Chapter Text
“Tofu! Tofu, come back!”
The puppy ran faster than the little prince, and didn’t seem to want to stop. Not even when the palace guards tried to stop her by shutting the main gate. But the puppy was too fast, and too carefree to be waylaid by such things. Just before the gate was shut, she wriggled through, and raced down the winding lane which led to the castle town.
“Tofu!!”
The little prince reached out through the wrought iron bars of the castle gate as if he could catch the puppy that way. Unfortunately, the little white dog with a black tip on her tail was well beyond his outstretched fingertips.
“I’m sorry, your highness. We’ll go find her,” one of the guards offered.
“She can’t be too far,” the other added reassuringly. “Besides, most of the town knows who she belongs to. We’ll find her by supper time, your highness!”
“We hope,” the other guard muttered under his breath, earning a glare from his colleague.
All the little prince could do was nod, sniffle, and rub his nose as a few tears leaked from his eyes.
“What’s happened? Why is my baby boy crying?”
The two guards stiffened from surprise, but turned around and looked at the Queen, both of them sinking to one knee before her. The young Queen bent and held her arms out to the boy, who ran to her and snuggled into her arms.
“Tofu ran away, your majesty,” one guard explained on bended knee.
“Again?”
“Yes, ma’am. But we were just about to go after her.”
She smiled brightly at them both and nuzzled the little prince’s cheek, which earned her a soggy, soft giggle.
“Don’t worry, Shinsuke. We’ll have Tofu back safe and sound soon, okay?”
“Okay, mommy.”
He snuggled closer, popped a thumb in his mouth and was sound asleep in minutes. The Queen smiled and shook her head with fond exasperation, and then turned her gaze on her guards.
“Rise,” she said kindly to her two guards, who did as she said. “I know you promised him you’d have Tofu back by supper time, but I think it’ll take a bit longer than that.”
The two in front of her deflated a bit. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Just make sure to bring her back. I’ll keep him occupied until you do. Tofu might be his favorite puppy, but she isn’t the only one.”
“We will, your majesty.”
“Be sure to let me know when you’ve returned. With Tofu.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The Queen smiled graciously at them again, turned, and left, softly singing a lullaby to her son. The two guards watched her for a few minutes, then looked at each other.
“You take the east part of town. I’ll go west.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Operation Bring Home Tofu begins!”
“God, you’re so lame.”
“What? It’s a good name!”
His fellow guard snorted as they opened the gate and started down the lane toward the town.
“Maybe you should come up with a better one.”
“Yeah. Maybe you’re right.”
Once they made it to the lower gate, a pair of horses awaited them. They each mounted up, one on a magnificent bay horse, and the other on a horse as dark as night. They rode through the gate, stopped at the end of the royal property, and wished each other good luck before parting ways.
They had a puppy to find.