Little Princess

Tattoo

*Nymeria's P.O.V*

I had fled to my room hours ago. As much as I was ashamed to admit it, I had to walk away from everything. I laid curled up on my bed, my head buried into my pillow. I just wanted this trip to end. I wanted to have the trade agreements, alliance be damned. I no longer thought an alliance feasible if every time I ended up around the queens I ended up fleeing the room or falling on my butt. I was drawn out of my thoughts by a knock on my door.

"Come in," I called, lifting my head up from my pillow as I looked towards the door. I offered Castien a tired smile when he entered my room. "Don't say what you are going to say, I know running from my problems only makes them worse," I said.

"You won't do it again?" Castien asked as he sat on the side of my bed. I shook my head, a small frown on my lips. "We can't allow this to be ruined, the kingdom is depending on this," he murmured as he laid back, resting his head next to mine.

"I know, it won't happen again," I whispered as I rested my head against his. "I'll have a better hold on myself tomorrow, I will," I promised.

"Good," he said as we laid in silence, enjoying each other's company. He carefully tucked a loose strand of my hair back, my eyes landing on the tattoo on his finger. It was his family crest, he had another larger one on his back. I had one of my own on the inside of my pinky finger.

"I want a tattoo," I murmured, making him blink in surprise at the change in subject.

"I don't have my ink nor can we do a big tattoo even if I did," Castien informed me, making me nod my head.

"I brought your ink with me. I only want a small tattoo, I promise. I want a butterfly with a pocket watch dangling from it," I informed him.

"Any reason why butterfly?" he asked, the nickname making me snort in amusement.

"Just a reminder that I have to be strong for the kingdom. The butterfly is fragile, they are so easily destroyed just like this trade agreement could be while it is in discussion. The pocket watch just makes me remember to watch my temper," I said, the pun slipping out. He groaned, hitting me with a pillow.

"Alright, get my ink while I go draw up some designs," he said, getting up and leaving my room. I rolled my eyes as I got up, heading to the foot of my bed. I propped my trunk open, carefully removing his tattoo supplies. I had to pack them carefully with clothing surrounding them to avoid them getting jostled. It was just a bunch of different needles in their casing and a couple things of ink in case he needed them. I also brought distilled water to make the stencil stick to my skin as well as some dry wipes to clean my finger before the stencil was applied.

I closed my trunk and set the tattoo supplies on top of the lid, laying down at the foot of my bed. My hand rested on top of the trunk as I waited for Castien to come back. It would take a bit, I knew that much but better to be prepared for when he returned. I loved watching him tattoo, it was probably the only reason I kept getting them.

I had a tattoo on my back, towards the top of my right shoulder, that he had started. Apparently not being able to look at him as he did it seemed to make the pain much worse. I had passed out a few times so we worked on it slowly over time. Every year for my birthday we would add a little bit to the tattoo. It was a snake that would be coiled up over my shoulder and up my neck by the time it was done.

Castien returned about thirty minutes later, getting straight to work. He wiped the base of my finger clean, carefully patting the stencil onto my skin. He added some of the distilled water to make sure that it stuck. We decided that it looked best on my right pointer fingers so that's the one we decided to do.

"So did you go to dinner?" he asked as he prepared his needle after removing the stencil paper, looking over the tattoo design with approval.

"No, I sent a letter to the kings and queens stating that I was working more on the trade agreements," I informed him as the needle pierced my skin for the first time. I bit my bottom lip as I watched with morbid curiosity.

"You lied then?" Castien asked, his hand moving steadily.

"No, I have been working on the trade agreements. I have quite a bit written down, I just was trying to think of how to organize my thoughts better," I answered honestly.

"Well organize them fast because tomorrow is the meeting that makes or breaks our kingdom," Castien stated. "I got word from one of the mines, they're ready to go back into operation once the deal is settled. Another one said they would only operate if we backed out of the trade agreements," he informed me.

"I'll write a thank you letter for the mine that's ready to go into operation and have words with the one threatening to not operate," I stated. "Regardless of how they feel about us connecting to the supernatural kingdoms, I will not tolerate them refusing to work when without this agreement people would starve to death. I am their Princess, I care for my people's lives more than someone's prejudice," I said.

"If the mine still refuses to operate?" Castien asked, making me groan at the thought. It would be my luck if they did refuse to operate.

"Then the owner will be replaced, the mines have belonged to the noble families for centuries. A few mentions of how disgraceful it is for the owner to refuse to operate when people could die. Say how it could smear their name for centuries and they will fold," I stated.

"You are right," he murmured as his eyes narrowed in concentration. "How will you dress tomorrow? The informal dresses seem to be doing fine with the queens," he stated.

"I will go formal. The dark gray dress with the slit along the right leg to be exact," I said, making him shake his head slightly.

"You hate that dress," he muttered.

"Yes I do but I look damn good in it and it suits tomorrow's purposes," I shrugged.

"Plus you want to look good in front of the queens," he said.

"Maybe a little," I shrugged. "They're fucking gorgeous Castien, whenever I'm around them I either end up falling or running off. I can't seem to keep my head straight," I murmured.

"Are you in love?" he asked, looking at me.

"It's not love. I think it's awe, they make me feel like a kid with how regal they all are. I could never have as much grace and wit as they do," I murmured as I bit my bottom lip. "Queen Elvira especially so. Yeah, she kind of scares me but she also just seems to be strict in the way she holds herself. There's an elegance to it that I can't quite explain," I sighed. Castien nodded, letting me talk about how elegant the queens were for a while before I fell silent. We sat in silence for an hour until my tattoo was done.

He cleaned everything up as I admired the simple little tattoo. The butterfly had the pocket watch dangling all the way down my finger. The butterfly sat at base of my finger, looking like it was flying towards me and it had a chain that ran down my finger with the pocket watch being at the top. I admired it even as I sat down to write down my final thoughts on the trade agreements and started drafting letters to the mines.