the story I'm thisclose to scrapping
Jan. 29th, 2006 05:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maderrBecause let's be honest, it's sucking. I'm proud of how I've altered the original fairytale, but beyond that small twist I've botched it completely and there's no way to fix it other than to start over. I keep hoping if I continue writing, they'll surprise me and things will work out. But no dice. Scrapped three pages, wrote a different scene. It's still sucking. But I really liked what I initially thought I was going to do, and the story itself isn't horrible except it fails utterly at what it's supposed to be.
But thirteen pages sucks to discard (though I'll try to keep the first few) without ever seeing the light of day.
I actully scrap more stuff than you might think. Behold why:
Perfect
“Princess, you mustn’t fret so.” Tobias smiled and shook his head, then strode across the room to embrace the princess, kissing her brow and holding her until he felt some of the tension leak from her body.
“I can’t help it,” Joanne said fretfully, delicate auburn brows pulled down in worry and frustration. “I’m not half so pretty as Jeannette, I can’t dance a third so well as Annabelle and don’t even get me started on Lindsay. I’m hopeless, Tobi.”
“Honestly, pet. All you need to do is relax. You’re beautiful, you’re as graceful as a swan and Lindsay might be beautiful but she can’t converse about anything beyond dresses
Joanne wasn’t appeased. “More like a drunk goose. Complete with honking.” Her shoulders bunched together as she continued to worry herself to death.
Tobias sighed softly and hugged her again before stepping back to fix the carefully arranged tumble of dark auburn curls, tweaking the emerald tiara fastened just in front of them. “You are far too pretty to be compared to a goose, and I’ve danced with you many a time – you dance like a swan, I promise you.”
“Yes, with you. But you’re different, Tobi.”
“Well, then – just pretend you’re dancing with me and you’ll be fine.”
“I’ll try,” Joanne said. But her pink lips, turned down in a deep frown, made clear every unspoken worry running through her head.
Tobias sighed, but did push the issue. If he pushed too far, she would just worry all the more. Perhaps this weekend would give her the confidence he could not, as hard as he tried to convince her that she really was as beautiful and talented and capable as every other princess in attendance, and more besides.
And she was. From her auburn hair and pale skin, to the green eyes and bow-shaped pink lips. When she forgot to be nervous and was just herself, Princess Joanne was nothing less than breathtaking.
Unfortunately, she only forgot to be nervous when she was alone with her tutor – even her family turned the poor girl into tangled knot of frets and worries. Well, more like especially her family; which was s why he was glad they’d decided to leave her to travel here with only her tutor.
He’d see her happy by the end of the week if it was the last thing he did.
“Come on, sweet pea.” Tobias held out his hand. “I’ll walk you down stairs and tell you all the horrid things those other girls have already done. And just remember everything I’ve told.”
“Pretty is as pretty does.” Joanne nodded, smiling at him. “And one day we’ll all be ugly – it’s the one you can talk to that you should keep.”
“That’s my sweet pea. If these men can’t see that then they’re nothing but pretty faces and you needn’t have bothered with them after all.” Tobias places her hand in the crook of his arm as they stepped out into the hallway, leading her down the stairs and toward the grand ballroom. He held her card out to the man standing ready to announce the guests, then turned and kissed Joanne’s cheek swiftly. “Good luck, fair princess. Don’t forget – pretend you’re dancing with me, unless they’re cads in which case you should make most certain to trod upon their toes.” Ignoring the disapproving looks of the servants and a few inconsequential guests Tobias smiled once more at her and then turned sharply on his heel to go back to his own quarters.
Well, so Joanne thought anyway. But he’d scouted out a few good places to watch the ball from earlier while she’d been dressing. One of which was an empty room, a sort of balcony such as one might find in a theatre, the curtains drawn shut. The original purpose of it, he could only surmise. But it was empty and showed signs of long disuse, so Tobias felt little guilt in sliding inside and peeking through the curtains, seeking out and finding a young woman in a dark green dress. And the dress was beyond compare, the height of fashion and wholly original. He had seen to that. No other minx here would come close to his Joanne’s wardrobe. In that at least, her mind could rest easy.
“I thought this was my hideaway,” a voice as cool and smooth as the mint he put in his tea made Tobias jump high enough he thought it a wonder his head didn’t meet the ceiling. He turned, and then bowed in dismay. In the dimness of the curtained room, he couldn’t tell to whom he spoke – but it was clear the man was a noble. “I beg your pardon, Lord Stranger. I sought only to keep an eye on my charge.”
“You are the young man who accompanies the Princess Joanne.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me about your princess, then.”
Tobias frowned. “If you wish to know about Princess Joanne then ask her yourself. Though it is perhaps a good thing I know not your identity, for all I would tell her of you later is that I do not approve of a man who lurks in the dark and demands information like a brigand!”
The man chuckled. “You’re very protective. She must be quite a princess to inspire such devotion. I beg your pardon; of course I should meet her myself. Do feel free to stay here as long as you like.” And with that, the man departed.
Tobias nearly stopped him to demand his identity, but then thought better of it. He was probably better off not knowing to which noble he had spoken so rudely. Shoving the worry aside, for it was nothing he could resolve at moment, Tobias instead sought out Joanne. He smiled faintly, pleased to see she was chatting and laughing, rather than hiding in a corner, and he was probably the only one who could tell how nervous she was. It helped that Princess Henrietta, who had taken to the shy girl when they’d met last summer, was there to ease things.
He was still watching two hours later when Joanne and several other young women were introduced to the ever cheerful Prince Aaron, for whom the week’s festivities were being thrown, and his elder brother, the remote Prince Ian. Their eldest brother, Phillip, was king, and was hosting the festivities in the hopes that at least his youngest brother would finally settle down. The rumors were that he’d given up all hope on Ian.
Joanne, he saw with a proud smile, gracefully curtsied and managed to respond to something Prince Aaron said well enough that he laughed – in genuine amusement, not the cruel laughter Joanne had heard from more than one royal or noble for her painful awkwardness. Eventually the dancing began, and Tobias relaxed a bit – she would be clumsy at first, but he knew Joanne loved to dance despite her complaints, and as the introductions had gone well she was far less likely to be clumsy on the dance floor. He let his gaze wander a moment, watching where Prince Ian led another girl out onto the floor—
—And for a brief moment looked up, straight at him, the ghost of a smirk flitting across his mouth before he was once more politely smiling at the girl on his arm.
Tobias groaned and barely kept from banging his head against the nearest wall.
*~*~*~*
"So are you enjoying yourself so far, Princess Joanne?" Aaron asked congenially as they danced to a steady, simple rhythm that allowed the dancers to chat with ease, get to know each other.
"Of course, Highness." Joanne smiled back, hoping none of her anxiety showed. She refused to make a cake of herself, she just refused! Tobi had said she'd do splendidly...and she didn't want to go back to her family a complete failure again. She simply wouldn't be able to bear it. Her sisters would laugh for months. "It’s so beautiful here, far more mild than my home."
"Yes, the weather has always been our country's best feature. But I hear great things about your Snow Festival. All we ever get here in the winter is cold rain."
Joanne smiled again, relaxing just a bit. "Has your Highness never seen snow, then?"
"Never."
"That is unfortunate. Perhaps someday you can arrange a visit and my family will gladly escort you around the Snow Festival." She smiled sheepishly. “I enjoy the more mild weather I’ve encountered, but I miss the snow.”
"Have you been traveling long?" He spun her neatly in a twirl, then they began the steps anew. "Its said you travel with none but a manservant to accompany you. Does that not trouble your parents?"
Joanne shook her head. "My parents trust Tobias – my caretaker - implicitly. And they of course have matters of their own to which they must attend." She frowned briefly, but forced the expression from her face and assumed one of polite curiosity. "Do my travel arrangements bother you, Highness?" He wouldn't be the first to assume there was something wrong with her independence - it had taken Tobias months to convince her parents to let them travel on their own. She still couldn't quite believe he’d managed it.
"Of course not, forgive my giving that impression." Aaron smiled, looking very boyish. It made Joanne want to beam back, and she did, wishing her heart would slow down before it beat right out of her chest. Things were going so well, it was only a matter of time before she tripped or otherwise humiliated herself. "I am merely quite curious about the one they call Princess Pea. You don't seem frail or delicate at all."
And just like that her good mood vanished. "I see," she said, trying to be polite but knowing she failed utterly.
"And now I've gone and upset you. Forgive me, my brothers tell me all the time that I should learn to think before I speak. I meant no offense, truly." Aaron squeezed her hand where he held it for the dance, the one that came to rest on her waist also pressing softly, asking forgiveness. “It was simply that it seemed so silly to me, all the stuff they said. And seeing you clearly none of it is true, so I got carried away asking.”
Joanne looked at him, so startled and simply happy that she nearly missed the next dance step. “It’s all right. Tobi says I let them get to me to much.”
“Well, you shouldn’t.” Aaron grinned. “My brothers used to do wretched things to me, and they still like to say all the most awful things whenever there are pretty girls about. Just listen at dinner, I promise the story about me and the Duke of Chorr and the mud puddle will come up.”
Giggling, Joanne barely remembered to turn and spin in time. “Well it can’t be any worse than having King Fenwick hear all about how I sleep on a hundred mattresses to spare my fragile skin any discomfort.”
Aaron’s face fell dramatically. “You mean that one isn’t true? Here I was looking forward to asking how you managed to fit them all on your carriage.”
Joanne laughed again, even as they all bowed and clapped at the conclusion of the dance. Aaron kept hold of her hand, brushing the knuckles with his lips. “May I be presumptuous, Princess Pea?”
“Presumptuous?” Joanne asked, torn between hating the dreaded nickname and almost liking the way he said it.
“By staking a claim on two more dances? Perhaps a waltz and the last of the evening?”
Joanne just knew she must look as startled – indeed dumbfounded – as she felt. She fumbled briefly, fighting to recall her manners. “Of-of course, Highness.” She curtsied. “The honor would be mine.”
“Excellent. Now if you’ll pardon me, I’m afraid I must go be polite and attend the other ladies.”
“Of course, Highness.” Joanne lowered her eyes, itching to take her fan out and cool her burning cheeks. “Thank you for the dance.”
“The pleasure was mine, Princess Pea. I look forward to the next.” Aaron winked and bowed once more, then turned and vanished into the crowd to find the girl with whom he was to dance next.
Joanne stared after him a moment, then gathered her wits and snapped her fan open to cool her face. Oh, and wouldn’t that look simply marvelous. Drat her traitorous skin. Redheads shouldn’t have to endure turning so red in the face.
“Princess Joanne?”
She looked up, and blinked in surprise a few times. Was it the dress, that instead of being more or less ignored in an evening she was not only being asked to dance by Prince Aaron – with two more promised, oh she hoped he’d meant that – but also his brother now. “Highness,” Joanne said, realizing she was being rude. And there went her cheeks again, drat them.
“May I have this dance?”
“Of course, Highness. The honor is mine.” Joanne accepted the hand he held out and let him lead her into a minuet.
Prince Ian was tall and lanky, a stark contrast to his shorter, more compact brothers. And where they had blonde hair and hazel eyes, Ian’s hair was a light brown and his rougher features seemed at odds with his light blue eyes.
Aaron was far more handsome, but Joanne could see why so many of the other women fluttered about this one. The week-long festivities were for the youngest of the royal brothers, but more than a few of the eligible princesses were hoping to snare the elusive, mercurial middle brother.
“You’re quite beautiful, princess.” Ian said it matter-of-factly, as if pointing out something obvious. “My brother seemed quite taken with you.”
Joanne flushed, cursed the tendency again, and could not meet his eyes. “I am happy I did not bore him.”
Ian laughed. “So long as you do not discuss dresses, Aaron is usually quite happy.”
That would knock Lindsay neatly out of the way then, Joanne could not help but think. Then she immediately chastised herself for acting like one of her scheming sisters. Still, it was good to know she had that much more of a chance. Because suddenly she really did want a chance – and not just at finally marrying and being a proper princess for her age.
“So tell me how you’ve come to be allowed to travel with just a manservant – and how you came by him.”
Joanne fought back a frown. Why was everyone so obsessed over that? Honestly, if they had to deal with her family as she did they’d understand immediately. “It is easier on everyone if I travel independently. My family is quite busy.” As surprised as she’d been when they’d agreed, part of her had also wondered why it had taken so long. Next to her beautiful, golden, perfect sisters, who had done everything exactly as they should and married the perfect men and were working on perfect children…there really wasn’t much point in wasting time on a girl who’d been perfectly disastrous from the moment she was born with fire-red curls already on her head, even if they did mellow to auburn later.
“And how did you come by your manservant?”
Suddenly Joanne realized where this was going, and why. She bit her lip, but could see her mirth had not been successfully hidden. “I met him after he offended a noble back home. The man had been visiting, and Tobias was tutoring his son. When the son continued to ignore everything he said, and the father did nothing to discipline him, Tobias told them both off and was promptly fired. At the time, he’d been trying to teach him how to dance. I was struggling, and asked him for assistance.” She smiled at the memory. “Being yelled at didn’t bother me any, and my own dance instructor was forever dallying with a maid. My parents didn’t like it at first, but as I began to improve they ceased to complain. Tobi’s been with me ever since.” She finally laughed, unable to hold it back. “Did you stumble across Tobias and offend him? I heartily apologize, he always means well.”
A smile tugged at Ian’s mouth, though his pensive frown did not fade completely. “There is no need to apologize. I cannot fault a man who would so staunchly defend a woman in his care. I was merely curious and decided to indulge it. Thank you for humoring me, Princess.” He bowed over her hand as the dance ended. “And now I had best go, because Aaron is glaring at me something fierce. No doubt he suspects me of telling you stories about him.” Ian winked. “If your card is free later, we will dance again and then I will tell you stories about him. Enjoy the rest of your evening, Princess.”
“And you, Highness.” Joanne smiled. What had she done to deserve a night this splendid? They were so easy to talk to, such a nice change. “Thank you for the dance.”
“My pleasure.” Ian bowed again and vanished.
Then Aaron was at her side, leading her back to the floor as the strains of a waltz began to fill the ballroom. “What did my wretched brother say?” He glared briefly in the direction Ian had vanished.
Joanne started to say ‘nothing’ but some impulse stopped her, and she settled on a small smile, laughing when Aaron groaned and launched into how every last thing Wretched Ian had said about the fox was not true, and the incident with the Duchess was a huge misunderstanding…
*~*~*~*
“Everything is going to go horribly wrong today.”
Tobias smiled but didn’t say anything as he continued to fuss with the skirts of Joanne’s morning gown.
“I just know it. I’m going to fall right over and be arse-up in the pond.”
“Such language,” Tobias murmured. “Far too early for ‘arse’ sweet pea.”
Joanne rolled her eyes and tried not to smile. “Fine. I’m going to take a tumble headfirst into the pond.”
“Much better. And you won’t.” Tobias tweaked the front of the gown, adjusting the lace that made the neckline modest. “After last night, the only thing you need to worry about is finding yourself alone with Lindsay or Jeannette. They were positively seething after last night, according to morning gossip. I don’t doubt they’ve got in for you, sweet pea. So don’t stand too close to that pond – they’ll push you in.”
“Great,” Joanne muttered. “Are you certain this dress is all right?”
Tobias froze, then glared at her.
“I’m sorry! I panicked.” Joanne tangled her fingers together to keep from playing with her curls. “Of course it’s perfect. It’s just I know last night was a fluke, or he’s changed his mind, or they really will push me in the pond or—“
“Calm down, sweet pea.” Tobias pressed a finger to her lips. “You’ll be splendid, you know it. Why all this fretting?” He grinned and gave her a peck on the cheek. “I’m glad you’re so interested in him, and not just because it’ll make your parents positively ecstatic.”
Joanne flushed and looked at her hands. “He’s fun to talk to.”
“Wonderful,” Tobias beamed and shooed her gently toward the door. “Then go converse over breakfast in the garden, and remember to ignore all those other women – and don’t go near the pond!”
Shaking his head, smiling softly, Tobias set about tidying the room and then finished dressing himself.
Breakfast sounded like a good idea. All he’d had so far that morning was a quick piece of bread and some coffee before setting to the task of getting Joanne ready. Real food would be nice, and then perhaps he could relax a bit before Joanne had to change for the afternoon.
Humming softly, looking around at the bright, simple but elegant castle, so different from the austere castle at home, the opulent palaces so many other royals seemed to prefer. He paused to gaze out a window at the countryside, rolling hills and clusters of houses, mountains barely visible in the distance.
“The fierce protector,” a voice said from behind him. “Watching over your charge? Or looking for someone else to reprimand?”
Tobias stifled a groan but could not prevent a wince before he slowly turned around. And tried not to be distracted by the lanky prince, deadly attractive despite the smirk on his face. From a distance he’d been handsome; up close he was doing bad things to Tobias’s focus. “I’m sorry if my words offended your Highness.”
“But you’re not sorry you said them.”
Realizing he was being goaded, Tobias nevertheless rose to the bait. “No, I’m not. You were out of line.”
“Princess Joanne mentioned you had a tendency to lose your temper when offended.”
Tobias folded his arms across his chest. “I dislike seeing the Princess mistreated in any way. You were being rude.”
“Indeed,” the Prince replied. “What are you doing about now?”
“What?” Tobias said, thrown by the change in subject. “I was aiming to have breakfast,” he said, and couldn’t resist adding. “If that’s all right with your Highness.”
“And why would it bother me?” Prince Ian smiled, though there was still much of a smirk to it. “I would not want to know the tongue-lashing I would receive for daring to keep a man from his meal.”
Dropping his arms, Tobias tried valiantly to keep his mouth shut – and as usual failed. “No? You seem to be quite fond of them, at least if your manners are anything to judge by. Or were you taught that mocking a man is the best way to converse?”
Ian threw his head back and laughed. “I wonder, Master Tobias, is there anyone that offends you on purpose?”
“Only you, Highness, for I sense that is what you are about. But given your manners thus far, I find myself unsurprised.”
“I find that hard to believe. Surely there must be some fair miss back home who enjoy seeing you riled?”
Tobias drew himself up. He wasn’t much, but that didn’t mean he had to endure the mockery of a bored prince. “No, Highness, there isn’t. Now if you’ll excuse me, I would like breakfast. You are most certainly not worth missing a meal.”
The prince’s laughter chased him from the hallway, and all through breakfast Tobias reprimanded himself for letting his mouth possibly ruin everything for Joanne. Would he never learn to keep it shut? He was a servant, a tutor. No matter how obnoxious, he’d had no right to speak to the prince thus.
He’d have to find the man again and apologize. Curse it.
Dragging his feet, Tobias traveled back the way he’d gone and was half-relieved, half-annoyed that the prince was right where he’d left him.
Prince Ian looked up and arched an eyebrow. “I promise you, the Duke needed to be told off. So if you’re coming to reprimand me for that, and I don’t know how you knew about it, you’re wasting your time.”
“What?” Tobias asked stupidly.
“Oh, good. Finished with your precious breakfast, Master Tobias?”
Tobias frowned, certain he was being mocked but not quite sure how. The dratted Prince was good at his game. And Tobias was fast forgetting he’d had thoughts of apologizing to the jerk.
“Speaking of people who need a tongue-lashing, you might take a look at these girls. They say men can be mean, but women are just plain cruel.” The Prince shook his head. “Though your charge seems to be holding her own.”
“What?” Tobias stormed to the window and leaned out, looking down into the garden below where Joanne and three other women were cloistered in a remote corner, clearly engaged in an unpleasant discussion. “I’m going—“
“Shouldn’t you leave them alone?”
Tobias glared murderously. “Don’t patronize me. Of course I wouldn’t interfere. Joanne doesn’t need me to fight her battles – but that doesn’t mean I won’t exact revenge in my own way.”
“And just how do you intend to do that” Ian asked, amused.
“Nothing that would interest a prince, however bored he may be.”
The dratted smirk never seemed to leave the Prince’s face. “Just what makes you think I’m bored?”
“Hiding in dark rooms? Wandering the halls instead of attending your brother’s parties? Mocking servants? If you’re not bored, Highness, then what are you?”
Ian pushed off the window sill he’d been leaning on, and stepped closer to Tobias, one hand cupping his face briefly before sliding slowly away as he continued on past. “Curious,” he called over his shoulder.
What the devil did that mean? Tobias glowered at a landscape painting, sensing he knew exactly what game was being played. It wouldn’t be the first time a bored noble thought it might be amusing to dally with the peculiar Princess Pea’s odd choice in servant. Men and women alike had sought him out in hopes of either gleaning more information about her family, confirming rumors that he slept with her, or simply to win his favor. Yet more evidence of Joanne’s beauty and prestige, something she never seemed to see.
No doubt he was being messed with by Ian to assure that Joanne was suitable enough for Aaron.
He wasn’t surprised to find the realization disappointed him. A fool couldn’t miss that, as strange as Prince Ian was known to be, he was at least as handsome as his brothers if not more so, with a rough edge his brothers lacked, probably gained from the traveling he’d done as a child. Prince Ian was infuriating with his mockery, and if he was that bad after two encounters, Tobias didn’t want to see what he would be like by the end of the week, but he still thought he wouldn’t have minded seeing if there was more than mockery to him.
Just as well such a thing wasn’t possible. Nothing but trouble ever came from dallying with someone above your station. His life was Joanne; there was no time or need for anything else.
“Your arm is bruised, Princes,” Aaron said with a frown. “I did not notice it before. Are you all right?”
Joanne smiled, though she wanted nothing more than to turn around and glare at the girls who had put the bruises there. “I’m fine, Prince. Thank you for asking. I merely bumped into something; my skin has always bruised easily.” Which was true, though normally not quite that easy.
Aaron pulled out her chair and saw that she was comfortably situated before he sat down next to her, the fair Lindsay on his other side. For the first half-hour, as the assembled worked there way through the soup, quiet chatter dominated the room. But slowly the conversations grew louder and more involved.
And, Joanne thought resignedly, more purposeful. She’d known where this was headed from the moment Lindsay and the others overheard the prince ask about her bruise.
“How did you come by that name, Princess Joanne? Pea seems a strange thing for a Princess to be called.” King Phillip asked the question from the head of the table, as her wretched nickname was used with increasing frequency by the surrounding girls and whatever men they had been able to coerce into their schemes. Besides her, Aaron frowned at her obvious unhappiness but Joanne could already read that he was deadly curious.
She set her fork down gingerly and took a slow sip of wine. “It’s rather a boring story, really, Majesty. I would hate to drag your lovely dinner down.”
“Nonsense. You are ever too modest, dear girl.
Oh, well. At least she wouldn’t have to live knowing she’d lost Aaron by falling in the pond or tripping on the dance floor. “My sisters, whom many here have met, are several years older than me. When I was little, I idolized them a great deal” Joanne smiled, though it took some effort. “I was always demanding, growing up, that they teach me how to be as perfect a princess as they. Though I didn’t mean to, I was often in their way, pestering them with the most absurd questions. Still, they did often stop everything to help with this dress or that lesson.” She didn’t bother to say that by help they made every effort to mock her or scold her until she finally gave up and went to think up another way to get her sister’s to so much as smile at her.
How many times had she heard her parents tell them ‘I’m so proud of you’ and ‘You look beautiful’ and “My perfect girl’ and scarcely a word for her. Well, it didn’t matter, not really. She knew it didn’t. Look how splendidly she was doing without them?
Telling her most humiliating story to her rivals, Aaron, and his family. Well, she’d known the good luck wouldn’t last forever. “Finally, when I was thirteen, they thought to tease me by giving me a ‘princess test’ and came up with all manner of silly little ways to tell if I was a true, perfect princess or not.
Joanne sipped her wine again, pointedly not looking at Aaron, but forcing herself to look everywhere else around the table, smiling as Tobi had taught her. The harder it is to smile, the more you must do it. “The final test was intended to determine if I was as truly delicate as a princess should be. They said it was a secret, and that they’d tell me if I passed in the morning. I spent the entire day trying to be delicate, though I wasn’t quite sure what that entailed.”
“When I woke up the next morning, they examined me all over for bruises and asked me how I’d slept. I told them I’d slept very well, and they said that meant I had failed the final test – then showed me how they’d put a single, dried pea under my mattress. If I’d felt it while I’d been asleep, that would have meant I was a true princess. But I didn’t, so I must start me lessons all over again.” Joanne was proud of herself for laughing as she finished the story. “As I said, Majesty, it’s a very boring story. I’ve never in my life slept on a hundred mattresses, not whatever other nonsense you must be bothered with constantly.”
King Phillip grinned, and Joanne wondered if every brother looked so boyish when they did so. “I wish my brothers had worked half so hard at being fine princes.”
“I seem to recall,” Aaron said tartly. “That you instigated the incident with the sheep.”
“All I did was suggest it, dear little brother.”
Aaron smiled pleasantly at his brother. “And do I need to bring up the incident with the Duchess of Foundry?”
“And what of the time you dumped that Baron in the pond, Phillip?” Ian drawled lazily from the far end of the table. “We had nothing to do with that.”
Phillip threw his head back and laughed. “Very well, brothers. I conceded defeat. We none of us would ever pass a test for determining perfect princes.”
“I should think perfection would be dreadfully boring anyway,” Ian replied.
Laughter erupted as the brothers continued to banter, drawing the conversation into various recountings of childhood misbehavior. Beneath the table, Joanne felt Aaron squeeze her hand gently, and she found it was much easier to smile after that.
She hummed quietly as she walked back to her room several hours later, a song that Tobias was forever humming or singing while he worked. One day she’d remember to ask him what it was called.
Turning the corner, she nearly fell over crashing into someone – but then familiar arms caught her, and Tobias was apologizing profusely. “What’s wrong?” she asked, looking at his disheveled hair and – Joanne’s eyes went wide. She laughed. “You were kissing someone!”
“Be quiet,” Tobias grumbled and half escorted, half dragged her back to her room.
Joanne laughed again once they were safely in her bedroom. “So who did you kiss? A handsome footman? Oooh, maybe a gardener?”
“I didn’t kiss anyone,” Tobias snapped.
Her laughter faded as Joanne realized he looked…panicked. “What’s wrong, Tobi?”
“Nothing,” Tobias said harshly.
Joanne rolled her eyes. “The way you’re acting, one would think you were caught in the King’s bedchamber.”
Tobias choked.
“You were not!” Joanne exclaimed, jaw dropping. “King Phillip?”
“No!” Tobias shouted, pacing frantically back and forth. “Ian! Prince Ian!”
Joanne blinked. “Oh. Well that explains why he’s forever asking about you. I figured he just found it amusing the way you’ll yell at anyone.”
“He’s been asking about me? What have you told him?”
“Nothing,” Joanne said, putting her hands on her hips. “Only that you will yell at everyone, and how I met you….” She made a face suddenly. “And he managed to get out of me how you became a tutor.”
Tobias groaned and sank down into a nearby chair, nearly missing it, barely saving himself from a tumble to the floor. “I wondered about that, the jerk. I wish he’d leave me alone.”
“This certainly explains why you’ve been so tense the past few days,” Joanne said as she began to remove her jewels and unpin her hair. “I might have plenty of reason to panic of my own, but I have noticed.”
“I know, sweet pea.” Tobias smiled at her. “It was nothing to trouble you with. I thought he’d get bored and find someone else to bother by now. Though I still suspect he’s playing me to learn all he can about you.”
Joanne shrugged. “It’s possible. King Phillip and his brothers are known to be protective of each other.” She grimaced. “That would be a pity though; Prince Ian seemed ever so much more gentlemanly than that.”
Tobias muttered something she couldn’t understand. Joanne snickered at the tone. “He is handsome.”
“He’s a prince,” Tobias said, a bit of misery slipping into his highly offended tone. “I’m the son of a disbarred barrister.”
Now to figure out how to redo it :( Wasted the whole damn day on it, only to have to concede defeat.Blah.
But thirteen pages sucks to discard (though I'll try to keep the first few) without ever seeing the light of day.
I actully scrap more stuff than you might think. Behold why:
Perfect
“Princess, you mustn’t fret so.” Tobias smiled and shook his head, then strode across the room to embrace the princess, kissing her brow and holding her until he felt some of the tension leak from her body.
“I can’t help it,” Joanne said fretfully, delicate auburn brows pulled down in worry and frustration. “I’m not half so pretty as Jeannette, I can’t dance a third so well as Annabelle and don’t even get me started on Lindsay. I’m hopeless, Tobi.”
“Honestly, pet. All you need to do is relax. You’re beautiful, you’re as graceful as a swan and Lindsay might be beautiful but she can’t converse about anything beyond dresses
Joanne wasn’t appeased. “More like a drunk goose. Complete with honking.” Her shoulders bunched together as she continued to worry herself to death.
Tobias sighed softly and hugged her again before stepping back to fix the carefully arranged tumble of dark auburn curls, tweaking the emerald tiara fastened just in front of them. “You are far too pretty to be compared to a goose, and I’ve danced with you many a time – you dance like a swan, I promise you.”
“Yes, with you. But you’re different, Tobi.”
“Well, then – just pretend you’re dancing with me and you’ll be fine.”
“I’ll try,” Joanne said. But her pink lips, turned down in a deep frown, made clear every unspoken worry running through her head.
Tobias sighed, but did push the issue. If he pushed too far, she would just worry all the more. Perhaps this weekend would give her the confidence he could not, as hard as he tried to convince her that she really was as beautiful and talented and capable as every other princess in attendance, and more besides.
And she was. From her auburn hair and pale skin, to the green eyes and bow-shaped pink lips. When she forgot to be nervous and was just herself, Princess Joanne was nothing less than breathtaking.
Unfortunately, she only forgot to be nervous when she was alone with her tutor – even her family turned the poor girl into tangled knot of frets and worries. Well, more like especially her family; which was s why he was glad they’d decided to leave her to travel here with only her tutor.
He’d see her happy by the end of the week if it was the last thing he did.
“Come on, sweet pea.” Tobias held out his hand. “I’ll walk you down stairs and tell you all the horrid things those other girls have already done. And just remember everything I’ve told.”
“Pretty is as pretty does.” Joanne nodded, smiling at him. “And one day we’ll all be ugly – it’s the one you can talk to that you should keep.”
“That’s my sweet pea. If these men can’t see that then they’re nothing but pretty faces and you needn’t have bothered with them after all.” Tobias places her hand in the crook of his arm as they stepped out into the hallway, leading her down the stairs and toward the grand ballroom. He held her card out to the man standing ready to announce the guests, then turned and kissed Joanne’s cheek swiftly. “Good luck, fair princess. Don’t forget – pretend you’re dancing with me, unless they’re cads in which case you should make most certain to trod upon their toes.” Ignoring the disapproving looks of the servants and a few inconsequential guests Tobias smiled once more at her and then turned sharply on his heel to go back to his own quarters.
Well, so Joanne thought anyway. But he’d scouted out a few good places to watch the ball from earlier while she’d been dressing. One of which was an empty room, a sort of balcony such as one might find in a theatre, the curtains drawn shut. The original purpose of it, he could only surmise. But it was empty and showed signs of long disuse, so Tobias felt little guilt in sliding inside and peeking through the curtains, seeking out and finding a young woman in a dark green dress. And the dress was beyond compare, the height of fashion and wholly original. He had seen to that. No other minx here would come close to his Joanne’s wardrobe. In that at least, her mind could rest easy.
“I thought this was my hideaway,” a voice as cool and smooth as the mint he put in his tea made Tobias jump high enough he thought it a wonder his head didn’t meet the ceiling. He turned, and then bowed in dismay. In the dimness of the curtained room, he couldn’t tell to whom he spoke – but it was clear the man was a noble. “I beg your pardon, Lord Stranger. I sought only to keep an eye on my charge.”
“You are the young man who accompanies the Princess Joanne.”
“Yes.”
“Tell me about your princess, then.”
Tobias frowned. “If you wish to know about Princess Joanne then ask her yourself. Though it is perhaps a good thing I know not your identity, for all I would tell her of you later is that I do not approve of a man who lurks in the dark and demands information like a brigand!”
The man chuckled. “You’re very protective. She must be quite a princess to inspire such devotion. I beg your pardon; of course I should meet her myself. Do feel free to stay here as long as you like.” And with that, the man departed.
Tobias nearly stopped him to demand his identity, but then thought better of it. He was probably better off not knowing to which noble he had spoken so rudely. Shoving the worry aside, for it was nothing he could resolve at moment, Tobias instead sought out Joanne. He smiled faintly, pleased to see she was chatting and laughing, rather than hiding in a corner, and he was probably the only one who could tell how nervous she was. It helped that Princess Henrietta, who had taken to the shy girl when they’d met last summer, was there to ease things.
He was still watching two hours later when Joanne and several other young women were introduced to the ever cheerful Prince Aaron, for whom the week’s festivities were being thrown, and his elder brother, the remote Prince Ian. Their eldest brother, Phillip, was king, and was hosting the festivities in the hopes that at least his youngest brother would finally settle down. The rumors were that he’d given up all hope on Ian.
Joanne, he saw with a proud smile, gracefully curtsied and managed to respond to something Prince Aaron said well enough that he laughed – in genuine amusement, not the cruel laughter Joanne had heard from more than one royal or noble for her painful awkwardness. Eventually the dancing began, and Tobias relaxed a bit – she would be clumsy at first, but he knew Joanne loved to dance despite her complaints, and as the introductions had gone well she was far less likely to be clumsy on the dance floor. He let his gaze wander a moment, watching where Prince Ian led another girl out onto the floor—
—And for a brief moment looked up, straight at him, the ghost of a smirk flitting across his mouth before he was once more politely smiling at the girl on his arm.
Tobias groaned and barely kept from banging his head against the nearest wall.
*~*~*~*
"So are you enjoying yourself so far, Princess Joanne?" Aaron asked congenially as they danced to a steady, simple rhythm that allowed the dancers to chat with ease, get to know each other.
"Of course, Highness." Joanne smiled back, hoping none of her anxiety showed. She refused to make a cake of herself, she just refused! Tobi had said she'd do splendidly...and she didn't want to go back to her family a complete failure again. She simply wouldn't be able to bear it. Her sisters would laugh for months. "It’s so beautiful here, far more mild than my home."
"Yes, the weather has always been our country's best feature. But I hear great things about your Snow Festival. All we ever get here in the winter is cold rain."
Joanne smiled again, relaxing just a bit. "Has your Highness never seen snow, then?"
"Never."
"That is unfortunate. Perhaps someday you can arrange a visit and my family will gladly escort you around the Snow Festival." She smiled sheepishly. “I enjoy the more mild weather I’ve encountered, but I miss the snow.”
"Have you been traveling long?" He spun her neatly in a twirl, then they began the steps anew. "Its said you travel with none but a manservant to accompany you. Does that not trouble your parents?"
Joanne shook her head. "My parents trust Tobias – my caretaker - implicitly. And they of course have matters of their own to which they must attend." She frowned briefly, but forced the expression from her face and assumed one of polite curiosity. "Do my travel arrangements bother you, Highness?" He wouldn't be the first to assume there was something wrong with her independence - it had taken Tobias months to convince her parents to let them travel on their own. She still couldn't quite believe he’d managed it.
"Of course not, forgive my giving that impression." Aaron smiled, looking very boyish. It made Joanne want to beam back, and she did, wishing her heart would slow down before it beat right out of her chest. Things were going so well, it was only a matter of time before she tripped or otherwise humiliated herself. "I am merely quite curious about the one they call Princess Pea. You don't seem frail or delicate at all."
And just like that her good mood vanished. "I see," she said, trying to be polite but knowing she failed utterly.
"And now I've gone and upset you. Forgive me, my brothers tell me all the time that I should learn to think before I speak. I meant no offense, truly." Aaron squeezed her hand where he held it for the dance, the one that came to rest on her waist also pressing softly, asking forgiveness. “It was simply that it seemed so silly to me, all the stuff they said. And seeing you clearly none of it is true, so I got carried away asking.”
Joanne looked at him, so startled and simply happy that she nearly missed the next dance step. “It’s all right. Tobi says I let them get to me to much.”
“Well, you shouldn’t.” Aaron grinned. “My brothers used to do wretched things to me, and they still like to say all the most awful things whenever there are pretty girls about. Just listen at dinner, I promise the story about me and the Duke of Chorr and the mud puddle will come up.”
Giggling, Joanne barely remembered to turn and spin in time. “Well it can’t be any worse than having King Fenwick hear all about how I sleep on a hundred mattresses to spare my fragile skin any discomfort.”
Aaron’s face fell dramatically. “You mean that one isn’t true? Here I was looking forward to asking how you managed to fit them all on your carriage.”
Joanne laughed again, even as they all bowed and clapped at the conclusion of the dance. Aaron kept hold of her hand, brushing the knuckles with his lips. “May I be presumptuous, Princess Pea?”
“Presumptuous?” Joanne asked, torn between hating the dreaded nickname and almost liking the way he said it.
“By staking a claim on two more dances? Perhaps a waltz and the last of the evening?”
Joanne just knew she must look as startled – indeed dumbfounded – as she felt. She fumbled briefly, fighting to recall her manners. “Of-of course, Highness.” She curtsied. “The honor would be mine.”
“Excellent. Now if you’ll pardon me, I’m afraid I must go be polite and attend the other ladies.”
“Of course, Highness.” Joanne lowered her eyes, itching to take her fan out and cool her burning cheeks. “Thank you for the dance.”
“The pleasure was mine, Princess Pea. I look forward to the next.” Aaron winked and bowed once more, then turned and vanished into the crowd to find the girl with whom he was to dance next.
Joanne stared after him a moment, then gathered her wits and snapped her fan open to cool her face. Oh, and wouldn’t that look simply marvelous. Drat her traitorous skin. Redheads shouldn’t have to endure turning so red in the face.
“Princess Joanne?”
She looked up, and blinked in surprise a few times. Was it the dress, that instead of being more or less ignored in an evening she was not only being asked to dance by Prince Aaron – with two more promised, oh she hoped he’d meant that – but also his brother now. “Highness,” Joanne said, realizing she was being rude. And there went her cheeks again, drat them.
“May I have this dance?”
“Of course, Highness. The honor is mine.” Joanne accepted the hand he held out and let him lead her into a minuet.
Prince Ian was tall and lanky, a stark contrast to his shorter, more compact brothers. And where they had blonde hair and hazel eyes, Ian’s hair was a light brown and his rougher features seemed at odds with his light blue eyes.
Aaron was far more handsome, but Joanne could see why so many of the other women fluttered about this one. The week-long festivities were for the youngest of the royal brothers, but more than a few of the eligible princesses were hoping to snare the elusive, mercurial middle brother.
“You’re quite beautiful, princess.” Ian said it matter-of-factly, as if pointing out something obvious. “My brother seemed quite taken with you.”
Joanne flushed, cursed the tendency again, and could not meet his eyes. “I am happy I did not bore him.”
Ian laughed. “So long as you do not discuss dresses, Aaron is usually quite happy.”
That would knock Lindsay neatly out of the way then, Joanne could not help but think. Then she immediately chastised herself for acting like one of her scheming sisters. Still, it was good to know she had that much more of a chance. Because suddenly she really did want a chance – and not just at finally marrying and being a proper princess for her age.
“So tell me how you’ve come to be allowed to travel with just a manservant – and how you came by him.”
Joanne fought back a frown. Why was everyone so obsessed over that? Honestly, if they had to deal with her family as she did they’d understand immediately. “It is easier on everyone if I travel independently. My family is quite busy.” As surprised as she’d been when they’d agreed, part of her had also wondered why it had taken so long. Next to her beautiful, golden, perfect sisters, who had done everything exactly as they should and married the perfect men and were working on perfect children…there really wasn’t much point in wasting time on a girl who’d been perfectly disastrous from the moment she was born with fire-red curls already on her head, even if they did mellow to auburn later.
“And how did you come by your manservant?”
Suddenly Joanne realized where this was going, and why. She bit her lip, but could see her mirth had not been successfully hidden. “I met him after he offended a noble back home. The man had been visiting, and Tobias was tutoring his son. When the son continued to ignore everything he said, and the father did nothing to discipline him, Tobias told them both off and was promptly fired. At the time, he’d been trying to teach him how to dance. I was struggling, and asked him for assistance.” She smiled at the memory. “Being yelled at didn’t bother me any, and my own dance instructor was forever dallying with a maid. My parents didn’t like it at first, but as I began to improve they ceased to complain. Tobi’s been with me ever since.” She finally laughed, unable to hold it back. “Did you stumble across Tobias and offend him? I heartily apologize, he always means well.”
A smile tugged at Ian’s mouth, though his pensive frown did not fade completely. “There is no need to apologize. I cannot fault a man who would so staunchly defend a woman in his care. I was merely curious and decided to indulge it. Thank you for humoring me, Princess.” He bowed over her hand as the dance ended. “And now I had best go, because Aaron is glaring at me something fierce. No doubt he suspects me of telling you stories about him.” Ian winked. “If your card is free later, we will dance again and then I will tell you stories about him. Enjoy the rest of your evening, Princess.”
“And you, Highness.” Joanne smiled. What had she done to deserve a night this splendid? They were so easy to talk to, such a nice change. “Thank you for the dance.”
“My pleasure.” Ian bowed again and vanished.
Then Aaron was at her side, leading her back to the floor as the strains of a waltz began to fill the ballroom. “What did my wretched brother say?” He glared briefly in the direction Ian had vanished.
Joanne started to say ‘nothing’ but some impulse stopped her, and she settled on a small smile, laughing when Aaron groaned and launched into how every last thing Wretched Ian had said about the fox was not true, and the incident with the Duchess was a huge misunderstanding…
*~*~*~*
“Everything is going to go horribly wrong today.”
Tobias smiled but didn’t say anything as he continued to fuss with the skirts of Joanne’s morning gown.
“I just know it. I’m going to fall right over and be arse-up in the pond.”
“Such language,” Tobias murmured. “Far too early for ‘arse’ sweet pea.”
Joanne rolled her eyes and tried not to smile. “Fine. I’m going to take a tumble headfirst into the pond.”
“Much better. And you won’t.” Tobias tweaked the front of the gown, adjusting the lace that made the neckline modest. “After last night, the only thing you need to worry about is finding yourself alone with Lindsay or Jeannette. They were positively seething after last night, according to morning gossip. I don’t doubt they’ve got in for you, sweet pea. So don’t stand too close to that pond – they’ll push you in.”
“Great,” Joanne muttered. “Are you certain this dress is all right?”
Tobias froze, then glared at her.
“I’m sorry! I panicked.” Joanne tangled her fingers together to keep from playing with her curls. “Of course it’s perfect. It’s just I know last night was a fluke, or he’s changed his mind, or they really will push me in the pond or—“
“Calm down, sweet pea.” Tobias pressed a finger to her lips. “You’ll be splendid, you know it. Why all this fretting?” He grinned and gave her a peck on the cheek. “I’m glad you’re so interested in him, and not just because it’ll make your parents positively ecstatic.”
Joanne flushed and looked at her hands. “He’s fun to talk to.”
“Wonderful,” Tobias beamed and shooed her gently toward the door. “Then go converse over breakfast in the garden, and remember to ignore all those other women – and don’t go near the pond!”
Shaking his head, smiling softly, Tobias set about tidying the room and then finished dressing himself.
Breakfast sounded like a good idea. All he’d had so far that morning was a quick piece of bread and some coffee before setting to the task of getting Joanne ready. Real food would be nice, and then perhaps he could relax a bit before Joanne had to change for the afternoon.
Humming softly, looking around at the bright, simple but elegant castle, so different from the austere castle at home, the opulent palaces so many other royals seemed to prefer. He paused to gaze out a window at the countryside, rolling hills and clusters of houses, mountains barely visible in the distance.
“The fierce protector,” a voice said from behind him. “Watching over your charge? Or looking for someone else to reprimand?”
Tobias stifled a groan but could not prevent a wince before he slowly turned around. And tried not to be distracted by the lanky prince, deadly attractive despite the smirk on his face. From a distance he’d been handsome; up close he was doing bad things to Tobias’s focus. “I’m sorry if my words offended your Highness.”
“But you’re not sorry you said them.”
Realizing he was being goaded, Tobias nevertheless rose to the bait. “No, I’m not. You were out of line.”
“Princess Joanne mentioned you had a tendency to lose your temper when offended.”
Tobias folded his arms across his chest. “I dislike seeing the Princess mistreated in any way. You were being rude.”
“Indeed,” the Prince replied. “What are you doing about now?”
“What?” Tobias said, thrown by the change in subject. “I was aiming to have breakfast,” he said, and couldn’t resist adding. “If that’s all right with your Highness.”
“And why would it bother me?” Prince Ian smiled, though there was still much of a smirk to it. “I would not want to know the tongue-lashing I would receive for daring to keep a man from his meal.”
Dropping his arms, Tobias tried valiantly to keep his mouth shut – and as usual failed. “No? You seem to be quite fond of them, at least if your manners are anything to judge by. Or were you taught that mocking a man is the best way to converse?”
Ian threw his head back and laughed. “I wonder, Master Tobias, is there anyone that offends you on purpose?”
“Only you, Highness, for I sense that is what you are about. But given your manners thus far, I find myself unsurprised.”
“I find that hard to believe. Surely there must be some fair miss back home who enjoy seeing you riled?”
Tobias drew himself up. He wasn’t much, but that didn’t mean he had to endure the mockery of a bored prince. “No, Highness, there isn’t. Now if you’ll excuse me, I would like breakfast. You are most certainly not worth missing a meal.”
The prince’s laughter chased him from the hallway, and all through breakfast Tobias reprimanded himself for letting his mouth possibly ruin everything for Joanne. Would he never learn to keep it shut? He was a servant, a tutor. No matter how obnoxious, he’d had no right to speak to the prince thus.
He’d have to find the man again and apologize. Curse it.
Dragging his feet, Tobias traveled back the way he’d gone and was half-relieved, half-annoyed that the prince was right where he’d left him.
Prince Ian looked up and arched an eyebrow. “I promise you, the Duke needed to be told off. So if you’re coming to reprimand me for that, and I don’t know how you knew about it, you’re wasting your time.”
“What?” Tobias asked stupidly.
“Oh, good. Finished with your precious breakfast, Master Tobias?”
Tobias frowned, certain he was being mocked but not quite sure how. The dratted Prince was good at his game. And Tobias was fast forgetting he’d had thoughts of apologizing to the jerk.
“Speaking of people who need a tongue-lashing, you might take a look at these girls. They say men can be mean, but women are just plain cruel.” The Prince shook his head. “Though your charge seems to be holding her own.”
“What?” Tobias stormed to the window and leaned out, looking down into the garden below where Joanne and three other women were cloistered in a remote corner, clearly engaged in an unpleasant discussion. “I’m going—“
“Shouldn’t you leave them alone?”
Tobias glared murderously. “Don’t patronize me. Of course I wouldn’t interfere. Joanne doesn’t need me to fight her battles – but that doesn’t mean I won’t exact revenge in my own way.”
“And just how do you intend to do that” Ian asked, amused.
“Nothing that would interest a prince, however bored he may be.”
The dratted smirk never seemed to leave the Prince’s face. “Just what makes you think I’m bored?”
“Hiding in dark rooms? Wandering the halls instead of attending your brother’s parties? Mocking servants? If you’re not bored, Highness, then what are you?”
Ian pushed off the window sill he’d been leaning on, and stepped closer to Tobias, one hand cupping his face briefly before sliding slowly away as he continued on past. “Curious,” he called over his shoulder.
What the devil did that mean? Tobias glowered at a landscape painting, sensing he knew exactly what game was being played. It wouldn’t be the first time a bored noble thought it might be amusing to dally with the peculiar Princess Pea’s odd choice in servant. Men and women alike had sought him out in hopes of either gleaning more information about her family, confirming rumors that he slept with her, or simply to win his favor. Yet more evidence of Joanne’s beauty and prestige, something she never seemed to see.
No doubt he was being messed with by Ian to assure that Joanne was suitable enough for Aaron.
He wasn’t surprised to find the realization disappointed him. A fool couldn’t miss that, as strange as Prince Ian was known to be, he was at least as handsome as his brothers if not more so, with a rough edge his brothers lacked, probably gained from the traveling he’d done as a child. Prince Ian was infuriating with his mockery, and if he was that bad after two encounters, Tobias didn’t want to see what he would be like by the end of the week, but he still thought he wouldn’t have minded seeing if there was more than mockery to him.
Just as well such a thing wasn’t possible. Nothing but trouble ever came from dallying with someone above your station. His life was Joanne; there was no time or need for anything else.
“Your arm is bruised, Princes,” Aaron said with a frown. “I did not notice it before. Are you all right?”
Joanne smiled, though she wanted nothing more than to turn around and glare at the girls who had put the bruises there. “I’m fine, Prince. Thank you for asking. I merely bumped into something; my skin has always bruised easily.” Which was true, though normally not quite that easy.
Aaron pulled out her chair and saw that she was comfortably situated before he sat down next to her, the fair Lindsay on his other side. For the first half-hour, as the assembled worked there way through the soup, quiet chatter dominated the room. But slowly the conversations grew louder and more involved.
And, Joanne thought resignedly, more purposeful. She’d known where this was headed from the moment Lindsay and the others overheard the prince ask about her bruise.
“How did you come by that name, Princess Joanne? Pea seems a strange thing for a Princess to be called.” King Phillip asked the question from the head of the table, as her wretched nickname was used with increasing frequency by the surrounding girls and whatever men they had been able to coerce into their schemes. Besides her, Aaron frowned at her obvious unhappiness but Joanne could already read that he was deadly curious.
She set her fork down gingerly and took a slow sip of wine. “It’s rather a boring story, really, Majesty. I would hate to drag your lovely dinner down.”
“Nonsense. You are ever too modest, dear girl.
Oh, well. At least she wouldn’t have to live knowing she’d lost Aaron by falling in the pond or tripping on the dance floor. “My sisters, whom many here have met, are several years older than me. When I was little, I idolized them a great deal” Joanne smiled, though it took some effort. “I was always demanding, growing up, that they teach me how to be as perfect a princess as they. Though I didn’t mean to, I was often in their way, pestering them with the most absurd questions. Still, they did often stop everything to help with this dress or that lesson.” She didn’t bother to say that by help they made every effort to mock her or scold her until she finally gave up and went to think up another way to get her sister’s to so much as smile at her.
How many times had she heard her parents tell them ‘I’m so proud of you’ and ‘You look beautiful’ and “My perfect girl’ and scarcely a word for her. Well, it didn’t matter, not really. She knew it didn’t. Look how splendidly she was doing without them?
Telling her most humiliating story to her rivals, Aaron, and his family. Well, she’d known the good luck wouldn’t last forever. “Finally, when I was thirteen, they thought to tease me by giving me a ‘princess test’ and came up with all manner of silly little ways to tell if I was a true, perfect princess or not.
Joanne sipped her wine again, pointedly not looking at Aaron, but forcing herself to look everywhere else around the table, smiling as Tobi had taught her. The harder it is to smile, the more you must do it. “The final test was intended to determine if I was as truly delicate as a princess should be. They said it was a secret, and that they’d tell me if I passed in the morning. I spent the entire day trying to be delicate, though I wasn’t quite sure what that entailed.”
“When I woke up the next morning, they examined me all over for bruises and asked me how I’d slept. I told them I’d slept very well, and they said that meant I had failed the final test – then showed me how they’d put a single, dried pea under my mattress. If I’d felt it while I’d been asleep, that would have meant I was a true princess. But I didn’t, so I must start me lessons all over again.” Joanne was proud of herself for laughing as she finished the story. “As I said, Majesty, it’s a very boring story. I’ve never in my life slept on a hundred mattresses, not whatever other nonsense you must be bothered with constantly.”
King Phillip grinned, and Joanne wondered if every brother looked so boyish when they did so. “I wish my brothers had worked half so hard at being fine princes.”
“I seem to recall,” Aaron said tartly. “That you instigated the incident with the sheep.”
“All I did was suggest it, dear little brother.”
Aaron smiled pleasantly at his brother. “And do I need to bring up the incident with the Duchess of Foundry?”
“And what of the time you dumped that Baron in the pond, Phillip?” Ian drawled lazily from the far end of the table. “We had nothing to do with that.”
Phillip threw his head back and laughed. “Very well, brothers. I conceded defeat. We none of us would ever pass a test for determining perfect princes.”
“I should think perfection would be dreadfully boring anyway,” Ian replied.
Laughter erupted as the brothers continued to banter, drawing the conversation into various recountings of childhood misbehavior. Beneath the table, Joanne felt Aaron squeeze her hand gently, and she found it was much easier to smile after that.
She hummed quietly as she walked back to her room several hours later, a song that Tobias was forever humming or singing while he worked. One day she’d remember to ask him what it was called.
Turning the corner, she nearly fell over crashing into someone – but then familiar arms caught her, and Tobias was apologizing profusely. “What’s wrong?” she asked, looking at his disheveled hair and – Joanne’s eyes went wide. She laughed. “You were kissing someone!”
“Be quiet,” Tobias grumbled and half escorted, half dragged her back to her room.
Joanne laughed again once they were safely in her bedroom. “So who did you kiss? A handsome footman? Oooh, maybe a gardener?”
“I didn’t kiss anyone,” Tobias snapped.
Her laughter faded as Joanne realized he looked…panicked. “What’s wrong, Tobi?”
“Nothing,” Tobias said harshly.
Joanne rolled her eyes. “The way you’re acting, one would think you were caught in the King’s bedchamber.”
Tobias choked.
“You were not!” Joanne exclaimed, jaw dropping. “King Phillip?”
“No!” Tobias shouted, pacing frantically back and forth. “Ian! Prince Ian!”
Joanne blinked. “Oh. Well that explains why he’s forever asking about you. I figured he just found it amusing the way you’ll yell at anyone.”
“He’s been asking about me? What have you told him?”
“Nothing,” Joanne said, putting her hands on her hips. “Only that you will yell at everyone, and how I met you….” She made a face suddenly. “And he managed to get out of me how you became a tutor.”
Tobias groaned and sank down into a nearby chair, nearly missing it, barely saving himself from a tumble to the floor. “I wondered about that, the jerk. I wish he’d leave me alone.”
“This certainly explains why you’ve been so tense the past few days,” Joanne said as she began to remove her jewels and unpin her hair. “I might have plenty of reason to panic of my own, but I have noticed.”
“I know, sweet pea.” Tobias smiled at her. “It was nothing to trouble you with. I thought he’d get bored and find someone else to bother by now. Though I still suspect he’s playing me to learn all he can about you.”
Joanne shrugged. “It’s possible. King Phillip and his brothers are known to be protective of each other.” She grimaced. “That would be a pity though; Prince Ian seemed ever so much more gentlemanly than that.”
Tobias muttered something she couldn’t understand. Joanne snickered at the tone. “He is handsome.”
“He’s a prince,” Tobias said, a bit of misery slipping into his highly offended tone. “I’m the son of a disbarred barrister.”
Now to figure out how to redo it :( Wasted the whole damn day on it, only to have to concede defeat.Blah.
