Cinder-Mari

The prince's hunt

Marinette moved warily away from the feral cat, but then she remembered what her father once told her. You see, Marinette, these creatures will not bother you as long as you don't bother them. They aren't looking for trouble, but only to survive. They hunt at night, and only come out during the day if we try to hurt them. She took heart in her father's wisdom, and saw a light of intelligence in the cat's amber eyes.
This was not something to be made into a rug, or to be hung over someone's fireplace somewhere. She reached a tentative hand out to touch the animal, and instead of trying to bite it, he nuzzled into the outstretched palm and closed his eyes. "What are you doing out in the forest at this time of day, mon petite minou?" Marinette said this, and smiled, before she heard the hunting horn in the distance and understood.
"Run quickly, my friend, or they'll catch you for sure! Don't worry, I'll hold them off for as long as I can." The wild cat looked at her and ran away, as if he indeed could understand her words. She then climbed on top of Coccinelle, and made her go fast, faster then she has ever gone before. Marinette then screamed for help, and acted as if she was on a runaway horse.
So, as you will soon see, it was perhaps fate that the spider had chosen to crawl into Chloe's room at that precise day and time. If it hadn't, Marinette may have never rode into the forest in an attempt to run away, and the events that made this story worthy of being told would have never happened.

A few hundred feet away, the crown prince of France heard the cry for help and turned to the man who was next to him. Nino Lahiffe may have only been the court minstrel, but he was also the prince's best friend and greatest ally, and therefore automatically went on all royal hunts. He saw the light of spirit light up in the prince's emerald eyes, as it had done so many times in the past, and waved his hand submissively. "Go on, Adrien, be a hero if you must." Before Nino could get another word in edgewise, he was already racing through the trees.
As Adrien raced through the forest on his chestnut stallion, he could already see the girl who had apparently yelled for help. She was wearing a simple pink dress, and had black hair tied into two pigtails. An appearance, ordinary enough for a servant, he supposed. What was not ordinary though, was the fact that she did not look like she was in any danger at all, with closer inspection.
On the contrary, she looked as if she was very in control of the horse. Instead of hanging onto the animal for dear life, she was simply ducking low over the neck, like a jockey in a horserace. Groaning inwardly, Adrien rode his horse so he was next to the girl before long, and pulled her mount's gray mane to get it to stop. "What do you think you are doing? What if I was an official member of King Gabriel's court, if you had cried for help like that, they would have put you in the stocks for deception to the crown."
It took a few seconds for Marinette to realize that he had seen through her theatrics, but once she did she looked at him angrily. "Fine then, let them put me in the stocks, so people can throw rotted fruit at me. Lock me up for all I care, I couldn't let you and the others catch up to him." Adrien was at first surprised that she had talked so boldly before, and now simply looked confused, as he didn't exactly know what she was talking about. Marinette waited a few minutes for him to respond, but when he did not she sighed exasperatedly.
"The cat, the wildcat that you were hunting so mercilessly? What has he ever done to deserve that kind of treatment?" Adrien was amused at the way that she talked about the creature, but thought it rude to let it show. "He is...a friend of yours?" Marinette smiled at this handsome man, in spite of herself. "An acquaintance. We just met and exchanged a few words, over there in that grove of trees."
Adrien looked over to where she gestured, and realized that that was where Nino and everyone else were waiting for him to come back. Marinette studied his face, feeling like she had seen him before but not knowing where. "Are you from around here?" Adrien looked back at her, and shook his head. "No, I live in Paris. I have just come back from a long journey, and the pelt of the same cat which you so unwittingly befriended was to be a gift for the king."
Marinette was surprised to hear this, for it is not every day that you meet someone who knew King Gabriel so well. "Do you live at the palace?" Adrien hesitated, then answered. "Yes, my father is teaching me his trade." Marinette smiled at this, since she had never met anyone; not even Lord Bourgeois, who had ever stayed in such a beautiful city for more than a few days.
"So, then you're an apprentice, then?" When he slowly nodded, she smiled even wider. "Oh, please tell me what it is like to live at the palace. Do they treat you well there?" Adrien chuckled, running a hand through his blonde hair in embarrassment. "Very well, probably more than I deserve, and you?" Marinette's smiled faltered, and a certain light appeared in her blue eyes.
"They treat me as well as well as they are able." Adrien looked at her with sympathy, and wondered who could be so cruel to such a kind and loving girl. "I'm sorry." Marinette looked at him, then shook her head. "It's not at all your fault, you don't need to apologize." Adrien reached over, and gently took her hand. Marinette looked up in surprise, and wondered how his green eyes could be so warm and beautiful.
"Well I can hardly believe that it's yours, and surely someone has to apologize for everything that you've gone through. It might as well be me." Suddenly the hunting horn sounded again. and Adrien suddenly remembered the people that were waiting for him. "I have to go." Marinette jumped in surprise, then tried to find something, anything that would make this man stay a little longer.
"Wait! Umm, what is your name?" Adrien's eyes widened at this request. "My name? Well, uh..." Now it was his turn to be flustered, for this girl would surely know the name of the prince, and he didn't want her to treat him any differently. "Well...they call me Chaton. Well, at least my father does, when he's in a good mood." She then burst into laughter, a beautiful, tinkling sound that made Adrien's heart elevate.
"What about you?" Adrien then noticed that her eyes adopted that dark, saddening look a second time, as Marinette thought of words like servant girl and Cindermari. After a few seconds of thinking, she finally said, "never mind what they call me." Adrien tried again, desperate for a name that he could match to the face of this beautiful girl. "Isn't there anything you were once called in your life, in a time that someone loved you?" "I suppose so. Actually, come to think of it, my father would call me bugaboo when I was younger."
Adrien smiled. "Bugaboo. I like it. Will you be attending the masquerade ball, that the king is holding for All Hallow's Eve?" Marienette returned his smile, and nodded. "Yes, I do believe so." "I do hope I see you there then, bugaboo." Marinette smiled, and felt herself falling in love with this man. "And I you, Chaton."