Crown

Rhaenagon-Rendevouz

Astrid tiptoed through the halls, expertly avoiding all of the servants and guards. A little talent she had picked up from Sin over the years. She watched the servants leave the hall as they finished their business. As soon as they did, she climbed down from the tree on which she was perched on and hopped over the balcony railing. She quietly entered and made her way over to a room, fixing her hair and smoothing out her clothes as she walked over. The sound of her tender knock bounced off the walls of the silent hall. Muted shuffling could be heard on the other side of the door. After a few more moments, it creaked open, ever so slightly.

"You don't have to be so cautious. It's just me," whispered Astrid.

Cheng opened the door all the way and greeted her. "My apologies Princess. Though it is natural I'd be wary in a foreign monarch's palace. It's easy to deceive people. Especially if deciet comes in the form of a woman as beautiful as you. That aside, what brings you to my room so late?"

Cheng smile sweetly and Astrid felt her heart rocket out of her chest at his words. "I'm sorry for disturbing you. I wanted to ask if you'd like to accompany me on a little trip to the village."

Cheng was silent for a moment before nodding. "I'd love to! A little midnight stroll never hurt anybody!"

Astrid lit up and eagerly took his hand. "Great! Follow me!"

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

The darkness of the night brought out the beauty of the lanterns scattered throughout the village. Though the village did not have the same hustle and bustle as it did during the day, there was a sort of serene liveliness that it held during the night, even more so seeing as that Solarian's were often known to be party people and the night life made that evidently clear. Astrid and Cheng happily walked through the streets. Astrid couldn't help but admire how beautiful Cheng looked under the warm glow of the lanterns and while she didn't notice it, Cheng had been thinking the same of her.

"This place really is like the stories I've heard. It's amazing!"

Astrid smiled. "I know. My mom worked really hard to make it like this." She said proudly.

"Well it's certainly payed off. What about you Astrid. What aspirations does the Crown Princess have?" He asked.

Astrid stopped walking and looked down at her feet. She really didn't have any specific goals in mind. She was really just content with being able to go out and adventure whenever she wanted. That had more than enough freedom than she could ever ask for. Her mother is a Queen who fought for her beliefs and created exactly what she wanted. Her father fought for freedom and went in search for the most beautiful wonders of the world, her brothers aim for the throne in order to carry on a legacy, but what did she want?

Astrid sighed, unable to find an answer. Cheng put a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up at him. He opened his mouth but before any worlds could leave his lips, a man stepped out from the shop in front of them, drawing their attention.

"Thank you again for the supplies," said the man.

"No problem! Come again any time."

The shop keep waved goodbye and the man stepped down the stairs in front of the shop, ending up directly infront of Astrid and Cheng. Astrid stared at him for what seemed like an eternity. Her steely gaze bore holes in his head. He picked up on her intense glare and turned to see just who was staring at him.

A gasped formed at Astrid's lips. She pointed to the man. "YOU!"

Both Cheng and the man seem to startle at her sudden outburst. "You know him?" Cheng asked.

Astrid looked at him and shook her head. "Ah no not really-I mean-he-we-I saw-AH! WAIT!"

The pair turned to see the man casually walking away. He had gotten quite far during the time she spent stuttering and trying to find the right words to explain. Adrenaline began to pump through her veins as she began winding up to start running after him.

"Cheng I'm sorry. I gotta run! Hayate! Please keep Cheng company!"

As she called, Hayate, who had been tailing them the entire time, made himself known by coming out and speaking. "Of course Princess. Please follow me Lord Cheng."

Hayate motioned for Cheng to follow him. Cheng was visibly apprehensive. He would much rather find out why Astrid was so interested in that man but he figured it couldn't be helped. After all it would be rude to be so possessive over a girl he had met not too long ago. He reluctantly turned and followed Hayate back down the street while Astrid ran in the opposition direction, determined to catch up to the mysterious man.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•

The man had managed to get quite a bit a ways, prompting Astrid to have to sprint after him. He made it around the corner only to be faced with flying debris as Astrid had climbed over the roof and leaped to the ground, landing with a ferocity that was anything but feminine.

"I caught you!" She cheered.

The man raised an eyebrow and placed a hand on his hip, shrugging at her. "I don't believe I was running away to begin with."

Astrid brushed his comment aside. "I wanted to ask, who are you? You definitely aren't from here."

"How do you know whether or not I'm from here?"

"You don't look it." Astrid giggled. "My brother has taken me out to the village many times. I've gotten real accustomed to the faces of the people here. I'm sure I'd remember a handsome face like yours."

The man looked taken aback for a moment before chuckling softly. "Princess are you hitting on me?"

Astrid tilted her head in confusion. "No."

He laughed at how quickly her response came. "So what is it that you want?"

"I wanted to ask you the same thing. What brings you all the way out to Solaria? Where are you from? Are you visiting family or maybe a girlfriend? Looking for a job? Did you elope with your girlfriend? Maybe you got someone pregnant and got kicked out and now you're wandering the world! Or are you getting married?"

The more she talked the more her imagination ran wild. Astrid's barrage of questions was halted by him raising his hands in front of her and shaking them. "Now hold on a minute! Shouldn't you at least let me buy you dinner before we start talking about marriage?" He joked.

Astrid grinned and rolled her eyes. "Come on. Tell me!" She pleaded.

The man sighed. "Well if you must know, I'm a traveling craftsman. I came here to paint the scenery. There are a lot of places outside of Solaria that's never seen its beauty. Whether it's because they were too scared or couldn't handle the heat. I want to capture its beauty in my paintings so I can show people that there's nothing to be scared of anymore. That and maybe gain some inspiration for other crafts as well."

Astrid smiled. "That's...well...pretty nice!"

"I know. I'm a Saint." He shrugged light heartedly.

Astrid laughed. She surprised him when she reached out and grabbed his hand. "Come. If you want to paint something pretty, I know where you can do it!"

His protests fell on deaf ears as Astrid pulled him along through the night time crowd of the village.