Contests

A Not So Pretty Princess

"To everyone else, she was a warrior.

Only he could make her feel like a princess."

Prompt by - 

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The word exhausted wouldn't even begin to descirbe how Ailith was feeling. Ailith was dead tired. She threw herself down onto the not-so-soft bed in her rented inn room. Her partner, Donovan, fell on top of his own bed, as wasted as she was.

"That wasn't too hard, right?" Donovan chuckled, trying everything in his power to stay awake. He flipped over so he was facing the ceiling. Ailith did the same, taking off her shoes and cape, throwing them somewhere across the room.

"Whatever helps you sleep." Ailith breathed, closing her eyes at the bliss of finally laying down. All that she wanted to change at that moment was the amount of blood she had drenching her. The brunette lifted her hand so it was in front of her face. She became entranced by the swirls the blood made as it trickled out of the cut on her palm and down her forearm.

"I should take a shower, shouldn't I?"

"To say that you don't reek, would be a lie. Having that much blood on you can't be healthy." Donovan commented, pushing himself onto one elbow so he could gesture towards Ailith's many wounds. It'd be fair to say that the silver-haired man didn't look much better himself.

Ailith had to try her damnedest to pull herself up. She staggered to the room's small bathroom and locked the door. Ailith leaned against the sink as she stripped off her clothes and tossed them into the corner of the room.

A hot shower is always the best medicine after a battle, according to her at least.

Bathing was such a ritual to Ailith that she took almost half an hour to finish. When the pleased slayer got out of the bathroom, she wore a sweatshirt and pajamas. Ailith sat on the couch, a book in her hand and a toothbrush in her mouth.

"You should get in there before you stink up the entire room," Ailith snickered. She didn't take her eyes off her book as she fell deeper into it's world. 

Donovan obliged and was out in a matter of minutes. He sat on the love seat next to the couch Ailith was on and sighed. Ailith got up to spit out her toothpaste and returned looking pleased and joyful at the feeling of a clean mouth. She pulled her book back up, hoping to finish a chapter before she passed out from exhaustion.

"We have to fill out the reports, don't we?"

"Damn it," Ailith muttered, placing her book spine up on the coffee table between them. "I think that the papers are in my satchel, can you get them?"

"Sure," answered Donovan, standing up and retrieving the bag. He threw it on the coffee table, doing the same to himself and the love seat.

Ailith pulled out the paperwork and handed Donovan his share.

"Can I set some things straight?" Ailith asked, stumped with how to fill one of the blanks.

"Sure," Donovan replied, breezing through his papers with a speed not meant for quality.

"How many did we get?"

"How many what?"

"Monsters, not men."

"I killed 73, and there was 200 there, so you must have gotten the other 127," Donovan answered. His eyes widened with the realization.

He had lost the bet.

Ailith wiggled her eyebrows as he paid the 250 guilders to the gleaming slayer. But when she reached over to snatch the money out of his hand, she stopped and collapsed onto the floor.

"Ow... I think the spell wore off." Ailith hissed through clenched teeth, trying not to scream. The sharp pains in her abdomen becoming unbearable.

Frantically Donovan dashed to the med kit that he kept in his luggage. He threw things out of his bags, not caring where they landed, in search for the spell circle. The warlock found it hidden away under gauze and initiated the spell immediately, not wanting to see his dear friend in that state.

The seal appeared in the air around Ailith's wounds and sealed away the horrible pain. "Thanks, D. I think that I need to stitch the cuts again, they might have opened."

The slayer stripped off her sweatshirt and rolled up her pajama sleeves. Donovan handed her a roll of string and a needle but took it back.

"Come on, I need to sew these closed!" Ailith shouted, pointing to the split stitches and seeping wounds. Donovan turned red, making him look like a humanoid tomato.

"I-I just want to help you out!" Donovan bawled, holding the items against his chest. The slayer eased up, figuring that her anger shouldn't be directed at the poor man. 

A muttered, "Fine." was the thing that lit up the face of Donovan. He had Ailith sit back against the couch as he sewed up her wounds, being careful not to break the pain seal. When he finished he placed a healing spell on the wounds, hoping that it would help them close faster.

"Would you mind if I gave you a massage?"

"What?" Ailith yelped, completely shocked.

To say that offering a massage or any other form would be out of character for Donovan, would be a lie. Alith was flabbergatsed, because of what had been happening after the massages.

"I guess..." Ailith trailed off, hoping that the awkward pleasantries that had been occurring wouldn't happen. After all, she did have more than a few knots in her muscles. She shifted around so her back faced Donovan. The brunette began to think of how they reached where they were today.

Donovan had been an ostler with a genetic mutation that allowed him to use magic despite his human species. He left his home to attend a magic school after he passed their entrance exam. He was so happy when he graduated with flying colors.

Ailith ran away from her duties as the 6th princess of the Wilkon Empire. Ailith had always this theory since she was little that she was just kept around for decoration. And her theory as proven true, when she ran away and nobody, not even the royal guard, looked for her. She had managed to find room and board with a retired slayer, who taught her everything she knows today.

The friends had only met by a happy accident. They both took the same job, without the other's knowledge. They had to work together to gain the payment. They found that they actually made a great team, and formed 'Team Evening Primrose'.

The warm hands of Donovan were performing wonders on Ailith's shoulder blades. Ailith sighed as she felt a knot floating away from her bruised body.

Something clicked in Ailith's mind as Donovan shifted his hands to her left side.

Despite all the crap they had been through. Despite all the reputation and prestige 'Team Evening Primrose' had received. She was still a princess. She's pampered, adored, and taken care of in times of need. 

His princess.

A damn strong one at that.