Work Text:
On a bright Wednesday morning, Laertes traveled down the crowded markets, keeping his sister close to him. Their father, Polonius, was away for a while as he was sent to Sweden with the Royal Dane to negotiate with their king. Today looked to be especially busy, with dozens of people going from one shopkeeper to the next, buying whatever they needed or desired. Ophelia craved strawberries earlier today and their household lacked any, so Laertes decided to head towards the market with her to buy the fruit. It was ridiculously easy to get lost amongst the crowds, which meant Laertes had to keep a careful eye on Ophelia to avoid losing her.
Ophelia cowered behind her elder brother, clearly intimidated by the moving crowds. Laertes looked over his shoulder to find her anxiously observing the pacing congeries.
"It's going to be alright, Ophelia," Laertes patted her head, stroking her auburn curls. "Just stay by my side and you won't get lost."
"Okay," Ophelia tightly held Laertes' hand, not wanting to let go of it.
Ophelia was only six-years-old and spent most of her life within the confines of her house and Castle Elsinore. She rarely spent time outdoors as her father insisted on making her study all day. She obliged without complaint, for she knew her father meant well but it made her incredibly sheltered and easily nervous amongst large gatherings as trade-offs. To her, her world consisted of her father and brother, which was largely enough for her, but it sometimes felt isolating being the only girl in the family. Thankfully, Laertes is always by her side, even if he doesn't exactly understand how to tackle her more feminine issues.
While they continued their path through the crowds, Ophelia found herself staring at Laertes' sheathed rapier. Ever since his tenth birthday, Laertes has been taking lessons in fencing and after two years, he felt confident enough in his skills to carry a rapier on him in case he needed to defend himself and his sister. The elaborately designed, sweeping hilt shone brilliantly like gemstones and Ophelia found herself drawn to its glimmer, tempted to reach out for it and take the blade herself. She resisted the thoughts as she knew it would be wrong to steal her brother's sword. Even if she tried stealing it, Laertes would easily take the sword back and tell her off for touching it.
The siblings passed by several street vendors, with Ophelia observing what they sold. There was one that sold dazzling jewelry embedded in gold and silver, another sold carefully crafted carpets that clearly had passion placed into them, and a specific vendor specialized in selling lutes of all kinds. Each and every vendor caught Ophelia's curiosity. She wanted to buy at least one thing from all of the vendors but knew that she didn't have enough money to do so as she was only here to purchase strawberries.
After a few minutes of walking and brief window shopping, Laertes spotted a vendor that showcased all sorts of fruits and vegetables. That was the vendor he was looking for. The vendor in question was a stout, elderly man with a big white mustache on his face. He was eagerly preparing his products, excited for his next customers and cheerfully hummed to himself.
Still holding Ophelia's hand, Laertes approached his stall.
"Hello there, young man!" The vendor happily greeted the boy, not noticing his sister.
"Do you have any strawberries on sale?" Laertes asked.
"Oh, you came in just right on time! It's harvest season for the strawberries and they're available; in fact, they're exceptionally fresh."
"Very well, then, I would like the finest strawberries you have."
"That, I can do!"
The vendor packed a couple dozen strawberries into a bundle and handed it over to Laertes.
"That will be 2 ducats," The vendor said.
Laertes took out the coins and paid the vendor.
"Thank you, sir. Have a good day."
"You too!"
With the bundle in his (other) hand, Laertes began the trip back home with Ophelia.
"Laertes, may I eat the strawberries now, please?" She asked.
"Hmm, I would suggest that you eat them when we get home. You might make yourself a mess if you eat while walking."
"Okay, that's fair."
As they walked, Ophelia spotted a young, disheveled boy across the street. He was covered in rags and dirt, with his wild dark hair all tangled up. He sat on the ground, burying his head into his knees.
The sight tugged at Ophelia's heart and she couldn't help but dash towards him, letting go of Laertes' hand.
"Ophelia! Where are you going?" Laertes called out towards her as he began chasing after his sister.
Ophelia approached the boy and lends him her hand.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
The boy looked up at Ophelia, his eyes gleamed upon seeing her and he smiled.
"Such a pretty girl," He muttered.
The boy rose up, suddenly grabbed Ophelia's hand, and jolted down an alleyway.
"Oh! Where are you taking me?" Ophelia asked, completely thrown off guard by this turn by events.
Eventually, they ran into a trio of boys who looked to be a couple years older than them. The trio consisted of a bulky child with large hands who towered over the rest, a rather short boy with a hat bigger than his head who carried a bucket of water with him, and a fair-haired boy with a sense of charm to him.
"Who do you have there, Boris?" The blond boy asked.
"Tristan, this is a pretty girl I found."
"She looks like she's nobility," the hatted child noted.
Tristan grinned and set his eyes on Ophelia, getting uncomfortably close to her. The proximity alone made Ophelia's body shake as she nervously looked at him in the eyes.
"You're from a well off family, right?" He asked.
"Y-yes, what about it?"
"Well, you must have money on you. Give me and my friends some."
"I'm sorry but I don't have ducats on me; my brother has them."
"That's a shame, I was hoping to have them," Just then, a devious idea entered Tristan's mind.
He shot a glance towards the larger boy.
"Asmund, go hold her in place, would you? We're going to do something fun."
The boy went behind Ophelia and forcibly grabbed her arms, restraining her in the process.
"Let me go, please!" She begged, trying to run off but Asmund's grasp was too strong to break through.
Tristan grabbed the hatted boy's bucket and dumped water all over Ophelia.
"How sad that your nice dress is all ruined," Tristan said mockingly. "But all the more fun to see you cry!"
All four boys laughed at Ophelia's expense. All she could do was break down in tears.
"Laertes! Laertes!" She sobbed.
The boys kept on laughing and started throwing mud at her.
"Leave. Her. Alone." Right then and there, the boys spotted a blade being drawn out.
Standing across them was Laertes, armed with his rapier. He kept a calm stance, yet the pure fury was visible in his eyes.
The boys stared at Laertes with fear hitting them harder than a storm.
"Run! He's got a sword!" Tristan shouted.
He was the first to flee the scene, with his friends following behind not that long afterwards. Boris, the last to run away, ended up tripping and landing face-first on the ground. He hastily got up in a hurry and continued running.
Meanwhile, Ophelia planted her face onto Laertes' embrace, sobbing in his arms.
"Shh, Ophelia, I'm here now," Laertes knelt down to her level and wiped her tears away.
"I'm sorry for not listening to you but that boy looked like he needed help."
"I understand that, but never run off like that again. He turned out to be bait from those pathetic companions of his. Do you understand?"
"Yes, I promise not to do it again."
"Good," Laertes gifted the bundle of strawberries to Ophelia. "You can eat some strawberries while we walk back home."
That mere sentence cheered up Ophelia, who smiled.
And thus, they marched back home while Ophelia munched on strawberries. As Laertes predicted, Ophelia made a mess of herself, getting red mush on her mouth and fingers, but that didn't bother him. All it mattered was his sister being happy.
Upon arriving at their destination and entering the house, a servant spotted them and saw the state Ophelia was in.
"My lord, what happened to your sister?" She asked.
"I fell in a river," Ophelia said. "We were walking home and I saw some nice flowers I wanted to pick. I tried picking them up but I got too close to the river and I fell into it."
"Alright, I'll get you a towel and new clothes."
"Thank you."
Laertes gently nudged Ophelia.
"Why did you lie to her?" He asked sternly.
"I don't want to worry her too much."
"I suppose that's fair enough."
Ophelia opted to finish her strawberries first before drying off and changing into a fresh pair of clothes. Laertes sat by her as she ate, keeping an eye on her while he read a book by Aristotle.
By the time it was nightfall, Polonius finally came home much to his children's delight.
"Daddy!" Ophelia excitedly ran towards Polonius who picked her up in his arms.
"Oh, my sweet little Ophelia, how are you and your brother doing?"
"I'm doing good. Laertes took me out to buy me strawberries because I wanted some. He also saved me from some boys that were being mean to me."
"Well, that's good to hear! Laertes is such an excellent brother, isn't he?"
"Of course!"
Laertes, who was standing nearby, shrugged off the compliments with some embarrassment.
"I'm just doing whatever I can for my sister."
When it was time for Ophelia to go to bed, Laertes tucked her in and sat by her. It was a habit he insisted on doing, wanting to make sure his sister would get a good night's sleep.
"I enjoyed today with you so much," Ophelia said.
"Even with those boys that tormented you?"
Ophelia chuckled. "Yes, but you saved me and that made up for it."
"I am glad to hear; good night, Ophelia."
"Good night, Laertes."
Once Ophelia fell asleep, Laertes slowly rose up and walked over the door. Before he left, he glanced at Ophelia to check on her. Satisfied to see her safe, Laertes gave a small, loving smile and exited.
Both were unaware of the tragedy that would fall them years down the line, but for now, they're blissfully safe and sound. All it matters is that they have each other.