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Princess of the Land of Spirits	By : Rhov Category: +. to F > Fairy Tail Views: 5953 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Fairy Tail is the property of Hiro Mashima. I make no money, I just do this for my own pleasure.

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
- 5
Chapter 4
The Weeping Princess

It had been raining that day. Maybe all that week. It felt like the world had been gray for ages. She was so young, yet her world had fallen from bright colors to monochrome. The memories of that time, so many years ago, were vague now, just flashes, scenes, and feelings. She did not remember much, except the rain and the sadness.
And black. A sea of black bodies, threatening to swallow her fragile, gray, gloomy world.
Yet amidst that grief and blackness, an orange sun came out, bright and welcoming, walking toward her, kneeling beside her, hugging her into his world of color and away from the grayness. Loke's hair had been short back then, a new soldier, barely out of training, someone she had seen around but never talked to.
Her mother had introduced him only a week earlier, while lying in bed...the beginning of the grayness.
"My dearest Lucy, this man is named Loke. He's going to look after you from now on. Captain Loke, please watch over her. Be her knight. Oh, come here, Lucy. No need to be shy. He's a good man, a true gentleman. I hope you come to trust him...to love him. He's the sort of man I wish you could...could... Oh, dear me, I can't say it after all."
Lucy never found out what her mother was trying to say, because Queen Layla died a few days later.
Then, in the midst of the deepest grief she had ever known, an orange sun shined through the rain, piercing green eyes reassured her, and she knew that although her mother was gone, she had left behind this knight to comfort her tiny daughter.
On that day, this glorious orange sun spoke to her and promised her: "You will never be alone, princess. I will serve you for as long as I live. You need only to call me, and I will be there. I will never let you feel lonely."
He kept his word. He did more than stand guard. He hugged her as she cried over the next few months, woke her from nightmares, and calmed her with his gentle voice. While the rest of the castle staff refrained from speaking to her out of uncertainty, and her own father did not even want to look upon her, this knight talked to her for hours, listening to anything she had to say, no matter how childish or irrational her fears. He listened, and he shielded her from the blackness.
With her orange sun around, color returned to her world, a sterile life that had taken her mother and stripped all emotions from her father. He read stories to her when she was bored, put on puppet shows for her to make her laugh, helped her change into her clothes—until Aries and Virgo were hired to do such duties—and Loke played with her when she had no one else around. He gave her toys on holidays and birthdays. Although his pay was probably not much, and she could have had any toy in the kingdom, the ones Loke gave her were special, because they were not given out of duty, but out of kindness.
It was that kindness that made her want to be closer to him. She was unsure when things changed. Suddenly, when he kissed her forehead and tucked her in for the night, it made her hot inside. Her dreams were about him. She got bashful when he walked with her through the gardens. When he complimented that she was growing into a fine young woman, her cheeks went hot. She thought of how to please him when picking out new gowns.
Once, when she heard that Loke was not on duty because he had gone to a festival with a lady, she felt jealous for the first time in her life. The next day, when he returned, Lucy demanded that he never leave her alone again.
That was probably when he realized she was in love. He had looked so stunned at that time, then deeply regretful. She was still young back then, maybe fourteen...too young, especially for an older man like him. However, he hugged her, thanked her for being concerned, but told her in the kindest words possible that a man sometimes needed feminine comfort.
She would never forget her words that day.
"Let me be your comfort!"
Then she tiptoed up, kissed him on the mouth, and ran away in humiliation.
Her first real kiss! It was not so much stolen as tossed at his feet in a moment of jealousy.
That caused a chasm of awkwardness between them that lasted throughout the next few years. He was more cautious. He stopped tucking her into bed. He rarely entered her room just to see if she needed someone to play with. If she called for him, he always came, but he left it as her ordering him, not him taking the initiative. She realized later, he might have gotten scolded even back then for being too friendly with the princess. She missed those days when he was always beside her, when he could hug her and she could fall asleep in his lap listening to him reading fairy tales.
Still, he was always there, always a comfort. That sun never set. She only had to call out his name, and the orange hair arrived, along with a smile that could warm her in winter, and eyes that chilled her in summer.
It was on her sixteenth birthday that she formally confessed.
"Captain...no, just Loke. I...I want you to take me out."
"Of course, princess. Where shall we go? I can arrange an entourage and..."
"No, not like that. I want it to be just us."
"If that's my princess's orders..."
"No! I don't mean orders. I mean...I...I like you. I want to court you."
He had stared at her with something like a mix between fear, sadness, and unbounded happiness, all mixed and tormenting his face. Suddenly, his eyes dropped. "You honor me too much, my princess. I have to decline."
Being denied something she wanted was an act Lucy did not face too often, and the spoiled princess reacted badly. "Do you have a lady?" she spat out scathingly.
"Yes, there is someone I'm courting at the moment."
Just then Lieutenant Taurus walked by. "More like three someones he's juggling at the same time."
"Taurus!" Loke had paled in utter terror at being overheard. "You'll forget this conversation or I'll beat all memories out of your bullish head."
"Hey, I know you'd get beheaded if you touched her. Even if you went for it, I wouldn't say anything."
"B-beheaded?" Lucy was confused by that. "What does he mean, Loke?"
He explained firmly. "You're the princess, only daughter and sole heir of this kingdom. You must marry royalty, and likely the king will pick someone for you soon. Whoever he picks will be the next King of the Land of Spirits, so likely it will be a younger son of a noble family. That's how these things work. You simply can't court a lowly man like me. It's forbidden, on punishment of torture and death, for any commoner to touch you intimately."
Again, his eyes dropped, and something flinched through his face. He looked lost in a memory. It struck her: he must have already gotten a warning...a very harsh warning!
"Loke..." she sighed, wanting to reach up and hold him, like he had held her through the dark times, but now caution stayed her hand.
"Forgive me, princess, although you honor me far above what I deserve, I must decline. Taurus, you're on duty now." Then Loke hurried off, running away from her.
Lucy still remembered the tear that had slipped down his eye just before leaving the room. That was when she realized that her emotions were not one-sided. He felt something as well, but he was doing everything possible, even courting numerous ladies at once, just to suppress those forbidden urges.
One more memory came to her. They were the last words Loke spoke to her before she fell into a drugged stupor. She had told him to lie, because it was the only way to hear his true feelings.
"I don't love you. I never have. I never will." I love you. I always have. I always will.
These memories played through Lucy's mind as she slept fitfully for an entire week, fevered from the attempted-kidnapper's poison. With each dream, her heart grew firmer. There was only one man she had ever been interested in, and only one man she wanted to wake up beside every morning. He was the only man who had ever showed her love, yet he could never tell her honestly.
She wanted her sun to always shine.
She wanted her Lion to always stand guard beside her.
When Princess Lucy finally recovered from the abductor's drug, it was already a week after the incident. Although awake now, Doctor Crux insisted that she stay in bed just to be safe. Aries and Virgo took turns staying with her throughout the night. Extra guards were outside her window, and no one managed to break in, although there were rumors about other attempts thwarted by the outer guards.
When finally the doctor could no longer convince the princess to remain in bed, he allowed her up only for a walk around the gardens, nothing more. With excitement, Lucy brushed out her hair while Virgo and Aries tied her corset and helped her into a gown that was far too elegant for a mere stroll. However, Lucy had not seen Captain Loke for two weeks. When she asked with worry if he had gotten into trouble for allowing an intruder to get close enough to touch her, Virgo assured her that he was not punished. However, neither Aries nor Virgo told her what actually happened to him.
So when Lucy stepped out of her bedchamber, she was shocked that, instead of the orange-haired captain, it was Lieutenant Scorpio who guarded her door.
"Why are you here?" she cried out, not caring it she sounded unreasonably angry. "Where's Loke?"
"The captain left to deliver a letter to the King of the Land of Dragons," replied Scorpio.
Lucy felt the happiness rush out of her, leaving her feeling cold inside. "He left? He didn't say anything!"
"We are very sorry. You were unconscious when the king sent him."
"When did this happen?" she demanded.
"The night you were attacked, princess. Within the same hour, I believe. He had hardly enough time to assign me to guard you."
"But...but the Land of Dragons takes two weeks by horse," she muttered sadly. "He's probably there already." A shiver made her feel weak again. Loke was likely already in that frightening land, facing the scary sons of the Dragon King. "Why...why did he go? For what purpose?"
Scorpio smiled gently. "He'll be bringing your future husband, so it's a time to rejoice. When Captain Loke returns with Prince Natsu, the whole kingdom will celebrate your marriage."
That made Lucy even more furious. "This was Father's doing, wasn't it?" She turned sharply at Aries and Virgo. "Why didn't you two say anything about it to me?"
Aries squeaked, "I'm sorry!"
Virgo was calmer as she banally explained, "Brother told me where he was going, but the king ordered us not to tell you, and his orders are absolute. Will I be punished?"
Rather than shout and make a scene, Lucy stomped down the hallway. She walked as swiftly as she could while still being dignified. She tipped her head when guards and servants bowed out of her way, and she marched out of the castle into the spacious gardens. There was one section, a walled-off garden that was only opened for the head-gardener Cancer and the royal family. It had been her mother's special place to sit and look at the stars.
Lucy went to the walled garden and waited for Cancer to put down his trimming sheers so he could open it for her. She entered alone, insisting that Aries and Virgo wait at the entry gate. She sat on a swing hanging from a willow tree and rocked herself slowly. Tears dripped from her eyes. She hugged herself, thinking of Loke's touches, those lies he told her, and how it was the only way to get him to confess his feelings.
"If you don't want me to marry, why...why, Loke?" she sobbed. "Why would you go to bring that prince here? Is there truly no way to escape the iron fist of my father?" She covered her face and wept into her hands. "Loke...please don't make me marry him. Take me away. Always be with me, and never let me be lonely, like you promised."
Weeks passed, and people said the stars no longer shined as brightly at night since Captain Loke left the Land of Spirits.
The princess's melancholy became obvious to the whole castle. There were whispers in the servants' quarters. By then, it was no secret that the princess did not want to marry, and the servants pitied her. However, as much as they all wished they could do something to stop this inevitable sadness, they feared the king. All of them felt oppressed under his hard eyes. All they could do was look at how the princess grew thinner and paler.
Libra the cook said she was barely eating and losing weight fast. Cancer the head-gardener said she was not coming out for walks anymore. Sagittarius the horsemaster said she had not been out riding even once. No one knew what to do to cheer her up. Some said that instead of this marriage being something to celebrate, perhaps it was a reason to mourn. They would be losing their diamond princess for a time. It had been part of the agreement between the two nations. The wedding would be in the Land of Spirits, yet she then had to live in the Land of Dragons and could not return until the birth of her first child, so the Dragons could ensure that the next in line for the throne was one of their own and not a bastard son.
At last, Princess Lucy realized it was almost time for Loke to return. She was eager to see him, but she dreaded that he was bringing her betrothed prince. She sat at her window staring off to the castle banners, looking for a sign of the captain's return. Often, she glanced down to the gardens to see Lieutenant Scorpio walking along the river with his girlfriend Aquarius.
She imagined herself and Loke ambling through the nightly shadows, gazing at stars, holding onto one another, kissing discreetly, anticipating what may come when they returned to somewhere private, where love can be fully expressed.
Lucy longed for a simple romance like that. Was it really so taboo for a princess to want to marry out of love, not duty? Would it really threaten the whole kingdom if she courted a commoner like Loke? Why was such a thing punishable by torture and death? It wasn't fair!
"I wish I was a normal girl," she lamented. "I don't want to be a princess. I just want..."
Her words faded away. If she spoke them and someone overheard, Loke could be beheaded for treason. She didn't want that!
"What do I want?" she wondered.
She thought it ironic that, all her life, she was given every material thing she could ask for, yet when it came to love, her father never provided such affection, and he threatened the one person who showed unconditional love to her.
Thus was the life of a princess...and she hated it!
End of Chapter 4
- 3
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- 5
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Princess of the Land of Spirits