She trembled, feeling as if her cheeks had also now caught on fire. Behind the attendant holding open the door she could see both of them staring back at her, their visors discarded completely now that the demonstrations were over.
She couldn't help but feel with woe that this situation was all the fault of the hand mirror she had accidentally chipped a small corner off of last night. They had always said it would cost you something when a mirror is shattered. She thought facetiously they just meant the cost of another mirror, but maybe it really had brought her some bad luck. Because in this case, the cost she paid was her dignity.
Rather than dwell on it, she did her best to straighten her dress, and dropped her useless shoe to the ground. Might as well look these two new guards over, especially if they were going to stand there and silently ogle her.
The one on the right, she assumed, was Mr. Gallant Dawnbreaker. He had very sharp features, hair the color of silver moonlight and eyes the same deep green color as the pools of Mermaid Lagoon. She wasn't sure why, but for some reason he seemed like the quiet type of someone who could brush his eyes over a person and read them quite well, analyzing everything perfectly but saying nothing. Someone you would be endlessly grateful is on your side. It was almost like staring into the eyes of an owl. Mysterious, but just a little bit frightening.
The one on the left she recognized from his hair. He was leaner than the other, but that was more due to his build than being particularly scrawny. Staring at him, though, she was actually more intrigued by his eyes, now that she could see them. They were a very vibrant blue and seemed to be smiling with a twinkling light. Something about him was…endearing. Positive. Both knightly and not anything like any knight she had ever met at the same time. She couldn't put her finger on what it was.
Having briefly examined the two of them, she was surprised by their apparent age, or...lack thereof? They were likely only a year or so older than herself. She had never seen knights of this rank so young before. Not only that…
She felt her face growing steadily warmer.
They were both really cute.
Why oh why did they have to be cute.
"I-introducing to the Lady, her new personal guard: One Gallant Dawnbreaker, accomplished master of the sword and one...erm..." The attendant glanced down at a small paper in his hand, squinting in confusion.
"Just Sora is okay."
"...and...Sora." The attendant finished stiffly, his reluctance to comply with the knight's request painted on his strained face.
This strange knight with no title, took a bouncing step forward into the room, really examining the remains of the carpet.
And to the princess' growing horror, he laughed.
"Redecorating?" He pointed over to one of the former deities pictured on the rug, now with a twisted black smudge across its face, just below the nose. "You know, I think this guy looks better with a mustache."
Was he...mocking her!? She stomped her foot again on the carpet, her bare toes puffing up a cloud of ashy dust, and glared at this so-called knight.
"Excuse me!? This is a precious family heirloom!"
She was furious at herself, mortified at the mess she had made and last but not least, petrified about what her etiquette instructor would punish her with if word got back to her about all of this. A cocktail mix of emotions this varied bubbled up inside her and manifested itself into pure righteous indignation.
"How dare you!" She stomped up another cloud of dust. "You come into my receiving hall, without so much as a shred of proper-"
"Our apologies, Your Highness."
Finally! At least one of them had proper sense!
"It is good to see you weren't injured in the...fire." The silver haired knight bowed deeply to her, but she thought she caught a twitch of a smile on the edges of his lips.
Hmm. Snarky. They both are.
She pursed her lips and watched them with cold disdain. The dawn knight smacked his partner hard in his arm. The other knight winced, and attempted a rather clumsy teetering bow of his own.
"S-sorry..."
At least his apology sounded sincere.
The knight with no title, and clearly no decorum was about to raise his head, but was promptly yanked back down again by the other, who seemed to have a much firmer grasp on formalities. And there they both waited, heads bowed, for her permission to rise.
It certainly must have been a shock for them, meeting her in such an unusual way. She was starting to feel a little guilty for giving them a hard time. Upon glancing down at the design on the carpet, she realized that, at the very least, that one had been right about the mustache looking burn mark. The face does almost look better that way.
The attendant at the door was looking a bit warily on at the whole situation. Kairielis caught his eye and with a flick of her wrist gestured that it was alright for him to leave. Now.
He hesitated, and she repeated her command with a more firm wave. The attendant did his own well-practiced bow before scurrying off. As soon as he disappeared from view, she could hear the sudden furious pattering of his shiny boots bolting down the hall. He was definitely going to rat her out about the carpet.
Oh well.
Once the clang of the heavy doors finished its closing echo through the room, nothing remained but an unsettling silence. Neither of her two guards moved a muscle.
She slowly approached them, eyeing them both up and down with tighter scrutiny. They were here, so they had already completed their oaths to serve and protect her, forfeit their lives to her safety, all that dreadful stuff. But thinking about those words coming out of these two seemed...almost an oxymoron. All her other previous guards had been time worn and above all else, intimidating. These two had far more gentle auras about them. That one might have had serious eyes, but his demeanor was quite calm, relaxed. And the other seemed as friendly as a puppy. Could they really 'strike down her enemies without abandon?' as she recalled the phrase.
Maybe. Probably. If there were even any enemies.
After all, all the blithering about being her super special bodyguards was for show. The position was basically glorified babysitting and she knew it. Keep her in line, keep her out of trouble, keep her in your sights. Two sets of eyes, watching her every move to make sure she didn't break any precious rules, all wrapped up in the veneer of honor and prestige.
But they were still so...young. They wouldn't have been knights through Darkfall, because that was ten years ago. Wait. That didn't seem right...
She stopped her thoughts to briefly count out the years backwards, just to be sure. Oops, it wasn't ten, she was off by three. Thirteen whole years ago. Time flies, sometimes. Even for tragedies.
Thirteen years from when the whole kingdom almost was torn apart by those dark infectious tendrils that cursed her memories and her dreams. For thirteen years she had tried to forget. At least this time she had managed to briefly forget three. But forget all of it? She likely never would.
Nothing had come close to that day before or since in terms of danger and true tests of will for the castle knights. Kairielis herself had only been four at the time, so she assumed these two would also barely even be able to remember it, and far less likely would they have been fighting through it.
But there was no real way of knowing for sure. Lots of people suffered through that time, and no matter how someone looked on the outside, untold tragedies could always lurk somewhere within. She knew that truth well. It was best not to judge them by their age, and instead by their performance from here on out, she decided.
She leaned forward, first examining the one on the right with the sharp features and silvery hair. He was clearly well disciplined. No matter how much she tried to catch his attention and distract him, he kept his gaze steady, focused, waiting for her command to rise out of his bow.
Just like a perfectly perfect knight...
She sighed and tucked her shoe-less right foot away behind her left leg, trying to shield her improper appearance from his watchful eye as much as possible. It just felt better that way.
"I know your title, sir knight, but what is your name?"
He didn't seem to expect this question and he paused, thinking hard before answering.
"My name is whatever you wish to call me. But if Her Highness wishes to know my birth name I will gladly give it."
"Please."
"Riku Morizaki, Your Majesty, from Balamb Garden."
Kairielis briefly remembered her last trip to Balamb. It was quite tropical, with lots of hibiscus flowers if she wasn't mistaken. And she usually wasn't, not about flowers. It was one of the southernmost Gardens among the seven; quite a long way from the castle in Radiant Garden.
"Thank you. You may stand up now, Riku. Is it alright for me to call you that from now on?"
"As you wish."
Yeah, he was a pretty typical knight all right. Athletic, toned muscles, noble to a fault. But she knew there was a personality buried under all that formality hidden in there somewhere. She remembered seeing it briefly, the way he defended his fellow soldier like he was his best friend. The one right over here…
She leaned down to try and get a glimpse now at the unusual knight to her left. He was holding his pose well enough, but his eyes were scanning this way and that unprofessionally. She met his gaze and he abruptly looked away.
Don't tell me he's getting shy now?
"And you were...just Sora, right? Should I call you The Just? Short for...Justin, maybe?"
She teased, expecting her joke to fall flat, but she could see him trying hard not to smile. Another first. Normally her knights took her so dang seriously.
"If you want to, that's...um..." He paused, and it looked like he was struggling on how to speak more eloquently like his partner but was coming up short.
"It's alright. I think I like the sound of Sora better, anyway."
He tried to hide his smile again.
"I don't really have anything else to call myself, so I'm glad it works for you."
He tipped his head back and forth, like he was happy about something. The movement making the multitudes of spikes in his hair shake and for some inexplicable reason Kairielis felt a strong urge to prod one with her finger. She half wondered if it was soft or spiny, like a hedgehog. But she knew that would be absolutely against far too many rules than she could count. That, and she had long since given up hope of ever touching someone else, even something as innocuous as a spike of their hair.
"Are you from Balamb Garden, too? It seems like you and Riku know each other really well."
He stiffened a little.
Right, she frowned inwardly to herself. It was drilled into knights from the beginning that they weren't meant to get too personal with her so this was often what happened when she accidentally dropped too informal a question on them too suddenly. They would panic and either not say anything and pretend like they hadn't heard or, in some terrible cases, just grunt and assume that was a decent enough answer.
In what world was 'ungh' a proper answer, anyway? Maybe if the question was 'what is the least informative sound you can make with your mouth?'.
I really should have learned by n-
"Better than really well! He's my best friend." He was beaming up at her now, and she was startled by the earnest excited sparkle in his eyes. "Right?"
Happily, he turned to look at said best friend, who was now standing with his arms crossed and a frustrated scowl on his face.
"Sora."
"Hmm?"
A long, pained sigh escaped the knights' lips.
"Did you forget something?"
What looked like a thousand thoughts started shuffling through the boy's head until he seemed to suddenly realize what his friend was implying. It was about then that Kairielis realized it herself, too.
He hadn't gotten her permission to move yet.
Startled, he stumbled over himself to try and get back into his bowing pose as fast as possible, apologizing hastily as he did so.
Yeah, the king was definitely not going to like this one.
But for Kairielis, something about his bumbling simple honesty was unexpectedly adorable. She just couldn't stay mad in front of this bizarre display. And before she realized it, she started giggling.
His face was a little flushed, and she hoped he didn't assume she was making fun of him. But maybe she was. She wasn't quite sure.
"It's alright." She waved her hand a little to indicate for him to stand back up. "Sora, you don't have to bow to me."
He perked up right away. "Really?"
It definitely wasn't his strong suit.
"Mm-hmm. In fact..."
This little errant knight was inspiring. Maybe it was time to break a few more rules, just to see if she could. She stabbed the broken candle stick she only just realized she was still holding into the ground and cleared her throat dramatically.
"I hereby decree that neither of you ever has to bow to me again!"
She almost giggled again at the shocked look that briefly passed over Riku's face before he managed to compose himself. Oh this was fun.
For once she finally got to be in charge.
"Your Highness, I'm...not sure your father would approve of that."
"So?"
Somehow the two of them had managed to say this at exactly the same time, and Kairielis turned a suspicious look over at the boy next to her. He was almost a bit too forward, and he seemed to realize it. His eyes shifted away from her again.
"No, no, go on. I'm curious to hear what you're thinking." She urged him.
"I mean...what the King likes is important and all, but I figure since we are supposed to be protecting you and stuff I think that also includes your happiness...so we should do what makes you happy...or something..." His mumbling eventually trailed off into silence.
Hm. Noble, in a stumbling, awkward sort of way.
Riku considered his friend's words for a moment before giving a conceding nod. "Alright. If it pleases the Princess I won't bow unless it is requested of me or is somehow necessary for her protection."
She was shocked. Between her previous guards whenever she made demands this bold it was met with either a silent dismissal or a stern reprimanding about etiquette. Or both. While she knew that ultimately her father could sweep in and veto any of her orders straight away, little victories were worth celebrating now and again.
And something about these two made her feel like a lot of traditions were about to be broken. Hopefully they weren't going to be too much of a headache.
"And if you have anything else you want just let us know, okay?" Sora was so chipper, it was hard to fault him, but Kairielis was still baffled at how carelessly he was speaking to her. A cavalier cavalier. The joke almost told itself. Part of her was intrigued, but the other part of her still felt vaguely disrespected.
But now it was time to test their limits.
"So, if you want to make me happy...there are a few basics I want you both to follow."
She steadied herself for rejection, but both of them seemed content to wait and listen to her demands. Things were already looking up.
"First, refrain from the super stuffy language whenever possible. Second, since you two are already friends please don't feel like you have to pretend otherwise. Third, and...maybe most importantly...I'd really like it if you two could talk to me now and again. I'd prefer the conversation."
"Well of course we're gonna talk to you! It'd be pretty boring around here if we didn't." Sora was eager enough to comply.
Riku's brow furrowed.
"If I may..." He paused, trying to reassess his speech and briefly checking to confirm the three of them were still alone.
"One...concern of mine is that we are expressly told to remain impartial to you. Would you really be able to stay that way with these rules in place?"
Kairielis chewed on her lower lip in frustration. He had seen through it all so easily. It's not like she wanted to break the rules, she just...didn't like certain ones.
"Well that's...that's my problem to deal with, not yours."
He didn't look convinced.
Sora, however, seemed fairly satisfied with the rule suggestions. Likely because it would mean he wouldn't have to change much about how he handled things already anyway. Any miscreant would be pleased to see a rule book being tossed out the window.
"It shouldn't be a problem for us to at least talk, Riku! We don't even have to talk about anything important. The weather or something at least. What's the worst that could happen?"
Riku's silence carried with it a very stern warning that Kairielis heard loud and clear.
The worst that could happen? That would be another Darkfall. Or her losing her powers of Light Refraction. And those were both fairly grim options.
In an attempt to change the subject, she tapped the end of the metal pole against the floor again with a clack.
"Well, for your first official orders..." She then shoved the pathetic remains of the candle stick towards Sora, who gripped it hesitantly, avoiding her hands in the process.
"Get rid of this thing."
He eyed the bent rod and gave an improper salute. "O-okay! I'll do my best, Kairi."
The princess froze. Her heart thumped uncomfortably in her chest.
"...what did you just call me?"
No one had ever used that nickname with her. Not since...
"I...uh...but isn't that your..." The boy wilted under her piercing glare. "Y-your Highness? Princess? Lady of the Light?"
She narrowed her eyes at him and he gulped quite visibly. That was one lesson her mother had taught her, that she could still remember quite clearly. 'With a steady gaze, any woman could make any man experience unbridled fear of the Gods so long as she was confident she could do so.'
He uttered a few more rambling honorifics, some notably creative ones he was making up on the spot, before she cut him off with a raised hand.
"That's more like it..."
His vision flickered over towards his friend for a moment, maybe looking for support, but Riku just gave him a shooing gesture. Looking a bit flustered still, Sora glanced down at the broken candlestick then stumbled one way, changed his mind when he realized there wasn't an exit in that direction, and bumbled back the way he came. Riku pulled the correct door open for him in an attempt to help lead him back to the hallway, but made no motions of following him.
This seemed to baffle Sora even further.
"You aren't coming with?"
"Did you forget the rules already? At least one of us with her at all times."
"O-oh, right!" He chuckled a little to himself. "And I don't suppose Kaaaairi-ighness-" He quickly cleared his throat. "Her Highness—wants to go to the trash room?"
Nice attempt at a save there, you scrawny little upstart.
The other knight looked like his patience was being tested. "Not likely."
"I'll try to make it fast!" True to his word, he sped off with a light skip in his step.
Kairielis used to love reading fairy tales when she was little. One in particular, though, she never liked. It was the tale of a boy who skipped off to town and was tricked into trading his cow for a meager three beans because they were said to be magic. While it paid off for him in the end- after the beans impossibly sprouted a massive stalk that lead him to adventure and riches- she always felt like someone who would make such a trade in the first place was far too foolishly optimistic and naive to be real.
She took that all back now.
Sora was exactly that type of person.
He had only just run off around the corner before Riku immediately lowered his head.
"My apologies about his..." He searched for the right word. "Everything. I won't lie and say that he is well-versed in etiquette but he isn't normally this bad. If I'm allowed to make an excuse for him, he gets...careless when he's nervous."
Kairielis wandered out the doors to the hall and leaned against the railing, staring down at the courtyard garden below her.
That boy had been nervous? He certainly had an odd way of showing it. Whenever she was nervous she got quiet and tried her best not to make a fool of herself, which seemed fairly standard. What kind of person would get more vivacious the more anxious they are? Someone unusual, that's who.
Someone she wasn't really sure how to make of yet. At least she knew that he meant well. Both of them did. And at the end of the day she had wanted something a bit less traditional. Too late to complain now.
She hummed a bit to herself and watched the golden yellow leaves of the tall nearby ginko tree billow out like a giant yellow sail against the breeze. It was still just as hot today as yesterday, so the wind was absolutely welcome. Maybe it wouldn't hurt just to relax here a while.
She had only just met him, but she already trusted Riku to be more than capable of keeping a very sharp eye out for dangerous, threatening or monstrous things. Like bloodthirsty mosquitoes, for example.
After what felt like a while, she noticed that Sora had yet to return. She hoped what Ienzo had told her about him falling asleep easily wasn't going to be a problem she actually had to contend with.
As her eyes perused the courtyard garden for the third time today, she noticed a figure dart between the flower bushes aimlessly, looking more lost than a penguin in a desert.
The figure was also carrying a large, dented metal pole.
She sighed, and rested her chin on her hands.
Unbelievable.
She watched him scramble in several different directions before she decided it was best to put him out of his misery.
"Sora!"
Bracing herself up against the railing, she leaned forward to wave down to her lost little knight with as obvious a motion as possible. She also definitely noticed Riku glancing at her precarious position with a disapproving look but it wasn't like he could pull her away from the edge. No touchy, after all.
When Sora finally spotted her up on the wall, she cupped her hands to her mouth. "The trash room is that way! Follow the orchids to the edge of the garden, then go past the yellow doors to the kitch-"
He definitely wasn't following.
Setting the metal pole briefly down on the grass he joined her in making his own hands a makeshift voice amplifier, shouting back.
"I don't see any kids!"
She blinked. What?
She glanced, bewildered over at Riku who shook his head.
Sora tried yelling up at them again.
"And definitely nothing with oars!"
Riku groaned as he somehow managed to decode his friends misunderstanding, then threw his voice into the shouting match.
"Not kids! Orchids!" Riku rubbed at his forehead wearily. "Figures..."
He mumbled this last part under his breath and Kairielis couldn't help but smile again.
"Oh!" Sora paused, considered a few of the plants next to him, then paused again. "Uh...Riku? What's an orchid?"
"A flower! What else!?"
"Yeah, but..." Sora glared in frustration at his friend who only returned a facetious shrug.
Mm-hmm. They were definitely good friends. She had heard that people who are very close were much more comfortable with trying to irritate one another. It seemed odd when she first heard about it, but here it was, definitely in practice.
"It's pink!" She tried to drop her wayward knight another hint, and pointed to the row of orchids somewhat near his foot, hoping that would help him pick it out from all the others around.
Spotting them now, Sora nodded, scooped up the broken candle stick with relish and gave her a grateful wave before flouncing off.
"Has he never been to the castle before?"
"Not this part."
Kairielis huffed and pulled away from the railing. "Why didn't he just tell me he didn't know where anything was! I wouldn't have sent him off alone then."
"He didn't want to burden you with his shortcomings and didn't mind wandering until he found the right place."
Kairielis glanced at him.
"...If I had to guess." He concluded.
That was far too accurate to be a guess.
"For not trying to be a burden he's ended up awfully inconvenient."
"That's...how he is. Smashes his head against problems until he fixes them. It's troublesome every now and again, but his perseverance is admirable."
He made a good point.
"I...I see. I'll try to keep it in mind, thank you for your opinion." She tipped her head to the side, considering. "And...thank you for trying to talk with me a little, it makes me really happy."
"I'll do my best to follow your orders, Princess."
She gripped the sides of her skirt.
Right.
Because it was an order.
For some reason she had foolishly been thinking he was trying to get along with her, but he was just following her previous commands as best he could.
"Like every good knight always does…" She mumbled to the ground. Half of her wondered if all the staff in the castle weren't obligated to, if they would even care about her at all.
Well, that does it.
She abruptly spun around and began marching back towards her room. Riku wordlessly followed, no doubt wondering where they were going but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing. Because she is in charge this time. Ha!
But seriously, she really did need to get another pair of shoes.