It was almost mid-day in the Kingdom of Mayflower, a crowd had gathered outside for the grand presentation of Princess Aurica Viviscin, today was her eighteenth birthday after all. This meant that as of today, she would have to begin looking for someone to marry, and many young bachelors had gathered to get a look at the princess. The King was looking around for Aurica at this moment in time, he asked the maids frantically, "Where is the Princess?" One of the maids replied, "Still in bed your Majesty, she asked ever so sweetly for five more minutes about two hours ago." The King groaned and stormed off to Aurica's room, knocking on the door, "Aurica! Aurica! You wake up this instant! You are to be presented to the entire kingdom in less than an hour, how could you sleep in on a day like this?!"

Aurica woke up groggily and tiptoed to the door, opening it. She asks, "Father, must you shout so loudly? It's my birthday, I just want to relax today and not worry about being presented to the world like a piece of art." King Viviscin was furious and told her, "How dare you talk back to me?! You will do as I say, now I want you bathed and dressed in 15 minutes, not a second longer, do you understand me? Do not make me come back up here." As he stormed off, one of the maids approached quietly and asked, "Princess, do you need any assistance?" Aurica did her best to put on a warm smile for the maid, "That's quite alright Elise, I want someone to get time to relax on my birthday, please go get something to eat, and only for yourself." With that, she went off to get ready for the kingdom as they anticipated her appearance.

Devin had gotten up early to get ready for the big day. He took a shower, for once, and got cleaned to the T before picking out a decent outfit to wear. He wore a white button down shirt with a brown vest and a green scarf to bring out his hair and eyes. Then he put on his black boots and headed out. He lived alone on the outskirts of town. He like to live in the middle of his parents and where he worked.

Devin had learned about the princess and her needing to choose who to marry from some locals at the pub. He smirked and thought it would be a perfect opportunity to seek revenge on the king. He didn't know if he should kill her or just marry her in order to get to the throne... that is if she picked him. If she wouldn't he was going to have to kill her, which he didn't really want to since she was a lovely looking lady and innocent in the matter of the war between the king and himself.

He made his way passed the people that had gathered to see the princess. He stood just behind the front row.

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Rai was staying at a nice inn when he woke up. It was just before sunrise. He got up, looked out the window and smiled. The kingdom was beautiful, but not as beautiful as his own kingdom. He took in the morning air before taking a shower and getting dressed. Rai looked in the mirror and smiled, he liked what he saw and hoped she liked it too. Making his bed, so that the maids didn't have to, he patted the pillow and hummed before leaving the inn. He waved at the workers and wished them a good day. The women swooned as the men smiled.


Rai had been informed a few months ago about the battle to win over the princess' heart. His father insisted that he try, for the future of their kingdom, and like any good prince he would do so. So now he made his way over to the front of the crowd where he stood next to a very bright hair male. "Are you here for the princess too?" The guy looked up at him and for a moment he doubted that he was actually a he at all,"Mmm I am afraid so." He smiled, "May the best man win?" They shook hands and laughed. "I'm Devin, by the way."

"Rai, nice to meet you too." He smiled back. He was going to have to keep an eye on this one.

Griffin Strongarm had woken up at only the best inn in the area, marching up regally to the castle at the crack of dawn. He almost strutted about, pushing right past people as he made his way up to the front row of the crowed. His eyes fell on Devin and Rai, smirking at them, "Good day lads, here to see the princess I suppose? Don't even bother, the princess will bow to me before long. It will be a pleasure to add her among my various possessions. She should be very lucky to have me." He stood with even his very expression reeking of, "I'm better than you."

Devin looked down at the man who came next to them. He was shorter out of the three. His arrogance poured out of him. His nostrils flared as he tried to calm himself. He wasn't about to ruin his chance of meeting the princess before the race even began, but he did know that he was going to kick his ass before he went back home. "If you say so, kid." was all Devin said.

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Rai looked down at the man too, raising an eyebrow. He shook his head and looked over to the redhead who looked like he was going to rip someone a new asshole. Rai let out a small laugh, he was going to enjoy this race. "Well, let the best man win."

Aurica was ready just within the King's time limit. She had picked out a simple gold dress which didn't show much curve, which was exactly what she was going for. She made her way out onto the balcony, before the gathered crowd which had erupted in roars and cheers upon seeing her. The King announced, "This marks Princess Aurica's 18th birthday! And as such, she will be expected to find someone to marry in due time. To that effect, any potential suitors would be welcome to make a time with my vizier who will be opening a small stall to get some time with the Princess." He turned to Aurica, "Anything to say?" Aurica shook her head, "I really have nothing to say right now..." but despite the cold retort, she put on a warm smile and waved to everyone in the crowd.

Devin somehow managed to be the second one in line with Rai right behind him. "Devin Mayweather. Yes, I would like to have some time with the princess." Devin said politely. The vizier looked on his list and marked something on his paper before he said he could meet with the princess the next day. He said his thank you, got his pass, and walked started to walk pass the men lined up. Was he the only woman in the group?

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Rai was the third one in line, behind the redhead. He took that moment to look him over. He had male aspects, but some feminine ones were coming out. Like his slight curves. He shook his head and stepped forward, giving his name. He would be speaking to the princess the day after the redhead and nodded in agreement, "Thank you." He took his pass and hooked arms with the redhead. "Should we celebrate?" He laughed. Devin slowly pulled his arm away. "If you are paying for it, be my guest." He smiled.

Griffin had pushed his way past most of the potential suitors, bragging to them that he would certainly be the one to marry the princess. As a result, a number of the suitors actually left in discouragement, only leaving about two dozen. He signed himself up the day after Rai and told the vizier, "Please tell the princess to prepare to be smitten on that day." The vizier rolled his eyes as Griffin strutted away, shooting Rai and Devin a glance that taunted, "Let's see you do something about it."

Lyle had once again let his mind wander a bit to far from him, and when his mind wandered, his feet tended to follow. Suddenly snapped back from his daydream, He surveyed the area he was now currently occupying. Quite the commotion seemed to be happening around here! Perhaps his mind and feet had put him exactly where he needed to be, as they tended to do. But still, he hadn't a clue what was actually happening. He batted down the front of his shirt to get the dust off, and went to squeezing his way into the crowd towards what he percieved to be the front.

Lyle had made it to the front of the line to sign up for a time with Princess Aurica. The vizier looked a bit bored at this point and asked, "Name? And the nearest time is four days from now." A look at the vizier's scroll in front of him indicated that many people had already signed up to try to woo the Princess.

It was Devin's day to be with the princess and he made himself look presentable before going up to the castle. He was lead in by a guard into the back of the castle where they opened a door to the gardens. There sitting at the table, was the princess. He put on a nice smile and walked over to her, bowing softly. "Hello, Princess Aurica. I am Devin Mayweather."

"Woo the princess?"

Lyle thought about this for a second. Surely he couldn't mean THE princess. Perhaps today was his lucky day, after all! He leaned in with a widening grin.

"My names Lyle. Lyle Hilltopple Sir."
He smiled, showing a bit of teeth shining through the dark outline of his beard.
"So I have to wait four days until the Princess knows shes in love with me?"

He looked towards the Vizier, a look of true inquisitiveness and concern in his eyes.

Aurica had been waiting patiently for Devin and told the guards, "Would you please wait a ways away? It's just really awkward talking to someone with a chaperone nearby." The guards nodded and did as she asked. She smiled at Devin and greeted him, "Hello Devin Mayweather, I'm Aurica Viviscin, as I imagine you know already. My father made sure everyone in the kingdom knew my name pretty much from my time of birth." She giggled and added, "Notice how I didn't use Princess when introducing myself? I don't want you to feel the need to refer to me by title either, okay? The guards might not be too thrilled but I can more than handle them. How are you supposed to get close to someone when you're constantly reminded of their title? Honestly, I'm called 'the Princess' so much you'd think I was given no name at all."

She realized she had been rambling on for about two minutes and blushed as she apologized, "I'm sorry, I've been talking nonstop since you got here, how rude of me." She tugged at her dress nervously, it was blue with sleeves and though it offered a little more than the dress she wore yesterday, it still did not show much of her curves and came down just above her ankles. The main feature of this dress though was how well it brought out her eyes.

He took his seat in front of her, smiling. "It is quite alright, I don't mind it. I just want to lay this down right now. I don't want these meet ups to be about the end goal. I don't want that to be in the back of your mind. I want this to be like two people getting to know each other and becoming friends. I rather you be comfortable with me and I with you before we even go near that level of a relationship. I want you to be free to be you, and if I am not picked, well at least we have friendship to fall on." He smile soften, along with his eyes. He didn't lean in or touch her hand. He sat perfectly in his seat.

Aurica seemed very pleased about this and chirped, "Oh of course! Nothing would make me happier than someone who wants to get to know me instead of just wanting to marry me." She asked with a giggle, "You want to know something? I was supposed to meet this other prince today, but I caught him staring at me the whole procession yesterday. And not just like looking me over, oh no his eyes were on my chest. I can tell what he wants and he is NOT getting that anytime soon. So I'm going to just spend today with you, how does that sound?" She smiled at Devin earnestly.

He shook his head. "I would be careful around one of them, very arrogant. I am sorry you had to go through that. So let's not waste time on them. Tell me something about yourself. Anything you want I am all ears." He once again smiled, not really looking at her, but more at the scenery, he didn't want her to feel like he was goggling all over her with his eyes.

Aurica thought for a moment and told Devin, "Well, on the subject of arrogance, I should mention I really do not hold my status above other people. I honestly wish I could just live like a normal girl, do what a normal girl does. My father is a cruel man. I heard he tore down some poor village just to build some foolish pub. I remember I was so angry that day when he did it. I just wish he could show some compassion, but ever since my mother died he hasn't seemed capable of showing love. Not even to me, his own daughter... She sighed but blushed as she apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to dump this all on you, it's just I could never tell all this to my father and telling the maids puts them at risk if my father were to find out and question them."

Devin chuckled, "No need to apologize, Aurica. I told you we are here to get to know each other. I see you have compassion for others, that is a good quality to have." He nodded to himself, making a mental not about her comments on his village. "Now ask me anything, I am an open book." He stretched out his arms and placed them behind his head, gazing up at the sky. He liked the way the flowers on the walls accented the color of the sky.

Aurica asked nervously, "Um, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly brought you here? I'm sorry to come right out and ask such a thing, but it seems everyone has their own reasons for coming to meet me, I'm just curious your reason for coming." For once she had nothing more to say, she was rather nervous to hear the answer to this.

Devin thought about it for a moment, "Have you ever seen someone and thought about how interesting it would be to just talk to them? Like hear their story? I have met a lot of people and they all have different stories to tell... I somehow find a beauty in it. So I am here mainly to get to know your story, Aurica." He chuckled. "But I can be that person you vent to when you have no one. I live right between the city and village near here. So I am just a call away, though I might bore you some. I deeply apologize."

Aurica took a breath in at this answer and replied with a smile, "I really hope that's true because it is the sweetest thing I have ever heard. Although that's not saying much when you consider the only man I talk to on a regular basis refers to me only in a disappointed or angry tone." When she heard him mention the idea of him boring her, she immediately shook her head and giggled as she reassured him, "I'd be more worried about me boring you, I do talk ever so much when I get the chance, I imagine half of the suitors for me would be sick of me by now." She stood up and asked, "Would you like to go for a walk with me around the courtyard? The weather certainly encourages it."

Devin smiled, "It is as true as truth can be. People's stories never bore me, you can always learn something from someone's journeys in life, Aurica. So when you get to know these other men, listen to them carefully. You can always find a gem in there somewhere." He stood up, looking down at her, and offered his arm to her. She took his arm and they began to walk.

Aurica nodded and walked along with Devin. She admitted to him with a bit of an ashamed look, "I'll be honest with you. I wasn't looking forward to this at all, the idea of trying to find a suitor appalled me, because I figured if men were anything like my father I'd be disappointed." She looked up at him with a smile as she continued, "But that's not the case now. If even half the suitors are as sweet as you I'll have nothing to worry about." She stopped and stepped right in front of him, looking up at him with a grin on her face and her hands behind her back innocently as she informed him, "You know, I'm supposed to write down the names of those I'd be interested in meeting with you again. But I wanted to ask you first, would you want to?" She asked with a faint tint of a blush accompanying her warm smile.

Devin placed his free hand over his heart, and smiled, "Can anyone really blame you? I would be a bit depressed if I have to do things I didn't want to just for the sake of what? A father or his kingdom." He blushed a bit himself, "Well thank you, I guess I chose to live life a bit different when I was younger, now look where its has got me. Meeting on very interesting lady." She had stopped him and stood in front. He looked down, curious. "Well of course, Aurica, your story hasn't been fully told yet, nor has mine. If you would have me back I would be honored." He smiled.

Aurica beamed upon hearing his response and replied happily, "Great! I'm happy you agree." The two talked until the sun had begun to set on the garden and Aurica sighed, "It seems I'll need to leave you now, my father will want to know how this went and I'm going to hear it for ditching that other suitor." She looked up at him fondly as she told him, "Please come back anytime next week, I'll try to keep myself as free as I can. And before I go, if I may..." She stood up on her tip toes and kissed his cheek before lowering back down onto her heels and stepping back, a blush on her face and her hands behind her back again as she said softly, "Thank you for today, I had a lot of fun. It was nice to actually talk to someone my own age."

Devin walked and talked with her, getting to know her better. In the back of his mind a small see of doubt started to grow. "Ahh, yes I wouldn't want you to get in trouble, he seems like a harsh enough man. I will come back as long as you will let me, Aurica." He wasn't expecting a kiss on the cheek and for a moment he caught his breath before smiling, "No thank you for finding me worthy of your time." He walked her to the place she needed to be before heading out himself. He did good for the first day.