Honor
Chapter Thirteen: A Change of Heart
"I need to speak with you," Prince Jai looked past the other occupants of the room and straight at the Princess, "Alone."
Auggie shot the Prince a glare cold enough to make hell freeze over but brushed past him and left the room. Arthur trailed behind him. Reva and Joan murmured excuses about having to prepare another bed in the adjacent servant's quarters for Joan. They then made a hasty retreat.
Once everyone had left the chambers, Jai continued to speak, "What happened to make you change your mind, Annie?"
He had spoken slowly, as if he thought Annie was unstable and could be set off by the slightest comment on his part. He was clearly confused by her sudden personality change he witnessed in the garden earlier.
Annie sighed, "I realized my place in the world," she clarified simply, "I have been chosen to be your wife."
"Don't lie, Annie," Jai rolled his eyes, "You know your place. You know who you are. And it didn't seem to bother you before."
"Look, why does it matter so much to you anyway?" Annie snapped. She folded her arms over her chest, "You're the one who said that we had to marry to preserve our families' honor, remember? It seems I'm not the only one who's had a change of heart."
Jai flushed with anger as his eyes narrowed, "How dare you accuse me of dishonoring my family!"
"I didn't say you've dishonored them, Jai," the Princess explained, "I only said you seemed to have changed your mind about the matter of our betrothal."
Jai moved over and sunk down onto the velvet couch. He gave a hard sigh and buried his face in his hands, "So what are we going to do then?"
Outside in the hallway, a pair of guards listened intently to the conversation going on inside Annie's chambers. The doors aren't as thick as they appear to be.
Upon hearing Annie's declaration, Arthur turned and gaped at Auggie.
"Shut your mouth, you look like a fish," Auggie told him smartly.
"Wait, so she wants to marry him now?" Arthur was very confused, "Is she insane?"
Auggie glanced at closed door behind them and shrugged, "Quite possibly. But at least you're up to speed now."
Arthur paused to think before answering, "The question is: what are we going to do about it?"
Auggie blinked at him, "We can't do anything, Arthur. It's not our place."
Arthur gave a quick bark of laughter, "So you intend to roll over and admit defeat?"
"How can I admit defeat to a war I never fought?"
More laughter on Arthur's part, "Oh, but you are fighting a war my friend. And the winner gets Princess Annie."
"That's not true at all," Auggie protested.
"Fine," Arthur smirked, "I guess I'll just have to stop her from marrying Prince Jai myself."
"You're hopeless, Arthur," Auggie gave an overly dramatic sigh and rolled his eyes at his companion, "Just don't do anything stupid, okay?"
"I'm older than you, August," Arthur teased, "Shouldn't I be the one telling you that?"
"It's Auggie, for the millionth time," the guard sounded tired, "And I have to tell you this because I'm not in the mood to get in trouble."
Arthur waved off Auggie's comment with a shrug, "Don't worry. I'll come up with something on my own."
"Keep your crazy plots to yourself, buddy."
"Hmm," Arthur paused to think before continuing, "Well, embarrassment is one way to split people up."
Auggie saw the mischief in his fellow guard's eyes.
"What are you planning?"
Arthur grinned. It was a little too excited for Auggie's taste.
"I thought I was keeping my crazy plots to myself, Aug. Can't tell you now, can I?"
Right on cue, Jai emerged from the room. Annie walked out right behind him, her hands clenched into tight fists. Both looked very frustrated. They seemed to be in the middle of a shouting match.
"You are impossible!" Jai wheeled around and attempted to stare Annie down.
She stared back just as hotly, "Same to you too!"
The Princess failed to notice Arthur slide quickly behind her. He was studying the back of her dress with careful precision. He noted how the ribbon simply laced up her back and ended in a simple bow at the base of her neck.
With an impish grin usually only sported by misbehaving children, Arthur quickly pulled the ribbon and the bow easily came loose. The servant's dress that Annie had not yet had the time to change out of fell to a crumpled heap at her feet. She stood in nothing except the bloomers that were worn under it.
Auggie's eyebrows raised into his hairline. He was shocked at Arthur's actions, to say the least.
The Princess gave a loud shriek of shock and rage and bolted back into her chambers. The doors were loudly slammed behind her.
Both guards and the Prince stared numbly at the crumpled dress on the hallway floor.
"What did you do, Arthur?" The question came from Auggie. The question was spoken in a low voice so the Prince couldn't hear them.
Arthur gulped visibly.
Prince Jai excused himself and took off down the hall at a near-run. He was clearly trying to escape the situation with all haste. This left Arthur and Auggie alone in the corridor.
"What did you do, Arthur?" Auggie repeated. He seemed, in Arthur's eyes at least, to grow larger in his fury.
"Heh heh. Well, that was my plan," Arthur explained, "You see, now they won't even be able to be around each other without being really uncomfortable. That's what happens when someone get embarrassed like that," he finished weakly. He didn't look Auggie in the eye.
Auggie opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off when the chamber doors swung open and a fully clothed Annie stepped out into the hall. Arthur shrank back against the opposite wall as though the small amount of distance between himself and the furious Princess would save him.
"Arthur!" Annie nearly shouted. She was visibly shaking with anger, "What did you do?"
Arthur laughed meekly, a nervous response, "Well...actually..."
"You might want to answer her, Arthur" Auggie advised wisely, "How does that saying go? 'Hell hath no fury', or something like that. Well, Hell might not have fury, but Annie certainly does..." He trailed off into his trademark smirk.
Arthur gulped again, "You can't marry, Prince Jai," he blurted out.
"So, to keep me from getting married to Jai, you untied my dress?" Annie concluded.
She sounded amused at his logic, as twisted as it was, "I admire your creativity, Arthur, but this is my decision, not yours, or Auggie's, or Joan's, or Reva's," Annie turned and went back into the chamber. She shut the doors quickly behind her.
"You just got off really, really lucky," Auggie told Arthur. Arthur could only nod in agreement.