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“Princess!”
Haru turned to see the pale, panic-stricken, face of one of the servants bursting through the balcony doors.
“What’s the matter? Did something happen?” Although it was clear to Haru that not everyone in the palace approved of their princess dirtying her fingers in the soil, generally they turned a blind eye, leaving her to her own company whenever she toiled in her little plot set up on the balcony.
“Your father…the king, he…he’s dead, Your Highness.”
The entire bag of seeds spilled from Haru’s hands, filling the tiny hole that had been dug to hold only one or two.
“…Father?” Although she had only just began work in her garden only half an hour before, Haru felt as if she had labored under the hot sun all day, as a wave of cold heat rushed over her. “Are…are you certain? But how?”
“Come inside, My Lady,” the servant insisted, having now regained composure, “There are matters to be discussed, seeing as you are to become our new queen.”
Despite the day’s events, Haru began preparing for bed at her usual hour. There was little to be done by candlelight, and little more still with the palace staff rushing to and fro, insistent on handling everything for her.
The king had collapsed during a speech in town, Haru knew little more than that, although rumors of foul play scurried about the palace halls. A number of bystanders had mentioned having seen a suspicious man clad in a black mask lurking around the area, however there was yet to be solid proof of anything in particular.
The public had yet to be addressed on the matter of the king's death, and no decision had yet been reached as to when Haru would speak on the matter. A day or two would be needed for a speech to be prepared, at the least.
As she pulled back the covers, Haru glanced at the book resting on her bedside table, waiting patiently to be continued. Tonight, however, the lively illustration of the three heroes on the cover only seemed to be mocking her as the candlelight flickered over the worn dust-jacket.
No dashing lady thief was coming to steal her away from this, Haru knew. The waxy scent of the newly extinguished candle was her only company as she closed her eyes for what she was certain would be a sleepless night.
Haru’s eyes fluttered open, a loud crash dragging her out of an unexpected sleep. Rubbing at her eyelids, she attempted to sit upright, only to pause midway, propped up on her elbows.
Directly in front of the now shattered window stood a dark figure.
The intruder stood frozen for a moment, and Haru realised that they were likely stunned, crashing through the window likely not part of whatever venture she originally had planned.
“May I help you?” Haru asked with as much authority as she could muster, breaking the stillness between them as she pulled the blankets up higher toward her in a useless attempt at defense.
The intruder darted a glance toward the broken window. Haru’s eyes had focused enough now that she could see that the girl wore a thick, metallic mask over the majority of her face.
Seeming to decide that the jump was too high up to risk, the masked intruder lunged instead for the door.
The ornate axe hung over the princess’s bed wasn’t just for show.
“Wait!” Before she could even fully realise what she was doing, Haru found herself kneeling on the rug, warm leather-clad body of the intruder straddled between her thighs, bare beneath her nightgown.
“Wh-who are you? What do you want?” she asked, brandishing the axe in what she hoped was a threatening manner. She had yet to wield it against another person, having only practiced in secret against straw dummies, lest her father find out.
“I’m sorry about your father,” the girl’s voice came hushed from beneath her, barely a whisper in the silent room, but it was enough for Haru to realise that she was likely around the same age as herself, little more than a child herself.
Haru’s eyes widened, her grip on the axe loosening at the mention of the king. The news from the previous day felt like a dream nearly forgotten in the excitement as the loss of her father came crashing back down on the princess once again. “Tell me who you are,” Haru pressed again, heart pounding as she repositioned the blade so that it rested a hair’s breadth from the girl’s neck. Was she an assassin sent to take out the heir to the throne as well?
“They call me Queen, Your Highness.” Queen’s voice was even, despite her current predicament, although Haru had seen enough during her short life living in her father’s palace to know when someone was putting on a brave face. A thin sheen of sweat glistened on Queen’s forehead in the moonlight, her body growing hot from nerves underneath Haru’s thighs as a tremble ran through her.
She could shout, call for the guards, have this ‘Queen’ taken away and questioned, chained in the dungeon, leaving Haru alone in the safety of her room once more. Instead, as she fell silent, her heartbeat only grew more insistent as she stared at the girl sprawled out on her mother’s rug. A thrill ran over her spine.
As she stared, Haru noticed a trail of red slowly dripping from Queen’s hand, glove torn just below the brass knuckles worn over top. “You’re hurt!” Haru gasped, finally freeing the other girl as she leapt up, hurrying for her dresser, where, after laying the axe down safely on top, she opened the top drawer to pull out a small container.
“Come, join me on the bed, and I’ll dress your wound,” Haru implored, offering a hand towards Queen’s uninjured one, helping her up, and towards the bed.
“Are you certain?” Queen asked, perching hesitantly on the edge of the satin sheets, holding her hand up so as not to soil them.
Haru nodded, lighting the candle. “I still don’t know why you’re here, but you’re not bad person…I don’t think.”
Queen smiled in what Haru thought to be a bemused way, although the mask still obscured much of her face. She must be very pretty under there, Haru thought, wishing suddenly to tug it off of her, if it wouldn’t break whatever trust had formed between them.
“Here,” she continued, “This salve was made with herbs from my garden. It should help.”
Queen didn’t resist as Haru turned her hand over in her’s, only letting go a soft hiss as she gently removed her glove.
The small cut was likely caused by Queen’s unexpected arrival in breaking through the window. She had likely been just as surprised as Haru when it had happened.
“Almost done,” Haru soothed. She had used the salve before herself, after gaining blisters from pulling weeds or training with her axe, and it did sting nearly as much as it helped. “Thank you for your condolences about my father, by the way.”
Queen nodded, the corners of her lips turning up into mournful smile. “My own father is no longer with us as well, so I felt for you as soon as I heard the news.”
Although Haru had yet to address the people, that did little to keep word from spreading throughout the village of such a happening.
“That’s terrible!” Haru’s attention darted away from Queen’s hand, brows knitting together in concern. "How did it happen? If you wouldn’t you mind telling me, of course.”
Her heart sunk as she silently prayed that his death hadn’t been due to overwork in the fields, as many others in the former king’s employ had succumbed to.
“He was one of the sheriff’s men,” Queen explained. From the tone in her voice, Haru could tell that time had passed, enough so that her heart had had time to scab over as well as one's can. This made Haru’s own heart ache for her no less. “It was an arrow wound in the line of duty.”
“They were all very noble men, your father included, I'm certain,” Haru assured, beginning to wrap a handkerchief around Queen’s hand. Her fingers were so long and elegant, the princess was almost jealous. A thought briefly flashed in Haru’s mind of how they might feel combing into her hair, but she quickly brushed it aside as being to due to general muzziness from having been woken so suddenly. “My own father…I still can’t believe he’s gone, but…”
“He had short-comings?” Queen supplied.
Haru nodded. “Of course, I miss him, really I do, but before everything happened today- yesterday, by now, I suppose- It was my father’s decree that I be married to Prince Sugimura…”
“I see,” came Queen’s sympathetic reply. There was hardly an ear in all the kingdom of Metaverse that tales of the neighboring kingdom's prince had yet to reach, the majority of them revolving around how he treated his woman. “But you’re free now, aren’t you?” she added thoughtfully.
Haru gave a chuckle devoid of any mirth. “As free as a queen can be, I suppose.” She couldn’t help but notice Queen’s brow raise for a moment at hearing mention of what Haru could only assume to be a codename of her’s.
At that same moment, Haru saw something out of the corner of her eye as a dark shape flashed past the window.
Before she could react, the thing clambered in through the open window.
It was a Shadow, she realised, stifling a gasp. The princess had heard tell of them roaming the surrounding woods, however she had never spent enough time outside the castle to have seen one for herself until now.
“Princess,” Queen stood from the bed, readjusting her gloves and brass knuckles. “Stay back.”
The creature, as harmless as it had first looked, now bared it’s vulpine teeth, a menacing hiss emanating from between them.
Queen lunged at the beast, landing an explosive blow against its skull, causing it to evaporate back into the darkness from whence it came.
“Queen!” A voice issued from outside the window, as a man, clad all in black just as Queen was, landed on the window sill, having jumped down from somewhere up above. “The shadow got away, and after you got spooked I-“
The boy stopped mid sentence, reaching for the knife at his side after noticing Haru seated on the bed.
“Joker,” Queen assured, staying her friend’s hand. “She’s fine.”
Joker nodded in understanding, clearly trusting his companion’s judgement, as he used his other hand to shift a hefty sack that rested upon his shoulder.
So they are thieves, Haru thought. Likely come to take advantage of the chaos following the king’s death. The idea filled her with more curiosity than anger or fear. She never did care much for her father’s gaudy knick-knacks, many of them meaningless gifts from visiting dignitaries.
“You didn’t come alone,” Haru observed.
Queen merely smiled. “It would seem that I must be going now.”
“Queen, wait-“ Haru began, surprising herself. Anyone else would have been glad to be rid of a band of thieves that had invaded their home.
“Makoto. My name is Makoto, Princess,” Queen replied, before following Joker down a length of rope that someone up above had dropped down for them.
“Makoto... Mako-chan…” Haru tested out the name carefully, as if she were tending a seedling plant. “Please come back tomorrow!”
She knew that it was foolish of her, emotions likely running askew due to the previous day’s incident, but in that moment, she didn’t think that she could bear to never see Makoto’s smile, or feel her hand in her’s, ever again.
However, in a flash, both she and Joker were gone.
Haru rushed to the window, mindless of the broken glass, however there was no trace of either intruder.
“You don’t have to knock, silly.” With a giggle, Haru opened the door leading into her chambers, ushering Makoto inside. “You certainly didn’t on the night we first met, so why start now?”
As the queen, Haru had taken up residence in the grand room once belonging to her late father. At the same time, the queen’s knight was allotted Haru’s old room, although she rarely spent the night there.
Makoto gave her a long-suffering smile. “You know that it’s best we keep up appearances for the time being. As it is, I’m beginning to wonder if everyone truly believes that I spend the night in your chambers each night simply because I’m ‘keeping watch’.”
The other members of her thieves guild, the Phantoms, certainly didn’t, constantly ribbing her before she left the hideout for the palace each night. As good-natured as the teasing was, Makoto did suspect that some of the group were slightly jealous of her new career. She attempted to make up for it by smuggling extra food out of the kitchens for them when she could. If no one else, their resident art expert seemed to appreciate it.
“You do a very good at watching, Mako-chan,” Haru said as she turned to her vanity, beginning to unhook the back of her dress.
Suddenly as red in the face as Haru’s gown, Makoto coughed into her hand, averting her gaze toward the window.
Haru laughed as she placed a hand on Makoto’s warm cheek, turning her head to face her.
The bodice of Haru’s unhooked dress fell around her elbows as they embraced, Makoto leaning into her queen’s touch for a gentle kiss.
Each time they did this, Makoto’s heart pounded no less urgently than the first time, faster and more insistent than when she fended off the Shadows that came too near the palace.
Makoto had indeed come back the very next night after that first meeting. Time and time again she returned, and when it came time for the freshly crowned queen to appoint a personal knight as bodyguard, Haru knew just who would fill that spot.
A few weeks later, however, an odd thing began to happen around the land of Metaverse- rumors began bubbling up in the back of taverns, before flooding out into the streets, that despite the masks they wore, two members of the local thieves' guild looked remarkably similar to the queen and her knight...