Chapter Text
Blake strode to the Great Hall, followed by one of her ladies in waiting. Her father, King Ghira, had requested that she meet him there, although he had not told her why.
As she walked in, she saw him in a rather intense looking conversation with one of his advisors, although their speech was far too hushed for her to overhear anything- not that she was in the business of eavesdropping, of course.
Her father glanced up, and his face brightened as his eyes locked on her. “Ah, my dear daughter! Fennec, I believe that we can finish this conversation later. I have something more important to attend to.”
Fennec looked rather affronted at this, and shot a glare in Blake’s direction before he left.
“Hello, father,” Blake smiled at him, as Ilia knelt beside her, “What is it that you wanted to discuss? You said it was urgent,” She trailed off at the end, worrying her lip between her teeth.
“Ah, yes. I wanted to inform you that I have hired another guard for you! It is not that I do not trust the royal guard, but this woman is highly acclaimed, and I felt that she might be able to keep a less,” He paused, “Obtrusive eye on you. After all, you are my only child, and I want to make sure that you are safe.”
Blake blinked. “Do you have cause to worry for my safety? Did something happen?” She wasn’t particularly enthused about having another guard- it was difficult enough to give the slip to the ones that she had.
“No, no, nothing has happened. Could you forgive an old man for worrying about his daughter? You know that there is nothing else in our kingdom that I value so much as you,” Spoke Ghira.
“Yes father, if that is your decision. After all, the word of the king must be respected by all, including the princess,” She smiled pleasantly as she said the words, trying to hide the smirk behind it. Ilia snorted beside her, although she tried to turn it into a cough. By the look on the king’s face, Blake would guess that she failed.
“Your new guard should be here soon. I have instructed that she be brought to your rooms when she arrives, and I expect that you will be there to wait for her,” He narrowed his eyes at that, “And you, Ilia, will ensure that this meeting takes place.”
Ilia bowed toward Ghira, “Yes, your majesty. I will make sure that all goes perfectly.”
Ghira nodded at the two of them, “You are dismissed.”
Blake turned on her heel and began to walk towards her room, dragging Ilia in tow. “Did you hear him?” She whispered, “Another guard? How many guards could I possibly need? It’s not like we’re a big kingdom, nor do we have a particularly large army. What threat could I possibly face here? I might understand if I were already the Queen of Vale, but that won’t happen for a very, very long time!” She huffed, her grip on Ilia tightening.
“You know how worried he gets,” She said, her voice sympathetic, “He just doesn’t want anything to happen to you. Besides, we have managed to figure out ways to escape from all of the other guards, so I highly doubt that this will be any different. I am sure she will just be another dumb knight who can hardly tell the point of her sword from the handle. Plus, it will be new to have a guard who is a woman! Haven’t you always wanted that?”
Blake’s shoulders lost some of their tension, “I guess so. It would be a nice change of pace to have some more girls around. Sometimes I feel like there are hardly any in the entire castle.”
Ilia elbowed her in the side, smirking, “You just want more people that you can gush about Prince Sun with. “Oh, Prince Sun is so gorgeous. Oh, he is so good at fighting. Oh, he’s so kind and wonderful. Oh, Ilia, isn’t Sun just amazing!” I swear, he’s all you talk about sometimes.”
Blake rolled her eyes, “Hey! This is my future marriage that we are talking about! My whole life! I think I’m allowed to be excited about it. And I totally got lucky with him! He might not be the sharpest sword in the armory, but in terms of arranged marriages, I am going to be married to the best option there is. Besides, Vacuo is a wonderful kingdom, and I am thrilled that Menagerie and Vacuo will be forming an official alliance. This will be a most fortuitous occasion for my own kingdom, and I will get the added bonus of being able to stare at Sun Wukong’s face for the rest of my life.”
Ilia gestured towards the air in front of her, “Okay, okay, I surrender. You make a good point, but please try to change up the topic of conversation once in a while. There’s only so much a girl can take, you know?”
They finally reached Blake’s chambers, and Ilia opened the door for her to walk through. Blake was rather excited- her lessons for the day were over, and now she would get to relax in her chambers in the most solitude that a princess could get, while she had the chance to read, something that she was having less and less time for these days as she prepared more intensely to become queen.
Well, she would have had some solitude, except there was a person standing in the middle of her bedroom, looking through her things. Despite the fact that her chambers were situated at the highest spire in the castle, and the doors were both locked and guarded.
Blake was pretty sure that she should have been afraid. That maybe she should have stepped back, or ran, or called for her guards. And, she was about to do one of those things. Truly. She’d swear.
But then the stranger looked up, and she met the most brilliant pair of violet eyes, framed by hair the color of pure gold.
She felt pinned by the stranger’s gaze. Her face flushed as she stared, her mouth definitely hanging open. She was pretty sure that she would hand over her kingdom just to stare at their beauty a little longer.
Right. Kingdom. Princess. She wrenched her gaze away from their face, and finally noticed the holster strapped to their waist, with handles poking from the top, and the odd metal adorning their fingers.
Ah. So this person probably meant to murder her. In that case, it would probably be smart of her to start running.
Let it never be said that the crown princess of Menagerie was smart.
She finally found it in herself to step back, just as the stranger opened their mouth.
“I gotta say, princess, your guards fucking suck,” They finally spoke, raising an eyebrow and leaning against her bedpost. “Fortunately, I am here to fix that particular oversight.”
From behind Blake, another voice spoke, “Who are you? How did you get in here? I will call the guards!” It was Ilia. Blake had almost forgotten that she was there.
“My name is Yang Xiao Long, and I happen to be the princess’s new guard. I got in through that window,” They said, gesturing with their thumb towards the open window that led towards nothing and sat several hundred feet above the ground.
“What do you mean, you got in through the window? And besides, no guard of mine would use such foul language in the presence of royalty,” Spoke Blake, finally recovering some semblance of her wits.
Yang raised an eyebrow, “I climbed. It was easy. And, oh, how sorry I am for offending her majesty. I shan’t do it again,” They mockingly curtsied at that, despite the fact that Yang was wearing a pair of leather pants, rather than the customary dress. A rather tight pair of leather pants, at that.
“I’ve never met a woman who wears pants before,” Blake spoke coolly, trying to be diplomatic while being insulted. At least she had been trained for that, if not for stunning robbers-turned-guards.
Yang shrugged, “It’s not that I don’t like dresses, they just happen to be rather unwieldy for what I do. And I would still consider myself to be a woman, mostly.”
Blake didn’t particularly know how to respond to that, “So you are supposed to be protecting me?” She glanced at Yang’s leather breastplate and the silk shirt that she wore underneath it. Blake was pretty sure there was more dirt on Yang’s shoes than had ever been allowed inside the castle before.
“Yup,” Said Yang, popping the ‘p’, and looking utterly bored with their conversation.
“Are you aware that you are speaking to royalty, and as such must treat me with respect?” Blake had never had anyone talk to her like this before, and was beginning to get extremely irritated with this girl.
Yang just rolled her eyes, “Well, princess, your dad’s already hired me, so I think I can do whatever I want so long as I keep you safe. Now, please, try not to die on me, because I am very much enjoying the pay.”
Yang strode past Blake, bumping into her shoulder on the way by. Blake didn’t particularly care where the girl went, as long as she was away from Blake and couldn’t ruin her mood by opening her stupid mouth. Blake balled her fists as she watched Yang leave, glaring.
“Wow,” Ilia broke the silence that was left in Yang’s wake, “That was certainly something.”
“I hate her! What in the name of the Gods was my father thinking, hiring this pathetic excuse for a guard?”
Ilia raised her eyebrow, placing a hand on Blake’s shoulder, “I am pretty sure I saw you almost swallow your tongue when you first laid eyes on her, though.”
“That was different! That was before she opened her mouth and started talking to me!”
Ilia rolled her eyes, strolling over to shut the door to Blake’s chambers, which Yang had left wide open. “At least we won’t be talking about Sun anymore,” She said under her breath, watching as Blake sat down hard on her bed, arms crossed.