Birthday Bash 2023
Prompt 5
Happy Birthday/Free Day
Using the Prompt
Secret Heritage Part Two
The halo of truth remained blank as it searched. Humbert stared desperately into it, trying to see anything other than the flowing whiteness of the spell trying to find its target.
"Try again," his father urged, but Madame Suliman shook her head sadly as she dissolved the spell.
"My apprentice tried for five minutes before I intervened. If the true love spell can't find a target in half an hour when it normally takes less than a minute, I'm afraid that the only logical conclusion is that your son doesn't have a true love."
Humbert would have preferred being literally stabbed in the heart as opposed to this metaphor. The pain was certainly comparable. He stared at where the spell should have shown him a lady, but no.
If his mate were dead, he'd have been shown a grave.
If she was not born yet, he'd have gotten a close-up of a woman's belly whether or not the mother was currently carrying her, and they could have tried this ritual again in ten years' time. He could have handled waiting, or at least gotten some closure if she was already dead, but no mate at all?
"There must be a mistake," his mother protested, placing her hands on her newly minted sixteen-year-old's shoulders. "Everyone has a mate, and my son is a good boy. A great boy!"
"I can't think of another reason for the spell not to work," Madame Suliman apologized as her apprentice looked at Humbert with pity. "If you insist on trying again, please wait another year. Perhaps the spell will say something new."
ooOoo
But it didn't say anything new the next year. Humbert opted for a private audience with the matchmaker that time, since it was very traditional for the climax of a coming-of-age party to be when the true love spell was cast. Seeing your mate's face and identity confirmed was always regarded as the most important gift, which is why it stung when the lad was cheated of a loving mate that was perfectly suited to him. It had been even worse that it was in front of all his friends and parents' friends, so he was fine with a private audience this time.
"I am sorry, Lord Gikkingen, but this is the same as before," Madame Suliman apologized when she let the spell go after a solid hour of trying to find the poor boy a mate. "I've never even heard of not having a mate before. The closest case I can think of is Princess Haru of Althea."
His mother started in near desperation. "Wait, what if his mate is Princess Haru? How much longer until she wakes up?!"
"It's not her," Madame Suliman asserted firmly. "If it were, the spell would have had little trouble closing in on her while she's asleep, and even if the spell couldn't penetrate the tower, it would have shown the tower."
Humbert struggled to think instead of cry. "But what if it's the same problem?" he coaxed. "What if my true love is in a different time as well?"
Suliman hummed in thought. "I believe it was the Grand Magician Fujimoto that somehow caught Princess Haru's intricate problem before even attempting the true love spell at her coming-of-age ball. I will send word to the Grand Magician Ponyo of Althea and ask her for any notes of her great-grandfather's that can help."
ooOoo
That proved to be a fruitless hope. Despite swearing to have thoroughly searched her family's tower of the royal palace, all Ponyo had been able to find was a locked book from her great-grandfather with an attached note that it would only be able to open on the Princess Haru's one hundredth birthday, still five years from then.
Needless to say, Humbert did not take the news well. He didn't even get out of bed the following day, despite the maid's urgings. He didn't sleep, he didn't touch his breakfast, or even his tea. All he did was stare into oblivion, occasionally shifting his body when he grew tired of what he was currently staring at. Everything seemed to remind him that he wasn't getting a mate.
It just wasn't fair. How was he supposed to wait another five years for possibly a false lead? What could he have done wrong to be denied a mate? Even ruthless dictators with no mercy had a mate!
Close to sunset, his door opened. Humbert was facing away from the door at the time, but his ears still recognized the footsteps of his parents and little sister. "Can't it wait?" he begged, not knowing or wanting to know what they could possibly say to him that would actually help his problem.
Louise hopped onto the bed like it was another day and cuddled up close to him like she had just a few years before. "I just scolded Bartholomew," she informed him proudly. "He tried to say that the baronetcy should be passed to me instead when Father's time comes."
"Perhaps it should," Humbert agreed miserably, just before emitting a grunt of pain when his sister slapped his shoulder hard.
"This changes nothing!" Louise scolded him. "You're the firstborn, and you will be a great baron!"
"Well spoken," their father agreed firmly, walking around the bed and sitting on it in a way the son could see him. He took in a deep breath. "Humbert, I'm not going to pretend I understand this kind of pain. I don't want to even think about how I would have reacted if I wasn't matched to your mother. But I will say that this method will not help you at all."
"Maybe this is what makes sense," Humbert muttered, wishing that he could turn and not be facing his sister instead.
His mother knelt by the bed and gently took her son's hand from where it was gripping the blankets. "I think that this is a mistake," she informed him firmly. "We know you better than anyone, there is literally no reason that I will ever accept that you don't have someone special."
"I've told you what people have been calling me," he reminded her sourly.
"They will eat their words!" she wasted no time yelling. "Son, I'll believe the sun itself will go out before I believe you're meant to be alone. If you need to go to sleep for a while and wait for her like Princess Haru, so be it, but what do you want to tell her when you do meet her?!"
Humbert blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Do you want to tell her that you broke down without a clear path? That you sat in your room and pouted like a child while waiting for her?! I can tell you right now, Humbert; that will not impress her in the slightest, and does it really impress you?"
Humbert sighed. "I'm not trying to impress anyone, Mother."
"Maybe that's the problem," she informed him point blank. "Wouldn't you like to be able to tell this special girl that you waited for her with dignity? If she is this hard to find, don't you think she's going to be something a bit more special than what we know?"
Humbert started at the thought. With a bit of difficulty, he was able to sit up, much to his family's relief. "You think that this girl is so special, the normal spell is having trouble tracing her?"
"We all think it," his father assured with a grateful smile. "Son, you have certain gifts. It's very normal to let such gifts fall at least a bit to the wayside after meeting your mate, but you do have more creative ways to wait out the five years than moping in your room. Healthier, as well."
"You know what I think?" Louise asked smugly while tackling him from behind with a hug. "I think you should eat something, get a good night's sleep, and then in the morning, get out your sword and wreak havoc on everyone that's been badmouthing you."
For the first time since his sixteenth birthday, Humbert was able to smile.
ooOoo
At least while following his sister's plan, people soon grew too prudent to directly insult his circumstances. Humbert knew people were still talking about his lack of a mate, but it was easier to bear when both common and noble folk would look away from him instead of with pity.
He could never stand pity.
The ache was still there, of course. Especially on the nights of balls, soirees, or even festivals that had dancing. He couldn't shake the feeling that other toms thought that he would take it into his head to steal one of their mates, who stayed away from him like he had the plague. Since the only women that it would be proper to dance with were his own mother and sister, he'd stopped attending such social events mere months after his sixteenth birthday.
Since Althea was famous for its sleeping princess, it hadn't been hard to acquire a small portrait of Princess Haru. Perhaps it was kinship over their romantic lives that made him take comfort in her kind smile, her large, gentle eyes.
He smiled at the small portrait late one night, shortly before time and sickness forced him to claim his father's duties. "Only a year left on your sentence, your highness. I imagine your mate will be found any day now, since it's tradition for there to be witnesses at each use of the true love spell. He'd better be a resplendent fellow after waiting so long. I'm sure Althea will go up in flames if he treats you as anything less than a true lady." He couldn't resist a heavy sigh. "It's a pity we probably won't meet after you wake up. My business is with Grand Magician Ponyo, and you will have everyone clamoring for your attention for far longer than I will be visiting your kingdom."
He sipped his tea in thought, still staring at the little portrait he'd propped on a book on the table next to his favorite chair. "Even if it's been less than a hundred years since you were put to sleep, I know much has changed. Even if anyone is still alive from when you knew them, they would have experienced far too much for you to be able to connect like you did before." At that, he couldn't resist a shudder.
"I still don't understand why you weren't allowed a proper farewell with your family. It's not exactly a secret that they mourned even that comfort the rest of their lives. I know King Hashi will do right by you, but it would still be terrifying to suddenly wake up in a world you don't completely recognize. For your sake as well as Althea's, your mate had better be worth all you had to renounce for him."
ooOoo
The Baron von Gikkingen frowned. "While I am gratified by your confidence, your majesty, I have no plans to participate in this year's tournament."
"What?!" King Phoebus demanded as his large, mismatched eyes rolled in their sockets like marbles. "Baron, this is the two hundredth anniversary of the Imperial Tournament, even Althea is sending representatives since you couldn't drag King Hashi away from that tower."
"Your majesty is blessed with many excellent swordscats," Baron reminded him politely. 'You didn't mind using them on previous years to represent Yrael over a low-ranking mateless lord.'
"Yes, and you stand supreme over all of them. Pack up some clothes, because we're not coming back without that trophy! The king of Jilash hasn't stopped smirking since he took it from me last year!"
"From Yrael, your majesty?" Baron asked tightly, since the cat hadn't raised a sword since before his son was born, and the crown prince had long since married his soulmate.
"I am Yrael, Baron! Guards, don't let him out of your sight, he's being too mouthy!" the king ordered, dismissing the young lord with a wave of his hand.
It was all Baron could do to control his disappointment as he bowed out of the king's presence with the heavy escort. 'Confound the tyrant! I've been waiting for Princess Haru's awakening even more eagerly than Althea! If it were his own mate at stake, he'd behead anyone that got in his way!'
But it appeared that there was no help for it. He was being sent in the opposite direction to stroke the old king's ego for him. 'I know I can just go to Althea after the tournament, but this is so frustrating. Six years of waiting. I doubt he's waited that long for anything other than the crown!'
"I'm sure you can get on with whatever business you were planning on afterward, my lord," the guard on his left said a bit disapprovingly, since Baron felt secure enough to scowl when the king wasn't present.
"I would love to see you have half my control under my circumstances," Baron retorted without thinking twice, since he knew he could have taken the guards down if he felt like being declared an outlaw.
ooOoo
But Baron wasn't able to resist admitting to himself that if there had to be a delay in finding the answers he desperately craved, at least he had several 'someone's to take his frustrations out on.
"Round three hundred and eighty-six; the Baron von Gikkingen wins!" the herald declared as the latest opponent was carefully placed into a stretcher and carried off the field.
He could even ignore how many cats from other kingdoms were booing him as he walked back to his tent, bearing his kingdom's colors and flag.
"That's a solid twenty out of twenty, my lord," Renaldo congratulated him since they were surrounded by strangers. He handed the man a cup of water since he'd never had any skill with tea.
"Which means a likely twenty more matches to go, and a solid two weeks until everyone commences with the usual feasting and dancing," Baron sighed before sipping the water, wishing that the king would give up on keeping him guarded, since another pair was standing outside his open tent so that he could watch the rounds that he wasn't dueling in.
"You've endured worse," Renaldo noted as he scratched his brown ear.
"I'm still enduring it. I just wish this was all over," Baron sighed tiredly, but not from the match. Once again, his eye was caught by all the handkerchiefs tied to each and every combatant, since it was a requirement of the tournament that all combatants be of age.
Which also meant married in every case but his own. There, that count from Jilash was intentionally making eye contact with him while adjusting his wife's favor on his neck.
'Yes, aren't you a clever fellow? No one's dreamed of reminding me about my problem during a match to either rile me up or depress me into forfeiting a match. Thank heaven I've learned to laugh off such 'subtle' insults.' "If it didn't mean crippling injury, I'd have thrown a match by now," he mentioned aloud while setting his drink to the side, since it wasn't worth his opponents' swollen egos to lose to any of them.
"I won't tell the king you said that," one of the guards remarked just loud enough for the lord to hear.
Just two more weeks. Baron could endure two more weeks of this nonsense, and then pay for passage on a boat after the tournament whether his king approved or not. He couldn't help childishly wishing yet again that whoever his mate was, she was someone that outranked him so that he could pass the baronetcy to his sister and leave Yrael so that he'd never have to obey that overgrown brat that wore the crown again. He'd miss his family, obviously, but his little sister was married now. Louise was well trained to take over, he and his parents had assured that.
He sighed yet again, wishing that there was a way to speed through the competition and go looking for boats.
There was a sudden outcry from the crowd, and a lot of pointing that had nothing to do with the match, which also stopped when one combatant dropped his sword in shock and pointed so that his opponent could see. Curious as to what could startle everyone so badly, Baron stepped out of his tent and looked in the appropriate direction. His green eyes widened with shock as he automatically began smiling wider than he had in a long time.
It looked like a tsunami at first, but the waves were curiously shaped like giant fish, and you could just see a red dot running from fish to fish.
He started running for the seashore, but the two guards were just able to cross their axes in front of him.
"You're meant to stay here, my lord," one of the guards reminded him coldly.
"If the Grand Magician Ponyo doesn't come to me, I'm afraid there will be a scuffle," Baron informed the cat cheerfully. "The business I've been so eager to get to involves her."
"Oh? Do you think she's got a spare soulmate in one of her pockets?" the guard sneered.
"I won't complain if that proves to be the case," the feline lord answered with complete honesty.
He had reached the point where he didn't care if his soulmate were as big as his thumb, just as long as he could have someone to completely open up to.
The Grand Magician Ponyo soon reached the shoreline, but faded from site as soon as the giant tide that brought her dissolved back into the sea while lowering her to the sand.
"Go see what the Grand Magician wants!" the ambassador for Althea commanded his own guards. "She doesn't use that spell unless she's in a big hurry!"
If Baron could have torn his eyes away from the tournament's closest entry from the pier, he'd have seen the two combatants have a private talk before nodding in unison and walking back to their own tents to find out what warranted such an impressive display.
The Althean soldiers returned within ten minutes, a silent testament that Ponyo had run from the shoreline in order to get to the tournament as quickly as possible.
She was young, but her skill had earned her enough reputation not to be dismissed. As per the description given to the general nobility, she was a short cat with fiery red fur that was nearly a family trait. Her grin was wide as she wildly looked around the open square, even as she ran to the center of the fighting ring. She held both of her hands to her mouth as she shouted in a circle. "Baron Humbert von Gikkingen! Come here; this is the second-best day of your life!"
That was all the invitation Baron needed. He knelt and quickly ran under the crossed axes in order to reach the young Grand Magician. "Please say you know what went wrong," Baron begged as he joined her side.
She grinned up at him, weaving a bit of water-looking magic between her fingers before wrapping it around her neck like a floating choker. "My great-grandfather's journal opened for me! It turns out that the Princess Haru was never asleep!"
Her voice echoed into the expansive crowd, making many gasp and start whispering among themselves.
"Then what happened?" Baron asked, praying that the princess wasn't left to rot instead of an enchanted sleep.
"Great-Grandpapa could read signs that trouble was coming if he didn't do something, and used a complicated spell to figure out that Princess Haru's soulmate wasn't in this world, but another one. The standard spell would have made it look like she didn't have one at all, since that world doesn't have a true love spell."
Baron gaped as the whispers from the nobility turned into bellows for more answers. "So what happened to Princess Haru? What am I meant to do if I have the same problem?"
Ponyo grinned up at him. "Why don't I answer your remaining questions with the true love spell itself? I'm feeling pretty confident that the standard one is all you need right now."
Although his emotions were in turmoil, the tawny lord nodded. He was open to any answers, as long as he could finally understand what was going wrong with his love life!
Ponyo raised her hands and began the familiar gestures. "Sunrise to sunset, winter to spring." She pointed at him, making the customary circle of markings appear beneath his feet as the spell accepted him as the anchor. "Even as the sea seeks the shore, your compass is here, forevermore."
The white circle was larger this time. Ponyo grit her teeth while holding that circle up with both hands, determined to let everyone see just what Baron's fate was pointing him to.
Baron's jaw nearly fell off his skull when a more than familiar face took less than five seconds to appear.
His true love was…
The spell rang out loud and clear with Ponyo's voice, even though she was gritting her teeth with the effort of enforcing the spell's size and clarity.
"Name: Haru Yoshioka. Occupation: Crown Princess of Althea."
There was a great outcry of shock, but Baron could barely focus on the last name he didn't recognize as he drank in her appearance and existence.
Announcing her identity was barely a courtesy, since portraits of her were widespread and she had the equally long-lost heir talisman of Althea around her throat.
She was frowning, and touching one guard by the shoulder. "Actually, would you mind letting me handle this? He's just a boy, after all."
"As you wish, your highness," the unseen guard acquiesced without a fight, since all of the focus was on that face that nearly everyone could recognize.
Baron was almost too delighted to care, but if it wasn't an enchanted sleep, what did Ponyo mean by 'other worlds'? Though now that he had calmed down slightly, he could see that her eyes were much sadder than her portrait, and her head fur seemed to be much shorter if that wood comb was all it took to hold it up.
Princess Haru turned her gaze to what was likely a little boy. She smiled sadly and knelt a bit, more obvious by the small traces of scenery around her than anything else. "Please come here, sweetheart," she coaxed gently. "You're not in trouble, I just want to talk."
A scuffling sound was heard until a head with white and red fur was just visible, and there were enough cues to say that the princess was taking the child into her arms.
"What is your name, young man? Err, cat?" she corrected herself with a nervous smile.
"Shouto, your highness. I just wanted to see you."
At that, her smile turned wry as a small laugh escaped her. "That's going to take some getting used to. Who do you live with, Shouto?"
"It's just me and my parents. My best friend lives right next to us."
"That sounds nice. Do you like your parents?"
Baron was completely baffled about why she was asking after such things. This didn't seem to be the right setting at all.
"Lots and lots! I've got the best mommy and daddy in the world!" the little boy proudly proclaimed, making the princess smile again and press a kiss to his forehead.
Baron had to fight an irrational flare of jealousy.
"Tell me, Shouto; would you be at all upset if you found out that your great-grandparent made a deal that forced you to never see your parents and best friend again?"
The little boy choked in horror.
The audience had silenced themselves when the princess spoke, but they started whispering again as Baron's heart relaxed in his chest.
A deal. That explained most of the intricacies by itself!
"That's only a part of what I'm going through, Shouto. The way my great-grandmother arranged things, I didn't get a choice in coming here, or at least saying goodbye to my mom. I'm definitely not getting over that any time soon," she nearly growled to herself before shaking her head to remain on task. "I wasn't even a cat in my home world, sweetheart. I literally have trouble recognizing myself in the mirror. If all this was thrown into your lap, would you be in the mood to have everyone look at you, give you a bigger party than you ever wanted, talk to you, scream their cheers in your face, in general not leave you alone so you can grieve losing everyone and everything you've ever known without taking your anger out on everyone around you? Just knowing that at the core, everyone's happy you lost the only life you knew?"
The little boy bowed his head and started crying.
Princess Haru wrapped him tighter in her arms, resting her chin between his mismatched ears. "Exactly. If I need to take over my great-grandmother's duties, I'll do what I can to be a princess worth the wait. All I ask is that everyone gives me some compassion for what I had to lose for Althea to thrive. I'll let Uncle present me to the people when I can give them a happy face, but I just need some patience, all right?"
The little boy nodded as he continued to sob.
She rocked him in her arms until he calmed down and used her handkerchief to clean up his face. "Do you need help getting home?"
He shook his head miserably. "Friends are waiting at the fence. I'm sorry."
She gave him another smile and kissed his forehead before rising to her feet and offering the little boy her hand. "Come on. Introduce me to your friends, and then you all skedaddle home. Give your parents a big hug for me and tell them how much you love them. Because I'd literally sell my soul to tell Mom that one more time."
Ponyo fell to the solid ground while breathing heavily as the white circle finally dissolved. "Hoo! That took a lot more than I thought!"
Baron couldn't have agreed more as a ridiculously wide grin took over his face. He was so relieved that he nearly fell to his knees as well.
He didn't just have a mate. He had a better one than any of the fools that had made it their lives' priority to remind him of his deepest worry!
He didn't even care about the obvious implication that she would only be able to handle a friendship for a while, it'd be his honor to prove himself her new best friend.
The excitement made him unable to resist kneeling, taking the Grand Magician's hands and pressing a thankful kiss against each palm. "Thank you," he wept before running for the exit closest to the sea.
"Halt! Where do you think you're going?!" King Phoebus managed to howl loud enough to rival Ponyo's spell.
"As per our ancient laws, since my mate both outranks me and is the citizen of another kingdom, I now answer to the Althean crown!" Baron managed to call over one shoulder, jumping over the Yraeli guards with ease when they tried to block his path again.
Renaldo merely plowed through them with a wicked smirk before running after his lord.
"He is correct!" the Althean ambassador declared as his own soldiers grouped around Baron to make sure he and his large squire could keep running. "Althea is dropping out of the tournament; our duty to present our princess with her future consort takes precedence!"
'At least that takes care of needing a boat,' Baron couldn't resist thinking with glee as most of the guards stayed back to ensure no one would interfere with him, but a set of two started running with him and Renaldo.
"Congratulations, my lord!" one of them told him with glee. "King Hashi sent word through his ambassador and told him to make things as easy as possible to take you to her if his suspicions about your predicament were correct. He thought you deserved some public validation for all the discrimination and slander you've endured."
"I think I'm going to enjoy answering to him instead," Baron admitted happily, feeling lighter and freer than he had in years.
"I don't think Pelia will be too upset about moving to Althea when we send word. Because there's no way I'm staying with that tyrant when a better king is available," Renaldo added with a wicked laugh.
"Well, we certainly have little to complain of from him. I know toms can be younger than mollies when they get matched, but I didn't like the idea of our crown princess being stuck with a child for a few years after already waiting a hundred years," the other guard noted.
Baron nodded, even though all he could think about was using his little mirror as soon as he was on the ship to tell his mother and sister back home that they had been right about everything. He'd have been so ashamed to present himself to a crown princess if he'd done nothing but mope for the last six years.
His only regret was that he didn't get the chance to say it to his father as well.