It's Mermaid Monday!
We're starting to move into what I consider to be Act II, so consider this the calm before the storm. We get our first glimpse of Prince Lyon. I'll hold my comments on him until next chapter, where he gets more than two lines of dialogue, so we can actually delve into his character.
A big thank you to all reviewers; responses to guests are below.
Guest: lol Just a little bit. We can sort of consider it the epilogue to Act I.
Waffels: Yikes, that sounds unpleasant. I wonder if I should start putting disclaimers on these things. ;) I actually almost didn't bring Gajeel back, but their BroTP won me over, even in this reality.
Guest: It'll be an few chapters before we'll see Gajeel, but he's going to come back in a big way. And hopefully he doesn't disappoint.
- K. Chandler
"This is an opportunity! Do you understand, Lucy?"
"Yes, father. I understand, all right?"
"Do not disappoint me."
Lucy sighed. She wasn't sure where her father had gotten this hair-brained notion that she should be Prince Lyon's bride.
None of this sat well with Lucy, but she knew better than to argue with her father. No one said no to Jude Heartfilia.
She might have forgiven his dubious methods if she were convinced that he was acting on her best interests, but she had a hard time believing that he was concerned about anything other the future of Heartfilia Holdings.
Heartfilia Holdings. After her mother passed away, Heartfilia Holdings was the only Heartfilia that her father still cared about.
With an unhappy sigh, Lucy climbed out of the carriage. She looked up at the seaside castle that overlooked Akane Bay. With its elaborate stone architecture and towers, it looked like something out of a storybook.
Of course, if this were a fairy tale, she'd be some kind of secret princess, giddy about getting to meet the prince. But this was real life and things like that didn't happen.
Lucy wondered what the prince was like. She knew that he was relatively young—rumors could typically be trusted for information like a person's age. Maybe he was cunning and practical like her father. Or he might be an arrogant bore.
It was probably better if he wasn't interested in her.
With her father leading the way, Lucy followed silently. She felt like a prisoner on her way to an execution. Lucy kept her head down, letting her father do the talking.
"Ah, Mr. Heartfilia. Good of you to come," said Prince Lyon.
Lucy was thoroughly unimpressed. Prince Lyon looked both arrogant and boring. Perfect.
"Your Highness. May I introduce my daughter, Lucy?"
The prince made an impatient sound. "While it's a pleasure to make Miss Lucy's acquaintance, I thought we were here to discuss fiscal policy in Fiore. Perhaps my attendant made a mistake in my schedule for today."
Lucy opened her mouth to speak, but her father silenced her with a glare. He had been so irritable lately. Biting her lip, Lucy remained silent.
"No, no. We most certainly will discuss that. I just—"
"Forgot to mention that your daughter was an economist?" asked the prince dryly. He was surveying her with a sharp, though not unfriendly, look.
Lucy fought a giggle. She hadn't expected Prince Lyon to have such a sharp tongue.
"Regardless, she's welcome to join us," said the prince. "If you'd still like to talk policy, I'll have another place set at the table."
Joining her father and the prince at the table, Lucy sat quietly. She swirled her spoon through her soup. She found it difficult to pay attention to a discussion on expansionary fiscal policy and tax multipliers.
But her father was a better negotiator than Lucy had given him credit for. Despite the prince's obvious dislike for the idea, he ended up agreeing to most of her father's terms. And after what had to be the dozenth hint at finding a Lucy a suitor, the prince relented.
"You know," he said thoughtfully. "I have a cousin who is looking for a bride. Let me speak with him and see if we can't arrange an audience."
"Excellent," her father said, grinning broadly. "In the meantime, I'm sure you wouldn't mind putting us up for a few days while we wait?"
"I thought you lived in town?"
"Just outside of it, actually. In the countryside. If you'd allow us to stay, it would be a bit easier for us to talk."
Lucy could see the irritated set to the prince's features, but he responded easily. "I'll have rooms prepared," he said.
And that was how Lucy and her father ended up staying at the castle.
"What are you so happy about?" asked Lucy. The suitcase her father had her pack this morning had seemed extreme for a day trip, but all the extra changes of clothing were coming in handy now. It was almost too convenient.
"Things are working out well," said her father.
"You planned this?" asked Lucy quietly.
"Of course, I did. And it was only too simple to get the prince to agree."
"What? Couldn't hook the prince, so we're going to go after his cousin?" spat Lucy. She shook her head in disbelief. "That's disgusting."
Her father glared. "None of your backtalk, young lady. Keep in mind that the prince's cousin is a man of influence."
"Influence?!" cried Lucy. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "It's always about money with you, isn't it?" hissed Lucy, pressing her lips together. "Money, politics and power."
"Have you no desire to better yourself?"
"I'm not going to marry some guy just because he's a noble!" Lucy shook her head. "I won't do it," she declared. "You can't make me."
"I most certainly can." Jude caught Lucy's arm, fingers digging into her wrist painfully. Jude Heartfilia's expression had twisted into an unrecognizable mask, his face flushed an angry purple. "You live under my roof and you will do as I say."
Lucy took an involuntary step backwards. Her father had never raised a hand to her before.
"Do I make myself clear, young lady?"
"…Yes, father."
Juvia's not the only one holding her silence...
I struggled a little bit with how progressive to make Lucy. In FT, Lucy springs into action fairly often. She gets rescued a lot, and I see her as a bit of a damsel, but she is an active protagonist whose actions further the plot. However, I decided to take the time period into account (for once). I picture this as being set in the late 1700s, maybe the early 1800s, during the latter half of the Age of Sail. Women in that day in age did not have the opportunity to control their own destiny the same way that we do. I already subverted that trope with Cana and Erza by making them female sailors, which would not have been accepted in that day.
For some variety, I played the trope straight with Lucy. I figured that as the daughter of a rich family, she'd be less likely to be flout tradition and fight against circumstance. Even though Jude isn't specifically abusive, I imagine that Lucy fears her father. Part of Lucy's growth arc in this story is to work her way out of this place of fear and to stand up for herself. Her inaction is going to feel frustrating to the modern reader, but it was my opportunity to play with this sort of character (without an entire cast of women that walked out of the pages of Jane Austen).
Rest assured, Lucy will, indeed, take action. But since I baselined her as hesitant and repressed (in this universe), she's going to have to earn that moment.
Next time, in Silence, the prince's cousin is made aware: "You told them what?!" snarled Gray.
Stop back next Monday for the next installment, or just follow me, Karine of R011ingThunder.
