Chapter 268 - 266: Courting A Princess.

Chapter 268: Chapter 266: Courting A Princess.

He gets why he told him to dress nice, now.

​Fuck , he could’ve given him a little more warning though.

​Suddenly the cloak fastened at his throat feels a little too tight.

The formal uniform in all it’s splendour is exceptionally imposing, but it’s fucking heavy and the room in here seems very hot for some reason.

​The door behind him opens, and when he turns, Montrel is unbelievably relieved to see Bongo striding in.

​"Captain –" he tries to say, but Bongo silences him with a look. And then gives him a reassuring pat on the shoulder as he passes him by.

It...helps. But not as much as he’d been hoping.

​And then he sees the princess.

​She looks...really pretty.

Well, if he’s being honest she always looks really pretty, but right now she looks like, dressed up kind of pretty.

She’s even wearing her crown.

​Wow.

​From the way her cheeks flush as she catches sight of him, he’s gone and said that out loud.

​Ah, shit .

​"Ah, you weren’t meant to hear that," he mumbles, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously.

Fuck, he wasn’t supposed to say that either.

​This is going terribly.

Worse than he could have ever imagined.

But despite his gaffs, the princess is still smiling at him, so he feels like it’s okay to smile back.

​(What he doesn’t see, is the theatrical way his king rolls his eyes.)

​"Xena, sweet daughter," the king hums airily as the princess takes a seat beside him.

The servants immediately fuss with setting a place and bringing her a cup of tea. "Our good Montrel here has something he would like to ask you."

​" Oh ?" She sets her gaze on him, pink eyes wide and bright and curious, and Montrel suddenly realises that he has absolutely no idea what exactly he’s supposed to be asking.

He’s had girlfriends before –none of them all that serious –and asking them out hadn’t been quite this formal .

He’d just... asked them out .

But for some reason that doesn’t seem quite what he’s supposed to do.

The princess is always talking about things she should and shouldn’t be doing, and what is and isn’t appropriate, and suddenly Montrel finds himself wishing he knew a little bit more about those sorts of things.

​So, like usual, his tongue takes the wheel and promptly ploughs him straight into a ditch.

​"Will you...marry me?"

​Gurdet facepalms.

​In the corner, Bongo sighs.

​(Montrel gets the distinct impression it’s not what he was supposed to say.)

​He’s not sure which of them is flushing more ferociously; himself or the princess.

​(The small mercy is that she seems too in shock by the question out of nowhere to say no.)

​"...What Montrel meant to say, Your Highness," Bongo intervenes smoothly, coming up beside a beet red Montrel and giving him a nudge which is either meant to encourage him or remind him to stand up straight. "...Is that he would rather like the opportunity to get to know you better." He gives Montrel a meaningful look. "...Isn’t that right?"

​Montrel knew there was a reason Bongo was his favourite Captain.

​"Uh yeah," he swallows, pushing his shoulders back to stand a little taller, "... That ."

​(Gurdet gives Bongo a dry look, to which Bongo offers but a simple shrug.)

​The princess, however, unaware of such an exchange taking place, positively beams at him.

​"I would like that very much," she assures him, and Montrel has to wonder if there’s any chance he’s just dreaming, because in what world does his own princess tell him quite plainly that she feels the same way about him as he feels about her?

​This one, apparently.

​"Great," Montrel states. He’s not sure what he’s meant to say. Thank you , maybe? "That’s great." It comes out sounding so lame but the princess giggles so she can’t mind it all that much.

​" Just wonderful ," the king echoes, although he doesn’t seem to share his daughter’s delight.

Not that Montrel notices anything of the sort. How could he, when he’s just found out that the princess likes him? That she’d like to get to know him better.

Even he knows what that means, in noble speak. "Join us, please." He gestures again for him to sit, and this time Bongo gives him a little nudge to do as he’s bid.

​"...Thanks for the save, Captain," Montrel whispers dimly, as he passes him by.

​"Congratulations, Montrel," Bongo tells him, with a gentle smile and a warm hand on his shoulder, "You’re officially courting a princess."

​It’s only when Montrel sinks into his seat; the princess to his left and her father --his terrifying, wily king --staring him down from across the table that those words really start to sink in.

​Courting . Him. A princess.

​"And Montrel..." Gurdet remarks conversationally, as servants appear at his side to pour him tea and bring him intricate looking sweets.

Montrel’s not sure what’s more intimidating, the delicate looking tea cup, or the sudden change in his king’s tone.

"...Earlier when you said that thing with Loac and Khobi ...what exactly were you referring to?"

​Oh shit .

​He is so out of his depth.

...

"Really, Xena?" Gurdet sighs once he and his daughter are alone once more.

To his credit, in his time at their table, Mobtrel hadn’t broken anything and hadn’t spilled anything on himself.

And he seemed effortlessly capable of making Xena smile, which he supposes counts for something . "He’s an idiot."

"He’s not at all ," his daughter sniffs, "And even if he was, what of it? Mother married you, didn’t she?"

"Now, now, there’s no need to be so unkind."

...

"Holy shit, he’s alive."

​Dinner is winding up by the time Montrel finally makes an appearance, and it’s Gandy who notices him first; ambling into the mess hall in a daze.

​He’s kind of hard to miss, what with the formal getup and all.

​"Hey," he greets as he comes up to them, and then just casually slings himself down onto one of the benches like he hasn’t just been missing for hours .

Mural somewhat apologetically points out that he missed dinner, but Montrel just waves him away muttering something about having already eaten.