InsaneJournal

Prince Thomas and Princess Cimorene
Really, the whole thing was ridiculous. The Queen had barely waited until the ceremony was over before she started trying to find “a nice princess” for Thomas. The reception was still going! That had been her plan all along, Thomas realized as he paced inside his room, hiding from the monarch. Get all of the visiting princesses in one place for the wedding and then try to shove him at one of them. Thomas could barely say three words to a normal girl. What on Earth made his great-grandmother think he would be able to date a princess?

Besides all that, it wasn’t fair! His father hadn’t married a princess. Why should he have to? Oh God, marriage. That’s what she was plotting, the evil, evil Queen. Calm down, Thomas, he told himself, trying to take deep breaths. It was just one night. And she was a figurehead monarch. She couldn’t force him to do anything.

Still, it would probably be safest to make sure the priest who had officiated his father’s ceremony had left already, and to avoid accidentally saying the words “I do” in any context.

Maybe Melora could convince the Queen that one of Thomas’ “imaginary” girlfriends was real. Of course, then the Queen would want to meet her. What a mess. Thomas ran a hand through his hair, wondering how much longer he could stay hidden. Not much, he realized, when a loud knock came on his door and a guard stepped into the room.

“The visiting princess of Norway is waiting, your highness,” the guard said, bowing to Thomas.

“With any luck she won’t speak English,” Thomas muttered. He knew they wouldn’t have much to say to each other anyway. May as well have an extra barrier. And, if he said something utterly embarrassing like he half-expected to, she wouldn’t notice.

To Thomas’ surprise, the guard didn’t lead him back to the ballroom. Apparently he wasn’t going to have a very public, potentially disastrous dance with the princess. That was probably a good thing, for everyone. Still, it worried him a bit. What was the Queen plotting?

Thomas followed the guard through the hallway to... the library? What was a princess doing in the library? “Um... Hello?” The room seemed to be empty. But then he realized the window was open, despite the December chill. And the drapes were missing. Thomas ran over to the window in time to see a dark-haired woman dressed in full formal regalia climb down from the drapes and onto the ground.

One of the princess’ shoes slipped off as she started to run, and she swore, kicking the other one off into a bush as well. She couldn’t get anywhere in those heels!

Thomas blinked. “Are you all ri--” he started to call down to her. Well, she didn’t look like she needed help. And she was already running away from the palace. “Er.. All right, then.”