tsubasa

The gladiator and the princess

Lauralye smiled and took his hand before walking into one of the many secret passages in the palace. With the subjects staying in the palace they would get less time to themselves to just be with each other. It was nice to know that for now, they could be alone.

She pulled him into a small library that was covered in quite a bit of dust. She looked over him, "No one should bother us here... The only entrances are through secret passages... I don't think the maids even know about it."

She dusted off the table a little and sat down, "You do well with the people..." She said quietly, "You'd make a good king...."

The gladiator and the princess

Lauralye looked up at him and smiled as he spoke of Joseph. However, it faded slightly when he mentioned seeing how well the slaves could fight. She bit her lip, "Does that have to happen today?" She asked innocently, "Between my lessons and your training and holding up appearances... We haven't had much time alone... Last night was the first time in a long time..." She looked up at him, her eyes big and wide, "Can't we slip away for a while and be a Queen and her guard? Just us?"

The gladiator and the princess

Lauralye stood idly by as the guards started to hand out clothing and find people rooms. She felt a little useless but knew that her being there was a lot more than her father or David had ever done for these people. She watched Joseph and Robert and smiled as the man gave the younger his helmet. She walked over to the two and took the last of the clothing Robert held. She handed them out before she instructed a knight take people to the dining hall to eat.

Finally, she walked back to Robert and Joseph, "You should go eat, Joseph," She said ushering him along, the boy grinning from ear to ear. When everyone was gone from the hall, Lauralye turned and kissed Robert, "I love you," She whispered.

The gladiator and the princess

Lauralye smiled as she watched Robert with the little boy before looking around. When it seemed that everyone was ready she took hold of her horse's reins and guided it back to the palace. She only wished that they had enough horses for those that followed on foot. She had never expected this many people to be without a home. She wondered how long they all were suffering.... How many of them her father had ignored.

When they arrived back at the palace she told a guard to tell the chef to start cooking. She walked over to Robert's horse while a knight helped the pregnant woman down. She reached up and pulled the boy down and he was grinning at her, "Hello, your majesty."

"Why hello, Joseph was it?"

The boy nodded his head vigorously, causing Robert's helmet to rock wildly on his head. Lauralye smiled and placed him on the ground, "And where are your parents, Joseph?"

"... Not here, ma'am," Joseph saying, his face falling a little.

Lauralye gave him a soft smile, "Mine neither," She took his hand and looked over her shoulder and Robert, grinning. She nodded her head toward the palace before she walked in with Joseph.

The gladiator and the princess

Lauralye watched as people stepped forward. It was easy to tell that these people had nothing by the look of them. Their clothes were tattered and torn, their faces dirty, the clothes that they did have hung from their thin and frail bodies. She couldn't wait to get these people back to the palace and get some food in them.

She slid off her own horse when a pregnant woman stepped forward. She held out her hand to the woman, who seemed a little confused. Lauralye smiled and took her hand before guiding her to her horse, "You shouldn't walk all that way."

"But your highness," The woman began.

Lauralye shook her head, "I have two perfectly good feet to walk me back."

She turned away as the woman climbed on and spoke to some of the subjects, "If you need anything or have complaints, come to the palace and I will do my best to help," She informed one group of people.

She enjoyed talking to her subjects. She was finally doing something that had been denied to her all these years. When she finished, she asked for those who would remain to write anyone they could think of about the news so that the country would now. Then she turned and walked back to the palace as close to Robert as possible without anyone seeing the relationship under their professional facade. After all, they both had images to uphold.

The gladiator and the princess

Update

The gladiator and the princess

Lauralye nodded to Robert and pulled herself onto her horse and rode side saddle. She fixed her cloak to sit on the horse's back before they took to trotting. She looked as the city came into view. It wasn't a long way from the palace, a mere few minute ride but it was strange all the same. It had been years since she rode down this path. The last memory she had of it was her mother getting killed. She urged her horse into a gallop, not wanting to deal with the memories.

When she arrived in the city, people immediately started circling them. None of them would really recognize her... But they could see the crown on her head and assume. She looked down at them all, "The King is gone," She said in a loud but gentle voice, "He is not dead... but I have asked for him to leave our country... For the last twelve years, he has not been treating you as he should. I know many of you don't know me and the few who might probably don't remember me... I was your Princess and now I am your Queen and I hope you will let me protect you... I wish to serve you as you have me.... And I wish to start by inviting anyone who has lost their home to this war or any other to my home in the palace."

The gladiator and the princess

Lauralye blushed a little as Robert complimented her on how she looked. When he finished, she rose to her toes and gave him a small kiss on his lips before she pulled away, "I want to go into the city... Tell the people there what is happening here and maybe some of them will spread the word to those in the rest of the country...."

She took Robert's hand and picked up his helmet for him before walking out the door of her room, "I also want to try and get those who have lost their homes to this war in the palace... It is just the servants, guards, and I... and you.... But that leaves plenty of room for those in need. And with you staying in my room with me... I won't have to worry about anyone trying to hurt me because I know you can stop them."

They walked to the barn and Lauralye released Robert's hand and took hold of her horse's reins, "I feel like we should ride in... I don't think anyone in the city knows of your wings and I haven't a clue how they would handle seeing them... especially right now."

The gladiator and the princess

Lauralye could hear movement outside of her closet and assumed it was Robert getting up. She tightened the corset of her dress behind her back before quickly tying it at the bottom. She didn't have a mirror in her closet to see how she looked, so she merely looked down at the blue dress and brushed her hands over her many skirts. She grabbed a long brown cloak off a hanger and pulled it over her shoulders before tying it at her neck. Finally, off a pedestal she took a golden crown. She looked at it for a moment, it had been in mother's all those years ago. She had asked her father if she could keep it in her room rather than in some crown room. She placed the crown in her dark hair before she left her closet and walked back into her room. She looked at Robert and smiled, "Don't you look dashing."

The gladiator and the princess

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