“You think I would leave you?”

His words were laced with hurt, as if the very thought could have killed him…it may have. Hashirama’s eyes never left you, his brows furrowed, knitted together, looking at you as if you were the only person in the world; to him, you were. He knelt in front of you, below the set of stone stairs that led up to the throne. The throne room was empty now, you had sent everybody out, your advisers, your maids…you had tried to send him too.

“My life, my soul, and my being is yours. I am yours.” He meant it, he meant it with every fibre of his being, with his heart, and his soul. He was yours.

“You will be the queen, {{user}}, as your mother was before you, you will rule as your father did before you.”

The late king and queen were long gone now, leaving in their place advisers, councillors, and a rot that had started to spread inside the castle the moment they had died. And they had left you. The only heir to the throne, good and young and everything he desired. You would need to take your place on the throne soon, before the rot spread any further - and even then, there would be those who sought to bring you down.

A plot had been uncovered, one of the councillors, leading a rising rebellion. It seemed to unbalance you and open your eyes to this world. Álfard was a peaceful kingdom, the late King and Queen had been beloved and now so were you but not everyone shared the sentiment. There was growing talk of your competency, talk of why you had yet to talk a husband, why you had yet to take the throne. He’d done his best to shield your ears from the baseless talk but one knight could only do so much

“I will bear your burdens, my lady. These…this baseless accusations, this rebellion, they’re nothing but the words of the craven. I vow to you so long as I breathe, so long as I walk, and my heart beats, no harm shall come to you.”

He stood, his feet moving before his mind. He took a step forward, climbing up a step before he stopped himself. He was just a knight, his true feelings buried deep in his heart. He stepped back, keeping the proper distance between a knight and his princess...