More Than A Princess

A plan was formed

The sunset in Vernia is spectacular. It painted the skies a multitude of colours. Hues of pink splashed with orange, purple, red and blue. It was as if someone upended a watercolour palette of pastels. They managed to reach the open space just as the orange ball of fire started its descent down the horizon. They were there to catch the last of the rays of the sinking sun. 

Not wanting to waste another minute of the last rays of the setting sun, Callan open up his arms wide and focused on absorbing power. But there was nothing. No surge. Nothing. It was a waste of effort and running. Although the beautiful view sort of makes up for it. Lyvia was looking at him expectantly. Hope shining in her eyes. He had to disappoint her. He shook his head. 

“Nothing,” he said dejectedly.

She hung her head in response and heaved a loud sigh. They just cannot get a break. If Callan gets more power, surely they will be able to get back to JorvTown. So, now they are back to square one. Back to being stuck in Vernia with Callan as a pretend prince and no way out of their predicament. 

“Maybe we go back to try to find the rift? Maybe it is there somewhere? It is possible that’s why I managed to get some of my power back,” Callan suggested.

It was the only option anyway. They trudged back to the palace silently. Lyvia is pissed that Callan couldn’t charge his power for them to get back while Callan is just ruminating on ways to resolve their predicament. He has a rough estimation of how much power he has left and he is pretty certain he could conjure up some gold coins used in this world as money. He is just not sure how much is needed to survive outside the palace. He has already decided that he could just leave the palace on his own and maybe live on what little gold he can conjure up. He just needs to gather enough courage to tell Lyvia about his plans. She might throw a fit or kill him right there, or worse. 

After reaching the palace grounds, they hurried to the gardens. Again, they flailed their arms around, looking like two court jesters hopping around to entertain the crowd. It was no use. By then, the skies have darkened considerably with only the silvery moon and millions of stars casting cold pale light on the gardens. They came to a stone bench and Callan sat down heavily on it. He gestured for Lyvia to sit with him and she complied. 

“What are we going to do now?” she asked. She was sorely disappointed. She had hoped Callan could get them back to his world. 

“I hope you don’t get mad…I have sort of a plan…” he started to say nervously.

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. It didn’t sound like a plan she would agree to, from the way he said it. 

“I was thinking that I may have enough power to conjure up some gold coins…” he said and trailed off when she scowled at him darkly. He swallowed.

“Maybe we can run away after the wedding?” he changed his tactic. He didn’t actually want to avoid marrying Lyvia. In fact, he had missed her when they were kept apart over the last few days to prepare for the wedding. She had somehow grown on him and finagled a space in his brain. 

He kept thinking of her. Her luxurious dark curls hanging down her back. Her bold dark eyes that often glint with mischief. Her soft curves that are so sexy and enticing. Naturally, the feel of her in his arms and the image of her climbing on top of him and enclosing him in her sweet warm tightness while she ride him till they both burst like stars kept replaying in his mind. Every time he thought of her, he would become hard with need and he had to think of something else, count to 100, imagine his mother’s face in order to control his raging arousal. Not even a cold bath could calm his raging hot arousal every time he thought of her. Now, he looked at her and she had slide closer to him on the bench, her soft scent permeating his nostrils.   Her body slightly touching him. Her breasts brushing against his arm. He knows it is a matter of time before he becomes hard with need for her, yet again. 

“Look, I was initially thinking of running away, alone…”

“You want to leave me!!!???” she interrupted.

“No, no, wait. Let me explain,” he held up his palms in peace. “I didn’t want to subject you to my lack of a kingdom, lack of riches, lack of everything in this world…we could end up as peasants with what little gold I can conjure up,” 

She eyed him suspiciously. 

“How much can you conjure up?” she asked, finally.

He shrugged in reply. He has not tried so he doesn’t really know. It could be a whole chestful of gold coins or it could be just a tiny little bag of coins.

“Wait! Before you even try…can we use your magic for other things? I mean, if it is gold coins that you think we need, I have plenty, my parents - THE KING and QUEEN - did prepare a rather large dowry,” she pointed out.

Ah. Okay. So their gold problem is solved. 

“So, how much of a dowry do you think it is and how far can it get us?”

She thought about it for a while, tilting her head slightly. 

“Probably about 100 chests of gold coins and jewellery and of course, enough gowns and clothes to clothed an entire kingdom,” 

“100 chests of gold coins?!?!?!?” He was shocked. Is that how much a kingdom pays to marry off their princesses? Wow. It is like they are offering princes from other kingdoms gold and jewellery to take their daughter off their hands. He has read about gifts of goodwill in a wedding between the royal bloods of two kingdoms. He didn’t know it was this much. 

She nodded. 

“It is actually quite modest. I have heard of other kingdoms preparing 200 to even 500 chests of gold coins,” she said.

“Why? Is it because no on wants the princess and they had to offer a reward for princes to take her off their hands?” he asked, slightly jokingly. 

She glared at him.

“Is that what you think of me? So, you think no one wants me, my parents had to offer suitors gold to marry me???” her voice was shrill and angry. She boxed his arm. Hard. Eliciting a grunt from him.

“Hang on…I was asking a legit question…I mean, you are quite a handful, you are rebellious…” he said, teasingly. She was shooting murderous looks at him with her eyes now. 

“One. More. Word. And you are dead,” she said through gritted teeth. 

He laughed. Her face was red with anger, her eyes practically spitting fire at him. She is like this bundle of a spitting cat energy. It was adorable. It made her even more desirable. He leaned over and kissed her. She spluttered and pushed him away.

“Don’t you dare kiss me after saying I am so horrible that no one wants me!” 

“Hang on, I was just teasing you. Honestly, Lyv, lighten up,” 

“You just alluded that my parents had to pay strange men to take me away like some unwanted item!” 

He held up his palms to placate her. 

“Look, I am sorry…I was just teasing you, honest. I know they are giving the gold as a show of goodwill and as a sort of an agreement of truce between the two kingdoms and if I remember correctly, the prince’s kingdom is supposed to send grand wedding gifts too,”

His eyes widened at what he said. 

“Wait…I don’t have anything to send wedding gifts! Our ruse will fall apart if no wedding gifts from the Kingdom of JorvTown arrive!” 

Her anger subsided immediately. She thought about the archaic rules on weddings between royalty. It ws actually not a problem come to think of it. 

“I think you are supposed to send the gifts after we get back to your kingdom, after the wedding, after we consummate our marriage and you made sure that I am a virgin princess as promised,” 

He chuckled at that. 

“Well, we consummated a couple times before the wedding and you surely aren’t a virgin…so, maybe I don’t need to send gifts? After all, I was given ruined goods,”

“For the record, you took my virginity, you are the ruiner of the so-called goods,” she shot back. 

He grinned. Then his expression became serious again. 

“Let’s get back to our plans. So, what do you think about running away after the wedding? Just take our gold and run?” he asked seriously. “I am sure we can leave the tons of clothes behind,”

She considered it. It would mean no luxury of servants. It would also mean she can’t bring Jinna with her. Alternately, it meant freedom. Freedom to do whatever she wanted with Callan as her husband. Just like if she went back to JorvTown with Callan. It was a good plan.

“Yes, I want to run away with you,” she said.

He shoved his hand at her.

“Let’s shake on this then,” he said.

She hit his hand aside, straddled him and kissed him instead.