Separate Crowns of One Heart

Nınėtėėn

The Prince and I move into our suite that same day. Boxes of our belongs litter the large space, waiting to be unpacked. Maids and servants rush all around the suite, putting things in place or straightening things that cannot be any straighter in my opinion. My bones feeling heavy in my skin, I want nothing more than to flop onto the even larger bed that I'm to call mine. But I can't do that, not with my sweat drying on my skin.

Removing pieces of armor as I make my way to the bathroom, I leave a trail of gold in my wake. I enter the bathroom from my side of the suite (yes, i have to share a bathroom with the Prince now and i have to say, it is much worse than merely sharing a wardrobe. At least then all he could see was my gowns) and check for the Prince.

The glass door to the shower is already steamed over and thaks to the fog, all I can see is the blur of a tall figure showering on the other side. A bath has already been drawn for me, the tendrils of steam caling me into the warmth of the water. I glance at the shower once more before stripping out of everything and quickly lower myself into the tub before the Prince exits the shower.

After washing my body and fawning over me, Demi and the other maids finally leave me. I close my eyes to relax, my muscles loosening up in the heat. My relaxation and peace only last a few ticks before the Prince speks up from inside the shower.

"So, Princess. How was your first day?"

I am going to terribly miss having my own bathroom. "Please tell me there are hired masuses in this maze of a Palace?" I move my head from side to side, trying to work out the tensity in my neck.

He chuckles at that. "There are but I think I can give you a better treatment than they ever could."

"I do not want to even think about what that means." I sink deeper into the bath, the flower petals floating in top. "Do you think the generals will make a complaint to His Majesty?" I can't imagine any of them to be the type to give up easily on something like this.

"They definitely will if they already haven't. They do not take lightly to being put in their place-- especially General Knox."

"I thought he would give me a harder time than he actually did," I admit to him. "I was sure he would make training hell jsut so I would give up."

"Would you give up if he did?"

"Never."

He becomes so quiet that I have to peek out of one eye to make sure he's still there. His figure runs his fingers through his hair from behind the door and I try not to imagine the muscles in his arms flexing. "Earlier you asked me why I want you to do this. Can I ask you why you want to do this?"

The steam from his shower and my bath makes the air in the bathroom thick as I consider his question. "Because nothing else gives me the exhilarating feeling that I get when I have the sword in my hand."

"Not even me?"

That's an unexpected laugh out of me. "No, Your Highness. Not even you."

"That's disappointing."

I put us back on topic. "When I first started, combat was just a way for me to blow off steam from everything I had to endure at the Academy but then it started feeling like a neccessity and..." As I think about how important becoming a Jaguar is to me, I try to remove micah's involvement in it all. "I don't know... Not having had anyone to fight or stand up for me throughout the seasons made me realize that perhaps nobody ever would and I would have to be my own defender. Because how can anyone fight for someone who cannot even fight for themselves?" I let out a sigh and recline my head agiainst the porcelain tub, lookingup at the magnificent chandelier hanging above. "I guess in doing this, I hope to become for the Kingdom what nobody was for me."