sporadic | avengers

SIXTEEN / when the avengers were royality

medieval times;
the banner palace and residency;
roughly 22:00;

queen romanoff lifted her skirts above her knees as she ran down the arched hallways of king banner's grand palace.

the noise of the gala was getting more and more muffled with every step she stole.

four months prior;

king banner finished sealing the last invitation to his gala. it would be the last chance to solidify the alliance before the change of power in the emperor's office.

the blessed emperor fury was coming down from his reign as the enlightened emperor-to-be coulson took up the power.

king banner simply wanted to latch all his doors in case a storm was brewing.

present time;
22:10;

queen romanoff turned up the spiral staircase. each step pierced her skin with a colder and colder sensation. the night was amongst her as she broke through to the frigid night air.

she reached the roof of the turret and looked out over the land.

"queen."

"king," she returned the mutual greeting without turning. "lovely gala."

"thank you, your majesty. i received no reply. i had no idea you'd be blessing me with your presence tonight."

she turned and he took in her raw beauty.

"the blessings are all mine."

he took note of her silky russian accent. she was without a doubt the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, but her beauty reached beyond her flawless skin and fiery hair. she had something he'd never experienced before.

she was... different.

she was a warrior queen. she had fought in every battle her kingdom was put under.

she was independent. she was the only queen he'd heard of without a king.

he'd seen her now with his own eyes. she stood in the moonlight, holding the world on her shoulders, and not cracking.

"i've heard rumors. you're sure about what you're going to do?"

meanwhile;

grand duke barnes searched the entirety of the empty palace halls. he sought every place the gala had not proceeded to, in search of the queen.

he was her right hand, and he had to alert her that their boat was departing due to a fight between the captain and the harbor master.

"may i assist, in any way, grand duke?" he heard a meek voice say. barnes turned to see a sheepish young boy, a pale-haired cup barer.

"state your name and kingdom," barnes demanded, placing a hand on his sheathed sword.

"steven rogers of the banner palace, residency, and kingdom."

barnes narrowed his eyes at the feeble, muscleless boy. "my name his grand duke james barnes of the romanoff kingdom. i am looking for queen romanoff, might you be able to assist?"

"i believe she climbed the east turret. i can bring you," he offered.

"simply point me in the direction, kind sir," barnes nodded in appreciation.

steven pointed to the east turret, balancing his tray of wine in the other hand. barnes bid him farewell and approached the tower.

above;

queen romanoff approached king banner carefully.

"why are you questioning me?" she asked.

"i don't want any harm to come your way, my queen," he said. she approached him still, stopping only within a foot.

"i can handle harm, banner. what i cannot handle is someone ruining my plans of seceding from the empire." her voice was low and the moon danced of her red curls.

he glanced from her eyes to her lips, then back to her eyes. "i won't ruling your plans, my queen. i wanted to let you know i won't be in your way, and that i hope our friendship and alliance is eternal."

"my queen!" barnes interrupted. he appeared into the night air, advancing on banner rapidly. he drew a dagger hidden in his sleeve and forced the king against one of the pillars. he placed the knife against his skin.

"what are you doing to my queen?" he yelled. "what did you tell her?"

"i didn't do anything to her," he said honestly. "i didn't touch her."

barnes pressed the knife, drawing blood.

"james," romanoff hissed, "get off him."

barnes hesitated, but gave in obediently. he looked at romanoff with resentment, and even more when he looked at banner.

"it's time for us to leave. the captain has caused a problem with the harbor master," barnes said coldly.

"i can talk to the harbor master," banner said.

"i appreciate it, king banner," romanoff said softly, "but i do think we've over-extended our visit.thank you for everything, truly. i hope to hear from you soon."

barnes and romanoff ducked away. she linked her arm in his and picked up her skirts with the other hand.

captain stark was standing on the beam on the front of the boat, waiting to raise the anchor. barnes assisted the queen up and over the ramp, climbing into the ship after her.

stark glanced at harbor master rhodes.

"till next time, old friend!" he called.

"oh, shut up, old bastard!" rhodes hollered back with a laugh. stark lifted the anchor and opened the sails, guiding them out and into the atlantic.

it'd be a long journey until they were back in the safety of her own palace, but until then, they had the stars and each other to pass the time.