[1x1] swords and crowns

[`sappho]

this is a onexone between myself and balto, please only post here if you are one of us, but feel free to read
along!

[`sappho]

name: alice mary rothschild.
age: eighteen years old.
gender: female.
role: princess.

+ traits: eloquent, skilled, kind.
- traits: easily frightened, a bit prissy, picky.

sexuality: lesbian.
crush: none.
significant other: none.

[balto.]

ＬＵＣＩＡ！

Lucia Amiria Holt | female | nineteen | very gay
guard | unfiltered, uncommitted, rational

Coming from a long line of guards, one would
think that Lucia would be well-groomed and
loyal, which is almost opposite to the truth.
She doesn't care who she offends or how rude
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her focus on materialistic things, it's little
surprise she's taken to stealing. She's rather
laid-back about most things, including loyalty,
and her materialistic focus make her
non-committal even more apparent. She'll
disappear from someone's life for months
and come back like nothing happened. That
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ＬＩＫＥ ＷＥ'ＲＥ
ＡＬＲＩＧＨＴ？

ＤＯ ＷＥ ＮＥＥＤ

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it is, she'll say what's thinking; manners, honor,
and respect are three things she almost never
expresses, unless her life is on the line. She'll
do whatever she wants - laws or punishment
don't deter her from her goals. Combined with
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ＪＵＳＴ ＴＯ ＦＥＥＬ

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doesn't mean she's stupid; she's rational and
knows when to keep her word, but her
curiosity and greed often outweighs her
caution, and she has trouble keeping her
tongue and temper in check. She's gotten
in a good number fights because she
wouldn't stop aggravating someone.
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[balto.]

ＬＵＣＩＡ

Well then, this was bad. The thief always dreamed of being in the castle, but it wasn't supposed to be on these terms. No, in her dreams, she was being welcomed with open arms, clothed in purple garbs with jewels woven in, and a massive belt made of gold; she was not being dragged by two guards, clothed in men's rags, and a black eye. Damn that guard and her bad luck! She looked over her shoulder, glaring at the man. Even with his expression covered by the enclosed helmet, she could still feel the disdain radiating off of him. Her opinion of the guard worsen when he shoved her forward, muttering something she knew was best to not respond to. Her lips curled back, and she was about to spit in his face when the other guard grabbed her arm and forced her forward.

Her gaze continued to burn into the guard when the other elbowed her in the side, and she switched her attention to him, about to release a torrent of words, when she caught something, or someone, out of her eye. Two people, clothed in items that looked so expensive, she didn't even notice the looks on their faces. She said nothing, continuing to gape at their clothing, not even glancing up at them. Another sharp jab in her side made her jerk her head up, and she realized who she was looking at: the king and queen, with expressions that far beat the disdain the guards had shown when she had told them who she was, or when she demanded to see someone in charge.

She glanced at the guards again - weren't they going to introduce her? There was a temporary silence as Lucia tried to figure out what the guards would do. Soon, she realized that she had to speak for herself. "Ah, hello?" For what must've been the tenth time, one guard cuffed her on the head. She grimaced, holding herself back from trying to strangle the man. She took a cautious step forward, then quickly bowed. "I'm Lucia Amiria Holt. I suppose you knew my father, Abel Holt? I would've liked to have met you both under better situations, but fate isn't on my side." She smiled, a small glint of humor returning to her blue eyes. She could make this work. But she had to be fast, the longer she took, the more time it gave the king and queen to notice how poor she looked. "I will not waste your valuable time; I want to offer my service as a guard. My father, his father, and his father have all swore allegiance to you, and I wish to do the same."

[`sappho]

alice sat on the edge of her huge bed, she was looking out at her open window, watching waves roll onto the nearby shore. what she would give to be on the beach today, playing in the salty water with her ladies. but, of course she couldn't because today was the day that her parents would be holding a trial for a local thief. it was odd, really, there were many local thieves that were just thrown in the dungeons and, for some reason, this one was special. "lady alice?' a small voice called. ah, it was just her maid lola. "come in," she called to the girl, looking at her large wooden door. the girl nervously pushed the door open. "your parents have called for you to go to the throne room," lola told her with a small smile. the maiden was but nine or ten, she had been brought to the castle after her parents died and had become a studying maid. "oh, of course they've called for me," she groaned before pushing herself off of the edge of her bed and onto her feet.

"would you like help with your dressing, lady?" she asked meekly. alice nodded. "yes," she told her gazing into her mirror. she turned her body a bit, looking at herself from all of angles. "something lightly colored, if you please," she called out as she heard the girl digging through her closet and wardrobes of clothes. when she turned back around to her plush, white bed, she saw her long lavender dress laid out. "perfect," she said happily. she slipped on the long dress over her undergarments and allowed the girl to lace up her corset. she clipped on her diamond necklace and diamond bracelet. alice walked outside of her room, still confused but she decided to just go with it.

as she pushed open the door to the throne room and abruptly stormed in, the caller announced, "princess alice." the king and queen turned from talking to the fugitive to their daughter. alice took her place at the smaller throne to the side of her parents' large, bejeweled, golden thrones. they quickly went back to their conversation. "yes, we are aware of your father and his past position as a guard," the king told her. the queen let out a sigh. "if you'd come to us differently, we would have accepted you with open arms but, how can we trust a thief who is not trained formally to protect us?" she questioned. alice decided it was her turn to pipe in. "mother, father, you know, i need a new personal guard. all of the guards here are grumpy, old knights and she looked very interesting," she began. "i will keep a good eye on her," she promised, giving her parents puppy-dog eyes like she was asking for a new pet. her father sighed, not able to resist his daughter. "fine, fine," he said before looking lucia right into her eyes. "but if i am informed that you have made any wrong doing, you will be off to the dungeons," he said. he turned to the guards at the door. "call in the maids to take her to be cleaned up," he said, referring to lucia before he stood up and walked from the room with his wife.

[balto.]

ＬＵＣＩＡ

Lucia had kept her gaze on the two monarchs in a surprising show of self-restraint, rather than let her gaze fall back to their lavish outfits or thrones. However, her attention was on the thrones, even if her gaze wasn't. If she could pry out even one of those jewels embedded in them, she wouldn't have financial concerns for the rest of her life. She might be able to pry one off with a knife...
Her attention switched from thrones when the door was thrown open, a voice introducing the person who had enough courage to do such a thing around the king and queen: their daughter. The thief's gaze fell to the diamond necklace the princess wore, then flicked up to her face. She was cute although probably spoiled rotten. She shoved that thought aside instantly, focusing back on the queen as she spoke. Lucia's expression was neutral as the queen continued, but she noticed just how close the guards were. If it her tone told the thief anything, she was about to find out if she could out-run a garrison's worth of guards. But, before she began to show her panic or make a dash for the exit, the princess spoke up. Annoyance flooded the thief's veins. Did she have to talk about her like that? keep an eye on her; like some disobedient dog that needed to obey its master! Then again, she was the only reason she wasn't in the dungeon. Somberly, she nodded towards the king to acknowledge him. "Thank you, Your Majesty," she said, unable to sound totally genuine. Once the monarchs left the room, she shifted her attention to Alice - or rather, her necklace. So, she had to guard the princess. Sounded easy enough although she would have to start training - her life hinged on how well she could do her job. Well, she always wanted a sword. Realizing that it was impolite to stare, and even worse to anger a princess, she spoke up "That necklace looks good on you."

[`sappho]

the princess pushed herself up from her throne and twirled her raven colored hair around her finger. alice wanted to get to know this girl who she had just invited into her life to be her personal body guard. if she was really a terrible thief like her parents had said then she may as well buy herself a guard for her guard. well... unless she could get some leverage, other than lucia being thrown into a dungeon. what if she put money on the line, a title? it had to be something that a thief would care about more than her own neck, so it would probably have to be money and she had an idea.

alice made her way over to the her new 'guard'. well, she thought of her as something more like entertainment. sure, they had gardens, zoos and even her ladies, but she what she really wanted was someone new who could take her to places she hadn't been in, places where she couldn't be. she wanted to escape the castle and just have some fun, especially if it was the kind of fun that her parents wouldn't approve of. she walked up to lucia who was waiting for the maid to take her away to be cleaned. alice raised her eyebrow a bit. "why, thank you, it was my great-grandmother's, a gift from her beloved. you should know, since you are my guard, you should address me as 'lady', 'm'lady', 'your grace', 'your majesty', any of those will do while we're in public," she said with a kind smile. "but while we're in private, i'd prefer ali," she said. she heard the huge doors to the throne room open as the maids walked in. "please do clean my guard up well," she called to them.

[balto.]

ＬＵＣＩＡ

The thief narrowed her gaze as the princess spoke, her annoyance continuing to rise. Despite Alice's polite actions, the thief could hear the condescension in her voice. She was toying with the thief, that much was obvious. The worse part was that Lucia couldn't blame her. Still, rationalizing her actions didn't help soothe her ego. Was she really stuck guarding this girl? Following a princess around was as boring as jobs got. Lucia was sure the most adventurous thing Alice did in her life was ride a horse. She would not stand for any of this, especially being laughed off like a jester. She'd better be getting paid well, because she couldn't find any other reason to bother. She swore that if something didn't happen within a week, she would leave. She didn't care how much it angered the king and queen - she already had plenty of experience avoiding guards. Maybe she would even take Alice's necklace as a parting gift. Although, the princess seemed attached to it. Perhaps it would be better if she took something less valuable. The princess was sure to have plenty of necklaces, Lucia could take another.

"Yes, Ali," It was almost impressive how much annoyance she conveyed with those three words. The throne doors were pushed open again, but instead of being another princess to laugh at her, it was a group of maids. Good, she doubted she could deal with another royal. She turned her head in their direction, eager to get away from the princess but unsure if she could leave. How to act around nobility was not a lesson Lucia had learned. She didn't even know what a guard did most of the time, train? She would find out the answers to both soon, she was sure. "I'll see you anon, then?"

[`sappho]

the princess could heard the sharp spike of annoyance in the thief's voice. however, alice didn't really feel like trying to correct her right now, as that would come with time. her guard would have to learn that respect has to be shown in public, especially if there were foreign leader or important lords coming to visit the castle. these important people wouldn't respect her or her family if they saw that their servants weren't even obedient. the princess nodded calmly. "yes, i will see you after your cleaning," she said. she made her way towards the heavy doors of the throne room, her tall and jewel decorated high heels clicking as she walked across the room and out of the doors. now was the perfect time for her to change clothing before her parents called her down to the dining hall to have the nightly feast. sometimes she could get away from eating with her parents but most of the time, she couldn't get away from the king and queen. so she had to prepare in case she couldn't slip away.

the princess began to unlace her dress and slid off her shoes and soon she was left in only her undergarments. she made her way into her huge closet and looked around. pretty much everything inside sparkled with gems or gold. each day, every gem and fleek of gold on her clothing was counted while her parents supervised to make sure that no one was able to steal from her closet. she browsed through her dresses until she found one that caught her eye today. it was fine silk that was dyed sky blue. she slid it on over her corset and dress hoop. once the dress was laced, she picked and assortment of diamond rings for each of her fingers and a pair of white heels. she kept on her beautiful diamond necklace, her signature jewels. just about the time she was dressed, she heard a knock at her door. "yes?" she called out. "your guard is here for you, m'lady."

--- im sorry for taking so long to reply! ive been very busy!

[balto.]

ＬＵＣＩＡ

Lucia made note that the princess said after the cleaning. So, she would have to spend more time with her. Blast! Still, any respite would be welcome, so she let the servants lead her away without complaint. As they led her through the building, she noticed the increase of servants scurrying around the castle. She didn't know what was happening, but she assumed it was important- perhaps dinner. They led the thief to a bedroom where a pile of clean clothes were laid on the bed. She shut the door behind her, because she didn't want, or need help to dress herself. The clothes were simple, albeit it far nicer than what she had ever worn before. She tossed off her old clothes and put on the new ones. She used the clean shirt as a makeshift rag, wiping off the dirt on her face. Still, one garment confused her - the gambeson. She still hadn't fully realized that she was a guard. She picked up the armor, finally realizing that she had just sworn away her freedom for... this. A life of servitude. She sighed and put the gambeson on, her annoyance being replaced by resignation. 

Lucia pushed open the door, starting when she saw the maid standing right there. But, her surprise vanished when she noticed what was in the maid's hands. It was just chain-mail, a helmet, and a sword, but it cemented what she had gotten herself into. She grabbed the rest of the armor and donned it, shaking away the maid's offer for help. The armor felt odd and heavy, and hot - really hot. How did someone stay outside all day in this? Once Lucia finished tying the sword belt and put the weapon in its scabbard, the maid led her through the castle. Lucia tried to compose herself and come to terms with her situation the whole time, with limited success. She didn't stay melancholy the whole time, as curiosity got the best of her, and she unsheathed the sword and ran her finger along the blade. Unlike the armor, it was light, far more than she thought it would be; and sharp, she realized when she put too much pressure on the finger against the blade, drawing a small bit of blood. She sheathed the blade and continued to follow the maid, acting as if nothing happened, although the lesson was learned. Once they arrived at their destination, the former thief crossed her arms and kept near the wall. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to announce herself, but she wasn't willing to ask. She might have to guard the princess, but she didn't plan on following protocol. 

(it's fine!)