Fantasy you put me back together and gave me life [p w/ nekogirl]

[WolfWiggs1]

Ryan wasn't sure if he was crazy about being king, but he didn't have a choice. He much rather not have to worry about what everyone thought of him. He liked being able to lay in bed all day if he wanted to. He couldn't do that as king. When she complimented his name, the prince shrugged in response. "Thank you. King Ryan just doesn't have a nice sound to it. Queen Courtney sounds like someone who you need to watch your back for. I mean that as a compliment as well." He added with a chuckle.

The more Ryan thought about taking over the kingdom some day, the more stressed about it he became. "Do you want to be queen?" He asked suddenly. Ryan was curious if she thought about it a lot or not. He figured she had a better idea of what to do. or what she wanted to do, than he did. Ryan got a chair and moved it next to Courtney and sat down. "Like, what do yo want to do as queen? I'm too stressed about it to know what to do at this point."

 

[NekoGirl665]

Courtney laughed. “I doubt think may people would want to deal with a queen in the first place. I guess there are a few matriarchal kingdoms , but most prefer to have the king do most of the work. That is what I’m accustom to seeing anyways.” she looked back to him. “Well I’m thinking about it now, before I didn’t really think I would need or have to get married so being a queen hadn’t really came to mind until now.”

She smiled as he brought a chair over to sit next to her. “and after a littlenit of thinking I don’t think being a queen sounds all that bad. I mean it is a lot of responsibility surely to run a kingdom. But we haveplenty of time before that to try new things and do what we want. hmmm, what would I do as queen? Well I suppose the first part would be to get to know the people and their concerns and then work out ways to help them.” She then looked over atRyan.

“You said your parents don’t seem to show much interest in what you do right? Well have you tried Showing interest in what they do? Maybe they are waiting for you to ask them how to run the kingdom and step up to the plate? ”

 

[WolfWiggs1]

Ryan was glad that Courtney seemed to be at least somewhat excited to hold power. He just wanted her to be in charge and he could watch whatever she does. Courtney was perfect to fit the leadership role. The kingdom needed her more than they needed him. Ryan watched Courtney, but he looked away when she suggested him talking to his parents. He wasn't completely sold on the idea.

"I don't know, Courtney." He said with a sigh. "I don't think I want to be king. I feel like I have no choice though. You would be an excellent leader though. This kingdom needs you more than they need me." Ryan said. He ran his hand through his hair as he thought it over. "I don't even know if my own parents really want me to be king. Maybe they've been so distant because they want to be in power for as long as they can be, and they really just wanted you in charge."

 

[NekoGirl665]

Courtney sighed a little when he turned away. 'I guess he didnt like that idea.' "oh you dont know that I'd be a good leader. I dont know this kingdom or it's people. " 'Well I guess he doesn't either come to think of it...' "I dont know if they would accept just me as a foreigne princess."

"Well maybe you're half right about them wanting to stay in power. But I doubt they would want me in charge. They dont know me. And I dont know why they dont want to know you. I only just met you and I want to get to know you more. " she gave him a kind smile.

 

[WolfWiggs1]

Ryan appreciated that Courtney wanted to help him. He just didn't know how she could help him. Ryan gave Courtney a look when she pointed out that she doesn't know everyone here. Like he knew more than she did. Ryan shrugged when she brought up the foreign princess part. "Maybe you should take charge and I'll be your trophy husband. We can make it look like I'm doing it all, but really it's just you." He suggested. "I want you to get the credit though. You deserve recognition." Ryan told her.

Talking about Ryan's parents was weird for him. He wished he could confidently say that they at least liked him. He listened to what Courtney had to say and he stood up with a sigh when Courtney was done talking. "We should start looking around the place now. May as well get to know your home." Ryan said. He put the chair back and then returned next to Courtney, flashing her a smile. It was too weird for him to talk about his parents when he didn't even know where he stood on the topic.

 

[NekoGirl665]

Courtney sighed and shook her head. “making it seem like you are doing the work and giving me the credit are two contradicting ideas.” Then she gave him an annoyed look. “And why exactly don’t you deserve recognition? and why are you just throwing away the privilege to be a leader? “ sure he was trying to give it to her but didn’t he get that so many people would give what ever it is to be in his shoes. And it was justreckless to trust he with everything. She turned away.

”yeah I suppose we should look around so I can familiarize myself with the castle’s llayout,” she said standing up and taking one lass look in the mirror before heading out of her bedroom. “Where too first?”

 

[WolfWiggs1]

Ryan listened to Courtney, but he didn’t want to argue with her at all. He hated arguing though. Anything he could do to keep it all peaceful would be the best thing he wanted to do. Ryan thought over her question of why he wanted to throw this all away and not step up as leader. He wasn’t exactly sure, but he didn’t want to think about it. Ryan just shrugged in response and stayed quiet. He didn’t want to argue at all. If avoiding answer would keep them both peaceful, then that’s what he’ll do.

He was glad to move on to the topic of touring the castle. Ryan followed Courtney out of the room and walked with her. “My room’s the closest thing at the moment. I don’t know after that. Maybe to the dinning hall from there.” Ryan said. He lead her a few doors down and then opened the door to his room. It pretty clean and similar to Courtney’s room layout wise. “Pretty boring, hm?” Ryan chuckled.

 

[NekoGirl665]

Courtney walked with him to his room and looked around. She nodded. “So where do you spend most of your time?” She asked. If his room was boring then where did he go? “But the dinning area seems like the next logical place to show me or at least the kitchens. Is there a library?” Maybe they had some books about the history of the kingdom or maps to know what the place looked like. Her parents kingdom had mountains so it was good for mining materials. They also had a good trade system with their neighbors. And if Ryan was uninterested in that sort of thing and being a leader of a country it just meant she had to figure things out on her own. Maybe his parents would be more open in talking to her if she tried....but she doubted it if they took little interest in their own son.

 

[WolfWiggs1]

Ryan had been in his room alone for so long time, and now it was weird to have Courtney in there too. His parents had barely came in to check on him. He glanced around the room and sighed as he thought about how his life was going to chance soon. Everything was going to change even if he didn’t want it to. Ryan looked at Courtney when she asked what he did for fun. He blushed out of embarrassment for what he was about to say. “I just stay in here.” He said honestly. “There’s nothing else besides reading for me to do.” Ryan said.

She mentioned the library and Ryan nodded, fine with going to see it. “Yeah, let’s go.” He said and started walking with Courtney again. Ryan was excited to be the one to give Courtney a tour of the place. He was happily that he was trusted enough to do so, but he also didn’t think his parents would offer to. Once at the library, Ryan let Courtney enter first and then looked around the large room with her. “When I was younger, one of the maids tried to get me to read all of the books here.” Ryan told Courtney and smiled at the memory. “I gave up on that plan whenever I realized how boring some of the books are.”

 

[NekoGirl665]

Courtney looked at him. “You have so much free time and you’re parents don’t care what you do And you choose to just sit and read? What happened to sneaking out and learning to cook? I’m sure there are so many things you could have been doing!” ’Sheltered and more boring then I thought.’

Courtney followed him to the library. “Yes well I assume all the books would be boring but I mean you just said all you do is read so I assume reading the most interesting things would be boring. alright I want to see the armory. where do the knights train? What sort of defenses does this kingdom have? How does the military run? Oh why am I asking you...” she didn’t really mean to say the last part aloud but if he didnt know how the kingdom ran at all she doubted he would know the answer to her last few questions... “we are adding sword lessons to things we are doing.” She said not sure if he knew how to fight at all but she was assuming he didn’t.

 

[WolfWiggs1]

Ryan listened to Courtney’s rambling about what he should be doing with his free time. He wished there were more exciting things to do. Maybe he could explore better things to do with Courtney. Even in the library, he listened to her talk about everything she wanted to do. He took notes in his head, trying to make sure he remembered everywhere she wanted to go. He didn’t want to disappoint Courtney at all. He had let down his parents enough.

Ryan nodded to her suggestion of sword fighting. “That’ll be fun.” He said. “I’ve never even used a sword before, as you probably expect.” Ryan chuckled and took Courtney’s hand as they walked. “Have you? I’m sure you’ll be better with sword stuff than I will be.” He told Courtney. Once they got to the armory, Ryan looked around the room again and then looked at Courtney. “I haven’t been here in a while.” Ryan said.

 

[NekoGirl665]

While she had wanted to spend some time looking around the library, when she learned that Ryan spent a lot of time reading she figured reading could wait. She wanted to actually explore more physically and find more things for them to do together since reading was something that was more of solo activity. She wanted to do something with this new freedom and she wanted Ryan to get out and do more with the freedom he hadn’t been taking advantage of.

She was a tad confused when he took her hand and started pulling her along but didn’t protest and held his hand. At first she didn’t like it thinking she was plenty independent enough to follow him and not have her hand held, but after letting that go since he didn’t seem to be patronizing her it actually felt nice. “A little. But mainly just how to care for swords and a few stances and how to hold them safely. Then I was told to stop... I tried to learn how to use a mace.... but then I was told I couldn’t go down to the armory or training grounds at all. I do know archery tho. I guess my Parents assumed that was more princess like then other things I was doing And it kept me from doing anything more dangerous.“ once at the armory Courtney Let go of ryans hand to explore the room on her own. She also learned the name of the weapons and she tried to judge what kind of fighting the knights and guards were trained in by looking at the weapons. “Why is that?”

 

[WolfWiggs1]

Ryan thought it was so cool that Courtney knew how to handle swords. He never thought a princess would do something like that. He was totally cool with Courtney doing whatever she wanted though. He would never restrict her on anything she wanted to do. He strolled around the room, the walls covered with armor and weapons, and isles of cases too in the middle of the room. Ryan stuck by Courtney since he liked her company.

Ryan listened to talked about how she had tried learning how to handle weapons and was completely fascinated with the room. He really felt lucky to have been arranged to someone so unique. “Why were you told to stop? Are your parents just that weird?” He asked. “Like I’m one to talk about her having weird parents.” Ryan thought. When she asked about why he hadn’t been in here, Ryan shrugged. “I don’t really know. I guess I just don’t like thinking about war and conflict in general.” He said.

Ryan looked up and smiled seeing a sword he recognized. Perfect timing for him to change the subject. “Hey, look at that.” He said. Ryan carefully took the sword from it’s holder and held it carefully in his hands. “When I came here with me dad, this was the one sword I begged him to let me use one day.” Ryan smiled at the fond memory and then looked at Courtney. “I bet you would be really good with this sword.” He said.

 

[NekoGirl665]

Courtney couldn’t believe what he had just asked. “Why was I told to stop? Well because it is improper for a princess to handle any sort of weapon. It is something that simply isn‘t done. Have you ever heard of a princess that can fight and use a weapon? Well other then me. “ she shook her head. “No according to my parents and almost everyone else in the world. Princesses do not use swords or maces Or axes or any other type of weapon and the surely do not fight.” She sighed. “I am the one that is weird not them. They are fairly Normal I believe.”


“Oh well I don’t think of war too much bput I’m fasinated by the battles and stories of battles. And just the reasons behind it and learning how they are taught and why. Like if we learn why we can learn ways of peacefully avoiding them. But at the same time. Some times peace isnt An option so knowing how to win a war is important.” She nodded. “Plus just it is fun to watch fights spar and fight in tournaments and festivals when it isn’t life or death. And jousting oh I loved those events. plus just learning to fight might come in handy and self defense in general.” She said sounding super excited. She went and picked up a simple looking short sword and looked at it.

she blinked and looked over at the one Ryan picked up. “So you begged before to use that one. It looks nice.” She smiled some. Well he showed interest in the past so maybe it can be brought back up. She laughed some. “I bet I am not. My lessons never got that far to actually using swords. Plus that one looks a little to large and heavy for me to handle properly.”

 

[WolfWiggs1]

Ryan thought it was beyond stupid that her parents made her stop practicing with weapons. It was a smart thing to know how to defend yourself in any way possible. He wished he had stuck with the skill and perfected it, but maybe he could learn with Courtney. Hopefully one of the knights could teach them somehow. He wasn’t sure how they could learn on their own and get better. It was good to know combat just for defense purposes. Ryan really wanted to make sure that Courtney got the combat training she was asking for. He wished her kingdom had treated more equally.

Listening to Courtney talk about war and conflict made it seem not that bad. He felt more relaxed in the room with her words. He just thought of it as tearing people apart and people dying, but maybe there were some positives like she was talking about. The longer he looked at the sword, the more he thought about his dad. Ryan put the sword back and then focused back on Courtney. He wanted to mood to be light and fun. Thinking about his dad was no way to go about all of this. “That’s sword’s cool.” He said. “Whenever we do practice stuff, I’ll make sure you get that sword.” Ryan said and gave her a smile.

 

[NekoGirl665]

Courtney laughs some. “Well I mean this sword is okay. But really it doesn’t matter if a sword looks cool or not. Typically the more ornate a sword or the more decorative the less effective it is when it comes to actually using it in a battle. The fancy swords are used for display. Normally for a ceremony like a knighting or just as a show or power or rank. That’s why you some times see a knight or noble with more then one sword. One for use and one just to show off their position Or rank. This one is a simple short sword. Looks in good condition but not very sharp. Making me think it just is more for display or training. or just hasnt been sharpened in a while. “

She looked around. It wasn’t too dusty but at the same time it didn’t look well used as an armory...actually the whole place seemed kind of empty. “Are their not many maids or servants around the castle?” She didn’t recall seeing any on their walk here or our any where except for the few who carried in her belongings and then the maid that brought her some soup.

 

[WolfWiggs1]

Ryan thought it was so cool that Courtney knew so much about swords and weapons in general. He wished he was as smart as she was. Just listening to her talk about the different types of swords and their uses was so cool to Ryan. He never would’ve thought he would ever learn about weapons as much as he was now. Ryan gently touched the blade of the small sword she was holding just to feel how dull it was. “I think a knight here was coronated with this sword. That’s cool you were able to pick up on that.”

At the mention of how dusty the room was, Ryan nodded. “Yeah, we have a few servants. Not a lot, but enough. This room isn’t used or seen a lot so it’s not cleaned as much.” He told her and smiled. “There’s one maid, her name’s Victoria, she pretty much raised me. You would love her, she’s so kind.” Ryan said. He was happy that he was lucky enough to still have someone there for him. A lot of people didn’t, and Ryan was thankful someone had stepped in. If Victoria never did, he would be very different.

 

[NekoGirl665]

Courtney laughed and put the sword down and rubbed the back of her head. “Well when you can’t actually do some thing the next best thing is to learn as much as you can about a subject and hope that someone takes that knowledge seriously and will be persuaded into teaching you to actually do something.” She spent a lot of time reading herself about topics she couldn’t do but the more reading she did the more she just wanted to get out and do things. She wasn’t content just with the books. she went back to looking at a different sword.

She nodded some. “I feel like it is just so quiet and empty. Back at my old home there never seemed to Have a hallway were there wasn’t someone cleaning or starting on guard duty. It really is strange. “ she looked at him a smiled. “Oh and wait to met her. There was a maid. I was friends with. She was kind of like a third big sister to me. Her name’s Mary. Man I will miss her....” then it hit her. The soup from earlier it was Mary’s soup or at least the same recipe. She couldn’t be here could she? “ hey let’s go to the kitchens now.”

 

[WolfWiggs1]

Ryan didn’t blame her for doing all the research she could about weapons and combat. He understood what it was like to desire something that was beyond what you could have. He always wanted to be closer with his parents or see what the outside world was like, but it didn’t seem possible. Ryan listened to Courtney talk about the former maid she had and smiled as he listened. She seemed like a joy to have around.

Ryan was slightly confused by Courtney's sudden want to go to the kitchen, but he didn’t question it. “Right this way.” He said. Ryan took her hand again and started walking with her to the kitchen. People were already preparing food. “The food’s really good here. Everyone does a great job.” Ryan told Courtney and gave her a smile.

 

[NekoGirl665]

Courtney let him take her hand and she walked with him wanting to drag him but she couldn’t very well do that when she didn’t know where they were going. As she walked she tried to again remember where she had come from to try and get the lay out of the castle. Maybe she needed a map.

when she got to the kitchen she took a deep breath. “Well it does smell good. So I can’t wait to actually try the Food.” She said with a smile in return. But then she looked around. Before a familiar voice came from behind.
“I was wondering when you would find your way down here,” Mary said with a smile standing up from the stole she was sitting on to peel some vegetables.

Courtney spun around and let go of Ryan’s hand went and hugged her friend, “Mary you‘remhere! Why? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Mary laughed and returned the hug. “I thought it would be a nice surprise. And the king agreed someone should be around to he a familiar face and keep an eye on you. I knew you would find your way down here. Oh and with the prince’s help too.” Mary said letting her go looking over at the prince. She wasn’t one to care if one was royal or not and still acted the same unless it was the king or queen of the palace. They were the ones with the power to fire her after all. but She still curtsied out of respect. “Your highness.”

”Ryan this is my friend I was just telling you about, last night I was given som soup and I thought it was familiar But I didn’t think of it being Mary’s soul until now.”

“Oh? Silly girl the soup wasn’t anything to special. just something I made when I heard you didnt go to the dinner that they had. I thought you should at least eat something.”

 

[WolfWiggs1]

Ryan wondered why Courtney was so excited. He figured he would know when he got there. The prince turned around hearing someone talk to Courtney and watched the two interact. The servant praising Ryan for helping Courtney and giving him a curtsey made him blush a bit. He didn’t deserve any praise at all. “You don’t have to treat me like that. I don’t mind.” Ryan said. “It’s nice to meet you, Mary.” Courtney’s clarification of who this was made him nod to show he understood. “I’m sure you’ll be a great addition to the team here.” Ryan said. He was glad Courtney had someone familiar here. Maybe it wouldn’t be so lonely for her after all.

 

[NekoGirl665]

Mary looked at him confused. “Don’t treat you like what? “ she crossed her arms. He didnt sound like he wanted more respect, but was turning down something as simple as a curtsy And appreciation for helping someone. “Well if I want some respect I of course will give it, how I wish. But thank you. I’m sure i will. But your castle is extremely short staffed. Or under. Depends how you look at things. The castle is so big and it’s not clean. But it doesn’t seem it is used much at all to end cleaning. So why are there so many cooks for 3 now four Royals. It really doesn’t make sense. “

Courntey Nodded. “I noticed that as well. Very strange Castle this is and haven’t you learned anything else about the kingdom as a whole?”

”Not much. Been to busy to ask much about that. I figured you would know more then me since you will be marrying him.”

Courtney shook her head. “I was told I’m to marry Ryan and that’s about it. Ryan himself doesn’t know much Himself.

“Really?” Maryturned to look at the prince as well. “Now that is moreodd.”


“Oh sorry Ryan didn’t mean to make it sound we were talking about you like you are not here.” Courtney said realizing what happened. She hated when others did it with her. “Well it’s great to see you Maryandmlnow that you are here. If you’re busy I’ll let you get back to work.”

 

[WolfWiggs1]

Ryan felt awkward just standing there while they complained about his home. He couldn’t do anything about the staff shortages or his knowledge about the kingdom. He felt pretty useless at the time and just glanced around the kitchen while they talked. He looked back at Courtney when she spoke to him and gave her a smile. “It’s okay, really.” He said. Ryan waved goodbye to Mary and left with Courtney. “I’m sorry you don’t like it here.” He apologized. Ryan felt guilty for being the reason she was here in the first place. “We’ll fix everything when it’s our turn to lead.” Ryan told Cortney, trying to be positive about the circumstances.

Ryan lead Courtney to the dinning room and glanced around. “We don’t eat here all the time. If my parents are busy, I eat in my room.” He told Courtney. Ryan was already expecting to hear her say something negative about it since she had with every room they went into.

 

[NekoGirl665]

“Have a good rest of your day Courntey. You as well Ryan.” Mary said and went back to work.

”you too Mary!“ Courntey said with a smile and left with Ryan. “Oh it’s not that I don’t like it here is it just all very strange.” She gave him a reassuring smile. “ Its just very quiet and it feels very cut off from the rest of the world. You and your parents don’t really go to many parties or events and I don’t recall ever hearing this kingdom hosting any events. Even my father was a bit unsure when the request came in And had to look to make sure it wasn’t some joke. “ she said with a bit of a laugh. “ The castle staff is not very large for a castle of this size. Which for just the three of you is rather large for a lot of space that seems to go unused. Like it is just for show. Do you know if your parents go out much? what are they busy doing?”

Courtney looked around the room and nodded. “Oh I don’t think my family uses the main formal dinning room all too much. But we had a smaller ones where my family would gather for meals when we all were not busy doing our own things. So I can eat in my room then? it was always frowned upon eating in her room unless she was sick.”

it wasn’t like she wanted to be negative on the rooms or the castle it was just so odd and different to her. She liked the library, armory, and kitchen. But they brought Up so many questions. How much of this parents not being close with him was due to them out right ignoring him and how much was him not showing interest? While Courntey could easily see how handsome Ryan was and it would seem he was very kind. It was hard to gage how bright he was. “So what interests you? What do you read about In your room?”

 

[WolfWiggs1]

Ryan nodded when he heard Courtney talk about how it was frowned upon to eat in her room. "It's better than eating alone in this large of a room." He said. Ryan could see how all of this was odd to an outsider, but he didn't know that other kingdoms functioned differently than his until he met Courtney. Part of him wanted to go talk to his parents now and demand why his life was so full of secrets, but he wasn't bold enough. They probably wouldn't answer him and instead just tell him he's not supposed to be in his room like they did every time he went in there for something small. Victoria played a huge role in his life for raising him. The more he thought about, the more thankful he was for her.

Ryan looked at Courtney when she asked him what he was interested in and what he read about. His face seemed to light up when he heard the question out of excitement to answer it. "I like reading about the stars and stuff like that." He said. "Space stuff is really cool to me. I have a guilty pleasure for cooking and recipes as well." Ryan said and smiled. "Victoria has to sneak me cooking books. My parents rather me read nonfiction books than anything cooking related. I guess just because it's more like job or something."