Chapter Text
At the top of the castle with the open view looking towards the trees, Clementine stared off; it was all that she could do.
The clanking noise of metal crashing behind her was bothersome, especially because it came from her personal guard—who never said anything.
“You should be out there.” She stated boredly, never taking her eyes off the horses running freely around the long grass.
But she was met with the familiar silence as she stared at the large figure.
He just stood there with the sword planted on the ground and was facing her, but his back against the cold wall.
He almost looked like a statue.
“It’s rude to be so quiet, and not to ignore how that thing never comes off.” Clem huffed; she gave up, lying back on her bed. Her hair flowed against the pillow, and she closed her eyes for a minute, in thought.
There were a bunch of guards around, and servants, yet no one really had tabs on her. Except for the one in her room at the moment, but she wasn’t all that worried about him.
Suddenly she sat herself up, a plan already in her mind as she made her way over to the large wardrobe.
Once Clementine started to rummage through, throwing clothing on her bed to the side, she knew he had faced away because there was this shifting noise behind her.
With that in mind, after getting all the clothes she needed, Clem began to dress differently.
The pants worn for sparring replaced her long dress, and she wrapped a scarf around her neck.
Getting all that done, a bag hung on her shoulder, and she walked over to leave the room ready. But he finally moved again, this time in front of her.
“Get out of my way, that’s an order.” She lowered the scarf, her patience running thin.
The guard didn’t say anything; he just stayed.
“Move away, now.” Clementine didn’t mind pushing the hard metal aside, walking past him in defiance.
Not looking back, she moved carefully, hiding behind the thick walls.
Crouching, anything to be out of sight, but the thing that worried her most was that he hadn’t followed her.
But she couldn’t let herself think about that, not now since how close she was to here.
The tall trees were just steps away from where she crouched; the bushes that were always tidy and neatly cut covered her from view.
The only coverage she was using was the tall bushes her father had ordered to be stylized by gardeners; every move was a risk, and every noise could alert anyone around.
Somehow, not knowing how it possibly happened.
The sound of the noisy town was all around her, and walking through the crowds, Clementine had managed to successfully escape.
Every time she would stop at the food stands, though, there were always whispers. Voices gossiping all around, murmuring the same thing, but she couldn’t figure out why there was so much commotion.
“What is everyone talking about?” With courage, she asked the young lady who placed fresh pies in a bag.
“Don’t you see that? They never come down here—it’s just not normal.” The lady handed Clem the bag of treats, and she hid behind the post more.
Finally looking over carefully, Clem knew what the lady had meant.
He was here.
Another deep exhale—she was never going to be freed from his eyes or protection.
Holding the paper bag tighter, Clem began to step away, but faster now; she had to lose him somehow.
Eventually finding a small corner amongst all the chaos, she held her breath—using what she had learned from classes of swimming.
But to no avail, he showed. The sound of the metal again- it was never-ending. The guard did something different; still, no words were muttered, but he grabbed her arm.
Clem fussed around his grip, the bag falling to the ground, making him halt.
She watched as he let go of her arm, and he bent down awkwardly to the ground, grabbing it—inspecting it before handing it over.
“God, you’re so mindless.” She gritted her teeth in annoyance, stepping away with caution.
He seemed to be looking straight at her, about to grab her arm again, but this time Clem beat him before he could. Slapping his hand away from her with no hesitation.
She made a run for it— ignoring the ache at the bottom of her feet.
Once more, there was silence as she had lost him, but her bigger issue at the moment was that somehow she had managed to find the local tavern.
It was louder than anything she had seen before, moving the scarf closer to her face. Clem continued walking, trying to avoid stares; that was until someone managed to touch her shoulder.
“Hey—you lost?” A young man asked, his words were slurred and mumbled.
She moved her shoulder, getting his touch off of her for a second.
“Leave me alone.” Shooting a glare at this man.
But as she turned to face him, she was met with familiar eyes.
Standing there stunned, Clementine realized her huge mistake. At that moment, one of the head knights from another kingdom was right in front of her.
And one that knew her face—since he always tried to strike up a conversation, at the balls or any chance he managed.
“Princes…” The young man was about to say as, at that moment, he was interrupted by the sound of steel.
“Get back.” The knight held the sword out; he had placed himself in front of her carefully, a powerful stance.
"Still hiding behind that piece of iron?" Scoffing the young man looked at them both.
There was silence in response though neither wanted to say anything back to him, ignoring his tone.
“Whatever—the king won’t be hap–” He tried to drink from his beer in his hand, but it came crashing down to the ground, spilling all over in the dirt.
The guard had already made a move before Marlon's words came to a stop.
“You won’t get that far...” With a free hand, the knight pushed Clem back, almost as if communicating for her to leave.
But she stood there stunned. It was the first time she had ever heard him say anything, or even act for that matter.
He seemed to notice because he turned to face her, and by just a second, Clementine wondered what his expression was behind that hard helmet.
Distracted, they both seemed to have failed to realize that the young man in front of them was still fuming. Marlon seemed to have made up his mind and was about to lose his shit. Right until another person emerged from inside the tavern, making his way out to see the fuss.
“Fuck…not again.” This newer guy stepped closer, and quickly he wrapped his arms around Marlon, making him step back.
It was as if the world was punishing her for leaving the castle with no permission because now these two young men, that were each well known knights kept showing. Seeing that Clem hid more behind her own guard waiting for the moment to come to an end.
It seemed that the guard had realized who had stepped out to stop the commotion because the sword was placed back in its place, almost immediately. And the knight got back in his formal stance.
“You guys are lucky I won’t be reporting this, but you better not let this happen—again.” A final word before he stepped away, and slowly the issue was resolved.
Clementine stood for a second, staring at the two guys watching their defeat before she began to follow behind the guard.
“Didn’t know you could actually do something.” She chuckled to herself, before her eyes went down to the bag; despite everything, it wasn’t harmed—or well, slightly.
But he didn’t say anything. His stomps were loud, and his demeanor seemed different.
Clem thought it would change after he saved her, but it didn't. All that happened was that he escorted her to the room at the castle with no word.
And being right at the beginning with him once more, Clem realized that he wasn’t what she had expected.
That same boringness she felt before was now bigger. She wanted to like him, but the more she let herself think, Clementine realized that she was right—he was like everyone else
Sitting in her bed again, Clem took off her shoes and watched how her toes had gotten scraped by all the moving around.
The pie was at her bedside stand; it was cold now, but it didn’t matter at the moment because at least her father hadn’t noticed her disappearance.
In the dimly lit room, she carefully reached for it and began to eat it; the fork left on the bedside stand was from the guard before he managed to disappear elsewhere.
Clementine ate from it and stared out the window as the stars above shone down into her room.