The Lion's Babysitter [A Twisted Wonderland Fanfic]

Chapter 2

Y/N woke with the sun, as she always did. As the first rays of morning light slipped in through her curtains, and as a gush of wind blew over her bare shoulder, she rolled over in her bed and flopped onto her back. She stared up at the canopy of her bed, frowning for a moment when she realised that it wasn't the roof that she had grown up with. But then she remembered that she was no longer in Sunset Savannah. 

She slid out from beneath her blankets and as her feet touched the floor, she shivered. Despite the warmth of the Savanaclaw dorm, the stone tiles still retained the chilliness of the night. She leaned over the side of her bed and grabbed her slippers, dragging them over to her feet and slipping them on. With her feet covered, she rose from her bed, took a quick sip of water, and headed over to her wardrobe. 

Farena had been kind enough to provide her with some extra clothes for her time at Night Raven College, including a few extra uniforms for the Fastest of the Lion Guard. Despite not being in the savannah anymore, she still wanted to show her pride in being part of the Lion Guard.

After getting dressed, she left her dorm. The hours of the morning when no one else had awoken was her favourite time of day. The hours when she could be alone, running through the breeze that still clung to the night while being warmed by the rising sun. Where the air still felt cool on her skin, but her body was warm. And besides, there was no way that His Highness would be up this early in the morning. She glanced down at her watch. 

"Five thirty," she said with a small smile. She was always the first of the Lion Guard to wake up. Even back in the savannah where the entire team would wake early, she was always the first awake. She would often run a scout mission by herself before returning to the compound and joining the rest of her team. Enzi never complained about this. Less work for him to do.

Y/N started with a light jog, her muscles tensing and relaxing as they pushed her forward. Her arms swung at her sides, moving in opposite timing with her feet. With each step, she gained more speed, her feet pounding into the earth below, the specially made soles gripping the ground as best they could.

But as the sun rose higher into the sky, Y/N knew that she had to wrap up her run. She had to go to the cafeteria and fetch breakfast for His Highness so he could eat and get ready for his classes. That is if he hadn't snuck out in the middle of the night, hoping to escape her ever-watchful eye.

She returned to her dorm and grabbed her jacket. She threw it over her shoulders and left once more, her feet padding softly on the ground as she left the Savanaclaw dorm. Hopefully, if Leona hadn't left sometime during the night, he wouldn't leave while she was out getting his food. This was the one time she hoped he stayed sleeping, wherever he was. 

* * *

"Your Highness," Y/N asked. She knocked on the door of the prince's dorm and waited patiently in the hallway, a tray of food balanced in her other hand. Her hand left the wood of the door and fell back into place behind her back. 

"Your Highness?"

Y/N sighed internally and pushed open the door. Sure enough, her charge was nowhere in sight. She should have known. Or at least, she shouldn't have gotten her hopes up. It had been a week since the start of the term, and already three days out of the seven, Leona had disappeared before Y/N could bring him his breakfast, leaving her to search the school for him. 

She entered the dorm and looked around. His pen was lying on the desk next to his unfinished homework that was due in his second period, his history textbook was lying on the ground, and his bed was unmade, but at least it seemed that he was wearing his school uniform. It was missing from the hangar that Y/N had hung it on the night before, and his pyjamas had been thrown over the back of his desk chair.