Chapter Text
Stepping from her carriage, Gina could see fragments of blurred scenery before her. Hundreds of rows of people lined beside the walkway, eyes cartoonishly large and waving frantically in the hopes of catching her attention. The train of her dress almost getting caught between her heel and the carriage steps before a maid snatched it away. The sun too bright, causing her to squint in its glare and wish her handmaiden had gone for a lighter material in her dress, the layers of tulle and lace slicking uncomfortably across her legs.
Finally, she reached her destination, the entrance of the grand Caswell castle, where she was stood face to face with her soon to be husband – Prince Elliot James, affectionately nicknamed EJ.
This was a predicament Gina was baffled to be in, to say the least. No one had expected her brother Jamie’s abdication, and her mother had insisted that marriage into a powerful neighboring country would be the only way to ensure stability between their borders during the politically shaky time. And Gina, being the dutiful daughter she always was, believed her. Or at least, she tried to convince herself to believe her mother.
After all, her mother did mean well, that part Gina didn’t doubt, but her actions could hardly be labelled as motherly. Were they beneficial to the country she served? Absolutely. But, they were rarely made with her daughter’s best interests in mind.
And so there Gina was, six months away from marrying a man she was just meeting that day, scared for her life but determined to do the right thing, to be the perfect princess she was expected to be, to be the ideal wife – whatever that meant.
Someone who Gina was too frazzled to take notice of took her hands and joined them with EJ’s, and the couple was announced the crowd, followed by thunderous applause and cheers from said audience. Then, in a flurry of servants, guards and who Gina could only assume was the rest of the royal family, she was whisked into the grand foyer of the palace.
Maids and servants worked their way around her, patting her sweated brow dry, placing her skirts around her just so, offering her a refreshment from the heat, and Gina only numbly allowed them to do their jobs, feeling more and more overwhelmed as time passed.
Finally, the man who Gina recognized as King Cash spoke up, “Princess Gina, we are honored by your presence, and elated you have accepted our marriage alliance. I can assure you it will be most beneficial for your country, and I hope you and my son will only bring each other happiness.”
At this Gina chanced a glance at her betrothed, who she hadn’t had a proper look at up until that point. He was handsome enough, in that classic way, and he shot her a smile that she guessed was supposed to be charming, placing a kiss to her hand which she now only realized was still joined with his. Most ladies would be swooning, but Gina only felt uncomfortable.
Snapping out of her reverie, she responded with a smile and a platitude, “I appreciate you graciously accepting me into your home and family. I hope to form good relationships with you all throughout our engagement.”
EJ’s royal family nodded and muttered their approval of her response, and eventually seemed to lose interest in her, all stalking off to wherever it was they were expected to be. Gina was stunned. Was that all? They spoke for all of two minutes, and then she was left to fend for herself?
It was only at the noise of a throat clearing that Gina clocked she hadn’t been left alone. EJ was still dutifully standing beside her, that smile still on his lips, as if it was fastened in place. “I apologize for my family, they are busy dignitaries, with many responsibilities, and can’t stay for small talk. However, if you’d like, I can show you around the castle, and we can better get to know each other?”
Gina stiffened, not in the mood to be alone with a man she had just met, even if that man was supposed to be her fiancé. While he seemed nice enough, there was something about him that just didn’t seem genuine, and Gina was not in the right frame of mind to keep her wits about her.
Hoping the smile she produced was pleasant enough, she responded, “Actually, I’ve had quite a long and strenuous trip. I would love to be shown to my rooms so I can rest and freshen up before dinner.”
“Oh,” EJ stood straighter, as if the thought of her rejecting him was something he didn’t expect, “Well… of course you may. Ricky.”
EJ turned to the man standing behind the shadows in the corner of the room, a man Gina herself only noticed after he had taken a step forward. He looked entirely disinterested but stood to attention at EJ’s beckoning. Was he there the entire time?
“This is one of my personal guards here at the palace. I will be assigning him to you during our betrothal period. Please, use him as your own servant. He will take you to your rooms.”
Gina bowed slightly in acknowledgement and then turned to properly face her new guard. She was not allowed to bring her own staff into the palace as a show of good faith – relations between their two countries were rocky enough and her mother didn’t want to give them the impression that they didn’t trust them to care for Gina properly. She took Ricky in and made her initial judgments.
She was right – he did seem totally uninterested, but whether this was a façade or true was hard to determine. There were indicators that suggested both ways – he had a tired look to his eyes, a ruffled head of hair that seemed to be unconsciously mussed sat on his head. But at the same time, his hand stayed faithfully on the hilt of his sword, and those same tired eyes never rested in one spot for too long.
That is, until he glanced her way, and Gina noticed his restlessness still.
“If you would,” Gina swallowed, suddenly self-conscious at the way Ricky’s eyes weighed heavily on her. Was she wearing a dress wildly out of fashion in this country? Was her hair out of place, or her rouge smudged from sweat? “I’d like to be directed to my rooms.”
Ricky blinked, once, twice (his eyes were pleasant to look at, welcoming and chocolatey through the tiredness, less superficial than the Caswell family’s sharp icy ones), before nodding once. “As you wish. Follow me.”
He had a low quality to his voice, as if it was not used often, and as a guard perhaps it was not.
She went to follow him and jumped when she felt someone grasp her hand from behind, completely forgetting that the prince was stood there. EJ kissed her hand once more and promised to meet her at her doors to walk her to dinner. Gina only nodded and smiled, hoping it didn’t look like the grimace she felt.
She didn’t know how she would ever get used to the fact that in six months’ time, after her nineteenth birthday, she would be married. She would never get to explore her country, and meet her people in their everyday lives, and form a cultural connection to her land the way she intended, and she didn’t know whether to blame her brother or her mother or both. She was just so angry, and she had no way to let it out. She just had to smile, and be demure, and hope the Caswells liked her enough not to start a war with her country while it was recovering from the betrayal of her brother.
She gripped her skirts in her hand, not caring if the material crumpled, and only after letting out a long sigh was she interrupted.
“Princess?”
Her gaze snapped up again to connect with Ricky’s, who looked slightly less bored and more curious than anything. Gina supposed it wasn’t the most ladylike thing in the world to quietly seethe with rage while destroying her fanciest day gown. Training her expression into one of complete calm, she spoke, “My apologies, I’m ready now.”
Ricky kept his gaze on her for a beat longer, before turning and leading the way down the hall. Gina lost count of the amount of turns and staircases it took to get to her rooms, and so she supposed she would have to rely on Ricky to get her around the place. She was mildly surprised that she wasn’t disconcerted at that fact the way she was when EJ offered, but she supposed it was because she didn’t have to marry the guard at the end of the year.
After about five minutes of walking, they reached a long, carpeted hallway with several portraits lined along each wall, each frame and painting more opulent than the last, and Gina felt intimidated all over again at being sent right to the den of lions.
She hadn’t noticed Ricky had stopped in front of a door, too occupied with staring at the unimpressed expressions of the Caswell ancestors, and so she walked right into his solid frame, slamming her head into his chest.
“Ow!” Gina yelped, almost tripping backwards, but feeling one hand grip her elbow, and the other steady her at her waist.
No longer at risk of falling, Gina ripped her body away from Ricky’s hands, the contact leaving a burning sensation that pulsed through the material of her dress. “Let go of me!”
“I’m sorry, Princess, I only meant to break your fall.”
Gina gauged the genuineness of his expression, and immediately felt guilty for her harsh reaction. After all, it was not his fault she was so awkward around men. She would be what one would consider sheltered in the romantic department. As a princess and an heir, her mother was very particular about the type of associates she had, and if anything seemed to be leading to something she deemed inappropriate, the person would be banished from Gina’s tight circle of court friendships immediately.
That much to say, Gina wasn’t used to being touched, and feeling someone’s hand around your waist as they caught you from falling was one of those actions she had longed about. She read and reread the romance novels her cook had snuck into her room on her breakfast trays.
But she was being ridiculous. Here she was, in a palace, intending to marry that same palace’s prince. She had no time to think about whether a mere guard might be interested in her romantically – no time to wonder if she even was a viable romantic option to people, rather than just a political pawn.
Not the mention that Ricky was simply doing his job – guarding her – and that including breaking her fall when she was being clumsy and stupid.
It was at that moment that she realized she had been standing there like a gaping fish for an embarrassingly long amount of time, and she simply turned to the door they had stopped in front of and rushed inside the room without another word to her guard.
Like she was expecting, Ricky didn’t follow her into her rooms, and instead placed himself at her doorframe, ready to enter if needed. She took the time to calm her thoughts and banish Ricky from her mind no matter how intrigued she inexplicably found herself being.
Taking note of the opulent details of the room that seemed to be a running theme throughout the castle, she sunk onto the mattress and ran a hand over the smooth silk sheets, relishing in their coolness and wondering if a maid would be sent soon to run a bath for her.
It was shortly after her thought that someone was sent, and after scrubbing her skin free of the sweat and grime of her trip, Gina felt drowsy in a way that prevented her from doing anything other than sink back onto her mattress, close her eyes, and fall asleep.
*
It was dawn when Gina eventually opened her eyes again, and she blinked a couple of times, trying to take stock of where she was. After a few ticks, the memory of it all came rushing back to her, and she groaned into her pillowcase, wishing she had woken up back home and this whole marriage was just a nightmare.
She vaguely remembered that EJ was supposed to meet her for dinner, but she was in no mood for it, and she hoped that maybe he’d forgotten about it.
As if the universe was out to get her, it was at that moment that she heard muffled voices from outside her door. She quickly shrugged the robe draped along her bedside table over her shoulders, the air too frigid to walk about in her night dress, and she padded as softly as she could manage over to the door to hear what was being said.
“I’m here to pick up the princess, she knows I am coming. She’ll be expecting me so, move.”
Gina recognized EJ’s voice, the snappish tone to his words new to her but somehow based on his earlier demeanor, unsurprising. What was surprising, however, was the response from Ricky, who had no reason to refuse his highness’ demands.
“The princess is asleep; she won’t want to be disturbed. She’ll see you in the morning.”
There was an edge to his tone that sounded too familiar to be coming from just some guard. EJ’s next words confirmed it, “Look, Ricky, just because we grew up together, doesn’t mean you can defy me. I’m the prince.”
“Don’t we all know it,” Ricky snapped, and Gina was stunned at this new information. Ricky and EJ grew up together? “EJ, come back tomorrow. The princess is exhausted. She’s in a strange new palace, having to live with people she just met. Just let her have this one night.”
There was pause, and then EJ’s response. “Okay, maybe you’re right.”
They exchanged a few more words before EJ seemed to shuffle away. Gina let out an inaudible sigh, feeling a wave of gratitude toward Ricky warm her middle and expand outwards. She was about to twist the doorknob and thank him properly, when her good judgement got the better of her. She couldn’t walk outside her room in her nightwear just to thank a guard. What was she thinking?
She was about to simply walk back to bed when she heard Ricky speak from the other side of the door, soft but audible, “Go back to sleep.”
Gina didn’t know why she felt caught, but she flushed from her chest to her ears in embarrassment, and scrambled back to bed, pulling the covers over her head.
Her guard was one strange man.
*
With one last dab of rouge to her cheek, Gina was prepped and ready for her first official day at the Caswell castle. She stared at her reflection in the mirror, aching to scrub all the hard work the maids had put into her dress and grooming and just crawl back under her covers, never to be seen again.
She felt a little guilty. After all, she hadn’t truly given EJ a proper chance yet. But her anguish wasn’t purely about EJ in the first place. She was in mourning; mourning the loss of her prime years where she should’ve been free to do as she wished (well, as free as was possible under her mother’s strict watch). Instead, she was in a strange country, with no one to talk to about it.
So instead of hiding away, Gina decided today would be the day that she finds that someone to talk to. Surely there was someone in the palace she could connect with, someone who would not be offended by her lack of enthusiasm to marry into the country’s royal family. Right?
“Is there anything else we can do, your highness?” the head maid asked, a polite curtsey tacked onto the end of her question.
“No, thank you,” Gina nodded to them all, “You may go. I’ll follow shortly.”
The rest of the maids curtseyed, and they all filed out of the room like they were being vacuumed out of there, quickly, efficiently, no fuss.
Gina sighed to herself once the door shut, stalking her way over to the balcony attached to her view, hoping the fresh air would liven her up before she had to put on her one-woman Gina show and convince the Caswells she was the perfect candidate for this arranged marriage. She was good at acting, it was true, but it didn’t mean she wanted to be doing it for the rest of her life.
The air was brisk and dry, immediately sapping the last fogginess of sleep from behind her eyes. Despite the chill in the air, the sun was out, and she had to admit that there were some things to like about the country. The weather for one seemed to be sunny and bright, and she could hear the chirping of birds and bugs, a pleasant hum in the background of her attention.
Gina sighed once more, steeled herself for the day, and determined to walk out of her room in three seconds.
Three.
She adjusted her skirts and arranged her braids to her exact standard.
Two.
She closed the balcony doors behind her, taking one last look at the view.
One.
She saw something crawl into her peripheral vision, something small and spindly, and when she looked in her reflection, she saw a huge spider charging from her forehead toward her mouth.
She screamed as loud as was imaginably possible, slapping her hands to her face and frantically whacking at the arachnid until it flung from her to the ground somewhere. She jumped up onto the bed, whimpering and shooting her gaze around the floor, trying to find where it had scurried off to.
It was at that moment Ricky burst through her doors, sword drawn and on high alert due to the ruckus. “Princess! What’s the matter?”
He stopped in his tracks at the side of her standing on her mattress, clinging to her bedpost, a shaking mess. He looked tired, like he’d just been awoken, the top few buttons of his shirt undone and looking exceedingly more comfortable than before, and his hair fluffed and mussed.
“T-There’s a s-spider…” Gina shakily responded, feeling more and more stupid around him with every interaction they had. Was she five? Couldn’t she deal with a measly spider herself?
Ricky looked on the verge of laughter, and Gina couldn’t fault him. She was sure she looked ridiculous. Instead of acting on his mirth, he steeled his expression and got to looking. Eventually he was able to locate the spider, and using a glass set aside for her on a coffee table, he picked it up and threw it outside.
Only after the balcony doors were firmly shut did Gina attempt to step down from her bed. Noticing her shaking hands, Ricky strode two steps forward and offered a hand. Gina considered rejecting it, but then she remembered that he’d been nothing but helpful and kind to her in the past twenty-four hours, and so she took it, his other hand hovering below her elbow as she stepped down.
His hand engulfed hers, and they felt warm and rough, like he’d used them regularly. Reliable hands. Hands you could trust.
Gina shook the thought from her mind. Cleared her throat. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Ricky replied, that smug humor returning to his face. He went to turn and leave her rooms again, but she sprung forward and grasped at his sleeve, stopping him in his tracks.
He looked back at her, questioning gaze directed at her, and in the morning light, with the dappled sun filtered through the trees outside her window splashing bursts of light onto his face, she thought to herself that Ricky was handsome in the way EJ was lacking – approachable, and gentle, and warm. He had long eyelashes. She hadn’t noticed them before.
“Princess?” Ricky whispered, like he was scared to break the silence.
“Thank you for last night too.”
Ricky’s eyes softened in understanding, and he nodded, “You must be scared, being in a new place, marrying someone you don’t know.”
It was like the lead in her heart had shrunk a little, the relief of someone voicing exactly what she had been feeling. Her eyes filled with tears and she nodded, grateful that someone was seeing things from her perspective. She couldn’t remember the last time someone did that.
“Hey, well, I’m your trusty guard,” Ricky grinned, a goofy quality to the smile, “If you ever need a prison break, just give me the signal.”
Gina felt her mood lifting. Maybe it would be easier to make a friend than she thought, “And what would the signal be?”
Ricky leaned forward, his hand reaching out to tuck a stray braid that had fallen out of place behind her ear. Gina’s breath caught at the movement, the pulse at her temple jumping at the brush of contact his finger made with her cheek, the shell of her ear. Ricky smiled again, this time more genuine, “I’m sure I’ll know it when you signal it.”
“So confident,” Gina whispered, unsure what to do with herself, not wanting to move for fear Ricky would leave.
“I’m not part of the royal guard for nothing,” Ricky supplied. After a beat, his eyes widened when he realized just how close he had come to her. He cleared his throat and took a mighty step back, breaking eye contact, “Forgive me, princess. That was inappropriate of me.”
Before Gina even had the chance to respond, Ricky quickly left the room, and she heard his voice a few moments later, “Your highness, the princess is waiting inside for you.”
Her mind a haze of thoughts, Gina could only truly process one: Would it be frowned upon to be friends with her guard?