A/N- Thank you everyone for your reviews, I love you all. :) Sorry this one took a little longer, the next one will come quicker, promise.

A Princess’s Duty

VI

Love is Reckless

“Is something the matter Princess? You seem sort of jumpy tonight.” Nina’s maid Lyn knelt down to pick up the butterfly hairpiece her mistress had just dropped.

Nina looked up at her, a dazed look in her eyes. “Huh? Oh, yes, I’m just thinking is all.”

She took the hairpiece from Lyn and placed it on the dresser next to the mechanical insect she’d been given by Edmund.

It was evening, and Nina was preparing for bed. She’d managed to get back into the castle alright, pretending she was a page-boy come to deliver a message to Princess Nina. She’d knocked on her own door, mimicked herself calling out from inside, and went in to put on her more normal clothes. Her only worry was whether the guards would notice that the page-boy hadn’t returned, but it seemed they hadn’t.

At any rate, there were far more important things to think of now…

That kiss from Ryu had come from thin air, she hadn’t expected it at all. But at the same time, it was as though she’d known about it all along. It was all very confusing, and she wasn’t even sure what she was doing any more. Just thinking about what had happened after Ryu pulled back made her cringe. She’d become so nervous, so jumpy. She been unlike herself, her eyes darting round like a little bird’s, her cheeks flushing such a deep colour they bore a striking resemblance to the strawberry tart they’d had for dinner the day before. She’d made some excuse to why she had to go, and hurried away, not looking back.

Even remembering it made her feel shameful. Why had she acted like that? She was fine when he kissed her, in fact, she was more than fine. But afterwards… it had just fallen apart. She’d become confused and afraid, not knowing what to do. She’d hardly seemed like Nina at all. Who was this trembling little girl who’d replaced her?

She slipped on her nightdress, a white cotton thing reaching her ankles that had short sleeves that came half way down her upper arm. Waving Lyn away, she thought back to her first kiss. Ryu hadn’t had her first, but it had been a long time since then. She laid down on her bed, pulling the covers over her. When she was a little girl, shortly before she met Ryu for the first time she knew a boy called Jim. He was one of the ruffian children who ran around Wyndia yelling and screaming, pulling pranks on all the adults.

Every once in a while, when she found an opening, she’d sneak out of the castle to play with him and his friends, running about and jumping in muddy puddles, making her dress dirty and driving the laundry maids mad, who thought she’d been in the water gardens messing about again. Jim was a charismatic child who liked blowing ink through straws at the guards and dropping buckets of water on them from the battlements. Nina had been entranced.

One day she met him by the fountain alone, and, hiding her nervousness, she had jumped up and kissed him. He’d looked at her with wide eyes, wiped his mouth on his sleeve and said something along the lines of “Eww! You kissed me!” before running away to tell his friends, who were equally as shocked.

Three days after, two men came to the Citizen’s Council carrying a cage with a little blue-haired boy in it, and she’d forgotten about Jim completely.

Nina rolled over in her bed, shoving a hand underneath a cool pillow. She wondered what Ryu must be thinking after she left him like that. He must be thinking he’d made a mistake, or perhaps he was offended. After kissing someone back, it was quite insulting leaving them in such a hurry. It gave the wrong impression. Nina found herself feeling bad.

I’ll go see him, she thought. We need to speak about this, sort it all out.

But when should she go? She had duties and duties tomorrow and if she wasn’t careful Sheila would find another excuse to bar her from going outside again.

Now, she thought. I’ll go now.

Her mind made up, she got straight out of bed, pulled on a pair of nearby sandals and walked out onto the balcony, leaning out over it. The battlements were below, too far to jump. A thought came to her and she smiled widely, running back inside and pulling down the spare sheets from on top of the shelf. She shook them out with both hands, letting them tumble out of their tightly packed, neatly folded shapes. She took two and tied them together.

“I’ve always wanted to do this,” she said to herself, knotting the sheets again and pulling the ends tight.

A few sheets later and she was back standing out on the balcony, tying one end of her sheet-rope to the elaborately patterned railing.

Without a second thought she clambered over onto the other side, taking hold of the make-shift rope, and started to climb down.

It was a lot harder than she had expected, and a good deal less romantic than in fairy tales. She had to grip the sheets hard between her knees, and the wind kept blowing her round, so that she kept spinning. When she was half way down, a sweat on her brow, she realised that she hadn’t brought a coat, or even any normal clothes. She was climbing down to see Ryu in her nightdress!

Grimacing, she decided there was nothing she could do, (she certainly wasn’t climbing that again for unnecessary reasons) and she would just have to hope that Ryu would decide it was a normal dress.

She was a rather striking figure in the night, a woman hanging in mid air, her white dress billowing around her feet in the wind. If anyone would have looked up they would have most likely just rubbed their eyes and walked on, vowing that they really were going to give up on the liquor this time.

Nina reached the end of the knotted sheets with a little gap left till she reached the ground. It didn’t seem so high now, so, bracing herself, she let go, rolling onto the ground with a THUMP!

Winded, she raised herself up on her hands and knees, dusting off the dirt she’d collected from the ground. No one seemed to have seen her. Letting out a small “Phew!” she walked on down the battlements into the town proper. On her way there she passed a group of young women standing outside the open door of a house giggling.

“You’ll never believe what I saw earlier today!” one exclaimed.

“What’s that?” asked another.

“I saw…” she lowered her voice, “two guys kissing! There, over by the castle! They were both so handsome too, I almost died!” The women burst into a fit of giggles and Nina carried on her way, her eyebrows raised.

There were still lights on in the inn, and Nina stood outside the front door feeling much more nervous than she had leaping from the sheet-rope. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.

A round woman, also in her nightgown opened it. Her half-closed eyelids and general sleepy expression vanished in an instant. “Pr-Princess!” she stuttered.

Nina thought something along the lines of ‘Oh crap’.

“Goodness Princess, what- what do I owe this honour?” The woman looked positively stunned, though a peculiar look crossed her eyes as she noticed what Nina was wearing.

“Uh- good evening,” said Nina, inventing quickly. “I am on urgent business from the castle. It has come to light that heinous criminal is staying in Wyndia, and we have reason to believe that he is lodging here.”

The Innkeeper’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates. “A- a criminal!” she whispered hoarsely, “here? Oh my goodness, oh my goodness! Whatever has he done to have you, our own princess, come to get him in the dead of the night?! It must be terribly, terribly bad! Are you quite sure you’re safe Princess? Shouldn’t you have some of the guards with you?” She had become terribly flustered by this point, her cheeks pale with fright and hands clutched to her chest.

“He’s a murderer,” said Nina, and she regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. The Innkeeper looked positively faint.

“Oh my! Surely- surely not here, not in my inn?” she cried. Nina patted the woman comfortingly on the back, feeling very guilty.

“No need to fear, we’ll have him removed and thrown in the dungeons in just a moment. I have some backup stationed just round the corner if I need back-up. Now… listen closely. Is there a young man staying here, about twenty years old, with blue hair?”

A great change in expression came upon the Innkeeper’s face and she looked relieved, albeit a little sheepish. “Oh, he’s gone,” she said, and a weight fell on Nina’s chest like a stone. He couldn’t have left because of how she reacted earlier, could he? But the Innkeeper continued, “He was causing a lot of trouble here today and I threw him out. If I’d known he was a murderer… oh my goodness, I can barely believe it!”

“What did you throw him out for?” asked Nina, not annoyed, just relieved that he hadn’t left on his own accord.

“He’d been causing trouble all week, but I caught him turning an antique wardrobe into a scabbard today and trying to hid the evidence, and that was the final straw…” She seemed to have calmed down now, since she knew that this ‘murderer’ was no longer in the building. “I knew he was a rotten one as soon as I met him! Cheating at card games! Swimming naked in the fountain a few nights ago! Making those awful noises in the dark! Yes, I should have known exactly what he was long ago! I’m sorry we let him go Princess, but I expect you’ll catch him soon. I hope you will.”

“Do you know which way he went?” asked Nina.

“I saw him walking towards the gates; I guess he’s left Wyndia by now.”

“Left Wyndia!” she gasped before she could stop herself. “When was this?”

“A few hours ago, but I wouldn’t-”

“Thank you!” Nina span around and made for the gate, sprinting down the stairs, jumping three at a time.

This is my entire fault, she thought. He got kicked out of the inn and left because he thinks I don’t want him here! I have to catch up with him!

She ran towards the gate as fast as she could, hoping that if she went fast enough she wouldn’t be recognised. She zoomed through the gate, rushing out onto the road outside, where, once she was out of sight of the gate, she slowly ground to a halt. It was completely quiet out, completely silent. The moon was full and bright, illuminating the path and casting shadows from the long grass and shrubs that danced in the soft breeze. There was no cloud cover and the stars twinkled from every direction. The loudest noise was Nina’s heart beating furiously in her ribcage. She looked about her for any sign or Ryu, but the road was empty.

A feeling of panic growing in her, she began to run. Her sandals clattered over the stone path, echoing out into the night, and she tossed her hair back out of her eyes, running and running.

She didn’t know how long she went for, nor what time it was then. She just kept on going, hoping beyond hope that Ryu hadn’t gotten far.

Suddenly, abruptly, irreversibly, there were tears welling in her eyes, the first tears she’d seen in years. And they were over Ryu. They gathered in the corners of her eyes, before swimming over her eyelashes and running down her face into the wind. What did they mean?

It was in this moment, running down the starlit road, with her cheeks wet and her soft feet sore and cut from her sandal straps that Nina realised just how much Ryu meant to her, how irreplaceable he was. How he had always occupied a place in her heart- a part that was now being torn to pieces.

Somehow, she had fallen in love with him.

She stopped; one of her feet poised half in the air, the ball of it still touching the ground. Very slowly, she lowered it.

Yes, she realised, she was in love with Ryu. She didn’t know how it had happened- it almost seemed to have come out of nowhere, like a snake inching its way forward through the grass, it’s prey unknowing to the very instant that it hangs off your arm, fangs in your vein. But the devious snake had been hiding in that grass for a long time. Nina had missed Ryu terribly, for weeks, after he left to set out on his explorations. She’d wanted more than anything to go with him, but her duties, as always, got in the way. There was no doubt what it all meant now…

Even in the stupor she’d fallen into, Nina picked up the slight scent of smoke that hung in the changing breeze. Feeling her sore feet more than ever, she looked to where it was coming from. A small way into the long grass there was a clearing, and inside that someone had pitched a tent. Beside that was a warm fire, and beside that was the fire-starter. It, of course, was Ryu.

Giving a weak smile at the irony of it all, Nina trudged through the grass towards him. He was sitting by the flames contemplatively, knees up, elbows resting on them. When he heard the crunching noise of someone approaching he raised his head, instinctively moving his hand to the sword which lay beside him.

Nina, in her dirty dress, with her scuffed cut feet, her messy hair and tear marked face approached the fire. She stopped and smiled a little, her head tilted ever so slightly to one side. “Hey,” she said dimly.

“Hey,” replied Ryu, looking very surprised. He put his legs down and turned to face her. “Are… you alright Nina? You don’t look so great.” His eyes lingered on her wet face, almost in disbelief.

“I thought you had gone,” whispered Nina, looking down at the earth. “I thought I made you leave.”

A silence stretched between them.

“Come sit by the fire,” Ryu said at last, caring in every syllable. “You look cold.”

Nina came forward gratefully and sat down beside him, rubbing her hands together and feeling the warmth from the flames on her skin already.

“So… what happened?” Ryu asked. “How did you know I was here?”

“The Innkeeper told me,” said Nina, then she paused. “Why did you kiss me earlier?”

Ryu shrugged noncommitantly, scratching the back of his head. “It just seemed like the right thing to do, I guess,” he said, and he grinned, looking like a person who’d just said ‘check mate’ in a game of chess. “Why did you run off?”

“It… well, it just seemed like the right thing to do!” The corner of her mouth twitched. She brushed some straggly strands of hair back behind her ears. “But I think perhaps, now, that maybe it wasn’t.”

Ryu leaned closer to her. “Oh, really? Do tell me more,” he gave her a cheeky knowing look.

She hit him harmlessly about the head with her open hand. “Be serious Ryu. You’re ridiculous sometimes.”

He leaned back, a smile still playing on his lips. “Yeah, perhaps. But you’re still about to tell me that you liked that kiss.”

She opened her mouth to make a retort, but stopped, and blew out a bit of air from between her lips, threads of loose hair fluttering forward. “Touché,” she said.

Slowly, casually, he moved forward, bringing his face closer to Nina’s. Their noses were almost touching. “Would you like another one then?” he said, in a serious whisper, though it still retained an almost teasing quality about it.

Nina moved her head to the side, eyes flashing. “What about you, little boy?” she said. “Do you want a kiss?”

“I’d love one.” His fingers strayed up to her hair, where he ran them gently through it, sending tingles all the way down her spine.

This time, she kissed him.

It was slow but intense, full of far more feeling than before. Ryu clasped a hand around Nina’s waist and carefully drew her up close to him, so that their fire-warmed bodies were touching, while Nina threw her arms around his neck, putting everything she felt into the kiss. There were no secrets between them now. After some time, they drew back, Nina fixing him with a long loving look, before throwing herself into his arms and lying there, content, as Ryu stroked her soft but messy hair.

A feeling of great peace came upon her; there were no duties to worry about, no mother to avoid, no suitors in sight. She need not say anything to Ryu right now, the time for speaking would come later. For now, she was happy simply to exist with him. He threw a long blue blanket over them and they exchanged one last look of contentment, before falling together into a dreamless sleep, the fire dying away into ash.