Chapter Text
The prince sighed as he waited for the servants to finish decorating him from head to toe with all the feathers, precious gems, and colorful clothes that they could fit on his body. He felt more like a decorated lamp than an actual prince who was about to become king. At this point, did he even want to be one?
No, that was a stupid and selfish thought. Clothes shouldn't determine whether or not he wanted to take up the responsibilities he had been given. He shook his head and tried not to wince as the servant quickly tightened the belt around his waist.
One of the servants was busy pinning some important medals onto the front of his clothes when there were loud noises coming from the door.
The prince looked up confused. What could that be?
The guards near the front immediately tensed, but before they could react, the door slammed open. Stepping into the room was the last person the prince had least expected.
“I have never seen so much glitter and frills on you before,” she said with a purr of amusement. She immediately followed up that snide comment with a bow low enough for her arms to brush against her ankles. “Long time no see, Prince Jarett.”
The prince, unable to move, blushed considerably though his mouth hung open. The servants immediately cowered away though the one pinning the medals had the sense of standing in front of him to protect himself from this weird threat.
“Hold it right there!"
A ring of spears pointed directly at the feline beastwoman. Each spear belonged to warriors with the royal sigil woven on the front of their uniform. The best of the best stood here, yet despite the threat of being poked to death, the graceful intruder stood with her back straight and her chin held up high. Although she wore a mischievous grin that suggested she was up to no good, her clothes and tricorne hat told others that this was not a thief or assassin. In fact, she looked more like an admiral, ready to set sail off to distant land at any moment.
“Lower your weapons!” the prince demanded, finally finding his voice.
“What? Prince Jarett?” the soldiers stared in disbelief. The soft-spoken prince never spoke in such a tone before.
“The prince is right. Unless you want to lose an arm, you will lower your weapons,” a voice rang out. This time, a woman in heavy chainmail with bulky muscle and dark midnight skin came sauntering into the room. She easily towered over everybody in the room except for Jarett.
All the guards immediately stiffened and quickly hastened away from the feline intruder, who had not moved from her spot nor looked the least bit concerned. She had to tilt her neck up considerably to see this woman who wielded a club that was big enough to smash heads out of existence from their necks.
“Why, if it isn’t Baby Belinda. I see you are doing well,” the cat beastwoman said in a now posh tone. She had always been good at picking up accents, but this one was new and unfamiliar, even for Jarett. It almost sounded like something from the Queendom of Roses but more… poshier - if that was a word.
“That’s Captain Belinda to you,” the chainmail woman growled back as she stared downward, towering over the beastwoman by a good foot.
“They promoted you? Well, I suppose congratulations are in order then. A toast if you will,” the intruder said, raising up a wineglass that appeared out of nowhere. The other guards and servants did a double take while the prince and Captain Belinda wore unsurprising expressions.
The prince could see that everybody look especially uneasy while Captain Belinda was, unsurprisingly, furious. Word will spread to his father of the intruder soon. Despite his conflicting emotions, Jarett needed to work fast. First things first, he needed to act like the royal prince.
“All of you, leave. Except for her.” He pointed at the cat beastwoman, who was taking a sip from her wineglass.
“Prince Jarett,” Captain Belinda said, uneasiness in her voice. “I don’t think –”
“Now.” He glared at her, and she stiffed to attention.
“I will need to inform His Majesty,” she said coolly.
“Fine,” Prince Jarett said, almost snappishly at this point.
Captain Belinda crossed her right arm over her chest before turning to the door to leave.
The servants and other guards turned to each other in surprise, but they were trained to follow orders, not question them. They hastily bowed and shuffled back to the door in an orderly fashion before slamming shut.
“Well, that was awkward,” the beastwoman said as she took off her tricorn hat. Her brown bob hair went just past her chin. She put her wine glass down and ran her fingers through the short hair before saying, “What’s eating you, Prince Jarett? Or should I start calling you ‘Your Majesty’ now?”
He didn’t respond and merely went to the door that had been slammed shut. He quickly raised his arm toward the seal hanging above and recited the ancient royal incantation to seal this room from intruders and private eyes. Only after it was done did he speak.
“What are you doing here?” he asked wearily as he sat down. He winced slightly. Even the chair was uncomfortable to sit in with this ceremonial garb. If he wasn’t careful, he might sit on the beads or tassels that hung from his clothing and squirm unbefitting a new king. He was already dreading what the rest of the day would be like.
“I promised you that I would come to your coronation,” she said as she picked back up her wine glass. Her black boots clacked against the stone floor as she walked over to the window.
“You know what I mean. I thought you left.”
‘I thought you were dead,’ was what he really wanted to say.
“And now I’m back. At least for a while,” she said with a half-hearted shrug as she leaned against the wall next to the window. “I saw some of those old wanted posters of me down at the docks. Ghastly. Your old man still holding a grudge against me?”
“Well, you did rob the royal treasury,” Prince Jarett said.
“Correction. I robbed half of the treasury. And I did it to prove a point to your old man. How was I to deny his blatant challenge? And I did return everything… eventually.” She stared out of the window with that reminiscing look, and for the first time in a long time, Prince Jarett was able to see her defined features from the sunlight streaming in.
Despite the short and now-straight hair and formal clothes, she hadn’t changed much. With her pointed ears and pixie face, people had mistaken her for a fae in the past. Even when wearing boots, she stood shorter than him, but Jarett was always a giant, to begin with, so that might not be a fair comparison.
However, she was, as Captain Belinda had once kindly put it, a squall – coming so suddenly and departing so quickly, leaving everything in an uproar. Jarett had never minded too much. She was what he always admired and envied. If only he wasn’t tied to this… obligation, he would’ve –
“It seems all the guards are new,” she said, interrupting his thought, and nodded toward the closed door. She swirled the glass of wine in her hand. “I only recognize Captain Belinda. By the way, how is Princess Lela? I didn’t see her as I made my dashing run here.”
“What are you doing here, Aella?” he asked again. This time he spoke her name – a name that hadn’t passed his mouth for almost five years.
“As I said, I promised –”
“You didn’t write or leave a note,” Jarett interjected. “Aella, you promised a lot of things five years ago, but coming back for my coronation was not one of them. The last thing you would want to do is see a shiny crown placed on my head unless you were planning to steal it, so please, for once, just tell me the truth.”
Now the silence was awkward. Aella put down her hat next to her wine glass. There was a somber look on her expression.
“Actually, I have something to give you. A present.” She reached for inside her dress jacket and pulled out a small square package. She tossed it to Jarett’s chest so suddenly that he almost dropped it. He looked up at her, but she refused to say anything. She looked… ashamed? She was always good at keeping her emotions hidden, but this time, they were floating on the surface. She kept her eyes on her boots and tried to keep her flushed face hidden underneath her hat.
Suspicious, Jarett slowly undid the hastily wrapped gift. Inside was the last thing he expected to receive from her.
“What is this?” he asked warily.
“Our promise.”