23. Two Princes (Spin Doctors)

A/N: Okay, this one's definitely AU, and thus a bit OOC. And the song and the fic slightly contradict each other. Meh. Can't be perfect. Might as well have fun.

"Make way for the Prince Roy! The Prince is coming this way!"

Riza sighed. Why did the prince always have to disrupt the market? He didn't seem exactly interested in what was going on, though she had to admit that his mother, the queen, was taking excellent care of things. Riza had a bed to sleep in at night and a roof over her head, unlike the peasants in the neighboring countries. But the queen was going to go at some point, and without her strong leadership, the country would join its neighbors economically, possibly starting another war.

"Hey… He's looking at you."

"So are you, Jean, though I'd prefer that neither of you do so."

"Insolence!" a young, overzealous guard yelled. "It is a great honor for the prince's eyes to focus for even the tiniest second on your puny stall! How dare you—"

Riza stepped forward. "I speak of the prince as a man, who, like any other man might, was not looking at my stand, but at me, and not at all innocently!"

Now the other guards were a bit more riled. "Apologize!" another one ordered, but Riza stood still.

"Who might I have the pleasure of addressing?" The Prince dismounted his horse.

Riza barely bobbed a curtsy, without looking down. "Riza Hawkeye, Your Highness."

"Royal Highness!" the first guard hissed.

Both Riza and Roy glared at the man. Roy turned back to Riza after a moment. "And what are your wares, Miss Hawkeye?"

"I sell knives, Your Highness."

"Ah." Roy went to the stall. He took a knife and examined. "Simple enough, but of excellent quality, Miss Hawkeye. This is a family trade, I presume?"

"Both of my parents are dead," Riza said coldly. "I make these knives by myself and take great pride in them."

"As well you should," Roy assured her. "Might I trouble you to purchase one?"

That stunned Riza for a moment. When she came to her senses, she shook her head. "It would be no trouble, Your Highness."

Roy pulled a coin from a pouch. "I believe this should cover it." He placed the coin in her left hand, and took her right hand to place a kiss on it.

Riza was a bit flustered, though Jean had done the same thing to her many times. This was the prince, after all! A crowd was gathering around her stall now. She looked at the coin she had been given. "Your Highness!" she called, for the prince and his guard were already continuing on their excursion. "Your Highness, this is too much!"

The prince raised a hand to show that he had heard, but did not turn back.

Riza went back to her stall.

"So," Jean began. "That mean I can get a knife for free?"

"No."

A few weeks later, Riza was packing up shop for the day when a familiar man approached her stall.

"Excuse me, Miss Hawkeye."

Riza jumped. "Your—!"

Roy put a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture. "My guards don't know that I'm out here, though my mother probably does. I don't know how she does it."

Grinning, Riza nodded. "The Queen is a fearsome woman."

"Wait until you know her. Then see if you can tell me that my mother is merely fearsome." Roy began to walk with her. "Have you eaten this evening?"

Riza shook her head. "I need to pick up some meat for my dog before I go home."

"I'll accompany you." Roy guided Riza's free arm through his.

They walked in silence for a few moments. Finally, Riza told him, "You'd do well to get a better disguise if you're to be escaping the Palace often."

Roy looked a bit crestfallen. "I thought it was a good start."

Riza nodded. "You look like a poor nobleman, but even they avoid the lower-class merchants."

Sighing, Roy changed the subject. "You say you have a dog."

"I raised Hayate from a puppy. He's extremely loyal and has taken to very few people."

"Is that man from the stall next to yours one of them?"

Riza chuckled. "You disguise your jealousy poorly, Your… um…"

"Please, my name is Roy. It's not a hard one." He smirked as Riza glared at him. In a more serious vein he continued, "Well, what man wouldn't be jealous? He was, as well."

"Flatterer." Riza shook her head.

Roy repeated her gesture. "I am no such thing, Miss Hawkeye! I willingly admit that I am jealous of any man who lays his eyes on you for any reason. You must understand, seeing you at work is the highlight of my rounds. You're kind to your customers, but firm. Very fair. I wish others would say the same of me."

"Perhaps if you paid more attention—" Riza stopped. "I'm sorry, that was rude."

"It was entirely deserved on my part, Miss Hawkeye. I am learning how to rule this country, I swear, but I fear my expression of boredom is an act, that I might not leap from my horse every time I see you. Most everywhere else, the people cringe under my keen observation."

Suddenly, Riza was aware of the same being fixed on her. "I can understand that," she said at last. She swallowed before approaching the butcher's shop.

"I'm surprised that Hayate hasn't so much as growled at you," Riza admitted as she prepared dinner.

"As am I. I'm not very good with animals, I'm afraid." Roy scratched the dog's ears before getting up from his chair. "Please, may I be of assistance?"

"I'm nearly done and you ask now?" Riza sounded amused. "If you're going to be this delayed in choosing a wife, you won't have one until bearing a child would be impossible for her!"

Roy went silent and still.

Riza wondered what she had done to offend him. "Your Highness… Roy… is something the matter? If I—"

Standing, Roy went over to grab a bowl. "I'm fine."

"Tell me! What was it what I said?"

Roy turned to Riza slowly. "Do you really not see it? It's different, or I should hope it is—the way I look at you. You may not know much of the man I truly am, but I know the woman you truly are. Riza, you are the wife I have chosen!" In one fluid movement, he set the bowl down, pulled Riza to him, and pressed his mouth to hers.

Riza was again too stunned by Roy's kiss to react for a moment, but when she had regained her bearings, she pushed Roy away. "Please! I realize that you know more of me than I of you, but that is why I ask you to stop. I need time to figure you out before I can give you my answer."

Roy stared for a moment before nodding. "Very well. I was sincere in my actions, but I will most certainly oblige your request to inform yourself of whatever is necessary before you answer. I cannot order you to marry me, Riza: that is how strongly I feel for you. If I must eventually give you up, so be it, but I cannot force you to live unhappily."

Riza was quiet for a moment before looking up at him. "Thank you, Roy, for allowing me the choice my own father might not have given me. However this ends, I won't forget this kindness, and that might very well be what brings me to you yet."

She was rewarded by a half-smile.

"Very well, Miss Hawkeye. So may it begin."

A/N: Whew! An unusually long one! I considered renaming this "A Queen For His Majesty" (After White Tie Affair's "Candle") and sticking it out there as a oneshot, but it came to me as an SC piece while I was listening to "Two Princes", and I don't have enough ideas right now to justify it.

I'm unusually proud of this one and had a lot of fun writing it, what with all the quasi-flowery language. And, well, me being a complete sucker for romance.

Please leave a review! If I am encouraged, I might make a companion to this later. Like, the engagement or something, but I need to know what you guys think!