Tiffany’s tutor had been crystal clear when he sent Noah out of the small study. Apparently, she would be ‘a distraction’, according to him, and he expected her to be ‘just as bad as the big bodyguard’. Never mind that Tiffany was perfectly capable of distracting herself.. As such, Noah had been standing outside the door for three hours now, fidgeting with the strap of her brown leather bag and leaning against the wall, waiting for Tiffany to finally come out. It was just after noon, the bell in the clocktower had already sounded, when the time had finally come; the door opened and Tiffany left the study.

Not much remained of the relatively cheerful girl that entered the room hours ago. Her arms would be dragging over the marble floors, if she weren’t holding her books to her chest.

“And don’t forget about your homework!” her tutor called after her.

“No sir, I wouldn’t dare,” the princess mumbled, whose eyelids were falling shut from boredom.

Noah pushed off against the wall and ran up to the princess. “Are, er, are you alright, your highness?”

“Oh, yes. Civic studies is just not my favourite subject in the world.” With a yawn, Tiffany walked back to her bedroom. Noah followed close behind. On their way, they only encountered empty suits of armor. After all, this wing of the castle belonged to Tiffany and Prince Eugene, when he was present, at least. The princess and her small staff were mostly left to their own devices, which showed in the decorating. A narrow, plush carpet was laid out along the marble floors of the castle and the windows were lined with heavy, velvet curtains. Anything to banish the telltale echoes of a lonely life.

As they came closer to Tiffany’s bedroom, Noah started to walk ahead of the princess, and opened the door for her with a bow.

“How gallant,” the princess joked and went inside to lay down her books on her desk. “I don’t think another girl has ever treated me this gentlemanly.”

“I… well, you know, I just thought, your hands were occupied with your books, so…” Noah trailed off. She glanced away from Tiffany and looked around the room.

If you were to ask Noah, the gigantic, round room looked more fit for a ballroom than a bedroom, were it not for the bed that was three times larger than her own, a well-equipped dressing table, a folding screen with a piece of clothing strewn over it here and there, a velvet sofa and a trunk full of well-worn plush animals.

“Noah, it’s alright,” Tiffany said as she placed a hand on her bodyguard’s shoulder. “In fact, I actually quite like it. Eugene won’t even do that kind of thing for me.”

“If you say so, your highness,” Noah said with a nod. “Would you like to do your homework first, or—”

“Duel first, then homework,” the princess insisted. “Otherwise I’ll be bored to death, and that would be a bit of a damper on your young career as a bodyguard.”

Noah gave this due consideration, and quickly found that she agreed with Tiffany. And, well, after having stood outside a door for three hours, she decided she could rather use the exercise herself, too. “Alright, duel first.” The squire took the bag from her shoulder and set it down on the floor before opening the brass clasp.

“So, can I ask, why is there a roll of rags sticking out of that bag of yours?” Tiffany asked as she crouched down beside Noah, looking into the bag with unparallelled interest.

“Well, no. It’s more about what’s inside the roll of rags.”

“Let’s see,” Tiffany mused as she unrolled the package. “One practice sword, another practice sword and…” The princess questioningly glanced sideways at the squire.

“Trousers, your highness.”

“I know what trousers are, Noah. But for me?” Tiffany asked as she held the trousers in her hands, and held the item up to get a better look at it. Sure, Noah’s trousers were old. They were dark brown and worn threadbare, there were stains of unknown origins that would never wash out, but they were nevertheless trousers and they would most likely fit the princess.

“I thought… dueling in a dress, especially dresses as beautiful and valuable as yours, would probably not be the best idea,” Noah said as she nervously rubbed her hands together. She didn’t look Tiffany in the eye. “And I wasn’t sure whether you had trousers of your own. So, I thought, why not bring some of mine that you could borrow. For practice, of course.”

Tiffany smiled and shook her head. “I actually didn’t have trousers of my own, so thank you. But can you please stop being so nervous and formal all the time?”

“I… I don’t think I can do that,” Noah mumbled. “At least not yet, I think. I mean, you’re royalty. The crown princess, of all things. That may be a step too far.”

“Then we’ll work on that,” Tiffany said simply. She stood up and bowed to Noah. “My dearest squire, I shall be forever indebted to you for these trousers.”

Noah, of course, knew that Tiffany was pulling her leg, and thusly, she got up and bowed to her even deeper. “Not at all, your royal radiance, being of service to you is the only reward I need.”

“So, where shall we practice?” Tiffany asked

Noah waved around the bedroom. “How about here? There seems to be more than enough room, and if what Sir Lance said is true…”

“Sir Lance isn’t the only person in this castle who is more than apprehensive about my handling of pointy things.” Tiffany grimaced.

“Then it’s probably a good thing that the practice swords aren’t pointy at all.” Noah said as she raised the swords, one in either hand.

A grin seemed to split Tiffany’s face in two, and more stars sparkled in her eyes than on a clear summer night. “Give me one minute,” the princess said. She took Noah’s trousers and snatched a shirt from the chair by her dressing table and ran behind the folding screen. But as quickly as she disappeared behind it, she reappeared almost sooner. “Ta-dah!” she cheered, wearing her robin egg blue shirt with ruffles on the collar and cuffs, Noah’s dark brown trousers, that seemed a bit looser on the princess, and light blue boots that matched the shirt. “Not bad, right?”

“Not bad at all,” Noah said. She smiled, not as shyly as before, and handed one of the swords to Tiffany.

“What did they say in the books again? ‘A yard’?” the princess teased.

Noah widened her stance and took her position, gesturing for Tiffany to do the same. “‘En garde’, your highness.”