(no subject)

[therealkaichan]

Third Chapter


“Just so you know, you will have to escort my date to the party.” Alain smiled as they walked trough the corridors of the palace, and Stephane rolled his eyes in response.
“Color me surprised.” He answered, easily falling into his usual position, one step to the right, one step behind of the Prince. “Just tell me the time and where to go.”
“It’s miss Julie at the seamstress’ studio. The time is eight.”
“So the apprentice, huh? I didn’t pin her as your type.”
“Do I even have a type?”
“Not lately, but still.”
“Lately!” Alain laughed at that, shaking his head. “You will also accompany me to welcome the Lady Alimah. She will be arriving in two days.”
“Understood.”
“We will give her an escort, so you won’t have to worry after that. We already had a full check on her, and she will be staying in one of the guest rooms in the south wing, along with her team. They have all been checked as well. The Ministry of Forthcoming Affairs agrees that things should be calm at least until after the party.”
“I will stay in your wing, then. No matter the amount of checks, I’d never feel comfortable with that many people around you.”
“It figures you would say that. I will have your usual room arranged.”
“Is she as impressive as they say?”
“I heard she was. I haven’t been fortunate enough to meet her before. But father insists that she is as good as the rumors say.”
“So the Regent decided to throw a huge party just so she could sing?”
“It’s mostly a diplomatic decision. She’s a Goodwill Ambassador as well, and we do well in making her feel as welcome and comfortable as possible.”
“So it’s politics first?”
“It is.”
“Sounds like you and your father all right.”
“Of course it does. You can’t expect less of my family.”
“True that.”
“So it’s the Lady Alimah on Wednesday and Miss Julie on Saturday... Any other female you want me to pick up, or can I give Rose Anne the good news?”
“I think that should be it for women, at least this week.”
“It sounds quite miraculous, she will be excited.”

Alain stopped in front of the meeting room’s door, and smiled at Stephane, that mischievous smile of his.

“At least you get to give her some good news before I drag you away to a bedroom.”



Wednesday came fast, or at least the fact that Monday and Tuesday were quiet and very normal made it feel like that to Stephane. It amused the Knight a little to think that a few years ago he had been so excited for a life of adventures, and now he was really excited to have two boring days in a row. He was probably getting old.

He joined Alain at the palace as usual, and they made the drive to the train station, where the Lady Alimah and her team were supposed to arrive. With them came two other vehicles, one full of soldiers and the other empty except for the driver, which was meant for the guests’ use.

As usual, Stephane was in charge of leading the security procedures, which he did with the calm of someone who had been doing this for years. The press was all over the place, but that was part of dealing with a Prince. The train arrived on time, fortunately, and just seconds after it stopped the doors of the first class wagon opened, and they could catch the first glimpse of the singer, walking among a mob of security personnel and what was known as ‘her team’.

Upon reaching them, she stepped forward, with a smile. Stephane had seen her in pictures in some newspapers, but seeing her live was another thing. She was in color to begin with, with her red hair and clear blue eyes, and she looked more like a person you would see in the streets.

Alain was quick to step forward to greet her, he bowed with practiced politeness and smiled.

“I am Alain Lior, first son of house Lascelles, heir to the Regency and Protector of the Northern and Eastern principalities. I welcome you to our City, Lady Alimah, and I hope you will enjoy your stay here.”
“Thank you, your Highness. I hope this visit will strengthen the relationship between our countries.”
“So do I. We have brought a vehicle for you and your team, milady. Will you take it or would you prefer to travel in my personal limousine?”
“I will join you, please just let me inform my team of that.”


The formalities were over as soon as they started. Unlike what anyone would have expected of a woman of her popularity, Alimah was more comfortable with an informal treatment. She had been born in a commoner family, after all, and there was no point in her pretending otherwise.

As they drove the way back to the Regent House, she was happy to talk about her trip. It had been pretty uneventful, but it was her first time doing that particular route by train so it was still fun.
“You have a pretty train station as well. I didn’t know it was that large.”
“That one is the hub for most of the passenger lines that come and go to the city, so we made sure it wouldn’t get too crowded. According to the Ministry of Forthcoming Affairs this terminal should do well for another seven years if we continue as we are now.” Alain was quite comfortable with leading the conversation, And Stephane was happy that at least this time it didn’t come to him to entertain the guest.
“That sounds like quite the bright prediction.”
“That is why we have the Ministry after all.”
“So the investigations on Precognitive Science are as strong as always here, right?”
“They are. As an ambassador there will be a meeting where you will get to know our Ministers. Maybe you can ask any questions you may have to the Minister himself.”
“That sounds quite fascinating. I am a little curious about Precognitive Science, since it isn’t as big back at home.”
“People here are quite fond of it, it has helped quite a bit.”
“We are almost there.” Were the first words Stephane had said ever since they started the ride, and Alimah turned to the window so she could have a look outside. She was greeted by the gardens of the Regent House, and in the distance the house itself as impressive as ever.
“Stephane will escort you to the South Wing, where we have the guest rooms. You can feel free to choose whichever one you want, as they are all equally equipped. I will have some of my people help your team with their equipment, and they will stay in the rooms they choose as well. Is that good?”
“More than good. It’s rare to have someone kind enough to attend all our requests.”
“Guests should be treated as such, Lady Alimah. I hope you enjoy your time here.”
“I’m certain I will.”


As soon as the car was stopped, Alain was gone. Stephane knew pretty well that the Prince’s studies took more time than what most people would believe. He turned to Alimah, and bowed.
“This way, milady.”
“Thank you.” She smiled, following him trough the door and into the maze of corridors that was the Regent House.
“You will have a personal guide and attendant while you get used to things here. If you have any questions you may ask anyone.”
“I will, thank you.” The singer chuckled, walking a little faster to match his pace and take a long look at him. “It’s my first time meeting a Knight.”
“I get that a lot, milady.”
“It figures you would, being the only Knight in the country. It’s quite the rarity isn’t it?”
“It’s not that special. I’m just a mixture between a soldier and a personal attendant.” Stephane shrugged, looking back at her now. “A person doesn’t need any kind of special talent for that.”
“Maybe being at the right place in the right moment?”
“But that could also be up to luck.”
“There is no such thing as luck.”

The rest of the way was made in silence, until they reached the South Wing. One of the most experienced maids was already waiting there, and she bowed as soon as they came into view.
“Good afternoon.” She greeted.
“Miss Lucie here will be your personal attendant.” Stephane said, motioning to the maid. “If you need anything you may ask her.”
“Thank you, Sir Stephane.” Alimah smiled. “I will see you soon.”
“Have a good stay.”


As he made his way to the meeting room where Alain should be right now, Stephane couldn’t stop thinking of what Alimah had said. ‘There is no such thing as luck’. She was right, of course, science had proven that there was Coincidence and Causality, but no luck. Maybe it was related to what she had spoken about being curious regarding Precognitive Science, but the more he thought, the more it sounded as if she were speaking from some experience.

It was rare for him to get stuck on a thought like that, and he knew well that his hunches weren’t something to be ignored. Maybe an investigation on her past would be in place, even if there was nothing in her close future that the Ministry could see.

Paranoia really paid for this kind of work.

As he had said, Stephane spent the next few nights in the palace, keeping a close eye on Alain. The reports weren’t ready, but he knew well that kind of work took time. On Saturday morning he visited his house, both to say hello to his family and to pick up his formal uniform, which had been ironed and left on top of his bed, most likely by Rose Anne’s order, since she always insisted that her future husband should look the part, especially when around her.

Then it was just making sure that everything was fine with the security, and that all the soldiers were who they claimed to be, checking his gun, getting changed, checking on Alain to see that everything was fine, and making sure that a limo would be ready to pick up Miss Julie at eight.




Julie was a bundle of nerves. She had checked her dress and hair around fifty times, and she had made sure that nothing was out of place in the studio as well, but she didn’t feel any more calm. Everything had to be perfect, after all. Her Teacher would be there, and so would most of her customers, and of course there was the Prince, but the Prince was a completely different topic.

After that there was only waiting. One minute before eight, a limousine stopped in front of the studio, and Julie could see a figure getting close to ring the bell. As she opened she noticed who the person was and she did a double take. She had seen this face a million times in newspapers. When the Prince said he was sending an escort she never expected the escort to be someone of this man’s rank.

“Miss Julie, I’m here to escort you to the party.” Stephane bowed with a slight smile, and the girl nodded several times.
“T-thank you...” She stuttered.
“This way.” He smiled once again, offering an arm for her to take, in order to guide her to the limousine.
“Yes.” She managed to blurt the word, before taking the arm offered. Good thing she could lean on him a bit, or she was sure she would’ve fallen face first to the floor.

He opened the door for her to go up, and then closed the door before going around the limo to enter trough the other door. The car started moving as soon as the door closed, and Julie found herself grabbing her dress without noticing, if only to do something with her hands.
“I... I wasn’t expecting that he would send you, Lord Lancaster...”
“Lord Lancaster is my father. I’m a knight, so the correct way to address me is Sir Stephane.”
“I apologize, Sir Stephane...”
“No need to apologize. You don’t have to know that.”

There was a moment of silence. Julie wasn’t exactly sure if she should try to make conversation, or if staying silent was the best plan. The last thing she wanted was to offend the Knight or make him angry.
“I’m not angry or anything, you know. So calm down.”
“O-oh... I’m sorry.” She apologized again. Stephane wasn’t quite sure how many times she had apologized now, it was probably just two, but he had the impression that every single one of her actions were apologetic anyway.
“It’s a party, so just relax and have fun. If you are too worried you’ll end up doing something dumb.”
“I will try...”
“That’s something at least. And don’t apologize so much.”
“I’m so— I mean... I will try as well.”
“Good. We’ll be there in just a bit, so try to keep your thoughts in a happy place, all right?”
“Yes...”

The rest of the trip happened in silence, and they arrived at the Regent House right on time. Stephane of course came down from the limousine first, to open the door for Julie and guide her inside.
“Now listen, the Prince will have to receive the guests before he is actually free to spend time with you. Right now you are assigned to sit in the same table as your teacher, but that could easily be changed if you wish. There are other tables with empty spaces.”
“I... I would like to sit somewhere else, please.”
“I will see that it is done. Let me escort you to your new seat then.”

The Knight took her to a table with some free spaces, where he bowed politely and made the introductions needed before leaving. Julie was truly thankful of the chance of getting away from her teacher, as she was a truly traditional lady. Here, with these unknown people, she felt infinitely more comfortable.


As it was usual, the Prince himself was greeting each one of the guests. As Stephane approached, Alain smiled a little.
“Is my date here?”
“She is. I had her moved to table twenty five.” The Knight answered, while moving to his usual position one step to the right and one step back from the Prince.
“I’ll remember that.”
“Lord and Lady Lowell.” The announcer cleared his throat to catch Alain’s attention, who turned his head to greet the newcomers.
“Welcome, I hope you will enjoy yourselves tonight.”



Stephane had seen a million of these parties by now. When he was younger, he did it as a guest, and now as the Prince’s Knight, he saw them as part of the organization. Of course that meant he knew well how to play this game. After Alain was done greeting the guests, Stephane was free, so he made sure to indulge in polite shallow conversation. Then he reserved some time for a dance with his fiancee, who seemed pretty satisfied with his looks, and another dance for Brid, the eldest of his younger sisters. This last one was to scare away any potential suitors, not that Brid didn’t do an excellent work scaring them away herself.

And then it was just the usual, joining his family on their table for a bit before he had to go back to work.



Alain searched for table twenty five with his eyes, and smiled as he caught sight of Julie. She looked most wonderful in dark green, and being done with his work, he approached her.
“Miss Julie, good night. I apologize for keeping you waiting.”
“There is no need to apologize, your Highness...”
“Will you join me for a dance?”
“O-Of course...”

Everything else was a blur for Julie. She danced until she could barely think of anything else but the Prince’s soft voice and his perfume. She didn’t care about the strange people around, or about the looks her Teacher kept shooting her way. Right now, this moment was all that mattered to her.

“Will you join me for a walk in the gardens?” The Prince smiled at her, that charming smile of his, and she nodded.
“I would love to...”
“I hope you are enjoying yourself...” He added, offering an arm,
“I am, your Highness.” It was her turn to smile, a little nervously, as she took the offer.
“You will love the gardens, miss Julie. There are some perfect spots for stargazing there.”
“I... Rarely have time to watch the stars.” She admitted. “My work and studies leave me with little time.”
“It is the same for me. Such is the world of adults.”
“It’s a little sad when you think of it in that way...”
“Many things are sad when you think about them. That is life.”

Julie fell silent not knowing how to answer to that. She didn’t want to make the Prince any more unhappy, and it was a little scary to hear him talk like that. They walked in silence to the gardens, and then Alain guided her to one of those stargazing spots he had mentioned. It was then that he broke the silence.
“Why did you come today?”
“You invited me, your Highness...”
“Then why did you accept? You barely know me. You must know of my reputation.”
“I was curious...” Her voice was a small whisper now. “I...”
“You felt special, didn’t you? You wanted to be noticed, since you are always sitting in the shadow of your Teacher.”
“I... I...”
“Is it true?” The Prince’s tone was cold as ice, and Julie couldn’t help a shiver.
“It... is.”
“I see.”
“I apologize...”
“Don’t. I will give you something to feel special about, tonight. If that is what you want, you will have a night in my chamber, you will have a most wonderful story to tell to your classmates, a real fairytale.”
“Your Highness...?”
“Do you want that? You can still step back, I will not resent you.”
“I won’t step back. I want that...”
“Then so be it.”

And then there was only silence.




Stephane was sitting in the Lancaster table. Alain had gone out a little ago, and he wondered if maybe he had been lucky. Maybe Julie, as small and shy as she seemed, had finally given Alain a good slap. God knew he deserved it. He liked entertaining the idea of the Prince finally finding a girl who wasn’t up to tolerating his nonsense.

And as he thought of that, in came a soldier, and Stephane knew it wasn’t the one.
“Sir Stephane, the penguins have arrived.”
“We weren’t supposed to get those until next Friday. This is absurd.”
“I apologize, Sir.”
“It’s good, you may go.” Stephane sighed. “I’m sorry, but duty calls.”
“Penguins.” Rose Anne’s almost incredulous tone said exactly what she was thinking.
“I don’t pick the excuses.” He grinned. “If I did they would be far more ridiculous.”
“You better come back early, or I will have all your uniforms set on fire.”
“Understood ma’am.” Stephane stood from his chair. “Mother, Father... If you excuse me.”



Stephane sighed. So it hadn’t worked out, and now it was bedroom duties. With some luck the girl would get scared and run away, or maybe if he was extremely lucky, she would get offended and tell Alain off. The more he thought about that, the better it sounded.

The Knight knocked the door of the secondary room, and Alain’s voice called from inside.
“Who is it.”
“It’s Stephane.”
“Come in.”

Stephane opened the door to find shy Miss Julie lying naked on the bed, her face red and her voice just a series of small whimpers, and a fully dressed Alain kissing her stomach. He sighed.
“Your Highness.” He announced, closing the door.
“Stephane, you can take over.” Alain moved away from Julie, to walk to his usual chair. “Julie, dear, I find myself a little disenchanted. I hope you are willing to give your attentions to my Knight instead. For all effects you will have your night with me.”
“I understand.” She nodded, sitting to look at Stephane. “Please have patience with me, Sir Stephane.”
“I will, if there is no other choice.”



Stephane didn’t even bother in going to sleep. He just petted shy Miss Julie to sleep, and sighed in relief as soon as her breathing got even. He waited a bit more to move, just to make sure she was well asleep, and turned to Alain, who was looking at them from his chair.

“Let’s leave.” The Prince whispered as he got up. And Stephane quickly picked up his uniform and put his pants on to leave. As usual he opened the door for Alain, and walked into the room first to make sure everything was fine.

The Prince walked to the usual chair, and dropped there. Stephane was half expecting him to begin complaining as he usually did, but not a word came from him.

“Alain?”
“I’m really tired, Stephane.” He sighed, resting his head on his right hand. “It’s not even fun anymore.”
“I understand.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better.”
“That’s not something I can control.” Stephane shrugged, walking closer to kneel in front of Alain. “I would gladly help if I could.”
“Maybe I should just let mother and father find me a wife. Someone who won’t speak.” The Prince lifted a foot, knowing well what was coming next. “It’s stupid to think that someone in my position can have the privilege of choosing.”
“You are being childish again. So you’ve had no luck so far, does that mean you’ll sit here and just accept it?” The Knight’s hands were already untying the shoelaces as he spoke. “It’s creepy as hell to hear you giving up.”
“I’m more stubborn than that, huh?” Alain chuckled. “I guess I am being childish after all.”
“Of course you are. You also made a promise, and you should know better than just deciding to go back on it because you had some bad luck.”
“Luck doesn’t even exist.”
“Maybe, but your promise does.”
“You win this one.” The Prince smiled, a playful smile, leaning on the back of the chair and closing his eyes. “You get to laugh at me for losing.”
“Hell I will. But later. Right now I’ll just silently bask on my victory.” After the boots, came the socks. “Should I help you change?”
“I don’t want to get up.”
“You’re getting lazier and lazier. That’s a terrible trait in a future Regent.”
“Father is lazier than me. The people will see it as an improvement.”
“Fair enough. It’s all about the public perception after all.” Stephane’s tone had grown calmer now, as he massaged the Prince’s feet.
“I will need the people on my side if I want to make a change, right?”
“That is true. Especially for a change that big. Still isn’t too soon to be thinking of that?”
“I suppose it is. I have much to study.”
“Maybe you should dedicate your Saturdays to studying instead.”
“You can’t give me a pep talk about not giving up in my search for a wife and then tell me to stop the search.”
“Maybe you should search in another way? Just waiting to see which one slaps you is probably the dumbest idea you ever had.”
“So you say, but that’s exactly how I found myself a Knight.”
“Look, you were just annoying and we were kids. Yeah I called you a brat when you tried to pull rank on me, but that’s completely not the same.”
“It’s a good and tried method. I’m not giving up on it.”
“You’re still a brat.”
“I am. A little higher if you please?”
“I should just ditch you and go back to the military.” Stephane’s annoyed tone was something he had perfected with the years, and he made sure of using it as he started massaging Alain’s right leg all the way up to the knee.
“I could sabotage your military career.”
“So you say.”
“I could.”
“Yes, of course, but it would be a little sad, don’t you think? A Prince actually making the effort to sabotage some guy’s career.”
“See me care. I would ruin every single job opportunity, and then you would end up coming back to ask me to take you back. And of course being the benevolent future ruler that I am, I would take you back. But no benefits at all.”
“You’re giving far too much thought to this.” Stephane moved his hands to the left leg. “Still, I think you should be careful when being mean to the guy who knows the exact time in which your guard changes turns.”
“I will give that some thought. Later, of course.”
“It’s always later huh.”

There was a long time of silence after that. The Knight could tell the playful bickering had helped the Prince relax, and that was a good thing. Alain already had enough stress with studies and work to add up relationship drama. On top of all, seventeen was a hellish age by itself, and Stephane did remember being a bit of an idiot back then, so it was a little hypocritical to say anything bad about the Prince other than letting him know when he was being too much of a brat.

“You know, you should buy a necklace for Rose Anne. One that goes well with the earrings you got her last week.”
“I still think we should find a way so she can marry you. You two would be excellent business partners and you could pretend to be married and in love.”
“Mother would get a stroke if I told her I want to marry a Fiennes. The maids and butler drama is still too firm in the memory of the people.”
“A shame.”
“Plus, I’d like to marry someone who actually likes me. You’ve done a great work of getting her to hate me.”
“Oh no, you’ve done that all by yourself with your bedroom thingie.”
“Of course, blame me.”
“Of course I do. You’re the worst thing that could’ve happened to my social life and to my loveless arranged marriage.”
“I try.”
“Yeah. So should I go for a big necklace or a more subtle one? I don’t know a thing about jewelery.”
“I think something small, just enough to be noticeable. I can let the jeweler know what to give you if you want.”
“See, you are pampering my future wife and she doesn’t even know it.”
“I’m a complete gentleman, huh?”
“Totally.”

They both fell silent again, with a small chuckle from Alain, and this time, there was no need for more words.





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Notas:

Alain. Alain no. Alain.

Notas 2: This chapter just gained a whole scene. Ok. It grew. Bye.