Chapter Text
It was a privilege and an honour to meet the Piltovian royal family. If you ever got the luxury of meeting them in your lifetime then you were one of the lucky ones.
Vi saw herself as extremely lucky, making sure to remind herself of how many people would dream of being in her role.
She’d never seen the royal family highly, and had never dreamed of meeting them. Afterall, what’s so special about a rich family?
But a job was a job and being the Kiramman’s servant paid substantially well, almost paying double the minimum wage. So Vi woke up at 6am every morning and made her way over to the Kiramman’s mansion on top of the hill, overlooking their city.
But Vi wasn’t just another one of their many servants, Vi had specifically been hired to serve their daughter, Princess Caitlyn, who was around the same age as Vi. Vi had expected a prissy, posh, mean girl who bossed her around and demanded something every five minutes, but she had been completely wrong. Caitlyn was nice. Lovely, even. It was clear that she hadn’t had many friends, growing up alone in a massive mansion with the weight of the world on her shoulder. Vi had respect for the socially anxious girl. She was only human after all.
Which is why Vi hesitated to knock on her bedroom door to tell her dinner is ready, knowing what was about to come.
“Miss Caitlyn?” Vi greeted, opening the door ajar. “Dinner is being served. The table is set for your acquaintance.”
Caitlyn looked up from her book, nervously picking at her nails.
“Thank you, Vi. I’ll come down now.”
Vi followed her swiftly to the large dining room. Her entire house could probably fit in the dining room itself. There was a huge chandelier in the middle of it, overseeing the giant table. Vi always wondered why they had such a big table when only the same three people sat there every night.
“Greetings, Caitlyn,” Queen Cassandra said as Caitlyn walked through the door.
“Good evening Mother, Father,” Caitlyn nodded to the both of them, taking a seat opposite.
Vi hung back, standing by the door waiting for the chefs to bring out the food. The first chef appeared, and then the second. Vi took the dishes from their hands and placed them in front of each person, giving Caitlyn a comforting smile as she places hers down.
“Would anyone like a glass refill?” Vi announced.
“No thank you, Miss Violet. We’re okay for now,” King Tobias answered.
As Vi was no longer needed, she backed into the corner as they began their meal.
Before Caitlyn could even take a bite, Cassandra was on her like flies.
“So Caitlyn,” she started. “How was the tutoring?”
Caitlyn swallowed. “It was good. We finished going through the specification so now I am just revisiting the syllabus.”
Cassandra remained uninterested. “I spoke with your tutor who said you didn’t score well in your latest assessment. What is that about?”
“Well, there were things in the test that we hadn’t gone through yet.”
“You’re supposed to learn everything before the lesson. That’s why you get all the presentations beforehand.”
“Yes, I know that, Mother. But I couldn’t quite wrap my head around neutralisation equations,” she tried to explain.
“Not even 50%,” Cassandra shook her head, disappointedly.
“I’m sorry, Mother. I’ll try harder next time,” she frowned.
“Yes, you better. I will be checking,” she said sternly.
Vi watched as Caitlyn dropped her fork and stared at the floor, using her shoulders to curl in on herself. She blinked rapidly, tears threatening to fall. She fidgeted with her hands under the table, making sure to keep them out of sight from her judging mother, but it didn’t go unnoticed by Vi.
Vi was lucky enough to be born with parents who saw through her awful exam skills. She had managed to get her maths and english, but that was it. Her parents knew her skills lie in more practical things, rather than on paper.
She wondered what it must be like to have parents who only saw her worth with a letter on a piece of paper.
A scraping sound on the floor broke Vi from her thoughts.
“May I be excused?” Caitlyn mumbled, voice monotone.
“You’ve barely touched your food,” Tobias pointed out.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Fine. But don’t expect anything later,” Cassandra rolled her eyes.
Caitlyn exited the room, steps heavy and slow.
“Could you follow her, Violet?” Tobias asked.
“Of course Your Majestery,” Vi answered, already moving her way.
When Vi made it up the many stairs to her room, the door was closed, signifying her need for privacy. Vi would usually give it to her, but she was worried about her wellbeing. One quick check wouldn’t hurt.
Vi slowly opened the door, peering in to check she wasn’t walking in on something private. When there was no sight of the girl anywhere, she opened the door completely.
Her bed was still made, remaining untouched. The whole room was still and quiet.
Vi made her way round the huge bed to the corner of the room, Caitlyn’s ‘reading nook’. It was a cozy corner that Caitlyn had created with pillows and blankets and colourful posters of things she liked where she could read or relax in. Caitlyn spent most of her time sitting on the floor there, so Vi wasn’t surprised when she saw her rocking back and forth with her head in between her pulled up legs.
“Cait?” Vi announced, her voice a higher pitch than she usually spoke to her. She only curled into herself more.
“It’s me, Vi. I’m not gonna hurt you,” she promised calmly.
Caitlyn slightly moved her head so Vi could see her big, blue eyes. She looked like a scared puppy. Vi noticed her breathing was ragged and uneven, more like choking than breathing.
“Hey, you’re doing a really good job. Try breathing with me. In and out, like this.”
Vi shuffled next to her on the floor, making an effort to breathe deeply to show Caitlyn. She copied the best she could, puffing her chest up.
“That’s it, good job! Keep doing it like that,” Vi instructed.
As Caitlyn’s breathing returned to normal again, she started to uncurl her limbs, not worrying about the threat of danger anymore. She edged closer to Vi, feeling safe with her.
“How are you feeling? Are you okay?” Vi fretted.
Caitlyn nodded, putting her legs down flat as she stopped the rocking. She took her arm and pointed to something under her bed. Vi urged closer to the bed and looked under, spotting a brown cardboard box. She took it out and placed it in front of Caitlyn, who for the first time that night looked relieved. She clumsily took the lid off to reveal a colourful mismatch of objects Vi would never have expected the Princess to have.
There was a range of stuffed toys, all different shapes and sizes, as well as pacifiers and coloured sippy cups. Caitlyn grinned as she took out a shark plushie, putting it up to her chest and stroking it. She took a smaller, red fox and handed it to Vi.
“Oh. Thanks, Caitlyn,” Vi smiled, not expecting the gesture.
“Tis called Red. Matches your hair. It’ll make you feel better,” she explained.
“That’s very kind of you. And what’s your shark called?”
“Lemon. ‘Cause it’s a lemon shark. They’re the kindest shark ever.”
Caitlyn made playful sounds as she moved the shark about on the blue blanket, pretending it was water. Vi found it the most adorable thing ever.
“Hey Lemon,” Vi played along, moving the fox. “Can I play with you?”
“Of course. Foxes can swim,” Caitlyn approved, trying to hide how happy she was to have someone to play with. She had never played with anyone before.
Vi made the fox jump into the water (blanket) and swim to the shark.
“What should we do?” The fox (Vi) asked.
“Have a swimming contest. Duh,” The shark (Caitlyn) replied.
They lined their plushies at the start of the blanket and Caitlyn countered down before shouting ‘go!’. Vi made sure Caitlyn (the shark) won.
“I won!” Caitlyn cried, giggling like it was the best thing in the world.
“You did! Good job, Cait,” Vi smiled. She still couldn’t quite believe that she was playing with the eighteen year old Princess. But she didn’t seem eighteen, she seemed younger.
Vi didn’t mind though, she liked playing with her.
“Are you gonna leave?” Caitlyn asked sadly, out of the blue.
“Not if you don’t want me to. I’ll stay here for as long as you like,” Vi confirmed.
“Really? You’ll keep playing with me?” Caitlyn’s eyes widened.
“Of course I will.”
“Yay!” Caitlyn cheered, making the shark jump up and down.
Vi grinned as Caitlyn babbled happily to her, replying back like she understood what she was saying, which made Caitlyn even happier.
They sat there together for a while, lost in their imagination.
The exchange stayed between them, Vi not telling a single soul of the box hidden underneath her bed.
And when a few weeks later Princess Caitlyn asks Vi if she wants to play again, Vi immediately agrees, pulling out the plushies herself.