Out of sorts- Tagatha

Chapter 1: Undignified Meeting

-

"But are you sure, sire?"

Tedros sighed, deeply agitated and not in the mood.

"Yes Fredrick, I'm just as sure as I was two minutes ago, and five minutes ago, and a day ago, and three months ago. Now- stop that! What the hell are you doing?!! Stop fussing over me, you wart. I'm not 5, I can tie my own shirt, thank you very much."

He rolled his shoulders, (annoyed that his steward was pampering him so much), tied his shirt strings and fixed his collar neatly. "There, see? No need for you to dote over me like I'm some-"

"King?"

"I was going to say prised poodle."

He sighed.

"I just hope my future Queen isn't so... prissy"

"Im sure she is just to your liking, your majesty"

Probably not... but theres no harm in hoping I suppose, Tedros thought. He cleared his throat and began going through the plan for the day with Fredrick.

"In a minute, I'll be making my way to Netherwood, a kingdom notorious for its mixed population of evers and nevers, where I'll be staying for the week. I will be greeted by the Queen herself, then I'll sit for tea with her and discuss our arrangements, to which the princess (of whom I don't know the name of just yet), will grace me with her presence, and I'll have the honour of meeting and courting her. We will then be left alone to stroll through the royal gardens, well... with a few guards too. We will have a light brunch, and then I'll have a tour of the castle. By the time thats over with and I'm acquainted with the staff, it'll be dinner time. After that, I'm free to do as I please."

He took a minute to think, he hadn't had time for himself in years, always being busy every second of the day. He briefly reminded himself that he couldn't get used to the freedom, as it was only for the week.

"That will continue for the whole week?" Fredrick asked. "Yes, the Queen has arranged for the princess and I to indulge in various bonding activities, meant for us to get closer"

"Well, lets hope they work, for her sake anyway" Fredrick replied, chuckling to himself. "What do you mean by that? And be careful, Fred, this may or may not decide where you sleep from now on." Tedros joked.

"Oh, nothing. Nothing of any real importance for his majesty to worry about" his steward teased.

-

He had been stuck in the carriage for hours, so imagine Tedros's joy when it finally pulled to a stop.

I might just die and leave Camelot in ruin, wont be my concern when I'm dead, will it? And what will they do if I did suddenly die? Execute me? He scoffed, weary from the travel.

He was just about done over with, his head leant against the glass window, looking so terribly tired he almost looked like a corpse.

"This way, my lord" said the footman as he opened the door for the king. "Thank you, Edward."

He had arrived.

The castle was grand, thousands of feet tall and towering over him, like any other castle would, but this one was strangely intimidating. He looked back just as the gates shut behind his carriage.

My only chance of escape... gone. Do I really have to do this? Honestly, maybe it was best if I had just stayed at home and arranged a marriage with some random nobleman's daughter, so I wouldn't have to go through the pain of, well, this.

Oh well, no turning back now. He braced himself as a wave of staff flocked towards him.

Amidst all the chaos of staff, Tedros had yet to glimpse the inside of the castle. He tried to move, to walk towards it, but it was proving to be impossible as the crowd of workers surrounded him. Though, he didn't feel overwhelmed, as it had always been like this when visiting other kingdoms, and even in his own.

The king was just about to ask the crowd to disperse when all of a sudden the defining sound of footsteps erupted. Well, they were more like the stomps of an elephant.

The part that scared him the most was when the mob immediately parted when hearing this, as if they knew what was coming. Tedros looked around desperately, trying to understand what was happening, but he couldn't get as far as to ask, because he was knocked straight to the floor, crown bouncing off the marble as his head hit the ground.

Everyone gasped in horror, the air deathly silent.

"Ugh, watch where you're going, idiot"

More gasps.

"Me??! You were the one that ran into me like an ogre!"

Tedros shuffled under the (surprisingly) immense weight of what looked to be a woman in a black gown. He tried to free his limbs from the tangle only to wince in pain as a clump crushed his legs.

With every movement, the staff flinched, afraid of what would happen.

"OW, WOULD YOU- get off me" his face squashed under a rough hand, the girl pushing herself off of him, in what was possibly the most undignified manner ever witnessed. She stumbled up, took one look at the man below her and scowled at him. "If you hadn't been in the way, this wouldn't have happened, dumbass"

Tedros raised his head from the floor as he propped himself on his elbows. He was so ready to give this girl a piece of his mind, berate whoever she thought she was on her audacity and appalling manners, and towards a king no less, but choked on his words once his eyes met her face.

Everyone held their breath, expecting him to lose his temper and shout (at the very least).

She was the most beautiful person he'd ever seen.

He just stared at her, forgetting the whole debacle, forgetting he was still on the floor and his crown was strewn somewhere behind him, forgetting that practically all the castles attendants were looking at him, anticipating an argument, anticipating anything...

He lay there in a trance, looking at her. They were both frozen in each others gaze. This did not please the mystery woman. She scrunched up her nose and furrowed her eyebrows even more, seemingly annoyed now, putting her hand on her hip and squinting at him, as if he were the dirt under her clump. He still didn't move.

If the king found himself attracted to the lady above him, she herself would have found him irritating and pest-like, and with every second Tedros spent admiring her, she spent every second more looking for a reason not to punch him in the eye.

Well, this will certainly be interesting...