Thorns by liahime
Three Rose White-dedicated to Dolce Saito! Happy birthday!
Disclaimer: At the moment, liahime doesn't own Digimon.
Rika rushed into the palace, knocking over three maids, two laundry baskets, and a very ancient duke as she sprinted down the castle corridor. She rushed to the throne room, up the flights of stairs and through the endless maze of halls. What had happened that was that urgent? She reached the throne room corridor, and by now, most of the servants knew to stay out of her way. She stretched to grab the handle to the door and-
She bumped into a large tower of pink lace.
"Darling NIECE! I haven't seen you for ages!" The tower of lace grabbed her hand by the wrist and pulled her along. "You look like a boy in that. Swords are not fashionable, dear."
Rika tried to loosen her aunt's vice-like grip from her hand. "Look, aunt-"
"I'm your Auntie Lilian, darling. Please, call me Auntie Lili." She looked down at Rika, face barely showing under a thick coat of makeup. "And don't look directly at my skin, it is horrible for it, you know."
"Aunt Lilian. I really need to go NOW."
"Hon, don't even think about waving that sword. You are a mess." She tightened her vise-like grip around Rika's wrist. "Now lets get you fixed up."
"I need to go find out what happened! NOW!" She twisted out of the grip just to get caught again.
"None of my nieces look like this to stay in a palace, dear. Honestly, a princess of all people, looking like a common serf..." Chattering on cheerfully, she dragged a protesting Rika away from the door of the throne room.
Thirty minutes later, Rika emerged completely mud free, sword less and very, very impatient. Her "Auntie Lili" walked out triumphantly behind her. "No more running, now, Rika... Maybe we should go over this again?"
Rika took off before she could say another word, and got close to the door of the throne room once more. The door was tightly closed. She stopped before pulling them open, and stayed bent over, out of breath. Her aunt caught up with her, shaking her head.
"Corsets are meant to keep you ladylike, dear."
"I CAN'T BREATHE IN THIS THING!"
"No shouting either."
Rika pushed open the door, and ignored her aunt.
"WHAT HAPPENED!"
Her mother looked up from the table. "You will be so delighted, darling! Your Auntie Lili and your father have a surprise for you!"
Auntie Lili looked very proud of herself. Rika felt worried. "The surprise is..."
"Oh, it's just that you're engaged. To a handsome prince from the East kingdom."
"WHAT?"
"Dear, you're in shock, aren't you... Happy shock! Your father already approved."
"You engaged me to a guy without telling me!"
"Well yes..."
"What's his name?"
'I knew, you'd take this well, darling! His name is.. It starts with a 'T', I'm sure... I'm not completely clear. You'll find it out tonight, anyway."
"Oh dear..." Auntie Lili murmured. "She doesn't look too happy about it. Maybe we shouldn't tell her the next part, Rumiko."
"Nonsense, Lili. Rika, in honor of the engagement, we're announcing it at the ball today when your father gets back! So please run to your chambers for the fittings."
"MOTHER!"
"Oh, and your Auntie will give you princess lessons. She tells me you've been fencing! Dear, please stick to only boiled water from now on, no strange water. Fencing is not done by princesses."
"I'm a princess. I fence."
"Well, it's not done by proper princesses. Now please run along."
An hour later, a seething Rika stomped out of the room, and ran up the flights of stair until she reached her room. The seamstress was already there waiting, needle impatiently tapping.
"You're not a pink person, are you?"
Rika made a small, non commited sounds in the back of her throat.
"No, you're not." The seamstress sighed. "Oh well. I hear you're engaged. Are you happy? You're lucky to find true love so early.."
"I don't know the guy. My mother forgot his name already. I'm engaged to a prince, and like all princes, he is stupid."
"But the prince from East kingdom, he isn't that bad, is he? I heard he's handsome, kind.."
"And probably empty headed, can't fence..."
"He saved a bird once, when it fell on the road."
"And then he ate it, didn't he."
"No! Of course not.. It was a tiny canary, and he gave it back to the girl who-" The seamstress blushed, and stopped. "Just my ramblings, highness."
"You should marry a prince instead. You seem to like them.."
"What! I couldn't marry a prince."
"Oh yes you can. I declare that you can go and marry any prince you feel like marrying in place of me. We're done, then." Rika got off the stool she was standing on and quickly walked out the door.
A few seconds later, she was back, with her aunt standing guard over the door. "Now, seamstress, I want my niece to wear white." She smiled at Rika. "You're too young to wear black, so I want no complaints."
"I don't even want to go the ball at all."
"Your father demands it, Rika. And if you argue with him, you argue with one very stressed out king."
"I am not going."
Rika's aunt turned to the seamstress.. "White silk, and make her look beautiful, seamstress. Depending on your work, you may end up with my gown too. Make this good, and make it fast. The ball is in two hours." She swept out the door.
Rika rolled her eyes. "Sorry about her."
The seamstress just smiled. "No problem, she's nicer than most. In my old kingdom, if we didn't get things right, we'd get-" She stopped herself. "You're not interested in a servant's talk. I'm sorry."
Rika frowned as a model for the dress was pinned around her. "Don't make the skirt that wide. No, I don't really mind. In case you haven't noticed... I'm not like normal princesses. If you want to talk to someone who loves flowers and butterflies and dancing with the prince, stop talking.."
The seamstress grinned. "I'm Jeri, princess. We're gonna be great friends, I know it!" She bubbled on, cheerfully trying to cheer the princess up, the whole time trying to convince her that the dress would look more beautiful if she added much more lace.
And so began the friendship between the princess and the seamstress.
At the ball, everything sparkled in the fading sunlight. Roses blossomed and spilled over terraces, champagne bubbled in crystal cups. A waltz came from the orchestra, violins swaying. The last rays of the sunset fell over the happy queen and her stressed husband. She said something, and made him laugh, deep and long. Everywhere you looked was happiness. A late butterfly floated by the dancing nobles.
Except for Rika.
Frankly, it reminded her of a penguin enclosure. And there was her aunt, the evil penguin, flirting with some count. Her mother, the Queen penguin, and her father, the King penguin, perched on their penguin thrones. White and black. Zebras. Penguins. And guess who she was? The penguin princess.
She hated this.
Standing behind one of the huge ice sculptures, she sipped a cup of punch and wished that Jeri had made the skirt less... princess-y. It was too much, she decided, to ask her to be Princess Penguin at her father and mother's ball and to have her engagement announced on the same day. Her father stood up and scanned the crowd for her. She ducked under the huge table. He sat down confused. He said something to the other king, putting a fake smile on. When she was sure her father wasn't looking anymore, she came out from under the table, and resumed her hiding spot behind the sculpture. Three more hours, and she would escape engagement for the day.
One day down... The rest of my life to go.
A prince somehow found her behind her ice sculpture, and asked her if she wanted to dance. He was smiling at her. She recognized him. He was one of the thickheaded boys at the tournament. He had no idea who she was.
She gracefully dumped the nearest cup of punch on him, turned and ran.
And ran. Down the steps from the ballroom, out into the garden. She ran down the paths, past the lantern lit areas, and into the furthest reaches of the garden, her dress dragging in mud and catching thorns. She ran until she couldn't hear the music anymore, until she could barely see the lights; and ran without any reason to run but to just run.
Proper princesses, she could already hear her father saying, do not run down garden paths. It is unseemly. They do not ruin new dresses by not staying on the path. They do not dump liquids on the heads of royalty. They are graceful. Silent. Obedient. She laughed as she imagined him as a penguin, scolding her. It felt good to run for once, outside of palace walls, away from palace rules. For a moment, she could pretend that she had gone outside of the palace boundaries and was in the world beyond it, free.
She collapsed on the ground under a huge, ancient willow, laughing at the thought of her father, the penguin.
"Hey." A guy's voice.
Rika didn't look up, but stiffened. She didn't know anyone was there. She could have sworn she was alone...If it was another prince asking her to dance, then she wouldn't just dump punch on him...
"You're sitting on a grave. Get off."
Rika looked, and saw she was really sitting on a tombstone. The word were almost lost under all the long grass, but it was there. She quickly got up and started to walk away.
"Geez, don't sit on graves, stupid." The guy who had talked to her brushed the leaves off the graves. "Show respect for the dead. Or do nobles of Middle kingdom not do that anymore?"
"I do not disrespect the dead." Rika turned around to face him. Something familiar...he looked like the boy at the tournament. He looked surprised, and then turned back to his cleaning.
"What are you doing here, then?"
He ignored her.
"Is this is a graveyard?" Rika wasn't sure where she was.
"Yeah..." He looked up at her again. "You don't happen to know a guy called Saruwatari Tai, do you? The nephew of the training master at this kingdom?"
"No, of course not." Rika coughed and was suddenly fascinated with the grave she had been sitting on. It read 'Beloved Wife and Mother' and the name was covered with dirt.
"You look like him." He bowed. "But I'm sorry to offend the delicate princess by comparing her to a second-class warrior."
"I am no- I mean, I accept your apology." She said through gritted teeth. "I am sure you know who is the best warrior in the kingdom... But I heard that Saruwatari Tai beat out the rest of the people at the tournament, didn't he?"
"Heh.. He beat me, but- you should know that, shouldn't you... Tai? I didn't expect to see you again so soon, and wearing a dress."
Rika glared at him. "I don't know who you are talking about!"
The boy laughed. "I'm Akiyama Ryo, one of the two finalists in the tournament that was today. You look exactly like Saruwatari Tai, the winner." He grinned wider. "But... prettier than I imagined him being."
"I am not Saruwatari Tai."
"OK... But if you do ever meet him, tell him that I want a rematch. Because I'll win."
Rika raised an eyebrow incredulously. "Yeah, right."
"You think that some guy called Saruwatari Tai can beat me? Of course not. " Ryo picked up one of the twigs lying on the ground and struck a noble pose. "He can't pose like me."
Rika picked up one of the twigs, and quickly whipped it forward, keeping it an inch away from Ryo's stomach. "That is likely. But he'd probably beat you, whoever he is."
"I thought you didn't know him." He parried her twig.
"I don't." She countered and made his twig fall out of his hand. "I just know he'd beat you."
Ryo smiled. "I expected you to be different from other princesses, but never this much... my princess wildcat."
Night had come. Tiny lanterns lit up, and the moon began to rise. The ball was ending. Far off in the castle, you could see the lights slowly fading, the carriages rattling up to receive the exhausted lords and ladies.
"You'd better get back before your mom notices you're gone, princess."
"The Empress Penguin can wait."
"No, really. I'll walk you back."
"I am perfectly capable of walking around my own backyard."
"Very well.." Ryo walked off down one of the paths. "Bye, princess."
"Wait!" He turned around.
"Did... did you ever come to the middle kingdom, and give someone something called a.. it was a flower, called a rose?"
"When I was really young... five years ago. Do you remember now?"
"I remember a little boy, not you."
"Did you think that I'd just stay seven the rest of my life?"
"Well, no... "
The final trumpet played, notes lingering in the summer air. "You really need to get back now.."
"And what about you? I'm not the only noble, am I? Don't try to fake something, like you're a noble disguised as a common page or a street rat who's pretending to be a prince. Don't you have to go back too?"
"I'm not exactly a noble-."
"Good. I'll race you back."
"But you're in a dress! Wearing a crown!"
Rika shot him an incredulous look. "Has that stopped me before?"
The two took off in the rising moonlight- the paths were lit, the moon was full. White flowers stood on their stems in the dark, seeming to float in the night. Up the hill, down the paths, and over the bridge. In the darkness, everything felt smooth. Ryo, expecting to be far in the lead, slowed down for her to catch up. Rika, right next to him, sped up and soared past him.
They ran to the castle gates, their hands hitting the gate at the same time, and stopped both out of breath. "Good race."
"I haven't ran this much for years."
"You should. What stops you?"
"Corsets."
He looked curiously at her. "What?"
"Never mind."
They could hear shouting as people were leaving, and it was getting closer and closer. Ryo bowed to her one last time.
"Quit bowing. Please, I don't really need to be bowed too all the time. It won't endanger my health."
He came up from his bow with another rose in his hand, pearl white. "Until we meet again, princess." He smiled, and clapped his hands together. A spiral of mist circled around him. "See ya, wildcat!" His body slowly dissolved into thin air as he left, leaving her alone at the gates. The nobles were coming.
Rika grinned, and mock-curtsied to his remaining head. "When we meet again, hero-boy."
There was a faint echo in his voice. "Keep running! Don't let corsets stop you!" His mouth was disappearing too. "Whatever they are."
Rika raised an eyebrow at him. "Crowns, gowns and corsets. Have they ever stopped me before?"
She waved and took off running, seeming so untired as she gracefully sped up flights of stairs, almost in flight. Ryo shook what was left of his head.
"That is no ordinary princess."
mirei-chan-heythanks! i get in trouble at school for being on the comp too..
corruptedgoddess- haha couldn't think of anything better. oranges was last time, and so
apples and bananas.. Thanks for catching the mistake. I kept forgetting to write Rika as a "boy".. Thanks!
DigiChick- that's a good idea... I should do that.. Hm.. You gave me an idea. Thank you!
GTKari-123 & Ryuki Obssesed- OK! I will update faster (I hope..) Hope you like this chapter more than the other one!
supershark1/katie- thank you very much! Glad you liked it
DolceSaito- I AM SORRY! I was gonna update on June 8, but my internet was down and wouldn't work... - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
lady-snow- Thank you for reviewing!
Strawberry'd- (you're right about your guess.. It was originally gonna be like that but I felt guilty for letting him live only three chapters..) I like Love Story in Harvard too!
GirlGotGame234- Glad you didn't want me to rewrite..Here you go, hope you like it!
Sparkling-Ruby Gem- Thank you thank you! Rika's my favorite too!
Lil' Lilo- Thank you too! Please review! (Hey, that rhymes! haha...)
ryorules (or darkdevil666, but ryorules is quicker to type I'm lazy.) Thanks for reviewing, please review more! Glad you liked it!
Crystal Luna Starr- So glad you liked it! Dealing with Dragons is a really really good book! It's sitting on my computer right now! About my profile... thanks so much.. I was being depressed and stupid and emotional-train-wreck ish cuz of something.. Thank you!
Authoress Super Ultra Blah For You:
HEY! 11 people reviewed! YAY! I rewrote this chapter (originally I had a dif. plot but I felt guilty about it..) .. And rushed to get it all done before June 8 (sorry dolce saito!) But then.. My internet crashed! I AM SORRY! -
They (characters) will get older, I promise! (as in over 13, yes.) So please be patient, I don't like jumping chapter to chapter like Rika is new born, then seven, then 13, then 21, etc... But I won't keep her 13 forever... I hope you liked this chapter, everyone! (I hope I didn't make Rika OOC...even though I think I did... I'm editing(sorta) in my brain.. hm.. i think i should change something..) Oh well.. I'm always worried that the chapter came out bad.. Suggestions please!
thank you all for reviewing! - liahime