Faelme: Princess Evol and her Fairy Prince

Date crasher

Evol seethed at her confrontation with the current bane of her existence. Just the day before, she had allowed herself to be preened and primped to look good for the prince.

Against her will!

Her mother had set it in her mind to make sure she made a match with Prince Curtis as he apparently was 'the best suitor she could get in the three kingdoms'.

Evol knew it meant way more than that to her mother so she had sucked it up and endured the torture of being dolled up. Her hair had been piled high on her head according to the latest fashion, by the end of the night, she could barely move her neck.

It had all been for nought, the prince had not even spoken a single word to her. She had sat there feeling extremely awkward pretending to be the quiet, demure woman that men were supposedly attracted to until Princess Fyrria struck up a conversation with her.

Even then she had to be selective with what she said and how she spoke knowing that was the one of the family members of the prince her mother wanted for her.

Needless to say, she was uncomfortable and the conversation quickly turned awkward after that.

Being in an arranged marriage wasn't exactly an issue for her. Most faes dream of one day meeting 'the one', their true mates but honestly. The idea always sounded so unreal to her.

It wasn't realistic to meet someone one day and because a series of weird things happened, you decide that you are meant to be together.

Honestly, it was more of a myth than reality as she didn't know of a single couple that were true mates. It was one of the ideas she had read from the collection of the fairy scrolls in the royal library.

You'd think by now, people would have learned that such a thing does not exist but it was always ridiculous to hear girls her age wish for and talk about ridiculous notions like that.

She and Erac were the only ones who had been spared of that madness.

Eventually, they would learn, like those before them. And they would settle down for whoever showed them a little bit of interest or maybe they would become attracted to someone and decide that they were in love.

She didn't know and didn't exactly care. She had never felt attraction for anyone.

Except of course, the books she had read on the subject were wrong.

No butterflies in the stomach, no fast heart beat, no lingering urge to stare at a person.

None! Nada! Zilch!

She could admit that someone was good looking but that was about it.

This morning though, her mother didn't let her hear the end of it. Somehow, the failure of the night before was her fault even though she had done what she had been told, to sit still and look pretty.

".... and tone down your exuberance a notch please, —rather, tone it down ten notches.” Were her mother's exact words when she was dressing her up yesternight.

And she had. She hadn't wiped off the makeup up that made her feel like her face had been coated with wax and left out in the sun to dry no matter how much she itched to do just that. She hadn't taken off the heels that were killing her feet. She couldn't even meet up with Erac like she had promised to.

Well that didn't work out either ways, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to take her cut of the deal.

She was going to take Shore on a, well deserved, ride to de-stress only she had underestimated the stress the fashion ordeal she faced the night before had given her.

Her every muscles ached from maintaining just the perfect posture for hours that they screamed in protest as she tried to climb the restless mare.

She tried calming Shore down but apparently she was also mentally drained. Either from the night before or her argument with her mother that morning, or maybe a bit of both.

She had been shocked to feel a pair of wide hands grab her by the waist and lift her up the Pegasus. And by the streak of stinking luck she was having recently, it of course had to be Prince Curtis.

She had instantly felt angry at the sight of him but caught herself in time and thanked him instead for helping her do what she could do perfectly well on her own.

She was probably one of those men who thought women were fragile beings. Because she couldn't fathom any other reason a man would look for shyness and helplessness in a lady before he could talk to her.

That encounter made her realize a few things:

One, that Prince Curtis; regardless of his mountain like stature and those broad hands that spanned the width of her lower back and carried her like she weighed nothing to help her mount Shore, was a weak man where it mattered the most, mentally.

Two, his huge figure was overcompensating for his small mind. And he had an arrogance to match.

Three, she disliked — no, hated his smirk.

Infact, she hated the prince, period.

*******

Daiv paced the length of the room feeling restless that the princess was alone in the next room with her suitor prince. He reassured himself that he was close enough to rescue Coral from any unwanted advances. He had told her to shout for him whenever she needed him, that he would just be in the next room.

He had thought the prince wouldn't last five minutes especially with the shitty flowers he had brought Coral, but for some reason, the pair had already been in there for forty two whole minutes— not that Daiv was keeping count.

He just couldn't figure out the unsettling feeling he had about leaving the princess alone with prince Curtis in a room all by themselves. He couldn't believe the king was comfortable enough to leave his precious daughter all alone with a guy much older and experienced than she was.

Daiv paused and crept closer to the door and pressed his ears to it hoping to pick up the sound of their voices. He stilled and listened but could barely make out faint sounds. Even when he held his breathe, he still couldn't make out their words.

What the heck could they be talking about so quietly, he wondered.

Feeling dissapointed, Daiv reluctantly stood up glaring at the door as though it was it's fault that his curiosity was not being satisfied.

He had to find a way to see what was happening inside without seeming like a jealous best friend.

Maybe he could bribe Wiid to burst in and give him a glimpse of what was going inside. He had to know for sure if Coral was indeed enjoying the prince's company or merely tolerating him. He really hoped it was the later.

Because she was his best friend and he knew prince was just dying to take her away from him just to spite him.

The sound of the door opening startled him, at the door stood prince Curtis and princess Coral. Daiv immediately straightened up trying not to look like a mer-kid caught stealing the family pet fish for lunch. He smilled at the princess, happy that the prince was finally leaving.

"Daiv, Prince Curtis and I are going for a walk. He is going to show me around the kingdom." She said making his smile drop immediately.

"I'm coming with you." Daiv quickly said. No way he was letting the both of them out of his sight again. "I have to watch over the princess."

Curtis narrowed his eyes at Daiv and Daiv returned the stare with unbridled hostility. "That won't be necessary, I can take care of princess Coral just fine."

“Too bad that's what I'm here for." Daiv retorted not caring how childish he sounded.

"Daiv?!" Coral exclaimed surprised at Daiv's attitude. She realized that Daiv didn't like the prince, he had only spent the whole time he helped her massage her leg telling her how the prince had been staring at her all night last night in a way he didn't like. She had asked him how the prince had been staring at her and he had said, like the prince was attracted to her. He had then told her not to worry since he would always be there to protect her.

Coral had been giddy, hoping that meant Daiv was jealous of the prince's intentions towards her, but then he had continue to say that it was only right for him to do so as her companion.

Of course, this was only a job for Daiv. How could she ever hope otherwise?

How could she assume that his wanting to accompany her now was born out of any desire other than his duty. That would be foolish of her.

"Im sorry about Daiv, prince Curtis. It's his duty as my companion to accompany me anytime I leave the security of the palace. I hope that is okay?" She asked the prince.

Prince Curtis glanced at her, his expression softening since he had been glaring at Daiv. "Sure, we'll let him tag along. It's no problem."

*********

"You smell nice." Curtis commented to kill the awkwardness that had settled in between him and princess Coral ever since Daiv had joined them.

"Oh, that's from my hair wash. I use it every bath time."

"You love washing your hair, and bath times." Daiv interjected from behind them.

Coral smilled sneakily at her companion. "Of course I do love bath times, it is the only time I get to be rid of you." She commented sticking her tongue out at him.

"You naughty... " Daiv raised his hand to pinch her arm and came to a halt when she gave him her adorable pout. He really had no will power to say no to that adorable look of hers. Instead he found himself patting her hair. "You're lucky you're cute. It's the reason you get away with a lot of things."

Coral gasped dramatically glancing at prince Curtis with shiny eyes. "Daiv! If you say this in the presence of the prince, he's going to assume that I am a trouble maker."

"Well you are a trouble maker. Always running off when there is a function you do not want to attend and leaving me to search for you and cover up too."

"As if that's a lot of work. It's not even fun running off anymore because you already know all my best hideout spots." Coral shot back in mock anger.

“Then find new hiding spots."

“It's no good," Coral pouted “You always know where to find me.”

“Well suck it up because that's how it would continue to be, it's my duty as your companion and best friend."

Coral's pout intensified.“Spoil sport.”

Curtis watched the other two bicker trying to decipher if it was merely because they were best friends or if it was something else. He had never had this level of closeness with anyone. Was that the trend now, is this the way teenaged best friends now hold conversations?

He wasn't sure, all he was sure about was that the conversation had gone from him complimenting the princess as he should compliment a lady he wished to court, to Daiv butting into the conversation and he quietly listening to them since —there wasn't really anything he could contribute to the conversation.

At that point, he felt like he was third wheeling on his own date. And that feeling lingered for the rest of the day.

The other had taken the spotlight throughout the date. Since the princess had spent the most of her life in the ocean, there wasn't a lot Curtis could bring up that Daiv didn't already know about Coral.

Curtis felt that it wasn't fair, how was he supposed to compete with a guy that knew her all her life, like literally all her life.

If he asked about her favorite food, Daiv would be sure to interject with her preferences based on her different moods and her allergies.

If he asked about her hobbies, it would lead to stories about all the things she and Daiv did for fun regularly, with said guy reminding her of things that made her laugh so hard, she started hiccuping.

And when Curtis got her a cup of soy yoghurt for her hiccup, Daiv had sniffed at it and scowled at him before running off to get a cup of water instead for her.

Turned out soybeans was one of the princess's allergies that Curtis had failed to acknowledge even though Daiv had so generously mentioned them earlier.

Curtis barely held his tongue as the younger Fae scolded him over and over again for almost 'poisoning' the princess. And it had taken the princess's intervention to shut the boy up before Curtis snapped and taught the mutt a lesson he would never forget, right there in the market square.

Curtis had finally had it with the other guy. He had known from the beginning that the other did not like him especially where the princess was concerned. He also knew that Daiv had only pretended to mistake him for a servant. For starters, he was obviously much more bigger than an Elvin servant and more elaborately dressed. And secondly, the guy couldn't have forgotten him after spending the whole of the night before glaring at him as he danced with Coral.

He wanted to ignore the companion's childish antics but he could practically feel his patience hanging by a loose thread but he told himself that he wasn't about to lose his dignity by stooping to the level of a hormonal teenager.

With that in mind, Curtis had decided to buy the princess a beautiful bracelet as an apology and call it a day.

Curtis led Coral to an accessory stall and asked her to pick any bracelet she wanted and he would pay for it. He was pleased to see her look through the substantial display of bracelets with clear interest in her eyes. She reminded him of Fyrria whenever he took her to the archery range, so when she brought a pair of matching seashells bracelet, he promptly paid for them.

And when she gave him one of the bracelets with a wide grin on her face making her look like a sweet little angel, Curtis thought her innocent smile was worth the stress of Daiv tagging along.

At the end of the date, Curtis admitted he had to regroup and rethink his silent battle of wills against princess Coral's impossible personal guard, Daiv.