Lunaeris was a princess, the youngest of six princesses of the Elven Kingdom, and she was very displeased with her life.
She lived in comfort, yes, all her needs were attended to, but she had no freedom. Her duty by birth was to be a political bargaining chip, and not a particularly appealing one. She existed to be shopped around to the least impressive princes of other kingdoms, every royal family on the continent playing the shittiest game of matchmaker ever seen in the name of making some diplomatic gain off of their weakest heirs and heiresses.
It was, to put it lightly, pathetic. It made her feel like an object. So, when she got word that her father once again had someone for her to meet, she did what she did best.
She meandered.
She was years deep in an elaborate game of seeing exactly how far she could sabotage her own love life without being called on it, and she was very skilled. Spend far too long getting ready when she's been summoned? Why, she just had to be sure she looked absolutely perfect for her prince. Clothes painstakingly picked out of and put back in her closet, long white hair brushed over and over, to make the best possible impression. If they got off on the wrong foot because he was annoyed at waiting, well it just wasn't meant to be.
She sat in front of her mirror and began applying black makeup to her eyes. While she did style herself this way because she liked how it looked, she also liked that it made some of her particularly stuck-up suitors describe her as "dreary", "kind of off-putting", and "probably some kind of witch". Her father had only attempted to convince her not to do this once, and was easily persuaded otherwise when she pointed out that having a princess using their wares encouraged trade with the dark elves. Frankly, it was the most she had improved relations with another kingdom in her life, and she didn't even have to get married to do it.
Once she was dressed and ready, she strode out in search of more delays. At this time of day, she could swing by the gardens and waste at least fifteen more minutes.
Or at least she could have, had the king not intercepted her in the hallway.
"Ah, there you are! Come, we must hurry." He said, and Lunaeris begrudgingly followed.
"Is my suitor so impatient you had to collect me yourself?" She asked, and he shook his head.
"No suitors today I'm afraid. The sages have brought a prophecy."
"Oh." Lunaeris said, already uninterested. Her father loved prophecies, but she had always found them a bit finicky. Raised a lot of questions about whether they would have come to pass had the sages not said anything in the first place.
"Oh yes, and it's a doozy. The demon king plans to kill you."
"....Oh." She wouldn't describe that as 'a doozy', exactly.
"Yes, but don't fret! the prophecy says he fails. A hero will arrive in your hour of need and slay him with a blade of purest sunlight! And then you and the hero are to be wed! All will work out fine in the end."
"Hm." She also wouldn't describe that as 'working out fine'.
"But I know you have misgivings about prophecies, and I wouldn't want my daughter living in fear. And that's why I sent for a bodyguard to accompany you and keep you safe until the threat has passed."
"What?"
"You know the half-giants? From the mountains? One of their best paladins is already here to make sure no harm befalls you."
"Father, I hardly need-"
"I know, I know, you don't want a bodyguard, but this is for the best. Give it a week, you'll hardly even notice anything's changed."
"I'll hardly notice the half-giant stalking me in full plate?"
"It's amazing what you can grow accustomed to, given time." He paused as they reached the throne room. "Now, you've delayed long enough. I understand there is some degree of ceremony involved, a swearing of an oath, and then you may waste time as you see fit. With your new guard."
"Very well. Since they're already here."
They entered, and the king sat on his throne and gestured for Lunaeris to stand in the center of the room, next to the largest woman she had ever seen. Her bodyguard-to-be had to be almost eight feet tall, and as broad as an ox. She looked immovable in her armor, a monument of steel adorned with a cape of white satin over her shield arm.
"I hope we haven't kept you waiting too long. My daughter has a habit of getting lost in these twisting halls."
"Not at all, your majesty." The knight said, her voice rumbling out from her great helm.
"Excellent. Please, begin whenever you're ready."
The knight knelt before her on one knee (Gods, she still came up to chest height, how big were full giants?) and removed her helmet. Lunaeris looked upon her face, and found it strikingly handsome.
"If I may have your hand, princess?" She said, holding out a gauntleted palm which Lunaeris gently took.
Finding her new knight handsome was, obviously, unacceptable. She had long since accepted that love was not for her, and did not need to be thinking about kissing anyone's beautiful square jawline or tousling their short-hewn hair.
The paladin had already gotten started on some lengthy rehearsed speech while the princess was otherwise distracted. Paladins loved their ceremonies. Despite this, she continued to not pay attention, instead focusing on the fact that what she had thought was more cape covering the paladin's back was actually a pair of white-feathered wings. She had heard some paladins had those, but couldn't imagine they could possibly lift her into the air. They did however, look very soft. Perhaps she would let her touch them if she asked.
"-Holy Knight of the Seventh Monastery, do swear my undying loyalty to you-"
Shit, had she missed her name? It wasn't like her to get carried away in her imagination like this.
"-your burdens shall be my burdens, your sorrows my sorrows-"
It didn't help that whatever this oath was, it sounded not entirely unlike marriage vows. Not that she had heard many other kinds of vows to compare them to. It made her ears redden to think about it.
"-for as long as I draw breath, no harm shall come to you."
She waited for the knight to continue, but she had apparently tuned in towards the end of the speech. The king clapped his hands together and stood.
"Marvelous!" He said. "Don't you feel safer already?"
"Yes, much." Lunaeris lied, and hurried back to her room, paladin in tow. She hesitated at her door.
"These are my private chambers-"
"Of course, Princess. I shall remain out here, should you need me." The knight said, her voice once again muffled by the helmet she had at some point put back on.
At least that distraction was gone.
She shut her door and flung herself onto her bed.
"Fuck. Shit. Gods damn me."
Her heart was a fortress, constructed over years to be completely inaccessible to any who dared approach.
She did not get crushes. Especially not on giant bodyguards she didn't even want around. Especially especially not when she was now prophecised to-
She cracked her door open.
"Paladin."
"Princess?"
"Your sword, is it magical?"
"No, my lady."
"Do you cast magic on it? Some kind of sunlight enchantment?"
"No, my lady. I hold no magic beyond the power of my oaths."
"Very well. Carry on."
She nodded curtly and closed the door.
-prophecised to marry someone else entirely. It was unthinkable. It would ruin her. She would simply insist to her father that she didn't need a guard, or at least not this specific one.
She cracked her door open again.
"...Could you remind me what your name was, my knight?"
"Kallixenia, Princess."
"May I call you Kallie?"
"If that pleases you, my lady."
She shut the door again.
This meant nothing, of course. She could call Kallie 'her knight' and give her nicknames, she was still getting rid of her.
Tomorrow.
If she got around to it.
Fuck.
