A/N: Another product of The Dancing
Dove (if you've never been there, please go and see what the fuss is all
about!). This was my submission to the f/f slash portion of the Bi-Annual Sick
F--- Faction Challenge.
Slaying Dragons
The two eight-year-old
girls were practically forgotten in the emperor's castle. Their small, elegant,
studying-room on the fourth level of the keep overlooked the courtyard, where
dozens of soldiers ran through their katas and tested each other's
endurance. The ladies were elsewhere: Kel wasn't remotely aware of what they
were doing, but she knew her mother was in the thick of things.
"Ne,
Yuki," she caught her companion's attention. "Are we allowed to learn
weapons other than the naginata?"
Yukimi nodded, crossing
over to the slatted windows where Kel had been standing for the last quarter of
an hour, patiently studying the warriors below. "The bow," she said
at last. "Would you like to try that tomorrow, after our lessons with
Nariko?"
"Yes," Kel
answered softly. Her exterior was calm—she had learned early on that yipping
with delight was a practice highly frowned upon in the
Yuki giggled and pulled
Kel away from the window. "You want to wear your hair in a topknot and
marry one of the emperor's ugly troll-daughters?"
The emperor was hardly a
kind man, and it was a trait that he has passed on to many of his children and
grandchildren. Despite being in his favor for three years, none of the younger
princesses would give Kel a nod in the corridor when she bowed respectfully to
them. And the most unfortunate aspect was that other noble-born girls followed
suit. Kel had very few friends, but she adored those that she had.
"I'd marry you
instead," Kel replied matter-of-factly, kneeling at the table where the
girls had been working on their calligraphy all morning.
Yuki's round face lit up.
"And how would you win my affection, Keladry?" she asked teasingly.
"I would offer
incense and prayers at every temple. And I would impress your mother with
beautiful poetry and dancing at the Autumn Festival. I would impress your
brothers with my warrior skills. And I would finally approach your father with
a bottle of warm sake and explain all the reasons our match would be
ideal. And when he agreed, I would sit with you every evening to listen to the
crickets and watch the fireflies."
Yuki laughed pleasantly
and dropped to the table beside Kel. "All of that is well and good, but
you didn't answer my question. How would you win my affection? My
affection and my hand in marriage are two different things, I hear."
Kel blinked, confused.
"What would you want a suitor to do?"
Yuki pondered in silence
for a moment, her face a mask of mock-seriousness. "He would have to
rescue me from a dragon, and fend off other suitors. And when that was
done—"
"But there are
no dragons!" Kel interrupted crossly.
Yuki looked at her with
alarm, and Kel instantly apologized for the unacceptable outburst of impatience
and frustration.
"Not literal
dragons," Yuki finally said, idly drawing the character for 'dragon' on a
piece of parchment. "I just want a suitor who will help me fight my
battles. Who will be the love of my life."
Kel nodded. "Fight
dragons, love-of-your-life. Yes. I could do that if I wanted to win your
affection."
Yuki set down her brush
and looked at Kel with a dry expression. "It's not a list of things to be
checked off," she said. "It should come naturally." A wicked
glint came to her eyes, and she picked up the small vial of ink.
She gracefully padded over
to the door, knelt, and slid it open. A young servant sat on the opposite side,
awaiting instructions from Yuki. Words were whispered in rapid Yamani, the door
slid shut, and Yuki looked at Kel pointedly.
"The Third Princess
Asako is your dragon, is she not?"
Kel felt her face flush.
Princess Asako had made it clear long ago that Kel was not to be treated well
in her presence, often whispering "gaijin"—foreigner—in a
disgusted tone whenever they were near one another. Though she was twelve years
old, she was Kel's size, only dainty and demure. But beneath all that quiet
beauty lurked a nasty dragon, with all the power of the niece of the emperor.
Yuki smiled playfully at
Kel as she untied her long hair. Like all Yamani girls, her hair had never been
cut, except for the shoulder-length locks that framed her face. Her long
tresses hung over her face as she tied her ribbon around the vial, but she made
no move to brush it aside. Kel could not see what her friend was doing.
Yuki stood, precariously
balancing the ink on a shelf next to the door; the ribbon was affixed to the
top of the door itself. She had opened the door just a tiny bit—hardly
noticeable to someone entering the room. But the ribbon was taut.
Kel could see how this
trap worked. When someone slid the door open, all would be fine. But as soon as
it was fully closed, the ink would fall and spill upon the person who stood
there.
"That's not fair,
Yuki," she said softly.
"Nor is it fair to
use your rank to bully those who are younger, or frightened, or poor, or gaijjin."
"Well, yes, but
still—"
Kel's meager protest was
interrupted by the sound of the door sliding open. But it was not Third Princess
Asako, the hateful girl who called the plump and pretty Yuki
"pumpkin", or who did her best to make Kel feel unwelcome. It was
Princess Chisakami, daughter of the Emperor's heir. She was wonderfully sweet,
and had always gotten along well with Kel whenever they were thrown together.
Yuki admired her greatly.
Yamani protocol was highly
structured, but incredibly simple at the same time. While the princess entered,
Yuki and Kel would have to give a very low bow. And of course, no Yamani woman
would enter a room without kneeling down and sliding the door closed behind
her. And as the princess was alone, there was no way to avoid disaster.
Yuki bowed low, her face
white with fear. Although she wore six layers of elaborate robes, Kel could see
that her friend's arms were shaking.
Only one thing could be
done, Kel realized. As much as she loathed feeling like an ignorant foreigner,
she had to protect Yuki.
"Come in, your
highness," she said just as Chisakami was kneeling to close the door. The
princess was completely unaware of the pale orange ribbon that hung, slack,
above her head.
Kel crossed the room and
took the princess's arm. She pulled her to her feet and yanked her toward the
table in the center of the room. "You must see my calligraphy," she
insisted, thrusting samples into Chisakami's delicate hands.
"These are… very
nice," Chisakami answered haltingly with a heavy accent. Her eyes were
wide as she studied Kel, undoubtedly startled at the girl's complete breech of
etiquette.
Yuki, meanwhile, darted over
to the door and removed the vial of ink, under the pretense of closing the
door. "Keladry has improved much," she said. "I wanted your
opinion."
They spoke for a few more
minutes, distant, but polite. The princess then left, and Yuki collapsed at the
table. "I told Fuuka to fetch the princess—I didn't know she was
here!"
Kel knelt beside her and
smiled. "So, did I save you from a dragon?"
Yuki laughed prettily.
"Yes—and the dragon was me!"
"So you would marry
me, if I'd been born a boy?"
"Maybe," Yuki smiled
playfully. "You'd still have to best the other suitors. But maybe I would
be like all the girls in the Tortallan stories, and I would grant the humble
knight a kiss from his fair lady." With those words, Yuki leaned toward
Kel and brushed her lips against the other girl's mouth.
Kel's hazel eyes widened
in surprise for the briefest of moments. Her composure regained, she smiled at
Yuki and said, "Of course, girls can be knights in Tortall, so
maybe I wouldn't even have to be a boy to rescue you."
The End.
A/N: While Tammy's depiction of the