What if we have the same greed under our scales?

I

She should've already been used to that. Ruby had practically memorised the Baron's elegant yet clearly forced mannerisms when he was around Leonora, pretending to be just the right man to marry her, pretending to be the one that would play chess with her aging father and take care of her and kingdom, the one who would defend her and her crown's name in every fight to come his way, the one who would humbly bow down had King Kendrick just asked for it.

Well, he sure as hell wasn't. Not in a million years would Ruby see that man become something even remotely close to such an ideal man, she was convinced of it, he wouldn't even reach decency as a person.

The Black Baron was a snake, and everyone seemed to know, except the one person who should have it the most present, King Kendrick.

But that wasn't what scared her the most, no. Alex, with her help and the others', could beat him and his brainless--because you had to be very stupid to follow a morally dubious prick with airs of grandeur like the Baron was--minions anytime. They could shatter whatever plans he could come up with and dismantle whatever shenaniganery he threw at them, and the kingdom would always be safe as long as they could fight for it.

The Black Baron was a snake, but Ruby was a dragon. Not just metaphorically, she had been turned into a dragon by the enchantress BabaCara and the curse had subtly poisoned her days ever since, even after getting her human form and appearance back.

Ruby was a pirate, and unlawful acts were sewn into her being. What difference was there? The Baron simply aimed for a far greater robbery.

Those were the thoughts that were plaguing the pirate as she absently chewed on some meat she couldn't identify. That wasn't too weird, since Ruby had never eaten enough meat to be able to differentiate the different kinds by taste alone. Gunpowder Island is not particularly known for its meat production. Of course, its most remarkable characteristic is the greedy pirates inhabitanting it stupidly large amount of fish it deals with it each year.

She was sat in between Alex and Twinkle, attending yet another banquet in which a bunch of men, whose ages ranged from too young to even carry a sword to almost older than Kendrick himself, gathered in the castle like hungry hounds and courted the princess as if they had any chance of success. Ruby perfectly knew how all of those events ended; every single time, the banquet would go on and on for hours, with nothing remotely interesting to watch happening, and Leonora would, in the end, find a lame excuse not to correspond to any of the suitors that swarmed the castle. Ruby understood why she would do that, but it didn't make the banquets any less of a pain in the ass every time they called Alex to assist with his friends. And most annoyingly, she had to sit through those endless hours in the same room as the Black Baron and his retinue of idiots.

That time, it seemed, the Baron wasn't up for any games. Ruby had caught him bribing some member of Kendrick's court so he could get a seat next to the princess herself. And that bastard had apparently gotten away with it, which meant that Alex, Ruby, Twinkle, Gene and Alien would have to be seated closer than usual to him, as Alex was the prince and thus always had a place at the left of his father. As the night dragged on, Ruby began to observe the man, which she was sure her friends had been doing since the start of the event. It wasn't too hard; he was right in front of her, and he was paying very little attention to anything that wasn't Leonora. Ruby found it suspicious, how he didn't even spare a dreadful glance at Alien.

Soon enough, though, Ruby found her thoughts spiraling back into that scaley greed, that slight horror that nested itself under her skin and in her chest, of being anything alike that man. Hell, red was even the signature colour of both of them! What if she wasn't the only one thinking about it? What would Alex say if he made the connection between the man that had been threatening his family for almost a decade and her? And the others? She was sure that if Alex spoke against her, then Gene and Twinkle would inevitably follow his lead, like they always did.

And then? What would she do then? Where would she go? She'd have no real home. Yes, she loved her father inmensely, but she would rather die than go back to Gunpowder to live there permanently.

Maybe she'd get so upset that she'd turn into a dragon again, and then she'd get hunted down by her friends. In fact, she was already starting to feel the scales growing on her skin again, painfully tickling it. Her back suddenly ached, as if those red boney wings were materializing again, ready to turn her into a monster of rage and greed.

Right as she thought that her fangs were growing so quickly that they were piercing into her lips, a detail came into her view that managed to pull her out of that shadowy space painfully torn between the monster and herself. Leonora's grip on her cup was uncharacteristically shaky, and it was that very movement that gave Ruby something to hold onto that wasn't the half cold food on her plate. Moreover, if the expression the princess was wearing was the furthest she could get from clearly uncomfortable, then the situation was dire at best. It's not like Ruby was expecting her to be pleased, not even in the slightest, by having to sit beside the Baron, but apparently it was even worse than she had anticipated. It only took about a minute of observation for Ruby to notice the way his hand discretely drifted towards hers, in some odd sort of flattery that clearly wasn't working, judging by the way Leonora's face subtly twisted into disgust the moment they grazed together, grabbing her fork immediately afterwards so she could move her hand away without being impolite.

Ruby had two options: either she considered that a simple action of the Baron behaving like a suitor to Leonora and the throne, or she could interpret it as the Baron scheming something. The election was as simple as choosing between a pile of rotten sardines and a pile of pure gold. The Baron was clearly up to something, or else he wouldn't have bothered to pay for that seat. Money Not wasting one's resources is a very important thing, after all. And the hand touching? Definitely, utterly suspicious. Maybe he was aiming to repeat that little stunt he tried to pull with a bewitched necklace, but with a ring this time. Or maybe he had washed his hands with some strange potion from Fourchesac.

To act on her choice was a different thing, though. She could get up and hysterically scream about it, but that would get her in the dungeons. Picking a fight with the man would have the same result. Frustrated, she was about to blatantly whisper in Alex's ear and ask him to make up a plan, like he actually does. And then it hit; a plan of her own. Of course, it wasn't the best idea ever--not even good at all--, but it wasn't like she had any time to polish her thoughts.

Ruby grasped her cup like it was a precious item, careful and determinated, and made sure that it was properly filled. She saw the candlelight dance in the water within it, confirming that it was indeed holding liquid, leaving only one step of her plan left.

The pirate chose Leonora as her target because the chances of causing a catastrophical fight were considerably smaller, as much as that possibility would've been immensely funnier to take part in. With one swift motion, Ruby splashed the content of the cup onto the princess's gown.

Her face afterwards was quite the sight to behold.

This has some weird phrasing and it's cuz Wattpad doesn't have the same formatting options as ao3.... Sorry for that!!