─── [♕] ─── 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚘𝚝𝚝𝚎
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♢ princess ♢ twenty ♢ location: castle library ♢
her blue eyes flicked up to meet his as he stood over her reclined form. smoothing out the skirt of her gown, she swung her feet over the bench, curling her fingers around the lip as she leaned forwards. "i figured if it was that important, you would do your future wife the favor of coming to collect her yourself." her voice dripped with her own sarcasm. she couldn't seem to control her tongue around the infuriating man. anyone else who knew her pegged her as the quiet, aloof type, but it seemed she could be argumentative when needed.
she tucked a loose strand of blonde hair behind her ear as she thought over her next words. she didn't want any part of the wedding planning, but she knew that not only would caspian have a fit at her not joining him, but she would never hear the end of it from her own father. her eyebrows scrunched slightly at the thought of her father, but she quickly smoothed her expression to cool indifference. "well, husband, we best get going so that i can get back to something i actually enjoy, because lord knows your presence is not my favorite thing."
it was probably a low blow, but she knew better than to expect it to be the worst thing said between the two of them. she stood up from her seat, closing her book and holding it close to her chest. she didn't want to leave it sitting out in the library, too afraid that its keeper would place it back on the shelves. with no semblance of order to the shelving, something she direly needed to fix, she would've spent hours looking for it. that simply wouldn't be acceptable to her considering she had just gotten to the part where the main characters realized they cared for each other. what she wouldn't give to have that kind of love, but no, she was stuck with a prideful prince who she wasn't sure cared for any part of her. "lead the way," she said shortly.
─── [⚔︎] ─── 𝚔𝚒𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚗
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♢ knight ♢ twenty-three ♢ location: rosalina's room ♢
the hours passed slowly for kieran. he spent some time getting himself acquainted with the wing of the castle that housed princess rosalina's quarters. after that, he found himself at the stables, leaning against a particular chestnut mare's stall. she was the first horse he was assigned to as a rookie in the guard and the one he learned to ride on. she was a stubborn mare and gave him a run for his money, but a mutual respect formed between them. rubbed a hand along her muzzle, he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "how's it going girl?" he murmured. "you giving them just as much as you gave me?" she was reassigned to another guard when kieran was promoted to duties inside the castle. now as a personal guard to the princess, he imagined he would have even less time to spend with her.
he stayed with the mare for nearly an hour when he saw the sun begin to set. figuring that the princess was either home, or at least on the way home, he made his way back into the castle and towards her quarters. he leaned against the doorframe, phone in hand, scrolling through some text messages with his mother. the sound of footsteps reached his ear and he slid the phone into his back pocket, standing upright and at attention.
it was his first time seeing the princess up close. she was several inches shorter than him and had thick, long blonde hair. he scanned her from head to toe, ensuring she didn't exhibit any apparent signs of distress. with time, he would be able to read her better and get a good feel for what she required. before he could introduce himself as her new guard, she began to question him first. he arched an eyebrow in surprise, but answered nonetheless. "kieran, your new personal guard." he said gruffly, then tacked on, "king's orders." he lifted a corner of his mouth, unsure how she would take the news.