When You Give a Princess a Knight... [For xEmmalia-Chan]

[Bye_bye_birdie45]

Princess Ellis
Sometimes, the best thing to do in certain types of situations is to walk away. Walk away, or run away, and don't come back until your temper leaves you and you can speak with a level head once again.

That is what Ellis learned to do, ever since she was six and her older sister declared that she was never going to marry so she could get the throne. She did it then. She did it when she was eight and the cook forgot to make her a cake for her birthday, because everyone in her family had forgotten about it and nobody had told her to make it. She did it when she was thirteen and her very loving tutor was replaced with someone else, because her sister had scared the previous tutor off with her temper.

And she did it now at nineteen, when she overheard her mother and father - the Queen and King - speaking to each other in quiet tones, over what to do with their daughters. They didn't worry about Ellis, because she was a proper young Princess, but her sister would have the throne and they needed to worry about the Crown: not the Crown's sibling. She stormed off to her room, trying to keep her head held high even though she could feel and see tears clouding her vision, and she bolted the door.

Ellis loved her sister. Truly, she did, with all of her heart. But her sister would not make a good ruler. At all. Under any circumstance.


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Knight Buruss Kelgar
After travelling nearly one hundred miles on horseback, over the course of nearly a month with several other Knights, Buruss Kelgar - who was the highest ranking Knight under the King's army - would have assumed that he would had been given a much greater notice of service from the King and the Queen.

Babysitting.

He was to be babysitting. Well, not technically, according to the King and Queen (His and Hers Majesty), but that was how he viewed it. Everyone in the kingdom knew that the Crown Princess was a brat. Everyone; that was why it was often so difficult for the King and Queen to get servants who would work in the castle, if they knew they would be under the Crown Princess' hand.

Which, technically, according to the King and Queen, he was now. He was to be given a great pension and pay, and allowed to stay in his own room in the castle; he was also to be the brat Princess' guard and - for lack of a better, less-course word for him to use - nanny.

"We need help," the Queen had pleaded, looking very close to tears. "We have tried nearly everything in our power, to help her temper, and nothing is getting through to her. I have heard great things about you, from battle, and if you can do great deeds there, surely this will be a simple task."

If the Queen wasn't so good at flattery, he probably wouldn't be here right now, taking off his armor in his room and getting ready to formally greet the princess before supper.

Damn.

[EmmaliaChan]

Crown Princess Alicia
Ah, the life of a princess. Animal friends to help with chores, beautiful singing voices that turn even the most mundane of tasks into the subject of a beautiful song, unrivaled grace and beauty, a humble nature that makes everyone love them, prince charming swooping in on a white horse to whisk them away. When they became queens, they were fair and honest, often bearing acts of kindness for their subjects, making their loyal followers happy.

...What do you think this is, a fucking Disney movie?

How about a bitchy princess, one who abused her subjects? Yeah, bet that comes as a shocker, but life's not fairytales and unicorns. Alicia was everything you wouldn't want a ruler to be. While she wasn't cruel, she was rotten to the core, manipulating to get what she wanted and throwing tantrums when she didn't. It wasn't as if she hated her family, or if she was naturally just a bitchy person, but she was just so frustrated at being the heir to the throne. Why would she want to rule!? Overseeing a kingdom was a lot of work! Luxuries she could deal with, and Alicia most certainly wouldn't want to give up her lavish lifestyle, but so many people looking to her to solve their problems was just a nuisance.

Far from delusional, it was all too clear to her that she wasn't responsible enough to rule, nor did she have the patience or the drive, or even a single quality a leader should have. Her younger sister, the kind and gentle princess, would be an excellent queen. In an attempt to get their parents to realize such, quite a long time ago she had made her already somewhat poor temperament even worse, becoming angry over petty things, throwing fits, and occasionally hitting her staff. While at first it was merely a facade, over time it became genuine as her parents tried harder and harder to calm her down. Nannies, chambermaids, servants, extravagant gifts and parties, every damn profession you could find had some new solution to calm her temperament.

But, they refused to give up on her. Their insistence that she was the crown princess and thus would be somehow salvageable made it worse. Couldn't they see that her little sister was a better candidate for the crown? Once when she was little, she'd outright told them she didn't want to rule, and they'd laughed at her! It was one of those 'you'll understand when you're older' scenarios, and it did nothing but ignite her rage.

Now Alicia learned her blasted parents had concocted yet another scheme to stem her misbehaviors and turn her into a 'proper young lady'. What would it be this time? She hoped it would not be another mysticist trying to hypnotize her; of the many conspirations her parents had, that'd been by far her least favorite! Whoever it was, they were to be arriving before supper, and being as a hungry princess was a greatly displeased princess, she hoped their meeting would be brief. Missing or arriving late to supper because of an unwanted guest simply wouldn't do. Well, she supposed it was as good a time as any to try to set a new record of scaring someone off! Perhaps then they would realize she refused to change until her sister was ahead of her in the line for the throne.

Lack of delight didn't necessarily mean she wouldn't put effort in, though; appearances were important to her, even if she didn't necessarily like someone. After dressing in an elegant - but simple - dress, she spent a great deal of time brushing the long, chocolate river of hair attached to her head, before sweeping the locks over her shoulders and plucking a small bottle off the top of her wardrobe. A translucent, pale pink dye resided inside it, made of brazilwood chips soaked in rosewater, which she then used a very small amount of to pinken her cheekbones. With a glance in the mirror, she was pleased, and gave herself a small sniff to make sure her florally perfume was still noticeable. It was, indeed; soft hints of sandalwood and rose wafted towards her nostrils. The fragrance wasn't noticeable unless close to her, but she supposed at least they'd get a whiff of something pretty if she decided to slap whoever it was across the face. It was a small mercy she could offer them. See, she could be nice sometimes!

Putting on her best pissy expression, she sat down on the bed with her arms crossed. The fool better not keep her waiting, she wanted to get the meeting over with and do away with them as quickly as possible. It would be simple enough; all the meager peasants she'd dealt with before had posed little challenge to the truculent woman, putting up little resistance against her unwarranted personal attacks, so Alicia didn't expect anything different this time around.

[Bye_bye_birdie45]

Princess Ellis
Ellis knew impeccably well that her sister was not stupid. In fact, both princesses were far from it! They were both very intellectual (a trait they earned from the King and Queen), free-thinking and clever, and they had been very diligent in their studies... Well, Ellis had been; she was fairly certain that the Crown Princess hadn't cared for their studies in diplomacy, decorum, economics and other subjects. It could get incredibly boring sometimes, but it was something Princesses were expected to learn — and learn well.

But, even though her sister may (or may not) have cared for her studies, Ellis was smart enough to see that her sister was also very smart. Demanding — yes. Manipulative and cunning — yes. A bitch — most of the time. But still very smart. After all, it took a smart person — and an incredibly spoiled person — to keep an entire castle of servants, and the King and Queen themselves, on a leash of demands.

Of course, Ellis didn't have to put up with Alicia's terrible attitude. To be honest, aside from the servants, Alicia was probably Ellis' only companion. They held no balls for royals to come and visit; not after Alicia had spat chocolate in the face of a Prince who was two years older than her and asked for a dance. There were no other royals within the surrounding ten miles who had children, so they were merely business associates to the King, and the merchants who occasionally visited who had children, they were terrified of Alicia — or tended to forget Ellis existed — or both.

She knew it wasn't intentional... Probably. But with Alicia acting like such a spoiled bitch, Ellis had tried a different route, in various efforts to get her parents' attention and to possibly show them how it might be better to revoke the throne from Alicia and give it to her. She worked hard in her studies, to the point where she didn't need a tutor anymore when she was eighteen instead of twenty one. She was polite and kind and gentle, all of which came naturally, and she was nice and helpful to the servants. All of these things seemed to be swept into the shadows, however, when Alicia broke plates, slapped nannies or threw a tantrum, and that broke her heart.

She did not, under any circumstance, hate her sister. She did not want her sister to rule either, and it was not out of cruelty. Her parents, loving and smart as they were, could not see the chaos that would occur if Alicia were to become Queen. She would surely cause many peasants' unhappiness, and possible deaths, under her selfish attitude — and if it grew even worse, as it was bound to do, they might even revolt and try for her sister's head! Such a thought brought tears to her eyes, and Ellis carefully dabbed them away with a handkerchief as she got ready for dinner. She wouldn't be needed for another hour or so, since her parents and then Alicia were meeting the new visitor without her, but it was a "duty of a Princess to be ready for anything, at all times".

At least, that was what mother told her. And your mother can't possibly be wrong when she's the Queen.


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Knight Buruss Kelgar
Damn, damn, damn.

A few of the fellow knights, his friends, were snickering and making gestures at each other about him as they helped their horses into the very large stable. Clearly, they thought this situation was much funnier than it actually was. Well, in a way, it was humorous, but not to Buruss. It was practically hell! To hire a soldier to be a nanny; that was just idiotic!

He roared at them to silence themselves as a few of the servants helped remove their packs and trunks and started to take them up to their designated rooms. Buruss was going to have a room across the hall from the Crown Princess: her former nannies had once stayed there (before they all quit), and his other men were either staying on floors beneath him near the kitchens, or with the stable-hands, in a smaller cabins close to the horses. His men shut up at once, before they were all lead to their rooms... well, all but Buruss. He was supposed to see the Princess.

Might as well get this shit over with.

Taking in a deep breath and rolling his eyes as he knocked, Buruss moved his helmet from one arm to the other, so if she refused to let him in, he could open the door himself. Anything bratty from her would only be expected, after all.