fairy tale au } { of freed servants and sisterly bonding

[littlebitscary]

Fiona: [ANYWAY! with some help from the servants and some ... borrowing from Marguerite, Fiona, clean and dressed as the fanciest noble, was going to go to the king to buy back her brother. however, by the time she gets there, it's almost too late and he's getting loaded onto one of the carts and she is currently yelling at the cart driver to release him]

Derek: [and he happens to be coming around after having run into her step mother and scary step-sister. he sees the conflict and looks at the cart driver] Do you dare raise your voice to this lady?

Driver: [oh shit the prince. totally mumbling an excuse and apology]

Fiona: [turns at the voice and oh god that's the prince. oh god that was the prince trying to steal her horse. oh god she's going to die but she remembers what the maid said about how a lady looks down to no one and she does her best to keep her head high and not give herself away] In all fairness, your highness, I raised my voice first.

Derek: Still, my lady, that does not give him permission to treat you with disrespect.

Driver: I'm following orders. It's my job to take these thieves to the coast.

Fiona: My servant is not a thief! [so almost said brother right there] He was temporarily reassigned in order to pay a household debt, but now I have the means to pay it, so I wish for him to be returned.

Cormac: [is pressing at the bars, staring at his sister like WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!?!]

Driver: I am only following orders.

Derek: [looks between all of them, thinking before he nods] If you have the money to pay the debt, then driver you must accept the payment and release this man.

Fiona: [and there is a very grateful look at that as she turns to hand over the parcel of coins]

Driver: [and well, he will do what he is commanded to do, but he's not happy about it]

Derek: [and he will smile in her direction] I believe that the matter is settled them, my lady?

Fiona: For me, yes. Though it is a pity that so many hard workers are being sent away without a say in their fate. [she should have shut up. she ain't gonna shut up though]

Derek: Well, a criminal does need to be punished, my lady. Otherwise we would have no legitimacy in stopping crime.

Fiona: It is not a crime to be poor. To commit a crime is to make a conscious choice to break the law, and being poor is not a choice. It is an unfortunate fact of life. [she straightens a bit, raising her chin] I always intended to buy my servant back when the funds made themselves available - but how many of these men are also in a similar position? Where there was a debt they unfortunately could not pay and had to instead offer their labor in return? How many of these men are you tearing away from their families because you can't be bothered to see their suffering.

Derek: [there is a smile on Derek's lips at that] That is an argument I have oft had with my father. [and he will look at her a bit closer] Have we met before, my lady?

Fiona: [MOMENTARILY DISTRACTED BY CORMAC GETTING OUT OF THE CAGE, and there's a quiet conversation between them that she ends with a louder] Please prepare the horses.

Cormac: [nods with a smirk that the prince can't see] Yes, milady.

Fiona: [and back to the prince] No, your highness. I believe I would have remembered an audience with the prince. [LIES THROUGH HER TEETH]

Derek: I thought I knew all the courtiers in the province.

Fiona: Apparently you did not. Now if you'll excuse me, I should be returning home. [and she's going to try and GET AWAY AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE]

Derek: May I have your name, my lady? [nope, not letting her get away]

Fiona: Why do you care for my name?

Derek: [is... not used to not getting what he wants] So that I may call upon you, of course.

Fiona: That is presumptuous, to assume that I would want you to.

Derek: [and raising an eyebrow because he is the prince of the region] Well, I find anyone who can quote Thomas Moore with such passion fascinating.

Fiona: Then I suppose you will have to be fascinated from afar.

Derek: Are you coy on purpose...or do you honestly refuse to tell me your name?

Fiona: [takes a deep breath as she turns to face him] Perhaps I find you demanding my name simply because you're "fascinated" and believing it will be given because you are the prince of the land and therefore you don't have to have manners like the rest of the world insulting and therefore am withholding it on principle.

Derek: [and there are a lot of hushed whispers from the people watching because of how she is talking to Derek. He waits a moment, and then there is a smile and a small snort of amusement at her words because she wasn't saying anything that wasn't true.] Please, my lady, all I ask for is a name.

Fiona: [she glances around and she realizes how many people are around and that she's not going to get out of here without conceding at least a name so ...] Comtesse de Lancret.

Derek: There, that wasn't so hard, was it? [but before he can say anything, he sees his mother's guards approaching and turns his head because crap]

Fiona: [and with one sentence she immediately regrets giving it to him. You're a dick, Derek. But that being said, once his back is turned, she moves quickly and disappears into the crowd before he can stop her]

Derek: [yeah, well we won't go into Derek's rearing issues at the moment. Instead, he will get to have his family react to his having snuck out again]

Talia: [yes there will be a lot of :||||||||| from his mother at least. especially since he's getting married soon]

Thomas: [oh so much linefacing and threats and punishments]

Talia: [why can't you just spend some time with your sisters though?]

Derek: [because they are virtually strangers to him and while they were both prisoners in their own ways, they had a freedom he was never given and he's honestly jealous of them for their simple but happy views of the world and it's hard for him to relate to that.]

Talia: [well, too bad, your mother's going to ask you to do it anyway.]

Thomas: [may as well, because you're restricted to the palace grounds boy]

Derek: [and he will just storm off into a huff, heading for his rooms because he doesn't want to follow any orders from his parents at the moment]

Cora: [well, she will be in the library, because she finished the first stack she borrowed and now she wants to read some more, if he wants to stumble across her there]

Derek: [which he will since the library is where his hiding spots are. He will stop short seeing here there. He will blink, seeing the pile of returned book to be reshelved] You must read fast.

Cora: [she glances back when she hears his voice, before giving a small shrug] Before I came here, I usually didn't have much to do but read. I got good at it.

Derek: Well, I guess it is a good thing I've collected a lot for you to read then. It will keep you busy for awhile. [and he will look at the returned stack, his fingers idly tracing the lettering on the spines] Did you like any of these?

Cora: Mmmm. [and she will circle back around because HER BROTHER IS ACTUALLY MAINTAINING A CONVERSATION WITH HER. she reaches forward and sorts through a few, placing most of the nonfiction off to one side and focusing on more of the novels and poetry before settling on Le Morte d'Arthur] I liked this one the best.

Derek: [he smiles at that] King Arthur. That's a good book. If you'd like, you could keep it. I think I have both the French and English version here.

Cora: [her face brightens a bit] Really?

Derek: Yeah. [and he will hold it out to her]

Cora: [and she will take it from him with a nod] Thank you.

Derek: You're welcome. If there are any others you fall in love with, let me know. I have a lot of duplicates. It helped me learn other languages when I had the same book in both languages that I could compare.

Cora: Are other languages hard?

Derek: It depends on their origins. Like French, Spanish, and Italian are easy to learn because they are all similar and they have words with Latin roots. English is a mix of the Latin and the Germanic systems, and can be confusing. You have to learn how sentence structure is different to be able to really master it.

Cora: Oh. [and she looks slightly disappointed there] I didn't really have much in terms of school. As far as Mother Gothel was concerned I was never going to leave the tower, so she only taught me as much as she needed to so that I could entertain myself.

Derek: [oh, she's sad. That wasn't what he was wanting her to be] Well, you don't have to worry about that. Our parents are very big on education. You just need to tell them you want to learn something and they will find you a teacher.

Cora: [she does brighten a bit at that and nods] I just ... feel as though I'm always going to be constantly catching up. There's so much I don't understand.

Derek: Well, I can always help too. I'm... not the easiest person to talk to sometimes, I know. But I can try to help?

Cora: I would like that. I know we haven't had much time to know each other, and I don't always say the right thing, but ... I just haven't had a lot of practice in talking to people. You can ask Stiles - I've hit him on the head with a frying pan at least twice.

Derek: [he laughs at that because the image is amusing] That's fine. I don't say the things people want to hear, and when I do speak I tend to be ignored.

Cora: Why don't they want to hear it?

Derek: Because I want something different than how things are supposed to be. I.... A lot of responsibility fell to me with both you and Laura not being here. Some of it I don't want, but I'm the Crown Prince. I don't get to make choices, I'm just expected to do.

Cora: Well ... you're going to be king, aren't you? You will get to make choices eventually.

Derek: I'm pretty sure our father is stubborn enough that he will find a way to live forever. He has threatened it towards me more than once.

Cora: Perhaps because he's worried you're not taking it seriously.

Derek: Perhaps I would if they saw me as more than just their heir.

Cora: [pauses for a moment as she thinks] Well ... what kind of choices do you want to make?

Derek: Well right now, who I get to marry is pretty high on the list.

Cora: Who do they want you to marry?

Derek: Right now it is the Princess of Espana. However, if Prince Javi and Laura decide to marry, then I revert back to my original marriage contract with the Princess of Lithuania.

Cora: Oh. [a pause as she considers for a moment] Are they not ... good people?

Derek: I don't know them. [he plays with a pen on his desk] I met Javi's sister when I was six. The other princess when I was a baby. I don't want to spend my life with a woman I don't know.

Cora: So why not make the effort to know them?

Derek: That's not the way it's done.

Cora: Why not?

Derek: If you find that answer out, please tell me. I've been asking for a long time.

Cora: You've tried to send them letters and they've told you no? [that makes no sense]

Derek: I've never gotten any back. I traveled there myself, but I was kept at a distance.

Cora: That sounds stupid.

Derek: [he looks up at Cora and smiles a bit] It does. You're going to find a lot of things about being royalty are stupid.

Cora: [she shrugs slightly] Maybe if you showed them you could make wise decisions about other things, they'd be more willing to listen about marriage.

Derek: Too bad you weren't here to tell me that ten years ago.

Cora: There's no reason you can't start now.

Derek: Honestly, I'd rather let you and Laura choose who can rule Norway, and I go live the peasant life for awhile.

Cora: Well, that isn't a choice you can make right now. Because I spent eighteen years talking to myself in a tower and Laura's in love with the crown prince of another country. So ... make the most of the choices you do have. You can't choose if you are king or not, but you can choose the kind of king you'll be.

Derek: [and he sighs, nodding to himself] I guess.

Cora: [her face is sympathetic, though, because none of this sounds fun] Maybe there's a compromise that you could make. Something you can do in order to get Father to let you choose who you marry.

Derek: Perhaps. But it would be Mother who would make Father see the way.

Cora: So get her on your side.

Derek: Maybe having you both back, she'll listen more.

Cora: You never know if you don't try.

Derek: I'll talk with her tomorrow then. [after the anger has passed]

Cora: [she nods, pleased in feeling that she at least helped a little bit] The woman who took me didn't believe in compromise. Her way was the only way. I don't believe our mother is the same.

Derek: She's not, but she isn't the king. Father is the one who makes the rules.

Cora: But perhaps she could persuade him.

Derek: Perhaps.

Cora: [she gives a small shrug]

Derek: [and he will take a deep breath] So how are you doing? I know it's a lot to adjust to.

Cora: [she gives a small shrug] There' still a lot I'm not used to, but Stiles has been helping.

Derek: That's good. [and Stiles has been behaving, even taking a bit of the eyes off Derek himself so he's loosening up to the thief]

Cora: [she nods] It's just strange ... having so much space that I'm allowed to roam in. I'm used to things being ... much smaller.

Derek: I'm so used to it, I guess I stopped seeing how big the place is.

Cora: [she nods] My entire house was ... the size of this library.

Derek: .... That is small. [his eyes look around the room, obvious that he is trying to imagine something that small]

Cora: [she nods] And I wasn't allowed to leave at all, so ... having so much open space and just getting to go outside is already an improvement.

Derek: I am sure. [his eyes returned to her, and then a smile came to his desk] Oh, I have something to show you. [and he went to sit behind it, opening a drawer and rifling through a bunch of papers]

Cora: [ooooh a surprise. she will follow him over, super curious]

Derek: [and he will find a leather scroll and unwrap it a bit and grin] So, when you were born, my tutor was an artist and he made a sketch of us before you were taken. He never felt right giving it to our parents, so he gave it to me so that I wouldn't be sad. [and he will unroll it to show her a picture of a young him sitting on the floor with a baby in his lap, a few toys scattered around them]

Cora: [her eyes widen a bit as she leans forward to get a closer look] That's me?

Derek: Yeah. The nanny and my tutor were married, so she would let me watch you while they had lunch together. You would just lay in my lap and grip my finger and stare at me with your big eyes.

Cora: [she smiles a bit] I don't really remember much from before I was taken. It's all ... kind of hazy. [she glances up at him] Was he tutoring you in art?

Derek: I was seven and thought I could be a great artist. [snorts] I was wrong.

Cora: Why do you say that?

Derek: Anytime I tried to draw a person, people thought they were farm animals. And they were unfortunately right.

Cora: That just means you needed more practice.

Derek: No, I think I'm hopeless. Instead, I've developed a love of history and languages. I enjoy that so much more.

Cora: [she nods] Father said I could paint my bedroom, so I'm trying to decide what I want to put on the walls.

Derek: You're a painter then?

Cora: I had a lot of time for hobbies. But I had murals on all the walls at home, so I think it will help make the room feel more like mine.

Derek: I can show you where in town to get paints. Father can get them, but he isn't really good at knowing colors.

Cora: I'd like that.

Derek: Good. We can do that tomorrow? [maybe he would be allowed outside if he was doing it under the guise of helping his sister?]

Cora: Okay! I have tutoring in the morning, but maybe after?

Derek: That would be wonderful.

Cora: Good. [yay getting to spend time with her brother. and he initiated it which means he probably likes her AND SHE GETS TO GO OUTSIDE]

Derek: [and her smile will make him smile] Well, do you need help finding any specific kind of book?

Cora: [she shakes her head] I'm just browsing. Do you recommend anything?

Derek: I can recommend a lot. Do you prefer fiction or history?

Cora: Fiction. I like adventures.

Derek: Alright. I think I have a few ideas. [and off they go into the library and bond over books about pirates and knights]

Cora: [yes, sounds good]