Long ago, in the kingdom of Soleanna, there were humanoids and humans. The ruling family was powerful, and the king was a man who didn’t like to be defined, but was otherwise a caring leader. The people of Soleanna came to respect him, but in some of the other kingdoms, the royal family was seen as an enemy. Each member of the Soleanna royal family had at least one strong knight to act as guards. Many attempts have been taken on the lives of the king, the queen, and their daughter. Thankfully, these attempts have been unsuccessful, thanks to the royal guards.

However, some of the Soleanna guards died in attempt to defend the royal family. One was the adoptive father of Sir Lucario, also known as “The Knight of the Aura” due to his abilities. It has been a month since Sir Aaron, Lucario’s adopted father was killed and Lucario took his place as the guard for the princess...

***

The early morning sunlight came through the windows of the castle. Sir Lucario was pacing outside the chambers where the princess slept, keeping his senses alert for signs of danger. He wasn’t worried about his own safety, of course, but he was worried about the princess. He wore golden armor, and had his sword, Caliburn, at his side. Sir Lucario wasn’t wearing the golden helmet that went along with the rest of his armor, though, not seeing the need for something that would possibly slow him down if and when the princess was attacked again.

Thea woke up from a deeply refreshing sleep. She'd had a blessed life with almost nothing to haunt her dreams, and so she always slept peacefully. There was something else, too that, she had to look forward to. Him.

Her bright eyes blinked opened and she smiled, stretching luxuriously and knowing that he would be there, waiting for her, as he always did. The fact that he was off limits to her didn't bother her terribly much. She usually got her way, whether her stern but loving father knew it or not. Slipping out of bed, she dressed quickly and fixed her hair, slipping on a thin gold tiara that brought out the warmth of her pale skin. Then she opened the door, peeked out, and there he was.

"Good morning, sir guard," she said, her voice sweet and honeyed as always.

Lucario looked to the princess and nodded, acknowledging her. He was quiet for a few seconds, as he usually was before responding. It certainly didn't help that he didn't exactly sleep well at night for the past month, as he was always alert for signs of assassins after getting appointed the royal guard for the princess.

"Good morning, princess. I hope that you slept well?" Lucario asked after the few seconds had passed. His tone sounded alert, despite his exhausted state.

As loyal as he was to the royal family, he often wished that the king had appointed more than one guard to protect his daughter. That way, Lucario could get some much needed sleep when the other guard or guards were on duty. Hoowever, most of the residents knew better than to question the king, who was nicknamed Ironfist for a reason. The king was usually forgiving on certain things, but one wrong move could end up costing someone their head.

She opened the door wider and stepped out of her room into the hall, shutting the door behind her. "I'm doing well. I had a beautiful night's sleep, which doesn't seem to be the case with you. Shall I go down to breakfast with my mother and father so that you can have a rest?"

She was enraptured by her knight and protector, but since he had been her guard she hadn't been able to slip away, and she wanted to go to the woods and shoot a few arrows. She could almost feel the taught string between her fingers and she smiled at the thought.

"Breakfast sounds good. Though, I sense that you wish to go shooting arrows. I have no issue accompanying you to do so, but after breakfast. Perhaps some food will awaken my senses." Lucario said, even though he knew that archery wasn't something her father would approve of her doing. Lucario would just come up with something to cover up the fact that he was encouraging the princess to do what was considered a manly thing to do.

He did not really approve of the gender stereotypes between men and women, boys and girls, but Lucario knew that his opinion was a rather unpopular one. Had he been born a girl and dropped off at the castle's steps, things might have turned out differently. For example, he might have been raised in a different way by Sir Aaron, and not trained to be a knight. Sure, Soleanna had female knights, called dames, but they were not as abundant as the male warriors. Perhaps, Lucario would have been raised to be one of the female servants who tended to the female members of the royal family.

Thea tightened her lips briefly, giving a hint of her dislike of not getting her way. Then she quickly smiled and said, "Oh, of course. I wouldn't want to be out of sight of my loyal guard." This was partially true, she wanted to gaze at him as long as possible, but she was getting a little annoyed at his ability to know her intentions.

Taking his hand, she walked briskly towards the hall where breakfast was no doubt already under way. She was often late and this displeased her stern father. The gold plate of his armor felt smooth and cool in her hand. She knew that this sort of touch would be inappropriate in her father's eye, but she tried to make some contact with him whenever possible in the most innocent way. It just felt nice to touch him and she wasn't sure why.

Sir Lucario chose to pay little to no attention to the actions of the princess, though he did admit to himself that he sort of liked when the princess grabbed his paw like that. He had become close to the princess in the month that he had been her guard, but he knew that an affair with her would need to be kept secret, if it ever happened. The king would have him beheaded or exiled, but most likely beheaded, if his highness knew that a member of the royal guard fell for the heir to the throne in such a way.

Upon approaching the dining hall, Sir Lucario's ears perked up as he caught the smell of food. It smelled like the usual buffet that was left out for the royal family members and theoir bodyguards, and despite it being so familiar, Sir Lucario's stomach growled slightly at the thought of the upcoming meal.

"Damn it all..." The knight cursed as he heard his stomach. Sure, the growling of one's stomach wasa natural reaction to being hungry, but that didn't mean that Sir Lucario liked it nor did it mean that it didn't embarss him to show a weakness like that.