Work Text:
Andromache was standing in front of the main door of the ballroom, surveilling the entrances. All the nobles of the reign were in the hall, wearing their most precious dresses and trying to impress the king and the queen, but Andromache was focusing on one person alone.
The princess was discussing with Lord Copley, a nobleman known for his quiet attitude and his sad eyes. The state of misery he fell into after losing his wife to illness was not a secret in the reign. Quýnh was dancing with him across the room, probably taking advantage of that moment to discuss important subjects.
She was beautiful. That night, she was wearing a dark-blue dress and her hair was fixed in a long braid. A blue lily was set behind her ear. Andromache wondered if she picked it from the garden or if someone gave it to her as a present.
When the music stopped, she bowed in front of Copley, and he thanked her for the dance before parting.
“She’s really beautiful tonight.”
Andromache gave a side look at Yusuf, next to her. “Isn’t she always?”
Yusuf smirked: “You are really hopeless, aren’t you?”
“Remind me to make you clean the armours of the whole guard, tomorrow night,” she replied and when Yusuf tried to complain, she shut him down with a gesture of her hand. Her attention was caught by Lord Merrick approaching the princess. She glanced at Keane and found him not far away from his petulant protegé.
At first, she could not hear what Merrick was telling Quýnh but she could read her face: she was clearly trying to avoid him. Then Merrick raised his voice enough for her to hear him.
“Why would you deny me a dance?”
“I am terribly desolated, Lord Merrick, but I do not feel well at the moment.”
“You were dancing with Lord Copley until a moment ago, why-”
“Your Highness,” Andromache interrupted Merrick. “Do you need me to escort you to your rooms?”
Quýnh smiled when looking at her: “It is not necessary, Lady Andromache, but thank you for your concern. I only need to rest for a moment.”
“Here, let me accompany you,” she said, offering her the arm. Quýnh was more than happy to accept it.
“And what am I supposed to do?” Merrick asked.
“There are plenty of beautiful ladies and gentlemen to dance with, Lord Merrick. I believe you will find someone willing to keep you company during the next dance,” Quýnh replied and then the two women walked away.
Quýnh sat on an armchair in the corner of the room. “Do you feel well?” Andromache asked, concerned.
“Now that that despicable man is far away, yes. Although, I am afraid I won’t be able to avoid him for the rest of the night.”
“Do you want me to arrest him?” she proposed.
“I would love to see that scene, but I am afraid it would cause a diplomatic incident.” She smirked: “You look very elegant tonight. Your armour seems more shiny than usual.”
Andromache bit her lips and avoided her gaze. “You are also... umh, very elegant.” Elegant? For real? “And beautiful. The colour of that lily suits you.”
“Thank you. Nicolò said that you would have liked it.”
“That nosy gardener should learn to be quieter, or I will punish him just like I did with his boyfriend.”
“I like you when you pretend to be grumpy,” Quýnh said, laughing. “I like that I am one of the few people who knows your true self.” Andromache didn’t know what to reply, but she was saved by the clapping that signalled the end of the dance. The small instrument ensemble began a new piece and Quýnh left her chair, taking Andromache’s hand: “Would you honour me with this dance?”
“I am- I have to protect the hall and-”
“Your guards are all well trained and I am sure Yusuf can take your place for a few minutes.”
Andromache hesitated: “Everybody will be looking at us.”
Quýnh fixed her eyes on Andromache’s and said: “Then let them stare.”
Andromache didn’t know what convinced her to follow Quýnh. The princess took her hand, and she couldn’t let her go. They reached the centre of the ballroom and the couples next to them moved. As predicted, all eyes were on them.
“The king will not be pleased.”
“It is just a dance,” Quýnh reassured. “Just this dance, Andromache, before I have to go back to being a pretty doll at my parents’ commands.”
Quýnh came closer and Andromache placed a hand on her hip, feeling the pleasant texture of the lacy dress. They moved with the music, a slow air that filled the room with the sound of a weeping lute. Quýnh rested her head against her chest and Andromache could almost feel the warmth of her cheek through the armour.
“I wish we could stay like this forever,” she whispered. “I wish all the people in this room disappeared so we could dance alone.”
“I wish that as well.”
“Isn’t it funny? I am the princess; I can snap my fingers and obtain whatever I want. Except for the thing I want the most.”
Andromache wanted to answer: You can have me when you want. You already have me. You always had. But instead, she wrapped her arm behind her back and held her close until the music stopped. With the corner of her eye, she could see Merrick approaching with an angry expression, knowing that this time Quýnh wouldn’t have been able to refuse him a dance.
“Thank you, Andromache.”
“I will always be at your service,” she replied. She hesitated until the last moment and then she let go of her hand. She went back to the entrance, where Yusuf stepped aside to let her regain her spot. Yusuf didn’t say anything, he didn’t tease her. He remained silent next to her.
On the tip of her fingers, Andromache could still feel the texture of the lace. In her lungs, the perfume of the blue lily.
The moon was high in the sky, casting its light on the rose garden. Yusuf could barely distinguish Nicolò’s profile, but his hand could easily find his jaw and his mouth didn’t hesitate to find his lips.
“You look so pretty in your shining armour,” Nicolò murmured, while playfully biting his lips. “My pretty little soldier.”
“Hey, I’m not little!” he protested but was immediately silenced when the kiss became more intense. “You should have seen them, all those noble men and women in their pretty dresses. And all I could think was you. I wish I could take you to the ballroom and dance with you in front of everyone.”
“I don’t care about ballrooms and fancy palaces. All I need is you, Yusuf. This garden, under the moonlight, can be our palace.”
“And then you say I am the poet,” he said, pulling Nicolò closer as he stepped back.
“Careful, Yusuf! Don’t hurt the roses!”
“Ooooh, and what would you do if I did?” he teased him.
“Oh, believe me, you wouldn’t like it,” he commented, pinching the soft skin of his tummy under the armour.
“Why am I more aroused than-” Their little conversation was interrupted when they heard someone approaching. “Ah, it seems we aren’t the only ones who thought about coming here.”
They hid behind a bush of roses, trying to see who was approaching. Despite the darkness, they would recognize the two women over thousands. “The princess and the chief of the guards!” Nicolò gasped, immediately covering his mouth.
“If Andromache sees me here, I am dead,” Yusuf said.
“What are they even doing here at this hour?”
“Well, after the little show they gave during the party, I am not surprised to see them here,” Yusuf commented. At the puzzled look of Nicolò, he replied: “The princess refused to dance with Lord Merrick and instead she danced with Andromache.”
Nicolò’s jaw dropped. “I knew our princess was bold but not that much . What was the king’s reaction?”
“He was not pleased, but he could not throw a scene in front of the guests. I am sure the princess will be scolded tomorrow. But wait, they are coming closer.”
The two women were now only a few meters away from the two men, who could hear them speaking.
“We cannot go on like this, Quýnh. Lord Merrick will make me pay for it. The king will ask for my head.”
“I will never allow it,” Quýnh said. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life with that awful man. He doesn’t love me, he just wants the power that would come with a marriage.”
“Noble people rarely marry for love,” Andromache said.
“Lord Copley loved his wife deeply. Why can’t I have the same?”
“He is not a prince, nor was his wife. But you have duties, Quýnh. I have duties. I promised your father to protect you. Even from yourself.”
Quýnh grabbed her and pulled her into a kiss. “This is what I need, Andromache,” she whispered. “Not protection, but your love. I want things to change.”
“I want it too,” she replied. “Tonight, when we danced together... I wish we could do it every night.”
“But we can,” Quýnh said. “Here, in the rose garden. Until the world will be ready, we have this place.” She brushed her cheek with her hand, with a tenderness Andromache was not accustomed to.
This time, it was Andromache who took the initiative. She pushed Quýnh against a bush of roses and closed the distance between them. She knew she shouldn’t, she knew that Quýnh was the princess and that what she was doing it was extremely inappropriate, but Quýnh was sneaking her hands below Andromache’s armour, and she was tired to resist. She felt her lips on her neck, kissing the portion of skin from her collarbone to her ear, her hands in her hair.
Quýnh could feel the thorns of the roses on the back of her neck, but she couldn’t care less.
“My roses,” Nicolò whined, hidden behind the bushes, but Yusuf shushed him. A little bit too loudly.
Quýnh and Andromache broke the kiss, terrified: “Who is there?” Andromache shouted.
A long silence followed before a voice said: “Please, chief, don’t be angry.”
The woman snorted: “Yusuf, what are you-” She sighed. “Well, I guess Nicolò is there as well.” The two men appeared behind the bush.
“I am sorry, Your Highness,” Nicolò said, bowing his head. “We were only-”
“Fooling around, like Andromache and I.”
“Please, don’t cut our heads,” Yusuf begged. “I will clean all the armours for one week, no! One month!”
“Yusuf, stop,” Quýnh said, shaking her head. “We are not different from each other. None of us will pay any consequences for tonight if we all stay quiet.”
“We won’t say a word, my princess,” Nicolò swore.
“I know, Nicolò.”
“We- we will go now,” Yusuf said, taking Nicolò’s hand and dragging him away. “See you tomorrow, chief.”
“At dawn,” she added. Then she looked at Nicolò, shook her head and said: “Try not to be late.” When the two men disappeared, Quýnh muffled her laugh against Andromache’s chest. “What! It is not funny, Quýnh! They could have-”
“None of them will break our secret. They are like us.”
“This time we were lucky but what if it was someone else, someone who wouldn’t be so discrete about what they saw?”
“We will be more careful,” she promised. “Next time.”
Andromache moaned: “There shouldn’t be a next time.”
Quýnh looked at her, condescending: “We both know there will be.”
“This is wrong.”
“Is it?” she murmured, kissing her again. “Nicolò is not here to complain about the roses. And my pretty dress is already ruined, anyway.”
Andromache laughed, knowing that she would regret it the day after, but that she would regret it even more if she didn’t: “You will be my death.”
“The best kind of death.”
Only the moon witnessed their following kisses, in the silence of the rose garden.