Ike had almost reached the manor. Unlike his own, this manor had only one defence – The Gates of Good Intention.
The Gates were tall, plain and silver in colour, not really marked by anything apart from Lord Roy's personal crest – a heart with a crack down the centre. When the Gates opened, the crack down the centre of the heart spilt, allowing the Gates to open. Underneath the crest was a plaque with the following words engraved onto it:
Announce your intentions to the Gate
Only goodness enters here
Your state of heart decides your fate
The Gates will know when you're sincere
Well that seemed simple enough. Ike faced the Gates straight on and declared,
"I am going to the manor to get Princess Rapunzel and hold her hostage for the fortune of a lifetime!" He waited, and waited, and waited.
The Gates didn't open.
He repeated his statement again, but to the same effect. He tried again and again until he was hoarse, but the Gates never opened for him. In his mind there was nothing wrong with what he had said. If he had money he could live in wealth and luxury, and that was a good thing, surely? A good intention? Not understanding why it wasn't working, Ike sat down outside the Gates and closed his eyes briefly, resting. It had been a long walk to get there, trailing Roy, who often dodged out of sight and down shortcuts where Ike would have had no chance of following unnoticed. He shuffled uncomfortably on the pavement, trying to find the best spot. In his mind he pictured the prize he strived for – the Princess Martha, and all the money he would get for her return.
*
Marth watched as Lord Roy left. Moments later, he saw Lord Ike appear, and watched as he tried to enter through the Gates. Roy had been able to enter the Gates, because he had intended to marry Marth, to love him to his dying day… except Marth was a boy, and that was the problem. A he. A him. A man.
He left the window and walked to the mirror. There was nothing wrong with him that he had ever known of. But then he had lived alone for so long – no one else had given him their opinion and he had never asked anyone for it. His dress was torn down the front where Roy had ripped it, and the top half of his pale chest lay bare. Self-conscious of himself he managed to find some string off his damaged corset and used it to tie the front of the damaged dress together as best he could. If he wasn't a princess, what was he? A nobody? Just someone who happened to get locked in a tower? All he knew was that not being the King's son meant he got locked up in a tower, and being a boy meant that the charming Lord Roy wouldn't marry him. He returned to the window.
That Ike down there, he had wanted to hold him hostage. And return him back to the tower for money. His mother's, in all likelihood. She would come and take him, and he would be okay for a few moments, safe in her arms, her barely remembered, softly embracing arms… Tears rolled down Marth's cheeks unchecked. And then the King would put him in the tower again, as punishment for not being his son. But he couldn't stay here in Roy's house. It was Roy's house, and at some point Roy would be coming back, and then he would throw Marth out. Taking a deep breath, he wandered to the door. Time to leave, for whatever lay beyond. Time to go.
*
From beyond the Gates Ike heard someone crying. He was almost asleep, so tired he thought it was part of a passing dream, but after a while his eyelids fluttered open and he looked around. And there, right at the top of the long path leading from the Gates to Roy's manor, the Princess Martha Rapunzel. Why was she crying? When she cried she looked so completely different. That gentle naivety was gone from her face, something about it seemed to have given-up, resigned. Strange, he could have sworn Roy intended to marry her, and that was what Princess Rapunzel wanted, wasn't it? But this new Martha looked haggard, almost ugly. Yes, something of her femininity had gone, to a degree she looked almost like a man. A pretty sort of man, but there was definitely something unfeminine about her now. He felt so sorry for her, so very sorry, and something else he couldn't quite place…
"Let me in, Gates! Let me comfort her!" he whispered. And in that brief moment he completely forgot himself and charged through the opening Gates towards her. In his haste, he would never see that as the Gates had opened, instead of the heart shaped crest splitting down the cracked centre as it normally did, it would merge strangely into two separate new hearts, each of them whole and missing the central crack.
*
Marth looked up as he heard footsteps coming towards him. It was Lord Ike, he had managed to get through the Gates. He couldn't think about what this meant, but he noticed that something about the Lord rushing towards him that wasn't the same as the Lord he had met before. Why did he look so concerned? His expression was totally transformed. There was something about him that seemed to have gained purpose, grown stronger, and yet with this there was a touch of gentle naivety that hadn't been there before. Strange, he could have sworn Ike intended to capture him for money, but there was no trace of this on his face. It was open, readable, almost childish. His eyes were wider, his whole face almost softer, almost slightly feminine. Something like hopefulness lifted his spirits, something like hopefulness, and something else he couldn't quite place…
And then there he was, armourless, unicornless, just Ike's soft cotton top against his cheek, his voice soothing him. Without really thinking about it, Marth's arms fastened themselves around Ike's neck, an unconscious gesture that he wanted protection and comfort, and needed, if only for a while, to be taken care of, nurtured, loved.
"What's wrong?" Ike muttered, repeating the question gently when Marth didn't reply. But he couldn't reply, couldn't bear to tell him that he was a boy, didn't want to ruin this moment, as it surely would. Didn't want to feel the cold grass beneath his back when Ike pushed him away, didn't want to be left alone again. And then Ike lifted him, and carried him down the path and away from the manor. Marth was glad. He didn't want to see that place ever again.
*
