…? Um, my, ah, sister put it there…." David managed to mumble in explanation before realization dawned on his face. "Oh, you must be Princess Virtue then."
The girl grimaced in response to his remark. "Vir," she corrected. "Don't call me… that." She paused, taking in the grin that had formed on his lips at her words. "And who are you?"
"David," he answered, a little less unbalanced as the initial shock wore off. Not that he necessarily opposed the whole female knight thing—he had just never heard of it, which accounted for his less than articulate response.
Virtue nodded, the name obviously familiar to her. "Well, David, have you met everyone else yet?"
He gave her a grin and a shake of his head. "No, I was just on my way to do that." Then he held out his arm in a gallant gesture, "Shall we?"
With an answering smile of her own, Virtue took the proffered arm with her own armor-clad one and they entered the castle together.
TBC