cass + niichaad + candidates + hatching + weyrlings + adults
beach shards weyr + quinalt weyr
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"Prince Cass, you open this door this instant!" Caeidi, Cass' mother's dresser, currently assigned to dress him up for his audience with Princess Nalerah, bellowed. "The princess will be arriving any moment and I'll be damned if I'll let you show yourself with so much as a hair out of place!" Cass rested his elbows on the diamond counter and raked his hands through his hair. This made the sixth princess who had "come on business" this week and he was getting tired of painting on smiles and pretending he didn't notice that Kings kept sending their most beautiful daughters to discuss trade or border disputes. "Prince Cass, I don't have time for this!" Caeidi pleaded. He could picture the woman ringing her beringed hands at the thought that her masterpiece might not be ready for presentation on time. "Maybe I don't have time for this either," Cass shot back. "I thought I was supposed to be learning how to rule a kingdom, not entertaining women!" "You are learning how to run a kingdom, quit your sulking! Most men would kill to even discuss business with such beautiful women," Caeidi scolded. "Now get your royal ass out here!" Giving up, Cass opened the door. "Respectful as always." "You hardly command it, even if I hadn't known you since you were a baby," Caeidi grumbled, eyes judging his job at dressing himself. "Well, you'll do," she announced finally, giving his shirt a final tug. "And loving too," Cass drawled. Personally, he thought his outfit overdid it quite a bit. Black boots were a harsh contrast with a white shirt and leggings. A dark brown vest completed the outfit. He supposed all the white was to flaunt his tan and blond looks, but he found it overdone. But princes weren't supposed to think about their clothes, Cass chided himself. They were to worry over politics and princesses; they had dressers to make decisions about their looks for them. "It's not my job to stroke your ego," snapped Caeidi, giving Cass a shove towards the door. "It's my job to make you look presentable. Hurry, you're going to be late!" Cass began to tell her it was noone's job but his own to make him look presentable, and he did a much better job of it, but then decided it wasn't worth the time to argue with the woman. He muttered a thank you and brushed past the dresser out into the hall. The room used for recieving royal guests was just down the hall, but between his room and the one he was headed to, he painted on a smile and slipped into a princely personality as easily as he had slipped into his clothes. Charming, witty, dignified, everything a prince should be. Everything people were supposed to see when they looked at Prince Cass. The moment he nodded to the page to open the door, everything that was Cass the nineteen year old man dissolved, replaced by the ideal personality of Cass the Prince, heir to Iliarak. "Ah, the prince finally graces us with his presence," Teiris, the ambassador from Princess Nalerah's kingdom, Tiid, said, flashing a smile as fake as the one Cass was wearing. "Prince Cass, this is Princess Nalerah." Cass automatically took the princess' slender hand and lifted it to his lips. "It's a pleasure to meet you, your grace," he told her with a charming smile. Luxuriously long-lashed dark brown eyes met his for a moment and then looked away as a blush tinged Nalerah's dark skin at Cass' "charm". "Likewise," she returned with a smile calculated to be sweet and alluring at the same time as surely as Cass' was calculated to be charming. Cass pretended not to notice. "Unfortunately, it is not with any pleasure that Teiris I have come to speak with you, your grace," the princess began, all flirting abandoned as she prepared to discuss business. "It seems not all the witches were relocated last year. A small village has been discovered. It is in Eligo Forest, half in your kingdom, half in mine. As such, we would like to request your forces in assisting in their relocation to Diesenfir." Cass conciously restrained himself from clenching his jaw. His father knew he had opposed the relocation of the witches. Why, even if he hoped Cass would be distracted by Princess Nalerah, had he picked this of all things for him to discuss with her? "Well you know my father and I will support your kingdom's decision fully," Cass lied. "How many of our men will you require?" "At least a hundred soldiers, trained in defense against the witches' spells, if possible," Princess Nalerah replied. "My father is aware of how great a request this is, but because King Reith and my father agree so completely on this issue, he hopes you and your father will support him." Cass nodded. "Your father will have the support of my father and I. I cannot promise that many soldiers, but certainly as many as we can will be provided." "Thank you, your grace," Nalerah said. "When will King Reith be able to send the soldiers?" "As soon as he knows how many he can send," Cass assured her. "We will send word when we have a rough idea." "Thank you again, Prince Cass," Nalerah thanked him with what was Cass guessed was supposed to be a dazzling smile. "I hope to hear from you and your father soon." "The Princess and I will be staying for dinner," the ambassador added after bows and good-byes had been exchanged. "We both look forward to seeing you there." Cass smiled at Nalerah. "As I you." She blushed again and made a point of brushing against Cass as she left. Cass didn't feel the slightest bit attracted to her. Only a bit of pity that she was throwing herself at a man who, for all she knew, could be a horrible person behind the princely mask. He could beat her, he could yell at her, he could force her to have children until she died. But she didn't think of any of that. She only thought of the prince presented to her. How sad. How pathetic. "I'll take my dinner in my rooms," Cass told the page as he swept out of the room, footsteps echoing on the stone floor of the hall as he strode back to his rooms. Some time later, a knock awoke Cass. He wasn't even aware that he'd dozed off, but he awoke to find himself on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. "Unless you're carrying my dinner, please don't come in." The door opened and Cass heard whoever it was cross his reception room and then a cheerful looking young man about his age appeared in the doorway. "Your grace?" the man asked, holding up a platter. "Your meal is here." Cass propped himself up on one elbow. "Thank you. You can set it on the table by the bed." The man obeyed and prepared to leave. "Enjoy your meal, your grace. Would you like some wine sent up?" "Yes, thank you, wine would be wonderful," Cass replied. "But wait, don't leave just yet. Sit down." All the color rushed out of the young man's face. "Sit down, your grace?" "Don't worry, you're not in trouble," Cass assured him. "I just... I need someone to talk to." "Would you like me to have Princess Likeri sent for?" the man asked hopefully. "No, I'm tired of princesses," Cass told him. "I'd like to talk to someone... real. Just have a seat on the bed... what's you're name, by the way?" "Niichaad, your grace," Niichaad said, nervously perching on the end of the bed. He tried not to show how scared he was, but what lowly kitchen servant wouldn't worry at being asked to sit and talk with a prince? "Please stop calling me that," Cass told him. "Everyone but my family calls me that. I know it's out of respect, but I'm sick of it. Please, call me Cass." "Yes, you- I mean, Cass," Niichaad caught himself. Cass smiled. "Thanks. I know this must seem weird of me, asking a servant to call me by my name and talk to me. But I need someone to talk to who isn't so interested in seeing me married to some damn princess or another." Niichaad smiled tentatively back. "We all need someone to talk to who's above and beyond, or in my case, below, our problems." "I just... I feel like all these princesses see is a prince. They don't see me, Cass. They just see the ideal prince, the kind they've been told they need to find and marry to be happy. I know this sounds stupid, but I just want someone who loves me for being Cass, not for being a prince." "Isn't that what we all want?" Niichaad asked. "I mean, for a servant like me, you don't get women throwing themselves at you because you're a servant. It's almost the opposite. It wouldn't matter if I were as handsome as... well as you, for instance. No woman who wasn't a servant would touch me. But that's not love, that's lust. When you find love, rank won't matter, looks won't even matter." There was an awkward silence. Both men felt it. Without quite knowing what he was doing or why he was doing it, Cass leaned in to kiss Niichaad. Niichaad hesitated at first but then, not sure what else to do, he responded warmly. Had they not been on a bed, it might not have gone any further than that. But being on a bed made it easier for both to get caught up in the moment. Neither was sure what they were doing, but both knew it was right. Cass and Niichaad were too absorbed in what they were doing to hear a knock on the door. They were oblivious to the footsteps in the reception room. They had no idea Princess Nalerah was even there until she screamed. Cass made an unsucessful attempt to cover Niichaad up with the cover. "P-Princess Nalerah!" he exclaimed. Nalerah's eyes flashed anger and jealousy. "With a servant!" she exclaimed, sounding as though she were holding back tears. "Princess, let me explain!" Cass begged, trying to arrange the sheets to cover himself up without dumping terrified Niichaad off the bed. He wasn't exactly sure what he thought he would explain. Had it not been happening to him, it might have been funny. "There's nothing to explain," the princess snapped and, with a whirl of raven-black hair, ran from the doorway. The slam of the door announced her departure. "Oh, damn," Cass breathed. Niichaad put a hand on Cass' arm. "I'm sorry, I... should never have kissed you." Cass grinned, pulled Niichaad to him, and kissed him soundly. "Don't be sorry," Cass told him. "There is nothing to be sorry about." "Well at least I'm scared," Niichaad told him, leaning his head against Cass and closing his eyes. "That Princess Nalerah looked ready to kill me." "You don't need to be scared," Cass assured him. "And don't worry about Nalerah. She barely knows me. Just lusts after Prince Cass." Niichaad looked up at him. "You barely know me." "Ah, but I think this is love, not lust," Cass told him with a grin. "You could care less if I'm a prince." Niichaad smiled sadly. "I almost wish you weren't." "So do I," Cass admitted. |
