dolevalan | Fifteen Minute ficlet

Word 101. Yup.

Title: Lost Treasure
Fandom: The 10th Kingdom
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Fanfic. Therefore, not mine.

She was on the floor when I walked in. Well, that sounded worse than I meant it to…she was actually looking for something; it wasn’t as if she had fainted or anything. “Loose something?”

“I didn’t…well, I did, but it’s not that I…” She let out a low growl of frustration. “I just can’t find a part of my ring. It’s fine. It’ll turn up.”

I frowned slightly, inclining my head in a regal and becoming fashion. “I do not understand. It sings, doesn’t it?”

She sighed, leaning back on her heels. “Sometimes, but not constantly.” She ran a hand through her quickly growing brown hair. “And at the moment, it’s quiet as a dormouse.”

I smiled. “Well, perhaps if we chat for a bit, it will decide to start singing again, since you seem incapable of locating it at the moment. May I come in?”

“It’s your palace.” She gestured for me to take a chair, and moved to the small couch. I sat and regarded her for a moment. She had been smiling more often recently, but she was going to leave, and it weighed on her a bit. And of course, she was not entirely over her mother, though I doubted she ever would be.

Exhaling, I finally spoke. “I was wondering, Virginia, if you would consider staying. I could use you here. And your father…”

She put up a hand. “I’m honored. I am. But I need to go home. At least for awhile. I’m not saying we’ll never come back, if it’s possible for us to return. It’s not his home, and I realize he’s giving up a lot for me.” She almost blushed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to lecture you, Your Majesty. A simple no would have sufficed.”

I smiled to reassure her. “No need for apologies. I have had worse lectures. Believe me.” The woman before me was not the girl who had taken in a lost golden retriever what seemed like ages ago. Our eyes locked and we just sat, in one another’s company for what might be one of the last times. She finally looked away, and it occurred to me that for most of our acquaintance, she had not been able to hear a word I said. Perhaps she still couldn’t.

After a long moment, the tinkling voice of the pearl came drifting up from under the desk. “Oh!” She jumped up and retrieved it. “I suppose you were right…thank you.” Though she smiled, it was an obvious dismissal. As I turned to go, it occurred to me that maybe it was best that she was leaving.

Prince Charming just wasn’t quite charming enough.