Medieval Court [casually wants to send you most all of them tbh]
gangleadiing
Fish didn’t generally make that much noise. That was the first thing Akane noticed, and she was surprised no one else had. She wasn’t meant to be alone while she walked, either, but the princess wouldn’t mind if no one noticed that. Even at her tender age, she could appreciate the value of privacy.
Except that one evening, as she passed through the gardens on the south side of the palace, she noted a touch too much splashing in the pond. Curious, the young girl drew closer.
The pond was a very serene place, ordinarily. Smaller than most, yet large enough to span the area of a jousting match. Lily pads rested on its glassy surface, dragonflies drifted above its waters on most lazy days. Sometimes a frog croaked but that was the extent of the chaos.
But not today. Today some monstrous creature flailed in the water, throwing moss, algae, and mud in every direction. Fear blanched Akane’s face and she told herself to run and call the guard, but she could not move. What could possibly cause such a ruckus? A cursed animal, tossed into the pond by an angry witch? Or perhaps a monster lurked in the pond’s weeds for dozens of years already, and just now broke free of its prison?
The little princess did not imagine that the form might be human, because the castle’s outer walls prevented all entry. Yet somehow, a bipedal shape began to emerge.
A face broke through the surface of the pond, gasping and choking.
A young man.
Akane stood in shock. She did not know what to do. If she called for help, the intruder might be killed. If he’d broken into the palace interior in the first place, he might seek to do harm. Maybe it was best to let him die.
“Here! Here! Grab onto this!”
Someone else seemed to be controlling her body. Someone else pulled a vine from the nearby tree, someone else hiked up her skirts so that she could move closer, someone else tossed the life-giving rope into the pond. In all of Akane’s sheltered life, these were the most exciting moments she’d ever experienced.
It was only once the mysterious young man lay coughing on the grass that she realized she’d saved a life.
“Are you okay?” She blurted.
