Chapter Text
Once upon a time, in the shimmering Land of Spirits, there lived a princess named Lucy. Her golden hair caught the sun like threads of light, and her laughter was said to charm even the wind. But Lucy's world was not one of endless joy.
Tragedy struck when she was but a child when her beloved mother passed from this world too soon, leaving behind a void that no courtly splendor could fill. The king, grief-stricken and burdened by sorrow, could not bear to look upon his daughter, for she was the living reflection of the queen he had lost.
Instead, he ordered the newly promoted Captain of the Guard, Loke, to watch over the child and make sure she was safe. Loke was still a young warrior with hair like a lion’s mane, the strength of the fiercest beast in the land—which he had to slay to win the position—and yet he had a heart untempered by the harshness of war. The Land of Spirits had not gone to battle in three generations, and war was now a mere dark story told by grandparents to scare children.
For his unmatched bravery, he was called The Lion. Now, his duty was clear: protect the princess at all costs.
On the day of the funeral, half the kingdom had come out to grieve, filling the royal capitol city. Rain, rare and solemn in the Land of Spirits, wept from the heavens as mourners gathered beneath somber skies. Slowly, the mourners departed, until even the king retreated to his carriage, cloaked in his grief.
Only Lucy remained behind, standing small and fragile by the wet tombstone. Her tiny hands clenched at her black mourning dress. Now that no one was watching, she surrendered to the pain of loss. Her sobs broke free, raw and aching, carried on the wind like a lament.
No one heard.
None but the new Captain of the Guard.
From a respectful distance, Captain Loke watched. The sight of the grieving princess, so lonely and broken, stirred something fierce and protective within his heart. Abandoning protocol, he approached her quietly.
Kneeling beside the princess, Loke hesitated only a moment before wrapping his arms around her trembling body.
“I have no one now,” she choked out between sobs.
“You will never be alone, Princess,” Loke vowed, his voice steady despite the tightness in his chest. “I will serve you for as long as I live. I swear it.”
The rain softened, as if the heavens themselves heeded his oath.
* * *
The next morning, Princess Lucy awoke to find Captain Loke stationed beside her bedchamber door, his orange hair glinting in the early light streaming in through her window.
“Princess,” he greeted. “The king has given you two servants to be companions.”
He opened the bedchamber door, and two young women stepped in, seemingly barely of age. They bowed and introduced themselves. Aries was a spirited lady-in-waiting with boundless energy but a nervous streak. Virgo was a meticulous chambermaid with biting wit and surprising strength for her petite size. Together with Captain Loke, they became her unlikely circle of friends within the castle walls.
Though she was still weighed by grief, something shifted within her—a glimmer of hope sparked by the unwavering presence of her new guardian. Morning after morning, Loke was there, the first person she saw upon opening her eyes, his smile warming her heart.
He stood vigil by her door each night, slept during her morning lessons, and shadowed her steps throughout the rest of the day. When duty pulled him away, his formidable second-in-command, Lieutenant Taurus, took his place, ensuring that no harm would ever come to the king’s only child.
It was Loke’s vow, made on that sorrowful day by her mother’s tomb, that shaped Lucy’s heart most profoundly. His loyalty was unyielding, his promise unwavering, and as the years turned the child into a young woman, that bond would be tested in ways neither could have foreseen.
* * *
Years passed. Princess Lucy blossomed into a breathtaking mirror image of her late mother. The resemblance was painful for the king, who avoided her whenever he could. So when he called for Lucy the day after her eighteenth birthday, the castle hummed with curiosity and apprehension.
Virgo and Aries fussed over the princess’s gown, smoothing every seam until it gleamed like starlight. Meanwhile, the pageboy twins, Gemi and Mini, raced through the halls and burst into Loke’s quarters, breathless and wild-eyed.
“Lion! Lion!” they chorused. “The king called for the princess!”
Loke bolted upright, instantly on edge. He knew what that summons likely meant.
He ran to Lucy’s chamber, but she was already gone. He ran to the king’s private study, but the doors were already shut, and Aries and Virgo stood outside. They saw him, still in night clothes, and pouted in sympathy.
“I’m sorry. He said no one’s allowed in,” Aries said, twisting her hands together.
He thought he heard Lucy yell. His instinct was to burst in there, but the two King’s Guard stationed in front of the massive doors crossed their spears to block him.
Loke’s shoulders bristled. “I am Captain of the Guard, personal protector of the princess—”
“I’m sorry, Captain,” one of them said, not budging. “King’s orders. No one is to enter that room.”
He’s purposely keeping me away from her, Loke realized.
Hours crawled by while Lucy remained sequestered behind those heavy doors. Only a single kitchen maid had been allowed in or out to bring them supper.
It was well into the night, the candles burning down, when the king’s doors finally flew open. Lucy stormed out, fury radiating from every inch of her regal form. Her gown swept furiously across the marble floor and she stomped away through the halls. Loke fell in behind her, shadowing her without a word as she marched toward her chambers.
When they reached her door, he moved ahead to open it. Lucy brushed past him without so much as a glance. Her lips were pressed thin, and her eyes gleamed with unshed tears. Inside the room, Aries and Virgo sat chatting together, but they rose to bow deeply as Lucy entered.
“I don’t want to see either of you again,” she snapped at Virgo and Aries, her voice trembling with suppressed rage. “Virgo, I have every right to punish you.”
“I will accept it, Princess,” Virgo replied serenely, bowing with a strange, masochistic smile.
“And Aries—”
“I’m sorry!” wailed Aries, clutching her white skirts dramatically.
Lucy clenched her fists, visibly holding back harsher words. “You’re not entirely at fault, but I’m angry. Neither of you warned me.”
“It was the king’s orders,” Virgo explained. “Defying him would be treason.”
“Whatever. Just… go away. I don’t want to see you until tomorrow.”
Aries wrung her hands. “But who will help you get dressed?”
“Anyone else. I don’t care who. Captain, you do it.”
Loke stiffened. “Wha— Me?”
“That’s an order,” she barked before marching over to her window to glare out at the stars.
Virgo and Aries exchanged wide-eyed looks with Loke, who stood frozen. The captain’s stoic facade cracked for a fleeting moment. The orders of royalty were absolute. They had to be followed, no matter how illogical or, in this case, immodest.
“Good luck, Brother,” Virgo intoned solemnly.
“Don’t remove everything,” Aries whispered with a mischievous grin.
Ignoring their snickers, Loke squared his shoulders and closed the door.
Lucy stood by the window, gripping ledge so tightly her knuckles turned white. Loke saw her shoulders shaking with tears she had been holding back all day. Finally, she could hold back no longer.
“He’s marrying me off,” she choked out between sobs. “The Prince of Dragons is also newly of age. Since I just turned eighteen, they wanted to finalize everything as soon as possible. They’ve been planning it for who knows how long. Month? Maybe years. Maybe since the day I was born. It seems everyone knew but me.” Her tear-streaked face turned toward Loke, blazing with fury. “Did you know?”
Loke hesitated before answering. “His Majesty informed me three months ago. I was ordered to remain silent.”
“You still could’ve warned me!”
Captain Loke stood stiffly. “It was an order from the king.”
“If my father ordered me to leave this castle and marry a dragon, would you let me go?”
“I have already been instructed, on the wedding day, I am to escort you to the border and no further.”
Lucy knew she should have expected that, but it still stunned her for a moment. Her breath hitched. “You’d do that, wouldn’t you? No hesitation.” She sniffled, and rage flamed in her eyes. “Would you take me there, even if it’s against my will?”
“My duty is to this land and to the royal family,” the Captain replied loyally. “If it’s the king’s will, I must obey.”
“So if my father ordered me to marry some man I don’t love, should I also blindly obey?”
“The king has many reasons for this arrangement…”
“Yes, yes, he spent the entire afternoon listing all the reasons.” She glared up at Loke again. “If my father ordered me to lift my skirts for this man and let him take me to bed, must I obey that as well, even if it’s not my will?” she demanded, her voice cracking with anguish.
Her words hit him like arrows. “Princess, please.”
“What if I refuse? Would you hold me down, pin me to the bed?”
Loke’s stomach clenched, rage flashing in his eyes. “Princess, don’t—”
“Would you lift my skirts yourself, so that the Prince of Dragons can consummate the marriage?”
Loke’s jaw clenched as the image of another man touching her gnawed at him.
“You would have to force into this,” Lucy whispered in a sneer as tears streamed down her face. “Because I swear, I will not—”
“Don’t make oaths you can’t keep,” Loke snapped.
Her eyes blazed. “Why not? You made me an oath, that day at my mother’s graveside. You swore you would be with me forever,” she said, and her burst into tears as the memory of that promise was intricately tied to the grief of losing her mother.
Loke dropped his head. “That’s why I’m warning you. I made that promise when I was young, foolish. I didn’t realize… there was no way I could keep it.”
She heard his voice almost crack, and her stoic captain looked vulnerable. Lucy reached up and touched his face. The air between them grew thick with unspoken longing and unbearable tension.
“Then I will not make an oath lightly,” Lucy said, her face serious and stern. “I swear, I will not let that man touch me. I would rather throw myself out the window.”
“Princess—”
“And I swear,” she snapped, cutting him off, “if you keep treating me like some delicate jewel, I will shatter myself just to spite you.”
She stroked his face. Her boldness left him reeling, caught between his rigid training and the undeniable pull of raw, messy human emotions. He loathed how much control she wielded over his heart, yet his duty chained him from crossing the line. He could not touch her back. All he could do was close his eyes and hope for more.
“If it ever came to that,” he whispered, finding himself leaning into her touch, “my pride as a Spirit would tell me that I must follow the orders of my king, but my honor as a man would prevent me from going that far.”
Lucy’s face softened. “Then there is more than duty in your heart,” she whispered with a tiny flicker of hope. She stepped back with a sly smile. “Undress me.”
Loke’s pulse thundered. “Princess…”
“That’s an order.”
She walked over to her dressing stand, pulling pins out of her hair. The golden strands tumbled down, and she scratched her head with a sigh of relief. Then she gathered all of her hair to one side and looked over her shoulder at Loke, who still stood frozen like a statue.
“Well?” she said expectantly.
Loke swallowed hard as his veins surged with desire he could not allow to consume him. Steeling himself, he approached. She turned her back to him, facing the mirror on her dressing stand, where she could see his face in the reflection.
Loke looked at her back, how the dress hung off her shoulders, and the creaminess of her skin. How he wanted to touch those shoulders! He pushed that thought aside. His hands shook slightly as he loosened the ties of her gown, a little awkwardly, but he managed to carefully draw the fabric away. He lifted the huge gown over her head and set it aside.
The corset beneath had been tied brutally tight by Virgo and Aries. He had to tug at the cords and figure out the knots. Finally, it loosened, and Lucy felt a rush of air fill her lungs. It made her lightheaded, and she stumbled to the side. With the speed of a lion, Loke swooped her up before she fainted.
“That stupid corset was going to kill me,” she wheezed. “Why do I have to wear it that tightly for my father? Like he cares!”
He straightened her up until Lucy was firmly back on her feet. Then he stripped the corset off, leaving only the thin chemise clinging to her form.
“Would you like anything before bed? Perhaps some wine for your nerves?”
Lucy sighed. “I shouldn’t drown myself in wine, as tempting as it may be. Let me wash up, then help me into bed.”
Loke walked over to the window to give her privacy as Lucy washed up for the evening. He finally heard her feet, now bare, pad over to him. He turned just as she was reaching out to his shoulder. Her outstretched hand froze but then continued forward, coming to rest on his chest.
He wondered when this had began, when the sweet girl he had protected became a woman. On her end, he knew Lucy had started to develop feelings for him years ago, but he had easily avoided it. She was a child, after all.
The past two years had been harder to ignore as the child became a young woman as Lucy grew bolder, not just blushing cutely, but deviously finding ways to touch him. He usually turned away, once he had to actually scold her and tell Aries to prevent the princess from doing inappropriate things.
Now, she was of legal age, and here, hidden from all eyes, the temptation grew.
As her hand felt over his uniform, his heart trembled. “Princess…”
“Call me by my name,” she whispered.
He could not! He finally took her wrist, shocking Lucy, but immediately he gripped her hand with both of his strong, hardened hands. He raised it up to kiss her knuckles. Lucy’s cheeks flushed.
She was painfully beautiful!
“Let’s get you to bed,” he said, his voice edged with sternness. She would not break his will today.
Lucy slumped, realizing he would be stubborn again. Loke guided her over to the bed and gently held her hand as she climbed onto the thick mattress. Her hair cascaded over satin pillows as she settled in. He tucked her in gently and caressed her head, like he had done when she was a child with nightmares. It calmed her, and her eyes drifted closed. Loke’s hand lingered on her golden locks, so soft and smooth.
“The prince wasn’t even there today,” she muttered. “They sent some brute with piercings and a foul mouth. The Land of Dragons…” She shivered a little. “I’ve heard about that place. They say it’s a land of fire, metal, strong winds, where lightning strikes, poisons brew, where even light and shadow battle for supremacy. They’re always fighting, and the nobles are infamous for being destructive. I don’t want to live in a place like that.” Her eyes opened, and her voice was tiny as she pleaded, “If my father orders you to force me to go there, please don’t make me.”
To Loke, the young woman once again because that little child, alone and scared with no friends her own age to help her, only him and some servants.
He continued to stroke her head, wishing her could promise to protect her this time, but knowing he could not. “The king’s orders are absolute, for me and for you,” he said with the weight of tradition pressing down on his words. “If you’re going to be a queen, you must learn that.”
“I don’t wanna be queen,” she muttered with a pout.
Loke’s face softened at how childish she still was at time, although eighteen now. “What does my princess want?"
She gazed over to him, smiling at the way the candlelight flickered in his flaming orange hair. “I want you to keep your promise, the one you made me in front of Mother’s grave, that you would never let me be alone, that you would serve me for as long as you live. I want to be greedy and keep you with me forever.”
The weight of that oath tensed his shoulders. “Princess…” He wanted to say more, but his duty and honor forbade it.
“I don’t want a Dragon.” She gripped the hand on her head and held it, rubbing her thumb over his knuckles. “I want the Lion.” Lucy watched how his face shifted from shock at such boldness to anguish. “Do you want me?” she asked with hope
Loke dropped his head, unable to look at her angelic face. “I cannot answer that,” he whispered through gnashing teeth.
She sat up a little and stroked her fingers through his ginger hair. “Do you love me?” she asked in a mere breath. After all, who knew what nosy servants might be listening in at the door.
“As my princess…” he began, but Lucy cut him off quickly.
“Not as a member of the royal family. As a woman. Do you love me?” She chuckled and admitted, “I already know the truth, you silly Lion.”
Slowly, Loke raised his head and gazed into her soft brown eyes. She was breathtaking! Despite having been by her side since she was a child, he was not blind to how she had blossomed into maturity.
“To love you would be…” He stopped the fervent words, and Lucy saw the tenderness in his face return to its stony firmness. “…far overstepping my place.”
She pulled back angrily and mumbled, “Damn you and your decorum.”
Loke rose and stood stiffly by her bedside. “I am Captain of the Guard, loyal servant of the royal family. Servants are to be shadows, unseen even by the ones we watch. Above all, I am honor-bound to follow my king’s commands.”
“Is your honor actually worth your happiness, or mine?”
“It’s not just honor,” Loke said with a sad smile. “Falling in love with my king’s daughter is treason. Do you really wish me to end up beheaded?”
The stubborn princess looked away and refused to answer.
“Sweet dream, Princess," he said formally. He blew out the candles and strode out of the bedchamber.
When he opened the doors, Virgo and Aries nearly stumbled in, their ears pressed to the door, eager to hear something juicy. He growled slightly, worried about how much they had overheard. He shut the door and glared at the two women.
“I’m sorry,” Aries squeaked. “We were worried for the princess.” She pouted at the closed door. “It's so sad. You both love one another but can’t do anything.”
“Because I love her, I won’t do anything,” Loke declared, taking up his stiff stand before her door with his hands behind his back.
“Brother punishes himself too much,” Virgo stated.
“We’re servants to the royal family,” Loke said sternly. “If you wish to serve your mistress, gather what gossip you can and tell me everything there is to know about this Prince of the Land of Dragons. If there is a single flaw in this arrangement, I want to know.”
Aries nodded, happy to see he was not giving up without a fight. “Got it!”
Virgo tilted her head to the side. “Then does Brother plan to stop this engagement?”
“I can’t,” he admitted, “but I can point out any dangers to the princess’s well-being. One day, she’ll have to marry, but it’ll be to a man she wants.”
"She wants Brother," Virgo pointed out.
Aries nodded in agreement. “I’m sorry, but the only man Princess Lucy has ever shown interest in is you.”
Loke looked over at her door. “I must remain by her side, but I cannot… usurp her,” he said, putting it as delicately as possible.
Virgo tilted her head. “Princess could always usurp Brother. Horsemaster Sagittarius says Princess is quite skill at riding horses. She could ride your—”
“Enough,” Loke growled, slapping a hand over her mouth. His ears burned as Aries dissolved into giggles. “For once in your life, Virgo, think before you speak.”
Aries tamed down her laughs and tugged on the chambermaid’s uniform. "Let’s go. We’ll gather intel on that dragon prince for you,” she promised.
As they scampered off, Loke resumed his post, but Virgo’s words lingered.
The image of Lucy riding flickered in his mind, only it was not a horse under her. He clenched his fists.
“Damn that Virgo," he muttered, teeth gnashing as desire warred with duty.