Put a Label on It

Chapter Two

"I didn't catch your name."

"Well, I didn't throw it."

Silence.

And then Varian started laughing. "You know, I admire a girl with a sense of humor like yours, miss."

The girl groaned and rolled her eyes.

"But... Seriously. What is your name?"

"Fine. You want to know my name?" she blurted out, exasperated, "my name's Cassandra. You happy?"

Varian, unable to sense her agitation, smiled. "Yes, Cassandra."

He liked that name- the way that it seemed to just roll off his tongue, almost as if he was meant to speak her name, the way that it seemed to fit her perfectly for whatever reason.

Cassandra.

"You didn't tell me you were actually the prince," she muttered softly.

"I- I thought I did."

"I asked you what your name was. You said your name was Varian. I asked, 'Varian, like the prince?' and you responded 'yeah.'"

"As in, 'yeah, I am the prince.'"

"You could've clarified that," she snapped, "by saying 'yeah' to my previous question, you left it at 'yeah, I've got the same name as the prince.'"

Cassandra was starting to get agitated and Varian had no idea why. Why did it mean that much to her?

But he decided it was best not to bug her about it.

"So... I've never seen you around," he tried, "the few times I've been out to Old Corona village, well, I've... I've never seen you."

"I'm not from around here," she replied shortly, "so... Of course you've never seen me around here."

Varian just nodded. As much as he wanted to know where she actually did come from, he had decided it might be best to keep his distance. At least, to keep his distance whenever he was around Cassandra.

He studied her, trying to figure out where she might be from. She carried herself almost... Almost like a kingdom guard. There were very few kingdoms surrounding Old Corona, kingdoms that Varian was too lazy to try remembering at the moment.

He knew now that she wasn't from Old Corona, but the other kingdom that came to mind right away was... No. She couldn't be Saporian.

"So... Cassandra," he said, again enjoying how her name sounded, "what... What do you do for fun?"

She looked at him in disbelief. "Fun?"

"Yeah."

He didn't get why she was looking at him like that- like he had grown a second head or something. But, then again, he didn't get a lot of things about women, this one in particular.

"I'll let you in on a secret, kid," she said, "I don't have time for fun. I'm a busy person, and 'fun' isn't on my list of priorities."

Having grown up a prince, Varian understood being a busy person, but... No time for fun? His parents- or, more often than not, just his mother- would set aside their work in order to play with him. And if they didn't, he could have fun with Ruddiger.

But... This girl, Cassandra, claimed that she didn't have time for fun. Was there a job on Earth that was busier than being a royal? Almost constantly being trained for the day when he would become king, but still getting to take time for fun... Varian couldn't imagine another job that could possibly be busier or crazier.

"Okay, then... Tell me about yourself."

Cassandra scowled, and Varian got the hint that he wasn't making anything better. He wanted to continue talking with her, but she kept on blocking him out... Not cool.

As he mentally stumbled, trying to reach for the right thing to say, trying to find a good conversation starter, he was knocked to the floor.

He landed hard on his butt. It hurt really bad, and he had to fight back the urge to let even a tear slip. These people here... They were all here for him, and he would not show them this side of him. Not in public. And, plus, maybe Cassandra liked people who could survive their butts getting whammed by the floor without crying.

He looked around and was embarrassed to see that every eye was trained on him.

He also spotted what must've knocked him to the floor: Ruddiger the raccoon.

Varian clenched his fists and his teeth, trying to ignore the pain shooting through his body.

"Here," a soft voice said, and a hand reached down to the young prince, "let me help you up."

Varian looked up, surprised to see that his mysterious helper was... Cassandra.

Why was she offering to help him?

He shrugged it off, taking her hand and letting her help him up.