Post by greenie on Jun 25, 2010 0:03:06 GMT 10
Title: A Little Royal Romance
Rating: PG-13
Length: 1700 words
Summary: The Goodwins' young daughter meets the future King Jonathan III after the events of Mastiff, and this leads to a lasting friendship, and more, between them.
Notes: This is split up into 7 sections, each exactly 200 words long except for the last one which is 500 because I got carried away. I've got their ages at the start of each section, and Jonathan is two years older than Little/Loretta.
Aged 5 and 3.
“It’s alright, your Highness, you can let go of Beka now.” Small hands clung tighter to Beka’s tunic, and Clary sighed. “Beka and Mattes and Sabine have to come with me, and you have to let go of Beka first. You can stay with my husband Tom, he’ll look after you.” She tugged the wailing boy free of Beka, and plopped him down on Tom’s lap. “We shouldn’t be too long, and then we’ll send for the palace guards.”
Little eyed the newcomer. “That’s my da you’re on,” she told him. “You can only borrow him for a little while.”
Tom chuckled. “You’ll see your own parents soon,” he reassured the young prince. “How about you two have a play together? Little has two dolls.”
The prince stuck his lip out. “Want Beka.”
“This doll is called Beka.” Little waved it in front of his face. “You can play with her and I’ll play with this one because she’s called Little like me. What’s your name?”
The prince took the doll and slid off Tom’s knee. “Jonafin, and when I grow up I’m going to be King Jonafin the Fird, and Uncle Gaweth said that means I’ll have fwee eyes.”
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Aged 8 and 6.
“Majesty,” said the nursemaid. “I swear, they were playing with the soldiers just a moment ago.”
Clary’s eyes widened as she saw the prince’s breeches around his ankles, and her daughter and the young princess frowning at his midsection.
Little glanced up and saw the expression on her mother’s face. “What? I’m just looking.” The queen burst out laughing and Little, encouraged, walked over to her. “There’s something wrong with him,” she said. “It’s like…like an ugly finger in the wrong place.”
Jessamine wiped tears of laughter from her eyes while Clary and the nursemaid stood horrified. “You’re precious,” she told Little. “All boys have those.”
“I told you so,” said Jonathan, and pulled his breeches up.
“Loretta, you shouldn’t have been…it’s improper,” managed Clary.
“It’s alright, Mama.” Little’s eyes were wide and earnest. “Jon said I’m going to grow peaches like yours one day, and then I’ll show him so it’s fair.”
Jonathan poked her. “Let’s play soldiers again.”
“They’re stupid.”
“You’re stupid.”
“You’re stupider.”
Jessamine smiled at the look on Clary’s face. “Don’t worry about it so much. Yes, he’s the prince, but they’re also just children. She doesn’t spoil him like others do, it does him good.”
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Aged 14 and 12.
“Stop it.” Jonathan glared at his friends while Loretta studied the ground. “We can hear what you’re saying. She’s my friend too, and I don’t care that she’s a commoner. She doesn’t smell, and her mother is a Sergeant, not a bitch, so stop it.”
The biggest of the boys crossed his arms. “If you don’t want to be our friend, that’s fine.”
“I’m not saying that,” said Jonathan hurriedly. “Just don’t insult Loretta.”
“She can’t like you much,” said the girl. “Or she’d have worn a nice dress instead of that ugly one.”
The prince gave up when he heard Loretta sniff, and instead drew her away from the others.
She wiped her eyes. “I wore my favourite dress.”
“I like it, it’s pretty,” he insisted. He shuffled his feet. “I’m sorry. I meant to come to the city alone, but they made me bring them. Now that we’re squires my real friends are away from Corus, and… Father says I mustn’t make enemies. You’ll have to meet Sabine’s niece Ingrid sometime, she’ll like you.”
“I’m not silly enough to cry about a dress. It was-“
“Everything else too. I know.”
Loretta nodded. “I want to go home, please.”
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Aged 17 and 15.
“I’m the prince, I can have whoever I want on my palace’s practice courts.”
“But…Dog fighting is different. I could break bones by accident.” She blushed. “I’m not very good at working out exactly how hard to hit yet.”
“If you hit me, I deserve it for being a bad swordsman.” He hit her gently with the flat of his practice sword.
Loretta carefully thumped him back with her baton, and they grinned at each other.
“Ready?”
“Ready.”
Fighting against a sword was different, and Jonathan was fast. She’d practiced against swords before though, and he wasn’t used to having to dodge grabs and kicks and trips as well as a weapon. Loretta thought she’d won when she tripped him, but he didn’t fall. Caught up in the moment, she followed through the move by knocking his sword out of the way and swinging her baton up under his jaw. Jonathan fell to the ground, unconscious.
“You just attacked the Crown Prince.”
Loretta whirled around, her eyes widening when she recognised one of his unfriendly yearmates.
“I didn’t, we were practicing! He’ll be fine in a moment, it’s just a nap tap. My mother-“
“Shut up.” The boy smirked. “Guards!”
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Aged 18 and 16.
“Congratulations, Highness,” Loretta said, and tried to act like she hadn’t been half-hiding behind Sabine and Mattes. He wrinkled his nose at the title but grinned, and she blushed. “I know I shouldn’t be here, I only meant to watch you get knighted, but Ingrid found me and said I had to stay at for a least some of the ball.”
He laughed. “And I know what she’s like when she sets her mind to something. Anyway, she was right.” He paused, frowning slightly, and then made up his mind. “Dance with me.”
Sabine grinned, Mattes whistled, and Loretta turned bright red. “I can’t,” she protested. “I shouldn’t even be here.”
“Listen.” He took her hands in his. “It’s my night, and I’ll dance with who I want.” Put like that it sounded fair, so she let him lead her onto the dance floor. It wasn’t long before she forgot her nerves, and began to notice Jonathan’s hand on her waist and the way that their bodies were pressed together. Dancing with Jonathan was nice, she decided. Really, really nice. So nice, in fact, that she didn’t even notice he’d danced her into a secluded corner until he kissed her.
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Aged 19 and 17.
“Do you remember, when we were really small, our mothers walked in on me and your sister looking at your gems?”
Jonathan laughed. “The look on your mother’s face! I think she thought my mother would have you killed.”
Loretta smiled. “And you made me promise that when I grew peaches, I’d show them to you.”
“Yes, but-“
“I’ve grown them, in case you hadn’t noticed.” He didn’t say anything, so she tried again. “Mama made me start wearing a pregnancy charm as soon as I got my monthlies.”
“You mean you want to…”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure? What about people talking?”
Loretta shrugged. “They probably say all sorts of things about me already. All I know is that I’m happy now, and I want to have nice memories for when I’m old and grey and telling my grandchildren about how I knew the king when I was young. But I wouldn’t tell them about tonight though.”
“You’ll know me then too,” Jonathan protested. He paused, and then closed his mouth and wrapped an arm around her instead. It would be better for them both if he didn’t say that he wished that her grandchildren could be his grandchildren too.
------------------------------------------
Aged 20 and 18.
Jessamine smoothed her black skirts. “Jonathan is king now, and arrangements must be made. Perhaps I’m sentimental, but I think that a happy king is better for Tortall than foreign alliances, and I want my son to be a better husband than his father.”
Clary shifted uncomfortably; anyone with ears knew that the late King Roger hadn’t been faithful to either of his wives.
“I think the best way to do that is to make sure that he marries the woman he loves. So,” Jessamine slid a stack of papers across the table, “ennoblement papers and the title to Irismere, a small fief not far from Corus.” Clary and Tom exchanged bewildered looks. “It’s not as though you haven’t earned it,” Jessamine added hurriedly. “You’re both fine citizens, and Clary, you’ve done so much for the Provost’s Guard.”
“Goddess.” Clary eyed her daughter. “You don’t look surprised.”
“They had to make sure I wanted to marry him.”
“And if we refused?”
“We wouldn’t-“ Tom began, but Clary shushed him.
Loretta looked at her feet. “Aunty Sabine would formally adopt me.” She saw her mother’s pursed lips and left Jonathan’s side to take her hand. “I don’t want to though, you’re my parents and I love you.” Her big blue eyes filled with tears, and Clary squeezed her hand.
“You don’t want to be a Dog, then?” asked Tom.
“I like it, but…I’m sorry, Mama, I’m not very good at it.” She blushed. “I still apologise sometimes when I hit people, and I want to marry Jonathan.”
“It means babies as soon as you’re married,” Clary pointed out. “You’re not pregnant already, are you?”
“If I said yes, would you be more likely to agree?”
“No, there are ways to get rid of it.”
“Mama!” Loretta sighed. “I’m not, and I’ve talked with Jessamine about being queen. Jonathan loves me and I love him.”
Clary’s gaze fixed on the young king. “How do I know that? How do I know you’ll always love her?”
“You don’t,” he replied, and frowned; it wasn’t a very convincing answer. “Except Loretta’s always been good for me and treated me like myself, and even after fifteen years I’m still a bit scared of her mother.”
Tomlan chuckled. “Love, surely that’s a good quality for your son-in-law.”
The corner of Clary’s mouth curled upwards. “I suppose so.”
“You’ve both been working a long time,” said Jessamine tactfully. “You’d be able to slow down without worrying about money.”
Tom laughed. “She’ll be going to the kennel until she’s too sick or feeble to drag herself there. She went into labour with Loretta there, she was supposed to be resting.”
Clary scowled as Loretta grinned. “It’s like Uncle Gershom refusing to give up Lord Provost.”
“Unless-“ Jessamine and Loretta exchanged a smile and then looked at Clary.
“Too much at once,” Clary protested.
“I don’t think they’d planned that part,” Jonathan reassured her.
Clary sighed and looked at her husband. “We’re signing the sarden things, then?”
Tom grinned.
Rating: PG-13
Length: 1700 words
Summary: The Goodwins' young daughter meets the future King Jonathan III after the events of Mastiff, and this leads to a lasting friendship, and more, between them.
Notes: This is split up into 7 sections, each exactly 200 words long except for the last one which is 500 because I got carried away. I've got their ages at the start of each section, and Jonathan is two years older than Little/Loretta.
Aged 5 and 3.
“It’s alright, your Highness, you can let go of Beka now.” Small hands clung tighter to Beka’s tunic, and Clary sighed. “Beka and Mattes and Sabine have to come with me, and you have to let go of Beka first. You can stay with my husband Tom, he’ll look after you.” She tugged the wailing boy free of Beka, and plopped him down on Tom’s lap. “We shouldn’t be too long, and then we’ll send for the palace guards.”
Little eyed the newcomer. “That’s my da you’re on,” she told him. “You can only borrow him for a little while.”
Tom chuckled. “You’ll see your own parents soon,” he reassured the young prince. “How about you two have a play together? Little has two dolls.”
The prince stuck his lip out. “Want Beka.”
“This doll is called Beka.” Little waved it in front of his face. “You can play with her and I’ll play with this one because she’s called Little like me. What’s your name?”
The prince took the doll and slid off Tom’s knee. “Jonafin, and when I grow up I’m going to be King Jonafin the Fird, and Uncle Gaweth said that means I’ll have fwee eyes.”
---------------------------------------
Aged 8 and 6.
“Majesty,” said the nursemaid. “I swear, they were playing with the soldiers just a moment ago.”
Clary’s eyes widened as she saw the prince’s breeches around his ankles, and her daughter and the young princess frowning at his midsection.
Little glanced up and saw the expression on her mother’s face. “What? I’m just looking.” The queen burst out laughing and Little, encouraged, walked over to her. “There’s something wrong with him,” she said. “It’s like…like an ugly finger in the wrong place.”
Jessamine wiped tears of laughter from her eyes while Clary and the nursemaid stood horrified. “You’re precious,” she told Little. “All boys have those.”
“I told you so,” said Jonathan, and pulled his breeches up.
“Loretta, you shouldn’t have been…it’s improper,” managed Clary.
“It’s alright, Mama.” Little’s eyes were wide and earnest. “Jon said I’m going to grow peaches like yours one day, and then I’ll show him so it’s fair.”
Jonathan poked her. “Let’s play soldiers again.”
“They’re stupid.”
“You’re stupid.”
“You’re stupider.”
Jessamine smiled at the look on Clary’s face. “Don’t worry about it so much. Yes, he’s the prince, but they’re also just children. She doesn’t spoil him like others do, it does him good.”
---------------------------------------
Aged 14 and 12.
“Stop it.” Jonathan glared at his friends while Loretta studied the ground. “We can hear what you’re saying. She’s my friend too, and I don’t care that she’s a commoner. She doesn’t smell, and her mother is a Sergeant, not a bitch, so stop it.”
The biggest of the boys crossed his arms. “If you don’t want to be our friend, that’s fine.”
“I’m not saying that,” said Jonathan hurriedly. “Just don’t insult Loretta.”
“She can’t like you much,” said the girl. “Or she’d have worn a nice dress instead of that ugly one.”
The prince gave up when he heard Loretta sniff, and instead drew her away from the others.
She wiped her eyes. “I wore my favourite dress.”
“I like it, it’s pretty,” he insisted. He shuffled his feet. “I’m sorry. I meant to come to the city alone, but they made me bring them. Now that we’re squires my real friends are away from Corus, and… Father says I mustn’t make enemies. You’ll have to meet Sabine’s niece Ingrid sometime, she’ll like you.”
“I’m not silly enough to cry about a dress. It was-“
“Everything else too. I know.”
Loretta nodded. “I want to go home, please.”
---------------------------------------
Aged 17 and 15.
“I’m the prince, I can have whoever I want on my palace’s practice courts.”
“But…Dog fighting is different. I could break bones by accident.” She blushed. “I’m not very good at working out exactly how hard to hit yet.”
“If you hit me, I deserve it for being a bad swordsman.” He hit her gently with the flat of his practice sword.
Loretta carefully thumped him back with her baton, and they grinned at each other.
“Ready?”
“Ready.”
Fighting against a sword was different, and Jonathan was fast. She’d practiced against swords before though, and he wasn’t used to having to dodge grabs and kicks and trips as well as a weapon. Loretta thought she’d won when she tripped him, but he didn’t fall. Caught up in the moment, she followed through the move by knocking his sword out of the way and swinging her baton up under his jaw. Jonathan fell to the ground, unconscious.
“You just attacked the Crown Prince.”
Loretta whirled around, her eyes widening when she recognised one of his unfriendly yearmates.
“I didn’t, we were practicing! He’ll be fine in a moment, it’s just a nap tap. My mother-“
“Shut up.” The boy smirked. “Guards!”
------------------------------------
Aged 18 and 16.
“Congratulations, Highness,” Loretta said, and tried to act like she hadn’t been half-hiding behind Sabine and Mattes. He wrinkled his nose at the title but grinned, and she blushed. “I know I shouldn’t be here, I only meant to watch you get knighted, but Ingrid found me and said I had to stay at for a least some of the ball.”
He laughed. “And I know what she’s like when she sets her mind to something. Anyway, she was right.” He paused, frowning slightly, and then made up his mind. “Dance with me.”
Sabine grinned, Mattes whistled, and Loretta turned bright red. “I can’t,” she protested. “I shouldn’t even be here.”
“Listen.” He took her hands in his. “It’s my night, and I’ll dance with who I want.” Put like that it sounded fair, so she let him lead her onto the dance floor. It wasn’t long before she forgot her nerves, and began to notice Jonathan’s hand on her waist and the way that their bodies were pressed together. Dancing with Jonathan was nice, she decided. Really, really nice. So nice, in fact, that she didn’t even notice he’d danced her into a secluded corner until he kissed her.
-------------------------------------------
Aged 19 and 17.
“Do you remember, when we were really small, our mothers walked in on me and your sister looking at your gems?”
Jonathan laughed. “The look on your mother’s face! I think she thought my mother would have you killed.”
Loretta smiled. “And you made me promise that when I grew peaches, I’d show them to you.”
“Yes, but-“
“I’ve grown them, in case you hadn’t noticed.” He didn’t say anything, so she tried again. “Mama made me start wearing a pregnancy charm as soon as I got my monthlies.”
“You mean you want to…”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure? What about people talking?”
Loretta shrugged. “They probably say all sorts of things about me already. All I know is that I’m happy now, and I want to have nice memories for when I’m old and grey and telling my grandchildren about how I knew the king when I was young. But I wouldn’t tell them about tonight though.”
“You’ll know me then too,” Jonathan protested. He paused, and then closed his mouth and wrapped an arm around her instead. It would be better for them both if he didn’t say that he wished that her grandchildren could be his grandchildren too.
------------------------------------------
Aged 20 and 18.
Jessamine smoothed her black skirts. “Jonathan is king now, and arrangements must be made. Perhaps I’m sentimental, but I think that a happy king is better for Tortall than foreign alliances, and I want my son to be a better husband than his father.”
Clary shifted uncomfortably; anyone with ears knew that the late King Roger hadn’t been faithful to either of his wives.
“I think the best way to do that is to make sure that he marries the woman he loves. So,” Jessamine slid a stack of papers across the table, “ennoblement papers and the title to Irismere, a small fief not far from Corus.” Clary and Tom exchanged bewildered looks. “It’s not as though you haven’t earned it,” Jessamine added hurriedly. “You’re both fine citizens, and Clary, you’ve done so much for the Provost’s Guard.”
“Goddess.” Clary eyed her daughter. “You don’t look surprised.”
“They had to make sure I wanted to marry him.”
“And if we refused?”
“We wouldn’t-“ Tom began, but Clary shushed him.
Loretta looked at her feet. “Aunty Sabine would formally adopt me.” She saw her mother’s pursed lips and left Jonathan’s side to take her hand. “I don’t want to though, you’re my parents and I love you.” Her big blue eyes filled with tears, and Clary squeezed her hand.
“You don’t want to be a Dog, then?” asked Tom.
“I like it, but…I’m sorry, Mama, I’m not very good at it.” She blushed. “I still apologise sometimes when I hit people, and I want to marry Jonathan.”
“It means babies as soon as you’re married,” Clary pointed out. “You’re not pregnant already, are you?”
“If I said yes, would you be more likely to agree?”
“No, there are ways to get rid of it.”
“Mama!” Loretta sighed. “I’m not, and I’ve talked with Jessamine about being queen. Jonathan loves me and I love him.”
Clary’s gaze fixed on the young king. “How do I know that? How do I know you’ll always love her?”
“You don’t,” he replied, and frowned; it wasn’t a very convincing answer. “Except Loretta’s always been good for me and treated me like myself, and even after fifteen years I’m still a bit scared of her mother.”
Tomlan chuckled. “Love, surely that’s a good quality for your son-in-law.”
The corner of Clary’s mouth curled upwards. “I suppose so.”
“You’ve both been working a long time,” said Jessamine tactfully. “You’d be able to slow down without worrying about money.”
Tom laughed. “She’ll be going to the kennel until she’s too sick or feeble to drag herself there. She went into labour with Loretta there, she was supposed to be resting.”
Clary scowled as Loretta grinned. “It’s like Uncle Gershom refusing to give up Lord Provost.”
“Unless-“ Jessamine and Loretta exchanged a smile and then looked at Clary.
“Too much at once,” Clary protested.
“I don’t think they’d planned that part,” Jonathan reassured her.
Clary sighed and looked at her husband. “We’re signing the sarden things, then?”
Tom grinned.