4Rosebuds & Elderflowers
The Princess & a Kiss
Veronica awoke one February morn to the sight of bright sunlight streaming in through her chamber's windows from the courtyard of the palace of the Order of Heroes. She stretched her arms and wiped her eyes before taking off her nightcap and leaving the warmth of her bed.
The once and future princess shivered at the morning chill before tossing on a warm robe to cover her nightgown, and walked towards the window. The joyous shrieking of children's voices filled the air. Down below, the Summoner, Kiran, was playing with some of the little manakete children, having a snowball fight. It looked like the odds were stacked against him, though, as he faced off against Fae, Tiki, and Myrrh by himself while his teammate, the older Tiki, snoozed behind the walls of snow they had constructed, wrapped up in a puffy red jacket. Unfortunately, the combined power of the three little dragons proved to be too much for the single combatant, and he fell in combat to a flurry of snowballs followed by three flying tackles that knocked him to the ground. The sound of their laughter rose up to the princess' window, and a slight smile graced her face once she heard it.
In that instant, Kiran's eyes, no longer hidden by his hood, happened to look up in her direction, catching her gaze before crinkling at the corners as he smiled at her as brightly as the sunlight for which he was named. Veronica felt herself warm up at the sight as she flushed from head to toe.
Lately, she and Kiran had been spending even more time together than they used to. When not on missions, the two would take walks or horseback rides around the castle it was warmer, they would often carry some food with them and have picnics on the gentle, grassy hills that surrounded their base, spending hours together in the outdoors just eating and conversing and generally enjoying each others company. Due to the colder weather recently, however, they would often eschew their trips outside in favour of simply spending the day indoors, curled up next to the fire place in the Great Hall, reading or talking. Many times, their talks would go on long into the night, until there were but a few hours left before dawn before either of them would realize it. Veronica's pale cheeks turned pink as she looked down at the smiling summoner and hesitantly waved at him.
He managed to pull one arm free from the dragonpile and waved back up at her cheerfully, before crawling out from underneath the dragons who decided to join their older counterpart in taking a nap.
A few minutes later, Veronica, who was brushing her hair, heard a knocking on her door. She opened it to find the Summoner on the other side, holding two steaming mugs.
"Hey, Veronica," he said with a soft smile. "Did we wake you up?"
"Huh? Oh, no, not at all. I had already gotten up and was pleased to see the sun again," she answered, setting down her hairbrush.
"Oh thank goodness. I brought us some hot chocolate, and I was wondering if you'd like to go down to the courtyard and take a walk as we drink it there. We haven't gone out in a while and this should stave off the cold."
"That sounds ideal, Kiran," she answered, slipping on her coat. She put a hat on her head and tied a muffler around her neck before taking one of the mugs from him as they left the room.
•
A little while later, the two of them found themselves in the courtyard of the Order's castle, seated on a bench under a tree as they sipped their cocoa. The dragons appeared to have disappeared. Most likely, they were all sleeping together in a giant pile in Tiki the Elder's room, since she had taken it on herself to act as their caretaker while they were here.
Kiran's arm brushed slightly against Veronica's as he lifted his cup to drink. The princess looked around, a light pinkish hue on her cheeks before slowly leaning her head against Kiran's shoulder, who looked over in surprise.
"I-is this not alright?" the princess asked uncertainly, looking up at him with those bright red eyes he admired so much.
"H-huh? No—no it's, you're alright. I was just taken aback," he chuckled nervously. He took a breath before relaxing and leaning back in his seat.
The pair sat like that for a while until their drinks ran out. After the last drops of the rich chocolate trickled into their mouths, Kiran suddenly stood up stuck one hand out towards the princess. "Come on! Let's go play in the snow!"
"Er…play in the snow? Isn't that a bit chi—" she stopped mid-sentence, recalling what she had seen him doing just earlier that morning and flushed.
Kiran, however, burst out laughing. "Were you just about to say that it's a bit childish?" he asked, wiping a tear from his eye. "W-well, I suppose it is. It's just been a while since I've seen this much snow all at once. Where I come from is a lot warmer than Askr and Embla, so even though we do on occasion get snow, it's almost never as much as this. So come on! I want to build a snowman or something," he said, taking the her hand. The princess stood up, and with a smile, nodded.
The two whiled away the next hour or so playing around in the snow without a care. They built a whole army of snowmen and had another snowball fight before falling to the ground in exhaustion, laughing all the while. After catching his breath, Kiran stood up and walked around a pair of bushes before bending down as Veronica looked on curiously.
He returned a few seconds later with his hands behind his back before sitting down again next to the princess.
"Veronica?" the Summoner asked hesitantly.
"Yes? What is it?"
"H-have I ever told you what's so important about this day?"
"About today?" she asked, sitting up. A few flakes of snow clung to the lashes of her eyes, which made them sparkle in the morning sunlight, causing Kiran's heart to skip a beat as he kept staring at her pale, lily-white face that was coloured with just the slightest hint of red on her nose and cheeks from the cold, giving her the appearance of a fine porcelain doll. "Kiran?" she said curiously, breaking him from his reverie.
He took a shaky breath and shook his head before speaking. "Veronica, in the world I come from, this day is a day of celebration, known as Saint Valentine's Day."
One of Veronica's favourite pastimes was to hear Kiran's tales of his homeland. Ever since she was young, reading about the history of Embla and visiting the various provinces of the Empire had been something that she had greatly enjoyed, and having a source of knowledge and history of an entirely different world nearby, such as Kiran, had been nothing less than a blessing for her. Thanks in part to speaking with him (and having more free time due to the weather), she had been spending more time in the Royal Archives, reading up on the history of Askr from their own perspective, as well as compiling a journal filled with all the stories Kiran told her about the world from which he hailed. She had even gotten him to promise to one day take her to his world so that she might see it for herself with him at her side.
"Saint…Valentine's Day?"
"That's right. Nowadays, it's usually just called Valentine's Day, though that's not really important for now. I actually don't know how this day came to be celebrated, as it comes from different culture to mine, but it ended up spreading over the world and changed meaning little by little until it became what it is today."
The princess looked on rapturously with wide eyes that sparkled like rubies in the sunlight.
"What it means now…" Kiran said, trying to find the right words. "It's a day when people give things like flowers and sweets to those with whom they are closest as a means of expressing their affection—to show them how much they care for them…for their presence in their lives."
A light pinkish glow settled on Veronica's cheeks as she heard Kiran's words. That sounded like such a lovely festival, but the way he was putting it, it seemed almost like…
"It's the day people are called upon to demonstrate their devotion to the people for whom they care the most…" Kiran took a deep breath to steady his nerves before continuing. "That is to say…it's the day we show people just how much we love them."
The princess' breath hitched in her throat as Kiran brought his hands out from behind his back. In one hand, he held a bouquet of bright red roses, that stood out against the white surroundings as starkly and beautifully as freshly spilt blood on snow. In the other was a shiny red box in the shape of a heart, wrapped with a golden ribbon. His ears began to burn red, though whether it was from the cold or his feelings he knew not.
"Veronica, will you be my Valentine?"
The princess snatched the flowers and chocolates from his hands before hiding her bright red face behind them in embarrassment. After her heart stopped pounding, she peeked over the top of the roses, still blushing profusely, before nodding shyly.
Kiran leapt forward with a cry of joy and wrapped both arms around Veronica, hugging her tightly.
"Ah!" she squeaked out in surprise as she fell backwards into the snow, bringing Kiran down with her. The two of them landed side by side, the cold white substance softening the impact.
•
Close. She was…her face. It was so close. He was sure could count the lashes framing her eyes.
'I can feel her breath on my face…'
So faint and sweet…it brushed against his nose, tickling him. A small smile flowered on his face at the sensation.
"Kiran…"
Veronica's voice, unusually quiet and plaintive, broke him from his thoughts. He looked at her, only to be drawn into the crimson depths of her eyes, which shone and sparkled against the snowy whiteness of her skin lit by the late morning sun. A pinkish flush had spread across her face, making her look even more adorable in Kiran's eyes. Her little pink lips shone. She looked up at him, almost pleadingly, with an expression that pierced his heart. There was no way he could hold back any longer.
"Veronica…" he whispered back, raising a hand to cup her cheek. He felt his face draw closer to her, all thoughts of the cold around them gone from his mind as a fire burnt in his breast, impelling him towards her.
The princess turned red, scrunching her eyes shut. Kiran stopped. Veronica brought one hand up to cover his, reveling in his warmth for a few moments before hesitantly opening her eyes again. She looked into his eyes shyly, blushing now to the tips of her ears, before giving him a small nod. The two drew closer to each other. Veronica slid her hand over to Kiran's cheek, mirroring his position.
There, on that winter's day, amidst the pure white snow, with the birds singing their songs and the sun shining from high above as witness, the two, for the first time, pressed their lips against each other's, in what would be the first in a history of many kisses.
But that's a story for another time.
AN: Thank you for reading.