"Run and catch...! Run and catch...! The lamb is caught in the blackberry patch...!"
At other times, that might have sounded more worryingly ominous. Here, though, Drusilla's oft-mentioned fantasy of being a Princess, had come to considerable fruition and she was skipping merrily through the garden, picking flowers, here and there, for the brightening up of her personal chambers.
She cared not for Queenly decrees! Queens were old and dutiful! Princesses were young and free forever!
At the sound of the sing-song voice, the sheriff turned to find its source. Ah, and there it was, the princess blatantly disregarding the queen's decree. Well, royalty or not, the laws would still apply to Drusilla. And so, hand on the hilt of his sword (not intending to draw it, but just to complete the swagger), Sam approached her.
"And what do you think you're doing, defacing the Queen's garden? She will see you punished for that, mark my words."
At least, he hoped the Queen would. Her propensity for punishing was her most charming quality.
"Silly thing!" Came the reply. "She can't own them! They're nature's, see?"
The brunette evidently did not care much for the announcement and, really... Who was going to do a thing about it? Laws did not apply! The land was bountiful and to be enjoyed.
"'Sides, she won't miss a few, here and there, will she?"
Getting into the castle hadn't proved to be much of a problem; she'd merely informed one of the guards that she was delivering a message from another nearby kingdom. Of course, she wasn't even sure if these people would consider the ocean to be its own nation; since her main focus was Drusilla, however, that didn't seem to matter. She'd heard the princess's name mentioned by heralds, and knew that she must go to her. She still wasn't sure why, just as she couldn't understand why she recognized her from somewhere upon seeing her in the garden...but she did.
She approached the princess and the man, bowing her head slightly. "I'm sorry to interrupt," she explained, "but I've been seeking the Princess for some time. Who are you?"
Her Majesty's day had been a tiring one indeed, plagued with pressing courtly matters she'd deemed too mundane to warrant the King's notice. She had ordered no less than six executions in an effort to soothe her mounting headache, to no avail. Hoping a breath of fresh air would help, Donna had stepped for a moment into the garden-- only to find her lilac bushes had been picked bare. Furious, she whirled around to see a trail of molested flower stems leading straight to her stepdaughter Drusilla, lallygagging at the far end of the garden with the King's Sheriff and someone else.
With as much queenly dignity as she could retain while her head throbbed and her blood boiled with outrage, she strode purposefully toward the offending Princess with a mind to tan her hide permanently.
"You precocious wench!" she cried upon reaching the girl. "How many times have I ordered you to stay out of my garden?"
"Nature?" He tsked. "Brain-addled child. The King and Queen own this land, not Nature."
And then, at the arrival of a most strange and unnatural woman, the Sheriff's grip on the hilt of his sword tightened, in case she was determined a threat.
"That is the question I should be asking you. What is your business with the princess?"
And then-- ah!-- Providence answered his wishes! The Sheriff's black and shrivelled heart went aflutter as the Queen arrived, and he gave her a deferential bow.
"Your Majesty, I was about to stop her when her... associate arrived," he said, nodding to the strange woman. "By your word, Highness, I'll see to it that they are justly punished."
Something more emotional fluttered within Drusilla, at the first woman's announcing arrival. She... Knew her from somewhere. The face, the voice - all of it seemed to add up to a most perplexing puzzle, but before she could rightly figure it out, the Queen issued her demands.
Issued and received a rather violent hiss in return. So much so, in fact, that, for a moment, Princess Drusilla paused, catching herself and not quite comprehending why she should have acted in such a manner. Something about the new-comer's presence had triggered it. As though a missing piece of puzzle was teasing her with a mental clue.
Ah well, not to worry!
"You've got far too many and my chambers are part of the royal household, are they not? I should be entitled to a few of them, say I! What need have you for a few dozen, out of hundreds? They should be enjoyed, not imprisoned!"
"I'm not anyone's associate," she protested to Sam, when she remembered that she was, in a way. "Oh! That reminds me." She turned to Donna. "Namor, King of the Merfolk, has decreed that if humans continue to abuse his ocean, retribution will be enacted. He asked for me to pass that on while I was looking for her," she explained, pointing to Drusilla.
"I've been looking for you," she said lamely, turning to Drusilla once more. "I'm not sure why...but I have. I kept getting a feeling about it."
"Imprisoned? You'll be imprisoned to the Tower for the rest of your miserable life, you little strumpet." She was about to order Samuel to drag her away, when the other woman uttered a most outrageous statement.
"What?!" she shrieked, rounding on her. "King of the Merfolk? What right has he to decree anything in MY... husband's land? And what right do you have to bring such nonsense into the Royal Gardens? Who let you in here? I will have his head!"
"Such insolence," Sam tutted at Drusilla's words, fully backing the Queen's outrage. "Best to lock her away or marry her off to some obscure man of modest wealth."
Sam glanced at the queen, then at the tin messenger, giving an enthusiastic nod in agreement to her sentiments. "You claim to be nobody's associate, and yet you deliver demands from a foolish creature with delusions of royal authority. The fish-man is in no position to make demands of our glorious Queen, may she reign for an eternity--" He was almost too eager as he mentioned her, and then seemed to add as an after thought, "--or our most wise King."
And so, he drew his sword. "Perhaps I should deliver a message to merfolk, myself."
"I think... I rather think I share this feeling, although it vexes me, terribly," answered the Princess to her unknowing saviour, coillected flowers still in hand. "But why, pray tell, should I associate you with food? Have you brought a picnic?"
When the Queen voiced her sentiments and Sheriff threatened to enforce them, however, the Princess protested with crossed arms and a barking, "How dare you, Ma'am! And you, disloyal servant of the Crown! You should know better! I know perfectly well where you'd care to sheath your trusty dagger, Sir! No doubt, my step-mother would happily oblige, too!"
The Tin Woman shook her head. "I haven't brought any food, as I don't need to eat. I just...kept getting a feeling, that's all." She rapped once on the hollow metal of her chest, indicating where the feeling stemmed from. "It was like a constant reminder that I needed to look for you."
"Oh, how touching," the Queen sneered at the metallic intruder. "Perhaps the feeling will take the edge off the hefty prison sentence you're about to begin. As for you, young harlot-- you think your father will spare you from punishment after the insult you do me? Think again! Trusty dagger, indeed. The nerve of you!"
"Ah, good Sheriff, I knew you would volunteer your blade." Donna smiled, however faintly and coldly. "The King shall hear of your bravery, mark my words." Trusty dagger, indeed.
Sam may need to get pwned again :|bythe_booksMarch 17 2009, 02:32:15 UTC
Oh, Sam desperately wanted to talk back to the Princess, but he knew better. While his allegiance was, in truth, to the Queen above all, he was a servant to the crown. King Nathan was his ultimate superior, and so he had to defer to all of the Royal Family, princesses included. How he hated the miserable little urchins, with their flowing gowns and their simpering noises and their svelte, gazelle-like figures.
Not like the Queen, the perfect picture of sophistication, poise, and... truly magnificent knockers...
Hmm...
Anyway! The Sheriff knew when he was pushing his limits, and so he wisely chose not to respond to the Princess for now. Instead, he turned his attentions to her new companion.
"Ah, how sweet your feelings are, lady. Worry not, you'll have plenty of time to converse with the princess if she so chooses to visit you in your cell," he said smugly. "The punishment of trespassing in the Queen's gardens. Allow me to escort you to your new home"
Dru merely made with a, "Humph! I'll have daddy remove your head, if you dare do such a thing to my new friend! I bet you've a tapestry or two of the Queen in a mighty state of undress, in your boudoir, Sir - and no mistake!"
Yanking the mechanical visitor away from them, unerringly like one might expect of a child with doll, the brunette was clearly having none of it. Indeed, she seemed just about ready to storm off.
Or hurt someone... Quite viciously hurt someone, in fact. It was somehow feeling more and more like the natural thing to do.
Perhaps a more private discussion with the visitor would set her mind straight?
"She's mine and we're taking our business elsewhere! So, there!"
"I don't mean any trouble!" The Tin Woman kept protesting amid the three-way argument unfolding before her. She didn't fight to keep her place when she was pulled by the Princess, as she was far too confused by all of this at the time. But her fingers were still resting along the seam of her hollow chest when she was yanked, and the little latched compartment swung open, sending something inside tumbling to the ground
( ... )
At other times, that might have sounded more worryingly ominous. Here, though, Drusilla's oft-mentioned fantasy of being a Princess, had come to considerable fruition and she was skipping merrily through the garden, picking flowers, here and there, for the brightening up of her personal chambers.
She cared not for Queenly decrees! Queens were old and dutiful! Princesses were young and free forever!
Reply
"And what do you think you're doing, defacing the Queen's garden? She will see you punished for that, mark my words."
At least, he hoped the Queen would. Her propensity for punishing was her most charming quality.
Reply
The brunette evidently did not care much for the announcement and, really... Who was going to do a thing about it? Laws did not apply! The land was bountiful and to be enjoyed.
"'Sides, she won't miss a few, here and there, will she?"
Reply
She approached the princess and the man, bowing her head slightly. "I'm sorry to interrupt," she explained, "but I've been seeking the Princess for some time. Who are you?"
Reply
With as much queenly dignity as she could retain while her head throbbed and her blood boiled with outrage, she strode purposefully toward the offending Princess with a mind to tan her hide permanently.
"You precocious wench!" she cried upon reaching the girl. "How many times have I ordered you to stay out of my garden?"
Reply
And then, at the arrival of a most strange and unnatural woman, the Sheriff's grip on the hilt of his sword tightened, in case she was determined a threat.
"That is the question I should be asking you. What is your business with the princess?"
And then-- ah!-- Providence answered his wishes! The Sheriff's black and shrivelled heart went aflutter as the Queen arrived, and he gave her a deferential bow.
"Your Majesty, I was about to stop her when her... associate arrived," he said, nodding to the strange woman. "By your word, Highness, I'll see to it that they are justly punished."
Reply
Issued and received a rather violent hiss in return. So much so, in fact, that, for a moment, Princess Drusilla paused, catching herself and not quite comprehending why she should have acted in such a manner. Something about the new-comer's presence had triggered it. As though a missing piece of puzzle was teasing her with a mental clue.
Ah well, not to worry!
"You've got far too many and my chambers are part of the royal household, are they not? I should be entitled to a few of them, say I! What need have you for a few dozen, out of hundreds? They should be enjoyed, not imprisoned!"
Reply
"I've been looking for you," she said lamely, turning to Drusilla once more. "I'm not sure why...but I have. I kept getting a feeling about it."
Reply
"What?!" she shrieked, rounding on her. "King of the Merfolk? What right has he to decree anything in MY... husband's land? And what right do you have to bring such nonsense into the Royal Gardens? Who let you in here? I will have his head!"
Reply
Sam glanced at the queen, then at the tin messenger, giving an enthusiastic nod in agreement to her sentiments. "You claim to be nobody's associate, and yet you deliver demands from a foolish creature with delusions of royal authority. The fish-man is in no position to make demands of our glorious Queen, may she reign for an eternity--" He was almost too eager as he mentioned her, and then seemed to add as an after thought, "--or our most wise King."
And so, he drew his sword. "Perhaps I should deliver a message to merfolk, myself."
Reply
When the Queen voiced her sentiments and Sheriff threatened to enforce them, however, the Princess protested with crossed arms and a barking, "How dare you, Ma'am! And you, disloyal servant of the Crown! You should know better! I know perfectly well where you'd care to sheath your trusty dagger, Sir! No doubt, my step-mother would happily oblige, too!"
Reply
Reply
"Ah, good Sheriff, I knew you would volunteer your blade." Donna smiled, however faintly and coldly. "The King shall hear of your bravery, mark my words." Trusty dagger, indeed.
Reply
Not like the Queen, the perfect picture of sophistication, poise, and... truly magnificent knockers...
Hmm...
Anyway! The Sheriff knew when he was pushing his limits, and so he wisely chose not to respond to the Princess for now. Instead, he turned his attentions to her new companion.
"Ah, how sweet your feelings are, lady. Worry not, you'll have plenty of time to converse with the princess if she so chooses to visit you in your cell," he said smugly. "The punishment of trespassing in the Queen's gardens. Allow me to escort you to your new home"
Reply
Yanking the mechanical visitor away from them, unerringly like one might expect of a child with doll, the brunette was clearly having none of it. Indeed, she seemed just about ready to storm off.
Or hurt someone... Quite viciously hurt someone, in fact. It was somehow feeling more and more like the natural thing to do.
Perhaps a more private discussion with the visitor would set her mind straight?
"She's mine and we're taking our business elsewhere! So, there!"
Reply
Reply
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