Quest 181
"Did you have a nice nap?" the handsome prince remarked dryly as he helped the formerly sleeping princess to her feet, "This is the third time this month you've gotten yourself into this sort of peril, you know."
"Well, it's not as though I go around trying to ruin spells that might very well sentence me to sleep for a hundred years," the princess retorted, pulling her hand away once she was securely back on her feet and beginning to fuss over the condition of her dress instead. "And besides, this is the first time I've tried this particular spell, so I really don't know what sort of peril you might be referring to, anyway."
The prince shrugged. "That's true," he agreed. "The last time, you'd turned yourself into a frog by mistake, and the time before that, you'd trapped yourself behind a mirror on accident. And every time, I've come to set you free."
He paused, giving the princess a knowing look. "And I've done so in exactly the same fashion each time, as it turns out."
"I really don't know what you might be getting at," the princess answered, a little too quickly, and immediately discovered the tips of her glass slippers to be terribly interesting and worthy of staring at. Her cheeks were turning as rosy as her namesake. "Well! In any case, there's no sense in standing around in this cave all day. Er. Shall we go?"
"Princess," said the prince, gently reaching out to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear, "While I'm admittedly rather flattered at the lengths you were willing to go to make the point, if you wanted me to kiss you, all you had to do was ask."
The princess's gaze flew up to meet his; her eyes were wide and blue as the afternoon sky. "You knew?"
"You're hardly subtle, your highness," the prince replied, attempting to feign an innocent look and failing miserably. At that moment, it seemed that it was all he could do to keep from grinning outright.
The princess rolled her eyes in a highly undignified way. "Must you ruin everything?" she snapped, folding her arms over her chest. When his knowing smile was her only reply, she huffed her annoyance and stormed toward the mouth of the cave in as ladylike a fashion as she could muster.
But before she made it more than two steps, the prince caught her arm and pulled her into his embrace, settling one hand comfortably against her waist as the other found its way into her hair. "Need you even ask?" he teased, but his tone held no hint of mockery, just a murmur of amusement and affection. "Now, do come here."
"Honestly, one of these days I'll succeed at being properly nefari--" the princess began to grumble, but found herself quite unable to finish her sentence as the prince leaned in and captured her lips in a thoroughly satisfying and long-overdue |
...
Oh, honestly, this had better not have just gone up on the Network.
"Well, it's not as though I go around trying to ruin spells that might very well sentence me to sleep for a hundred years," the princess retorted, pulling her hand away once she was securely back on her feet and beginning to fuss over the condition of her dress instead. "And besides, this is the first time I've tried this particular spell, so I really don't know what sort of peril you might be referring to, anyway."
The prince shrugged. "That's true," he agreed. "The last time, you'd turned yourself into a frog by mistake, and the time before that, you'd trapped yourself behind a mirror on accident. And every time, I've come to set you free."
He paused, giving the princess a knowing look. "And I've done so in exactly the same fashion each time, as it turns out."
"I really don't know what you might be getting at," the princess answered, a little too quickly, and immediately discovered the tips of her glass slippers to be terribly interesting and worthy of staring at. Her cheeks were turning as rosy as her namesake. "Well! In any case, there's no sense in standing around in this cave all day. Er. Shall we go?"
"Princess," said the prince, gently reaching out to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear, "While I'm admittedly rather flattered at the lengths you were willing to go to make the point, if you wanted me to kiss you, all you had to do was ask."
The princess's gaze flew up to meet his; her eyes were wide and blue as the afternoon sky. "You knew?"
"You're hardly subtle, your highness," the prince replied, attempting to feign an innocent look and failing miserably. At that moment, it seemed that it was all he could do to keep from grinning outright.
The princess rolled her eyes in a highly undignified way. "Must you ruin everything?" she snapped, folding her arms over her chest. When his knowing smile was her only reply, she huffed her annoyance and stormed toward the mouth of the cave in as ladylike a fashion as she could muster.
But before she made it more than two steps, the prince caught her arm and pulled her into his embrace, settling one hand comfortably against her waist as the other found its way into her hair. "Need you even ask?" he teased, but his tone held no hint of mockery, just a murmur of amusement and affection. "Now, do come here."
"Honestly, one of these days I'll succeed at being properly nefari--" the princess began to grumble, but found herself quite unable to finish her sentence as the prince leaned in and captured her lips in a thoroughly satisfying and long-overdue |
...
Oh, honestly, this had better not have just gone up on the Network.