Honor

Chapter Five: One Very Stubborn Princess

Princess Annie and her maidservant, Reva, gave simultaneous jolts of surprise when the door creaked open only minutes after the interruption by Katia and Chole. Sir Arthur bowed to Annie and promptly admitted a young vassal into the room. The young boy, who seemed no more than thirteen, gave an awkward bow, as he was staring openly at Annie's honey blonde hair and porcelain features.

"H-his Highness Prince Jai wishes an audience with you in the main parlor, and his Royal Highness, King Henry, wishes me to inform you of a b-ball to be held tonight in your honor."

Annie bit back her immediate response of 'Go tell Prince Jai to boil his head,' instead responding with a mild, "Yes, of course, thank you."

Arthur escorted the boy out, casting Annie a sympathetic look over his shoulder as he did so.

Once the doors had closed again, Annie shifted her attention to her maidservant, "You win, Reva. I suppose I have to give him a chance. I also suppose that this audience is supposed to private, or I would have you accompany me. As it stands, I must face him eventually."

Marching purposefully towards the door, Annie opened it and headed down towards the main parlor.

Annie found that the young vassal had waited her in the hallway and proceeded to lead her and her ever-present two guards through the castle to the thick wooden door of the main parlor. He knocked once at the door before opening it for Annie to enter. The wary Princess found that Prince Jai was already inside. He rose when she entered, giving her a small, slightly-forced smile. Sirs Arthur and Auggie came in behind her, silently taking up posts on either side of the doorway with stone expressions and crossed arms.

"Ah, Princess Annie..." Jai trailed off, obviously uncertain of how to continue. He cast a nervous glance at her two intimidating guards standing by the door, "Thank you for joining me. I understand you must be tired from your long journey so I won't keep you long."

"Of course," Annie murmured, "That's fine."

"I thought maybe we could get to know each other better," he offered lamely. Annie sighed to herself. She was still unconvinced that he really wanted to marry her, no matter what Reva had said. Well, at least he was trying. Jai gestured to the chairs behind him, "Would you care to sit?"

Annie answered by taking a seat, prompting him to do likewise.

It was Annie who spoke first, "Do you want to marry me?"

The Princess saw no sense in beating around the proverbial bush. She had to know what Jai thought.

The Prince's answer was immediate, "Absolutely!"

Jai paused, looking uncertain. Finally, he admitted in a hoarse whisper, "No, no I don't. Not really. That's not without saying that you are incredibly gorgeous, of course, and I'm sure you're very nice too, it's just...well..."

Wringing his hand, the Prince sighed loudly and turned to glance out the nearby window.

Annie smiled smugly. Obviously, they couldn't force them into a marriage neither she nor Jai wanted. Perhaps this would turn out fine.

"But I have to anyway," Jai finished strong. He turned back to face the Princess.

Annie's jaw dropped and she promptly gaped at him like a fish.

"No, you don't!" she exclaimed, "Why would you marry someone you don't want to?"

The idea was stunning and unfamiliar and Annie wasn't initially fond of it.

Obviously, Jai found Annie's view as shocking as she found his, "I don't have a choice," he stated in a matter-of-fact manner, "I have to do what tradition dictates. Tradition says I must wed the woman my father chooses. That's you," he added with a scowl.

"Oh, and I suppose if your father told you to jump off the north tower you'd do that too," Annie smirked. She sounded incredulous.

Jai scowled at her reasoning, "This is a matter of family honor! The reputations of both our families are at stake," he insisted.

Annie gave a short bark of laughter, "Obviously, you are not aware of the reason why my father had to send me to France to find a husband!" She paused to gauge the Prince's reaction. He met her gaze and gave her his full attention, "I'm sort of the 'black sheep' of the family. I'm not what most would consider a 'proper princess.'"

Jai nodded in understanding, "That's okay, I'm always getting yelled at for ignoring my father and flirting shamelessly with the women who work in this castle. That's probably why my father agreed to our betrothal in the first place."

"Well, I think honor should be put after your heart and your dreams and choices and hopes," Annie replied, "No one ever understands. My father used to scold me constantly for running about our kingdom. He called me improper and boyish, though I believe I was just being curious and adventurous," Annie explained with a loud sigh.

Jai looked at her and shrugged, "Well, your opinion isn't going to mean much right now, Princess Annie. It's not like you can go home anyway," Jai gazed at the princess thoughtfully, "Although, you do make an excellent point, however."

Sighing in despair, Annie rose, "Very well. Farewell, your Highness, I shall see you at the ball tonight."

Jai was forced to watch helplessly as she strode out of the room, flanked by her guards.

As they marched up the stairs, Auggie voiced his opinion, "He didn't seem that bad to me."

Annie was about to tell him to mind his own business, but stopped when she realized that if she let her servants talk freely, the same should apply to the guards. If she took pride in being improper and individualistic, she should accept those qualities in her staff as well. And Sir Auggie wasn't too bad. He was at least a little bit closer to her age, besides Reva. Sir Arthur was clearly several years older than Sir Auggie, Reva, and herself. Although she would never admit it aloud, Sir Auggie was much better looking than Prince Jai. With his every-messy brown hair and swirling hazel eyes. Even with the small scar near his left eye. She would have to ask him about that sometime later.

"At least he's nice," Arthur added thoughtfully with a half-hearted shrug, "Though I must say that wasn't a great start to your relationship there, your Highness."

"Considering neither of us wanted a relationship in the first place and that we are two completely different people, I would say it went rather well," Annie replied, "And there won't be a relationship if I have any say in it."

"Couldn't you at least be friends with him? Or try to be?" Arthur suggested as he gave the princess a small smile.

"Friends," Annie sighed, "I can handle friends. We are certainly not a couple, however," she emphasized with a soft groan. Auggie nodded and shot Arthur a meaningful look that Annie failed to notice.

"Your maidservant seems taken with him though," Arthur mused thoughtfully. He put a finger to his chin as if in deep thought. Annie gasped in surprise, eyes wide as she looked up at her older knight with a shocked smile on her face.

Auggie gave a cocky smile, "Those doors aren't as thick as the ones you're used to in England, Princess. We stand next to those doors all day long; we had to find something to entertain us all day or we would surely lose our minds," He had the nerve to send her a not-so-subtle wink when she blushed lightly.

Taken up in the moment, Annie laughed, "You were eavesdropping? On a Princess? You are both incredibly brave, but do not forget that I can always contact my father and have you be-headed!"

Her joke was taken well, because all three began to laugh.

"Okay then, do you two have any other opinions I should know about?"

They both nodded earnestly.

"You should try wearing red more often, Princess," Auggie said with a wide grin.

"We noticed you prefer darker tones," Arthur motioned towards her dark grey dress, "But red is a nice, darker color too. But it's bolder and would work well with your skin."

"It would look very good on you," Auggie added with a quick nod, which caused Annie to laugh again.

"Fine. Then I will wear my red gown tonight, I guess," she agreed with a wide smile before she entered her chambers and closed the doors softly behind her.

Annie swirled gracefully around in front of the full-length mirror that stood at attention in a corner of her large chamber.

Reva nodded approvingly in the reflection, obviously pleased with the dress, "Red is a fantastic color on you, Annie," she informed the skeptical Princess, "You should definitely wear this color more often. It's dark, but also bolder."

"It's funny; Sir Arthur and Sir Auggie told me to wear this dress. And they said that exact same thing," the Princess informed her with a shrug. She had a feeling the two knights were smugly listening to their conversation on the other side of the door.

"Well, your guards are very sensible when it comes to fashion, then."

Staring at her maidservant's reflection, Annie asked a question, her eyebrows knitted together in question, "Well then, what dress are you wearing, Reva?"

The maidservant gasped, "Me?"

Annie swirled around to face her companion, "Of course, Reva! You're coming too! I'm not spending the evening surrounded by these French nobles alone! That would be worse than murder! And I would be bored to insanity! I would suggest you borrow my light yellow gown, the one I never really wear. It would look gorgeous with your dark hair."

Reva didn't move, still shocked at the idea.

"Well, go on, get changed!" The princess practically shoved Reva into her adjacent chamber. The Princess tossed the dress in after her and closed the chamber doors with a soft thud.

"If I have to go through this torture," Annie spoke through the door, "Then I'll need my friends by my side."