His Little Heir

In the Slightest of Hopes

     "Why didn't you tell me?"
     His hands were in fists. The Faye king knew that she was unhappy to be here; ripping Daya from her home was enough. But from her fiancee? What kind of man would that make him?
     "What?" Don's eyes widened in surprise, but as Leon's stare hardened, it decayed into something darker.
     "You heard me, Savech. Why didn't you tell me that Daya and Austin were engaged?"
     The senior man shrunk. "I-I well... You needed a bride, Quishea' needed protection. They- They weren't engaged for very long, not long at all-"
      "But you gave him permission, did you not?" He gritted his teeth, his knuckles whitened as they gripped the chair Don sat in. Hot anger surged throughout his body. How could he?
     "Well.. I.. yes."

     Daya.

      The one who he had watched through a pixelated screen. The one who kept him awake at night. The one who he was forbidden to love but, he just couldn't shake her.
The same Daya he had ripped from her home, her fiancee..

     Her life.

     "Humor me, Don. Did- Did you ever stop and think about, oh I don't know, what your own daughter wanted?"
     "Many times, more than I can count."
     Leon couldn't hold back the laugh that escaped him. "Did- did you really? Did you really sit and think gee, Daya would just love it if I screwed with her life and separated her and-"
     Quishea's king leaped from his chair, shaking his finger with the flame of a million embers. "I love that girl more than anything, don't you dare get that twisted! You- you don't know half the things I've done for my kingdom, heck, Daya doesn't even know! I've kept Quishea' alive for twenty-five years, and boy am I aiming to keep it that way until I put it in my daughter's hands. So please, don't tell me how to run my kingdom."
     Don shrunk into the velvet chair and threw his head into his hands, rubbing small circles around his temples.
     Leon opened his mouth to protest. "But Daya-"
     "Leon, be honest with me. Do you care for my daughter?" Don's stare upon him was frozen as ice.

He couldn't lie.

      "Yes sir, I do."
     "Then if what you say is true, know this: Quishea' is in danger. We aren't strong, and frankly, neither are our allies. That's why we need you, and I know your father and I have a past, but please, please... Even if we can never fully make amends, I ask you one thing," The Savech grasped the Faye king's hands, "Protect my daughter, and in protecting her, protect our people. Her people."
     "Sir-"
     "You're a good man, Leon, which is why I lied about the engagement."
     His body calmed, he could feel the adrenalin leaving. Leon sighed and sat down next to the father of the woman he loved. "I-I don't know what to say."
      Don grinned, stood, and clapped the younger man on the back. "Say nothing; go to her."
      Leon nodded and checked the time: 7:32 pm. Daya should be out of the bath by now.

     "Oh, and Leon? I'm sorry for yelling."
     The Faye boy smiled: "Me too, we really need to stop doing that, huh?"
     "That we do."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

     "Daya," he wrapped his fist against the oak door, "Can I come in?"
He pressed his ear to the door frame, footsteps whizzed thier way around the bedroom and drawers followed their track; he could hear a sigh among the chaos
     "Hold on, and haven't we agreed to titles?"
     A smirk took slowly took shape. "I don't remember agreeing."

     The footsteps grew louder until she ripped the door open, her face redder than Daya would like to admit.

     "Whatever, I'm still Princess Daya Adele Savech of Quishea' to you, so don't push it."
     "Your middle name's Adele?" He allowed his weight to shift upon the door frame, decreasing the distance between the two. "Cute, it suits you."
      "Don't change the subject, King Leon Faye of Fashad." She spit his title like acid and stared up at him.
     Leon was now aware of their large height difference; Daya was almost a head shorter, and he began to ponder how much she weighed. Not much, obviously. Daya was slightly curved in the right places, and he could appreciate that. But how easy would it be to take her into his arms and throw her onto the bed?

     Very.

     "Hello? You okay?" she stood in front of him, snapping her fingers.
     "Wha?" Crap. Had she been saying something?
      "I said you could come in, but I think,"  her eyes glimmered, "I've changed my mind. Good night!"

     Daya grabbed the knob, and threw her weight against the door.

     But he was faster.

     "Daya, you need to eat something. Please. I-I'll leave afterwards."
     In seconds, she reemerged. Bags sagged under her eyes, but most of their redness had left her. In fact, Daya looked...

     Exited? Happy? Glad?

     "I'm just kidding! Kidding!", she opened the door, edging closer to him. Beneath a cough, he thought he could hear her mutter "princess", but the Faye king wasn't sure.
     
     Getting an idea of his own, Leon allowed his features to darken, clenching his fists.

     "You know, Daya, I'm really tired of this, this back and forth with you! I-I give you so, so much. And this is what I get in return? Really, this attitude of yours? How can you even call yourself a princess? I mean obviously you're insistent on it but-

     "You done yet?" She shifted her weight onto the door frame, inspecting her nails.
     "How-"
     "If you're gonna lie to someone, at least look them in the eye, Faye."
     "Huh, aren't you a little truth sniffer."
     "Truth sniffer?"
     "Not my finest moment. Can I come in now?"
     After a long pause, Daya relinquished herself from the door frame.
     "I guess so."
 
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

        "Let me do that."

     She had been running the brush through her hair for the last ten minutes, and each pull was met with yet another knot, another whimper, another tear. He couldn't take it anymore.

      "I'm almost done anyway." Daya positioned the brush for another tug.
     "You mean almost done with the same strand you started on?" Leon held out his hand, "Come on, I clearly can't do anymore damage than you are."
     "It's fine, really."
The brush came to an abrupt stop.
     "I wouldn't call that fine. Plus, you're stressed; it'll help you relax."
     "But-"
     "Please Princess, just let me try. I promise I'll stop if I somehow do a worse job than you."

     Reluctantly, Daya handed the brush over, but not before jabbing him in the side with the handle.

     But he wouldn't tolerate that.

     Leon didn't know what possessed him to do it. Clearly, she wasn't comfortable with him yet, but still. This felt right...

     He found himself on top of her, tickling her neck. Daya's shriek of surprise bubbled into that of laughter, her whole body shook with it. Leon didn't put all of his weight on her; being gentle with Daya right now was a must. Instead, he allowed her room to escape or even fight back if she wanted to. But, to his surprise, Daya did neither of those things. Laughter had over ridden all of her senses, and it was undeniably wonderful.
     Leon couldn't help but think in the slightest of hopes, that if this worked, he would experience such wonder every day. Perhaps, Daya would laugh at his jokes. Or maybe, just maybe, they would sit by the fire together making smores. And when it died down, they would laugh together until she drifted to sleep in his arms. He would be frozen then. Leon wouldn't be able to move, no, that would wake her. Instead, he would synchronize his breathing with hers, and let the same wonder lull him to sleep. But he was far from that point with Daya. Excruciatingly far. But, if after all this, she would still have him, Leon would make sure that it would be the best decision of her life.

     He had work to do.

     "Quit," Daya took a deep breath, "Leon, I'm about to pee!"

     Leon Faye stopped in his tracks. "D-Did you just call me Leon?"

     But Daya had already rushed past him, and shut the bathroom door.

00000000000000000000000000000000

Thank you for reading! Sorry this one took so long, but thank you for being patient. See what happens next time! 💜