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Title: Girl Meets King

Inspired by: Chapter 8 of the Manga Akagami ni Shirayukihime

Characters: Izana Wistalia, Shirayuki

Wordcount: 948

Rating: General

"May I call you Shirayuki?"

She twirled around; her eyes which were focused to the closed door where Zen disappeared earlier, now alighted on my face. She nodded her permission.

"Yes."

Hmmm. Normally, a person would address me as Yes, your highness. Anything less than the proper reply would be impolite. However, the way she answered me firmly doesn't appear to be improper. At least coming from her. She doesn't even show signs of nervousness, or if she does, she's a good actress.

But no. My mouth stretched into a slow smile, the kind where it guarantees a person in front of me to feel at ease. I do not need to show my hostility towards her. I would not be so unfair as to pass judgment fairly quickly. My anger is justifiable simply by the fact that I am Zen's brother, first and foremost. And older brothers like myself, tend to be very protective with their siblings.

"Thank you very much for your help earlier." She gave a polite bow, interrupting my thoughts.

"Don't mention it," came my automatic reply.

I can see that while I am curious with her, her own expression shows something I rarely see being displayed so honestly and consciously.

Shirayuki is curious about me, and she never made any attempts to hide it. Dare I say I find this brand of honesty, refhreshingly interesting?

"Um… You're Zen's brother…" It was a statement, not a question.

Brother, huh?

The first thoughts rolled off my tongue before I can stop myself. "I don't often hear people address me that way."

She processed the information quickly; I can almost imagine the wheels and cogs of her brain in my ear.

"I never had any siblings. I was an only child. My mother died young, I was told by my deceased grandparents." She looked a little wistful with this small revelation. I felt my heartstrings being tugged with her unexpected frankness.

"My name is Izana." I gave her a little nod of acknowledgement. "This might be too sudden, but there's something I'd like to ask you to help me with." I held my hand out to her.

She took it without hesitation; her palm rested gingerly on top of mine and my fingers closed over hers quickly lest she changed her mind. Her hands feel a little rough, and I can count calluses on some of her slender fingers. Though she gave off a somewhat fragile air about her, holding her hands gave me assurance that she is as tough as a weed, which is better for what I have in mind for her. If she is as stubborn as reports claimed, she will persevere, as long as she is sincere in her intentions to stay close to my brother.

Otherwise, I would be forced to eliminate her, and I would see my brother suffer in silence as my payment to protect him.

"How will I be able to assist you?" Her brow furrowed as I led her to the other side of the library where a small table with a chair was set up, along with a quill, a bottle of ink and a stack of fresh parchment papers bound into a book. Gesturing for her to sit, she obeyed without a word, looking lost and tiny while I loomed over her.

"I'm going to meet with some guests now. Please witness our meeting over there."

I watched with growing amusement as she raised her eyebrows in surprise at the absurdity of my request. But I held my ground, even raising one finger to allow me to continue. I can see that she squirms a little if she is uncomfortable with something; especially with a bizarre request I just gave her.

"I need someone to write down here their names and the times they enter and leave." I pointed at the ledger. "I don't suppose you don't know them, but they'll announce their names to you-"

"Please wait!" she blurted out suddenly, shocked at her own boldness for interrupting me while in the middle of my talk. But being a gentleman that I am, I let her continue. A woman in distress can reveal a lot about her personality.

Recovering from her shock and the realization of what she has done, her face flushed bright red with embarassment . "My apologies. I didn't mean to interrupt, but is this something that has to do with me?"

I shrugged. "No. Why?"

She looked taken aback. "Why? Then, it's not good for an outsider like me to witness your meetings. I'll just be a bother…"

Ah-hah. Her words, not mine. My smile deepened. I let out a small chuckle. She's smart, albeit, not really that smart, but she can surprisingly catch on if she is prompted about certain situations. There's hope yet to separate my brother from her. And I don't need to apply too much pressure.

A little please that she caught on, I leaned down towards her, my face inches from hers. I can see specks of gold in her deep green irises. Such a rare color in Clarines' mostly blue-eyed population.

"What an interesting thing for you to say, Shirayuki. After all this time…" I whispered in a chilled voice.

And then, her green eyes took on a glazed sheen, finally understanding what I meant by my words earlier.

I straightened up, not giving her time to recover from my remarks.

"All right, it's time!" I said out loud, pulling the rope suspended from the ceiling, to let my retainers know that I am ready to receive my visitors who wished to pay their respect and greetings to me.

I gave one last sweeping glance at the girl hunching on the table, the obvious shock written all over her face. Let's see whether she can survive my small test.