Those in Shining Armor [I am me/Savvy]

Zean wandered the castle halls aimlessly. He had been called here for the midwinter festival, since he had recently finished his most recent assignment. Balls bored him however, and he had been purposely dodging anyone that might drag him towards the party. It wasn't that he didn't like social events, but usually many rich match-making mothers lurked in those ball rooms like so many sharks. He had no intention of marrying, but they didn't seem to accept that. After all, their daughter was just perfect for him. He sighed, running a hand through his raven black hair.

He jumped slightly as he heard a couple of female voices coming up behind him. He would rather face a hundred soldiers alone than be stuck with one of these mothers. He moved quickly despite his size, and ducked into the nearest room. He stared out the crack until he was sure that they had past. He straightened up, and looked around the room that had served as his haven. With a growing sense of embarrassment, he realized that he was in the women's quarters. And what was worse, the occupant of the room was standing there, staring at him with a mixture of confusion and amusement.

Clarice was a free spirit. She despised all the rules she had to follow, and frequently disobeyed them. She was currently banned from leaving her quarters, except to go to the ball. She hated balls though. She had to get dressed up, in uncomfortable cloths, and dance with men she didn't know who wanted to marry her. What could be worse? She couldn't think of anything.

And she never did understand these balls, as far as she could tell they were just a chance for the men to survey their choices.
She was always so uncomfortable around men, and now wasn't any different. She forced herself to speak, "I take it you're avoiding the ball too?"

Zean laughed uneasily.
"You caught me," he admitted. He leaned back slightly on his right leg, ready to leave at his first chance. He began to actually look at the Lady he had intruded upon. She seemed familiar somehow. Ah, that was it. She was a high ranking noble, although she had a reputation for avoiding social events. Which explained why he didn't recognize her right away. He moved forward slightly, giving her a deep bow. As he did so, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror.

He usually didn't care much about his appearance, since no one needed to look good when they were wading through the mud on some journey. But while he was in the castle, it was important to keep up appearances. His black sleek hair was still in perfect condition, combed flat to just behind his ears. As always, his bright blue eyes sparkled with some unknown mischief. He was well built from years of rigorous training, but he was still lanky and taller than most of his friends. Satisfied that he was presentable, he straightened.

"I'm sorry, Lady Clarice. I must admit, I didn't recognize you at first. I can't help but notice," he said with a cheeky grin, "that you said 'too'. What keeps you away from the party?"

She relaxed slightly, he didn't seem like the others who were here looking for high ranking wives. Clarice spoke her mind, "Those parties are pointless." Surprised, embarrassed, and afraid, she turned away. What was wrong with her? Why did she say that? What if this man let slip what she had just said? They would make her go to those stupid parties. This was sure to end badly for her.

"The whole point of these parties is match-making." She had strong options on this subject and spoke with conviction and bitterness in her voice. "Men get invited and look for a beautiful, obedient, and high ranked woman to seduce. It's ridiculous!" She lowered her head. He didn't care about this! No one ever cared about what she had to say. She didn't know what to do. All she wanted was to disappear! She had made such a fool of her self, or at least she felt that way.

Zean couldn't help laughing a bit. So, it seemed like things were just as hard for the opposite sex.
"I'm in the same boat. You should see how those crazy mothers can act."

He looked around a bit, suddenly feeling a little awkward. Although it wasn't supposed to turn out that way, he was alone in a noble's room. He coughed.
"So, we should probably make an appearance, so they don't think we ran away." Suddenly, an idea struck him. "Hey! If we go together, the other's will have to leave us alone, right?" He winked at her friendly-like. "What do you think? Can you stand my company for a few hours?"

"I suppose I can." She replied with a mocking smile. "But you never know what those fools in there will do." This was true. Clarice should know, she had been to so many of these parties. She knew that just because they showed up together didn't mean that they would be left alone.

She was still reluctant to go. But she was sick of being trapped in her quarters, and going to the party was her only chance to get out. And what if Alex was there? He never left her alone. Maybe he would when he saw them together, but probably not. He was determined to marry her, but she was able to keep him at arms length.

Zean laughed again.
"It's true," he admitted. "It's quite possible that they won't leave either of us alone, and we'll probably create quite a stir by appearing together." His eyes sparkled as he grinned. "But that's half the fun, right?"

With that, he gave the noble another low bow, and offered her is arm.
"M'lady?" he said with a wink. His mannerisms were not mocking, but they could't be called serious either. It was clear that he was having fun talking with this unorthodox Lady.

Clarice took his arm and allowed herself to be led from the room. She liked Zean, she liked the mischievous sparkle in his eyes. They could stir up some trouble. Yes, that would be fun. Someone to help her make trouble. Someone to laugh about it with and help come up with excuses and explanations.

What luck! She finally found someone to get her out of her quarters and who's company she could enjoy. Now she was excited, she may actually enjoy the party. Then she saw Alex coming towards them, and she wanted to turn around and run.

Zean smiled as Clarice took his arm. He could already imagine the faces of all the women he had turned down. Ah, but this would be fun. Another knight was walking towards them, and Zean nodded to him respectfully. He could feel Clarice's grip on his arm tighten, and he looked down at her, confused. She seemed to be wary of this person. Zean looked back at him, now giving him more than just a passing glance.

Upon closer inspection, it was someone he knew. Sir Alex had received his shield on the same day as Zean, although Alex was a year older. Zean didn't know much about him; they hadn't shared the same circle of friends. As they passed, Alex paused beside them. Courtesy forced Zean and Clarice to stop as well.
"Hello, Alex," he said in a friendly fashion. Alex's attention seemed to be trained on Lady Clarice, however. Zean frowned.

Clarice lowered her head so that her long brown hair covered her face. She didn't want to see Alex and didn't want him to see her. There wasn't a single thing she liked about him. He was a stickler for rules and felt women inferior. She wanted to get away from this wretched man. He was obsessed with her, and she knew he didn't like that she was on the arm of another man.

She decided to speak, "Hello Alex." His reply was an angry mumble. Clarice looked desperately at Zean, hoping he would read her expression and get her out of there. She could tell her eyes had lost their sparkle and could feel her skin getting paler.

Alex's anger was palpable to the point it made her fear for her safety. Was he really that obsessed with her? She couldn't understand it. It didn't make sense that anyone could be so obsessed with someone. She closed her eyes, gripped Zean's arm, and waited for them to move on.

Zean shook his head in disapproval. Such treatment of a woman was unchivalrous at best. Such behavior could not be tolerated from a knight. There was just no excuse. He took a deep breath to calm himself. There was no point in starting a fight here. At the very least, he could challenge the man properly later. He looked over at Clarice, wanting to make sure that she didn't want to actually talk to this creep. She was looking up at him with begging eyes, though. That settled it.

He put a cheerfully ignorant smile on his face.
"It was nice to see you again, Alex. We were just heading to the ball. The king would be upset if we didn't show up soon." With that he gave the other knight a bow, barely a twitch of his head. The man didn't deserve any more respect than that. He began to walk on, leading Clarice. He put his other hand on her's that was on his arm and gave it a small pat. He kept himself wary though, in case this guy was stupid enough to make a scene here.

Clarice looked back to see if Alex was following them, he wasn't. She hoped he wouldn't make a scene later on. She shook her head in an effort to clear it. They were approaching the ballroom and she didn't want to look distressed when she entered. "Thank-you." She spoke softly, then smiled.

Why was she smiling? Maybe because they were away from Alex. Regardless, Clarice now felt the joy returning to her. She smirked impishly, she was imaging what people were going to think when she entered. She had successfully avoided almost all of these foolish parties for years. Now, not only was she going to make an appearance, but she was on the arm of a man.

Zean relaxed a bit once they were away from Alex. It seemed that he was at least smart enough to know when to walk away. He looked down at Clarice, and returned her smile. A little bit of his earlier enthusiasm returned, and he suppressed a childish giggle as they entered the ball room. All conversation stopped dead, which made him grin. It was kind of fun to be the center of attention. And all those nobles looked ridiculous with their mouths hanging open in surprise.

He raised an eyebrow at the greeter, who quickly stuttered their announcement.
"T-the Lady Clarice and Sir Zean Sellick." With that, he gracefully lead her down the stairs. It was time to show all these pompous people that he could act courteously. If he wanted to.

Clarice couldn't help giggling a little when they entered and the room fell to silence. As they began down the stairs the whispers began. This amused her even more. It was all she could do to keep from bursting out laughing. The looks on their faces! She was going to have fun at one of these parties for a change.

She could hear some of what people were saying, and most of it was astonishment that they were even there. Clarice felt giddy, this had to be the most fun she'd ever had. And she was sure it would only get better.

Zean glanced at Clarice, and grinned. Her giddiness was beginning to catch. As people began to realize that they were being rude, the conversations slowly started back up. He couldn't help but notice with a small hint of satisfaction that most of the conversations were now about them. He lead her to the center of the room, where people would be able to get the best view of them, and gave his partner a small bow.

"Would you like to dance, m'lady?" he asked with a small laugh. He planned on making this convincing, so that match-makers would have no choice but to leave him alone for a while.

Clarice was aware that everyone was watching them as they began to dance. She knew why he was doing this, so the match-making mothers would leave him alone. Her reason was basically the same, but it wasn't the mothers that bothered her, it was the men.

It amused Clarice how much space they were being given. No one approached them, and this was good as far as she was concerned. She hated having to converse with the people who attended these parties. They never had anything interesting to say.

As the song ended, the couples on the floor began to slow down. The musicians changed the tune to a song more fit as background than for dancing. He lead Clarice over to the wall, out of the way. He was opening his mouth to ask Lady Clarice if she had enjoyed herself, when he saw a familiar form approaching. His face split into a grin as he recognized his best friend and heir-prince Raul. The prince gave them a slight bow, then straightened.

"Lady Clarice, Sir Zean. It's a pleasure, although I must admit it is a surprise as well," he grinned.

Clarice smiled courteously. She had seen prince Raul many times before, but didn't know him well. Her escort seemed to know him though, that was obvious. She sat quietly smiling to herself, at least he had the good manners to approach them and not whisper about them. Which, she had to admit, was more than most of the royal family would do when it came to her. They didn't appreciate how rarely she attended social events, but she didn't care. All she wanted was to have fun.

Clarice began to think about being outside, galloping on her favorite horse, and just wishing she was out of the ball room. Too much was expected of her here. She didn't want to have to behave, where was the fun in that?

Zean smiled.
"A surprise? How's that? I think we look pretty good together, right?" he laughed to show he was joking. The prince chortled as well.
"I've never seen a more awkward couple, honestly," he teased. He nudged Clarice slightly.
"You can loosen up, you know. I won't bite, usually."

The prince winced as the music began to pick up again. A line of female suitors could already be seen staring at the handsome heir. Zean chuckled. His poor friend had it off worse than him. Of course, Raul didn't mind it much. He enjoyed spending time with the ladies.
"Well, my beautiful girls won't wait for me forever. I'll leave you two alone."

Zean turned back to his 'date'.
"Well, would you liek to dance again?" he asked quietly. "Or we could go take a walk somewhere."