Post by Rachy on Oct 21, 2009 17:25:00 GMT 10
Title: The Crow Prince
Rating (and Warnings): PG, *possible spoilers for quasi-canon*
Fairytale/Nursery Rhyme adapted: The Frog Prince
Word Count: 972 words
Summary: Follows the Frog Prince, except Dove is less selfish and the crow more annoying. Dove loses a precious necklace, and the crow finds it. The crow then asks to live in her palace, eat off her plate and sleep in her bed for one night. Dove/Ferdy.
Notes: It’s a little bit weak, and not really IC. And it doesn't do Dove/Ferdy justice.
...
“Your majesty?”
At the sound of the voice, Dove looked up from her desk with a smile. Her fingers returned subconsciously to Sarai’s necklace, cleaned from crow saliva and sitting perfectly around her neck. Boulaj stood at the door, a look of confusion clear on her face.
“Yes, Boulaj?”
“There’s a crow demanding to see you. Aly’s looked at it, and she says it’s a crow, and that it’s not Kyprioth. But she said something about it not being a crow either.” Boulaj looked more confused as she repeated Aly’s words, before adding apologetically, “She’s not very lucid at the moment. She’s still recovering from Junim and Ulasu’s latest prank.”
Dove’s forehead wrinkled. She’d been so happy to have the necklace back, safe, that she’d forgotten about the deal she had made. To have the crow within the palace, to feed it, and to let it sleep in her bed. They were her cousins, yes. But this was not one of her cousinly crows. They didn’t speak, and they all wore necklaces. And her cousins had the right to become human, and they wouldn’t insist of being treated like one, as this one did.
“Tell Chenaol that I’ll have my supper in my private suite, with just the crow in attendance. No one else, and I don’t want to be disturbed for the rest of the evening.”
Boulaj appeared even more confused, but murmured her agreement.
….
Dove made her way to her suite, greeting everyone she passed. Ochobai, Junim and Ulasu, all chased after by Nawat, footmen, Isalena, Vereyu. The influx of familiar faces made her wonder again where Ferdy was. She hadn’t asked Aly to look around, fearing it would bring that look in Aly’s eye, as it had in Winna’s when she’d very casually mentioned it, but she knew how overworked Aly was. She smiled at the footmen outside her suite, and walked in, steeling herself for the inevitable. Food already sat on silver platters in the dining suite, and the crow already sat in the chair opposite hers.
“It’s a fine suite you have here. That bed is extremely comfortable.” The crow drawled, giving her as much of a smile as a crow could pull off. Dove smiled politely in reply. There was nothing else she could have done.
“What would you wish to eat? Chenaol has cooked –“ She asked politely.
“Everything. Bit of everything.” Dove’s courtier smile returned. She pressed her teeth deep into her cheek, and picked up a dish of chillied prawns.
…
Four hours later, Dove followed the crow into her bedchamber. She grabbed her nightgown while the crow hopped across her bedsheets, before settling itself on her pillow. Dove’s fingers clenched around the soft silk within her hands, before she walked behind the dressing screen and changed, trying to ignore the crow-like hums of content coming from her bed. She silently fumed as she walked out, to see that the crow had not moved from the pillow she slept on, from the mass that sat on her bed. She sat next to it, glaring at the glossy black feathers and dirty claws, picking threads out of the delicate embroidery.
“This won’t work. This is my side of the bed. You can sleep on the other side, on that whole mass of pillows.”
“I like this side. It’s comfortable. You said you’d give me whatever I wanted. This is it.”
“Please. It’s just this is the side I always sleep on. It’s my place.” She waited for a reaction. It didn’t come. If anything, the crow snuggled deeper into the pillow.
“That’s a warning. Move. I said you could sleep on my bed. That does not mean in my side of the bed! That’s a royal order.” She said, icily and fast becoming frustrated.
She glared at the crow, eyes shut and feathers slightly ruffled. She waited several more seconds, before grabbing the pillow and violently flicking it, throwing the crow into the wall. It hit the wall with a sickening thud, several feathers drifting to the floor, before it fell, unmoving. She stared at the spot of stone where it struck, imagining the stain of blood, before cautiously moving around the bed. The crow was as tightly curled as a ball-like statue, and Dove could not tell whether it was breathing. She realised she easily could have killed a defenceless animal, and shivered. Her hands reached out to the crow, and she picked it up. She ran a soft hand over it’s head, and gasped as it moved out of her grasp, falling onto the floor in a shimmering heap. Dove, hand over her mouth, retreated to her bed, and stared at the shimmering heap as it shifted and moved, before a bright light emerged, and a gasping and spluttering Count Ferdolin of Tomang sat on her bedchamber floor, wearing nothing but a scant and dirty loincloth. Dove clung to the bedpost in shock.
“You know, that’s a horrible way to get someone to move. You could have been so much more persuasive, Dove.” He yawned, before grinning up at her. “You know, for a patron god, and a trickster and all that, Kyprioth has a really strange sense of humour. Apparently this was his next biggest trick since something I lost track of.”
“So all this time I didn’t know where you were, you were a crow eating my food and sleeping on my side of the bed?” Dove sunk into the cushions.
“You fed me chilli. You know how much I hate chilli.”
“I thought you were a deformed crow!”
Ferdy grinned, before grabbing one of her coats and wrapping it around his shoulders, sitting next to her on the bed. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it.
“Kyprioth also said something about wedding bells. I missed that bit, too.”
Rating (and Warnings): PG, *possible spoilers for quasi-canon*
Fairytale/Nursery Rhyme adapted: The Frog Prince
Word Count: 972 words
Summary: Follows the Frog Prince, except Dove is less selfish and the crow more annoying. Dove loses a precious necklace, and the crow finds it. The crow then asks to live in her palace, eat off her plate and sleep in her bed for one night. Dove/Ferdy.
Notes: It’s a little bit weak, and not really IC. And it doesn't do Dove/Ferdy justice.
...
“Your majesty?”
At the sound of the voice, Dove looked up from her desk with a smile. Her fingers returned subconsciously to Sarai’s necklace, cleaned from crow saliva and sitting perfectly around her neck. Boulaj stood at the door, a look of confusion clear on her face.
“Yes, Boulaj?”
“There’s a crow demanding to see you. Aly’s looked at it, and she says it’s a crow, and that it’s not Kyprioth. But she said something about it not being a crow either.” Boulaj looked more confused as she repeated Aly’s words, before adding apologetically, “She’s not very lucid at the moment. She’s still recovering from Junim and Ulasu’s latest prank.”
Dove’s forehead wrinkled. She’d been so happy to have the necklace back, safe, that she’d forgotten about the deal she had made. To have the crow within the palace, to feed it, and to let it sleep in her bed. They were her cousins, yes. But this was not one of her cousinly crows. They didn’t speak, and they all wore necklaces. And her cousins had the right to become human, and they wouldn’t insist of being treated like one, as this one did.
“Tell Chenaol that I’ll have my supper in my private suite, with just the crow in attendance. No one else, and I don’t want to be disturbed for the rest of the evening.”
Boulaj appeared even more confused, but murmured her agreement.
….
Dove made her way to her suite, greeting everyone she passed. Ochobai, Junim and Ulasu, all chased after by Nawat, footmen, Isalena, Vereyu. The influx of familiar faces made her wonder again where Ferdy was. She hadn’t asked Aly to look around, fearing it would bring that look in Aly’s eye, as it had in Winna’s when she’d very casually mentioned it, but she knew how overworked Aly was. She smiled at the footmen outside her suite, and walked in, steeling herself for the inevitable. Food already sat on silver platters in the dining suite, and the crow already sat in the chair opposite hers.
“It’s a fine suite you have here. That bed is extremely comfortable.” The crow drawled, giving her as much of a smile as a crow could pull off. Dove smiled politely in reply. There was nothing else she could have done.
“What would you wish to eat? Chenaol has cooked –“ She asked politely.
“Everything. Bit of everything.” Dove’s courtier smile returned. She pressed her teeth deep into her cheek, and picked up a dish of chillied prawns.
…
Four hours later, Dove followed the crow into her bedchamber. She grabbed her nightgown while the crow hopped across her bedsheets, before settling itself on her pillow. Dove’s fingers clenched around the soft silk within her hands, before she walked behind the dressing screen and changed, trying to ignore the crow-like hums of content coming from her bed. She silently fumed as she walked out, to see that the crow had not moved from the pillow she slept on, from the mass that sat on her bed. She sat next to it, glaring at the glossy black feathers and dirty claws, picking threads out of the delicate embroidery.
“This won’t work. This is my side of the bed. You can sleep on the other side, on that whole mass of pillows.”
“I like this side. It’s comfortable. You said you’d give me whatever I wanted. This is it.”
“Please. It’s just this is the side I always sleep on. It’s my place.” She waited for a reaction. It didn’t come. If anything, the crow snuggled deeper into the pillow.
“That’s a warning. Move. I said you could sleep on my bed. That does not mean in my side of the bed! That’s a royal order.” She said, icily and fast becoming frustrated.
She glared at the crow, eyes shut and feathers slightly ruffled. She waited several more seconds, before grabbing the pillow and violently flicking it, throwing the crow into the wall. It hit the wall with a sickening thud, several feathers drifting to the floor, before it fell, unmoving. She stared at the spot of stone where it struck, imagining the stain of blood, before cautiously moving around the bed. The crow was as tightly curled as a ball-like statue, and Dove could not tell whether it was breathing. She realised she easily could have killed a defenceless animal, and shivered. Her hands reached out to the crow, and she picked it up. She ran a soft hand over it’s head, and gasped as it moved out of her grasp, falling onto the floor in a shimmering heap. Dove, hand over her mouth, retreated to her bed, and stared at the shimmering heap as it shifted and moved, before a bright light emerged, and a gasping and spluttering Count Ferdolin of Tomang sat on her bedchamber floor, wearing nothing but a scant and dirty loincloth. Dove clung to the bedpost in shock.
“You know, that’s a horrible way to get someone to move. You could have been so much more persuasive, Dove.” He yawned, before grinning up at her. “You know, for a patron god, and a trickster and all that, Kyprioth has a really strange sense of humour. Apparently this was his next biggest trick since something I lost track of.”
“So all this time I didn’t know where you were, you were a crow eating my food and sleeping on my side of the bed?” Dove sunk into the cushions.
“You fed me chilli. You know how much I hate chilli.”
“I thought you were a deformed crow!”
Ferdy grinned, before grabbing one of her coats and wrapping it around his shoulders, sitting next to her on the bed. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it.
“Kyprioth also said something about wedding bells. I missed that bit, too.”