untitled (royal!au)
Title: Untitled
Characters: ( royal fic!verse) Seiko, Ren, Atobe; random OCs
Rating: G
Word Count: ~1000
Summary: When the princess dreams, the world holds its breath.
Notes: Written for April Cliches/Kinks month - B; Beloved Captive
Warnings: Genderswap!verse
-
"We found this girl," the guard begins, "on the road." And he pulls the girl from behind him, shoves her forward, into the waiting arms of the advisors. "Think she's an orphan."
Its code, everyone in the room knows, for "we found this girl playing on the side of the road and she fit the description, so we took her." There's never a concern for family, for lives already in progress, not when it is something like this.
The advisor curls his lips and stares at the girl. She fits, better than anyone else who has been brought in; he hopes the princess shall be happy and her dreams shall stop. Of all things, he dislikes Seiko the most, dealing with her and the steel in her backbone, even this young. But she is princess, destined to be queen: she gets what she wants, and when she dreams of a dark-haired girl with closed eyes and no smile, it is what she gets.
"Take her to be cleaned," he instructs, and passes her along, to the ladies of the household, ones he can trust to keep their mouths closed and not mention this outside of castle walls; or even within certain castle walls. Seiko breaks prescedent, and he does not wish for it to be known.
"Of course, Atobe," are the words that reaches his ears; anything else is simply a murmur, unimportant to him.
And as the girl is being lead out, walking with the women and not being dragged, all he can think, is that he hopes this matter will cease to be a problem. And hopes that Syuusuke offers no problems, contents himself with the one they have choosen and raised for such an occasion.
-
"Why am I here?" she asks, because these women around her suggest trust, unlike the men, who had demanded her and taken her and not touched her until they reached the palace, but had broken her still.
"You will see," one of the women murmurs, and pushes Ren down, into the water. The bath is bigger than anything she's seen, almost the size of a pool, to her childish gaze, even though she knows it can not be; it speaks of power and wealth and title, but not royalty.
Even peasant children in their homes far from the capital worship their king and queen and know what to expect, with them. It is with everyone else that the world is a battle and questions are to be asked, but answers are rarely given.
Ren's trembling by the time they deem her clean enough, and pull her from the water, brown hair soaked and hanging down her back, but it is not the cold or the water that makes her shake so: there is something she does not understand, in this place. It's the worst type of fear. The women dress her hair, treat her like an honored guest: she should fear nothing, for the warmth of their treatment. But what will come next lingers in her mind.
She's been pulled from a family, a comfortable world and friends she loves: her mind, never a cynic's, can only think the worst.
-
"Do not speak until spoken to," they tell her. "Ask nothing. Look at the ground, always. Kneel before her until she says rise, then do not sit." The rules role on, protocol Ren knows that applies to the royal family, and wonders if this family is one of the cousins, this woman she is going to meet, of the royal family, who mimics the actions of those higher born. She'll be companion to a girl who thinks she should be royal, but isn't; she will be kept in darkness and secret, for to copy such actions would be death if ever discovered.
Ren's trembling only increases as they lead her along the halls, and she looks at nothing but the floor, sees nothing around her. It's safer, she thinks; if she knows little, she can reveal nothing.
-
"If this one does not work, we shall ignore the dreams," Atobe says, and stares at the high priest and the priestess around him, so they do not contradict his words.
"This one shall work," the priestess says, and smiles at him. "There is no doubt."
"Your belief is the stuff of mystics," Atobe snaps. "We will wait and see." He trusts them none, faith and politics not mixing well anywhere but in the royal family: they all know that, and so there is no reaction, only smiles Atobe does not wish to think about. He's the one who has dealt with this dream of their princess', not the priestess or the priest - they identified the meaning.
But that is always how it has been: high councellor exists to keep the king and his queen, princess and prince, happy.
"The other girls should be sent home," the priest announces. "With reparations. They shall not suffer for a dream."
Even if sent home, escorted by the royal guard, bearing a letter, they would not suffer: it was royal decree, and to be summoned, even wrongly, is to be touched by their gods.
"And send word to the family of this girl," the priest continues, saying nothing in response to Atobe's sharp look - they had been fed lies, the same lies Atobe was given, but they know the truth of her nature better than Atobe.
-
"You may rise," Seiko says, and Ren's trembling increases, only to stop at a touch on her shoulder; it takes a lot to force herself to still - she is only nine, but somewhere inside her that knows what to do, how to do it. She glances from the corner of her eyes, but doesn't look up, not yet. She knows how to treat royalty, and if this girl wants to pretend to be royal, then she shall treat her like she is royal.
But there are slender fingers on her cheek and Ren can't look away any longer; so she looks at the girl in front of her - the same age, Ren thinks, but with eyes as old as any she's ever seen. And the world sinks beneath her feet.
"This is the one," the girl - no, Ren thinks, the princess; she's in the presence of the princess, and she sinks once again to her knees and presses her forehead to the floor - says.
Characters: ( royal fic!verse) Seiko, Ren, Atobe; random OCs
Rating: G
Word Count: ~1000
Summary: When the princess dreams, the world holds its breath.
Notes: Written for April Cliches/Kinks month - B; Beloved Captive
Warnings: Genderswap!verse
-
"We found this girl," the guard begins, "on the road." And he pulls the girl from behind him, shoves her forward, into the waiting arms of the advisors. "Think she's an orphan."
Its code, everyone in the room knows, for "we found this girl playing on the side of the road and she fit the description, so we took her." There's never a concern for family, for lives already in progress, not when it is something like this.
The advisor curls his lips and stares at the girl. She fits, better than anyone else who has been brought in; he hopes the princess shall be happy and her dreams shall stop. Of all things, he dislikes Seiko the most, dealing with her and the steel in her backbone, even this young. But she is princess, destined to be queen: she gets what she wants, and when she dreams of a dark-haired girl with closed eyes and no smile, it is what she gets.
"Take her to be cleaned," he instructs, and passes her along, to the ladies of the household, ones he can trust to keep their mouths closed and not mention this outside of castle walls; or even within certain castle walls. Seiko breaks prescedent, and he does not wish for it to be known.
"Of course, Atobe," are the words that reaches his ears; anything else is simply a murmur, unimportant to him.
And as the girl is being lead out, walking with the women and not being dragged, all he can think, is that he hopes this matter will cease to be a problem. And hopes that Syuusuke offers no problems, contents himself with the one they have choosen and raised for such an occasion.
-
"Why am I here?" she asks, because these women around her suggest trust, unlike the men, who had demanded her and taken her and not touched her until they reached the palace, but had broken her still.
"You will see," one of the women murmurs, and pushes Ren down, into the water. The bath is bigger than anything she's seen, almost the size of a pool, to her childish gaze, even though she knows it can not be; it speaks of power and wealth and title, but not royalty.
Even peasant children in their homes far from the capital worship their king and queen and know what to expect, with them. It is with everyone else that the world is a battle and questions are to be asked, but answers are rarely given.
Ren's trembling by the time they deem her clean enough, and pull her from the water, brown hair soaked and hanging down her back, but it is not the cold or the water that makes her shake so: there is something she does not understand, in this place. It's the worst type of fear. The women dress her hair, treat her like an honored guest: she should fear nothing, for the warmth of their treatment. But what will come next lingers in her mind.
She's been pulled from a family, a comfortable world and friends she loves: her mind, never a cynic's, can only think the worst.
-
"Do not speak until spoken to," they tell her. "Ask nothing. Look at the ground, always. Kneel before her until she says rise, then do not sit." The rules role on, protocol Ren knows that applies to the royal family, and wonders if this family is one of the cousins, this woman she is going to meet, of the royal family, who mimics the actions of those higher born. She'll be companion to a girl who thinks she should be royal, but isn't; she will be kept in darkness and secret, for to copy such actions would be death if ever discovered.
Ren's trembling only increases as they lead her along the halls, and she looks at nothing but the floor, sees nothing around her. It's safer, she thinks; if she knows little, she can reveal nothing.
-
"If this one does not work, we shall ignore the dreams," Atobe says, and stares at the high priest and the priestess around him, so they do not contradict his words.
"This one shall work," the priestess says, and smiles at him. "There is no doubt."
"Your belief is the stuff of mystics," Atobe snaps. "We will wait and see." He trusts them none, faith and politics not mixing well anywhere but in the royal family: they all know that, and so there is no reaction, only smiles Atobe does not wish to think about. He's the one who has dealt with this dream of their princess', not the priestess or the priest - they identified the meaning.
But that is always how it has been: high councellor exists to keep the king and his queen, princess and prince, happy.
"The other girls should be sent home," the priest announces. "With reparations. They shall not suffer for a dream."
Even if sent home, escorted by the royal guard, bearing a letter, they would not suffer: it was royal decree, and to be summoned, even wrongly, is to be touched by their gods.
"And send word to the family of this girl," the priest continues, saying nothing in response to Atobe's sharp look - they had been fed lies, the same lies Atobe was given, but they know the truth of her nature better than Atobe.
-
"You may rise," Seiko says, and Ren's trembling increases, only to stop at a touch on her shoulder; it takes a lot to force herself to still - she is only nine, but somewhere inside her that knows what to do, how to do it. She glances from the corner of her eyes, but doesn't look up, not yet. She knows how to treat royalty, and if this girl wants to pretend to be royal, then she shall treat her like she is royal.
But there are slender fingers on her cheek and Ren can't look away any longer; so she looks at the girl in front of her - the same age, Ren thinks, but with eyes as old as any she's ever seen. And the world sinks beneath her feet.
"This is the one," the girl - no, Ren thinks, the princess; she's in the presence of the princess, and she sinks once again to her knees and presses her forehead to the floor - says.