Spring Challenge entry~

Okay, quick before I go to bed, here's the beginning of my entry for dev_chieftain's Spring Challenge. It's turning out to be rather longer than I'd expected, so I'll be posting it in parts over the next few weeks. Enjoy! ^_^

Title: The Twelve Dancing Princesses
Disclaimer: I do not own TRC, any other CLAMP characters you may find here, nor Marianna Mayer's lovely version of this fairy tale.
Rating: For this part, G
Pairings: Kurogane/Fai, Syaoran/Sakura, a bunch of others mentioned in passing.
Warnings: Complete AU. Fluffy.
AN: Basic fairy tale can be found here. The version I am working off of (and often quoting directly) is this version, because it is one of the most gorgeously illustrated children's books I've ever read. So...on to part one! ^_^

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Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom, there lived a King who had twelve beautiful daughters. The King loved his daughters, each as bright and lovely as the next, and at his Queen’s request, kept careful watch over all of them. They lived happily, and all was well.

But the Queen fell ill, and her ailment was without cure. So, dying and wishing for some assurance before she left this world, the Queen summoned a sorcerer to divine her daughters’ fortune.

The Sorcerer came to the Queen’s bedside, and with his staff drew a circle upon the floor. Into the circle he cast twelve stones, all different in shape and color, then held out his hand over them, causing the circle to glow and the stones to move.

“One through twelve, like the hours of a clock, first to last, twelve daughters you have,” he said, eyes burning bright as he gazed at something beyond sight, “All as beautiful as the many months of the year. They are the future!

“But the Twilight will claim them, no mortal love will they know. No earthly happiness will they share. Their secret is hidden between this world and the next. It will not easily be found.” And with that, he vanished back up into the mountains from whence he had come.

This prophecy tormented the dying Queen. In an attempt to soothe her fear and grief before she died, the King increased the guard around the palace, and began to lock the door of his daughters’ bedroom at night, in hopes of keeping danger at bay.

Years passed, and all seemed well. The King began to think that the prophecy was wrong, and that all the worry had been for naught.

Until the morning that he came to unlock his daughters’ door and greet them, only to discover that all of their satin dancing shoes had been worn full of holes.

This happened night after night, and the brand new dancing shoes that they would receive each day would be completely worn through by the following morning. Nor was that the only sign of trouble, for the sisters’ radiant complexions began to take on a pale, unearthly light, and their warm hearts hardened and grew cold.

The King questioned them, scolded them, even broke down and pleaded with them, but all to no avail. They shook their heads and calmly refused to answer. The mystery of how they could wear out their dancing slippers every night without leaving a locked room remained unsolved.

“Surely the princesses are cursed,” ran the whispers, which angered the King, though he could not stop them.

Finally, desperate, the King sent out word that whoever could discover the princesses’ secret could have one of them for his bride. Princes and knights came from faraway lands to try their luck. Each in turn was led to a chamber off the princesses’ bedroom to stand watch at night, to try and discover their secret. By morning, each and every one had vanished without a trace.

Slowly, those brave enough to risk this fate became smaller and smaller in number, and the princesses still refused to speak.

Finally, the last one had taken his turn and vanished like all the rest. The King, gazing down at his beloved daughters with anguish, listened to their silence and at last bowed his head, dismissing them. They departed, leaving him to sit on his throne and rage at his own helplessness in the face of such a curse.

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Kurogane sat in the empty throne room for a long time after his daughters had left, thinking. It had been nearly two years since he had first found their dancing slippers worn through, and he was still no closer to solving the mystery.

/I don’t understand how anything can happen when they are locked in for the night, and I am the only one who holds the key,/ he thought, clenching his fists and glaring out at the empty room. /And there were no reported strangers in or near the palace before it started, nothing!/

With a snarl, he rose from the throne and paced out of the room, taking a side door that led him onto a balconied walkway along the back of the castle, where the view looked up at the towering, cloud-wreathed mountains. /Dozens of knights and princes have tried and failed, disappeared completely! I’ve tried three times, and something put me to sleep every time, so I slept deeply and didn’t wake until morning. Damn it all!/

He stood there, staring up at the dark monoliths for a long time, wrestling with himself. Then, at last, he closed his eyes and let out a short, low whistle into the warm spring air.

“Magician,” he called, “I want to talk with you.”

Stillness for another long moment, broken only by whispers of the wind, but then a blue-white glow suddenly blossomed behind Kurogane on the balcony. When the glow had faded, he turned, arms still crossed over his chest, to glower at the man who had materialized there.

The sorcerer was a thin man, about a head shorter than Kurogane himself, with wind-blown golden hair and a pair of stunningly blue eyes. He wore his usual outfit, black trousers and a white tunic-shirt, with a long blue robe thrown over them. In his hand was his staff, golden and topped with crystal.

“Your Most Illustrious Transcendency, how may I serve you?” he swept into a low bow, then looked up at Kurogane, a mischievous grin hovering around the corners of his mouth (but not his eyes, never those).

“Don’t call me ridiculous things,” the red-eyed King growled, leaning back against the railing and gesturing curtly for the other man to rise. When he had done so, Kurogane stared at him intently for a long moment before speaking again. “Has it changed?”

The sorcerer matched the stare with a pleasantly vacant smile (as always) and cool blue eyes. “It has not.”

Kurogane snarled and looked away, staring out at the view without really seeing it. Not that he had expected otherwise, but there had to be something! Something that he had overlooked, something that he had forgotten or dismissed. Anything.

“Did Your Most Renowned Eminence have further need of my humble skills? I am pleased to serve in any way that I can,” the sorcerer continued, snapping Kurogane out of his thoughts to level a rather automatic glare at the blue-eyed man.

“No. Don’t call me that. You may go,” he dismissed the man shortly.

“Your Greatest Benevolence is certain?” the sorcerer pressed. Why he sometimes pushed for further conversation, Kurogane was never certain, and had never asked.

“No. Get out of my sight.” Kurogane turned away, refusing to acknowledge either the calm, knowing smile or the bow he received in return. Blue-white light flared again briefly around the sorcerer, and when it had died away, he was gone.

It was a frustrating repeat of the same conversation they had had many times over the past two years; the same summons, the same question, and always the same answer. The only things that changed were the ridiculous titles the magician came up with to annoy him. But the important thing - the prophecy about his daughters’ fate - never changed.

Refusing to acknowledge the emotion he was beginning to feel as despair, the King stalked back inside. It was time to open court for the day; the running of the kingdom could not be put on hold merely to give him more time to brood.

/I will find a solution,/ he vowed, /I will./

He crossed the great room, made of the same white marble as the rest of the palace and touched everywhere with gold, its high vaulted ceiling pierced by many windows to let in the blue sky and bright sunlight. It was a beautiful room, but it, like the rest of his kingdom, held no joy for him while his daughters remained bewitched. He strode quickly through it, and pulled open the double-doors peremptorily.

“Your Majesty, you should really pull the bell when you are ready to begin court, and I will-” admonished his Chamberlain, Yukito, but Kurogane had already turned away.

“I’m perfectly capable of opening the doors myself,” he growled, and stalked back to his throne. “Let them in.”

“Yes, your Majesty,” the Chamberlain muttered with long-suffering patience.

The throne room was soon filled with people, many waiting in a line to have their audience with the King, others grouped and chatting at the edges of the room. Fortunately for Kurogane, the Court Season was nearly over, and as spring progressed, more and more of the nobles were retreating out to their country estates for the summer. This meant that most of the problems to be brought before the King were those of the common people; planting issues and conflicts over pastureland, much more down-to-earth and easily solvable problems than the never-ending intrigues of the nobles. Kurogane always welcomed the coming of spring with a profound sense of relief, especially since he no longer had a Queen to help him deal with the more social aspects of his court.

/And my daughters are less than helpful./ Even his eldest, Tomoyo, who had once been so supportive and loving after her mother’s death, had withdrawn inside the walls the sisters had built up around themselves since the beginning of the curse. They rarely went anywhere without each other, and generally spurned company. Only from Sakura, the youngest, did he occasionally catch glimpses of the girl she had been before the curse had stolen her heart and laughter away.

Fortunately for the brooding King, today’s line of petitioners was not long, and their problems easily dealt with. Soon the floor before the throne was empty, those who remained in the hall attending to their own business with each other. Kurogane gazed out at it all with distracted crimson eyes for several moments before he realized that someone was timidly trying to get his attention.

Looking down, he met the brown-haired, brown-eyed form of his newest scribe, a boy named Syaoran who was currently serving as his Archivist. Syaoran, the son of a country gentleman, had only come to court about a month earlier, but had already proved himself quite skilled and level-headed. Kurogane found himself reluctantly approving of the boy, even if he was too timid on occasion.

“What is it, boy?” Kurogane asked, gruff but not unkind.

Straightening, Syaoran came closer, giving him a small smile and bowing. “Good morning, your Majesty. I just wanted to know what you would like me to work on next; I’ve finished cataloging all the books on sorcery.”

Kurogane, having only given him said assignment a week ago, was impressed. He gave the boy an acknowledging nod, then eyed him speculatively.

“You’ll start going through the treasury next; I need a catalogue there too, and it should keep you busy for awhile. Ask me or use the library if you need help identifying things. Get the key from the Guard Captain.”

Syaoran bowed again, his face eager, “Yes, your Majesty!”

Kurogane held back a grin. “Be careful with anything that looks magical. It won’t do me any good if you go turning into a frog or some such thing.”

Syaoran ducked his head, nodding. “Those would be best dealt with by a wizard,” he agreed.

Kurogane, reminded of the sorcerer and his unhelpful prattle, frowned slightly. “There hasn’t been a Court Wizard here since before my father’s reign.”

“I wonder why….” Syaoran trailed off, looking thoughtful, then recalled himself and bowed hastily. “I’ll get started today, your Majesty!”

With that, he hurried off, already muttering to himself about procuring a good lamp and what cataloguing system might be best.

Kurogane shook his head, then got up from the throne and headed out of the room, giving the Chamberlain a brief nod. He needed to go somewhere quiet, and think it all through one more time. There had to be a way to break this curse!

^~^~^~^~^~^

Syaoran took off at an easy trot as soon as he was out of the throne room, feet automatically turning him in the direction of the courtyard where the main guard house was. The Captain of the Guard, Souma, was most likely to be there, so Syaoran could get the treasury key from her and get started on his latest assignment right away. Sorting through the King’s treasury sounded incredibly interesting.

/And who knows? Maybe I’ll come up with something that can help with the curse. I skimmed a lot of those sorcery books in the library, too, but I didn’t see anything there. I wonder what happened…maybe I should go look at the prophecy again. There might be a clue there…bet no one’s actually looked at it closely for years./

His thoughts kept him occupied until he reached the guard house. Once there, he knocked politely on the door and waited. The door was pulled open a minute later by the Ryuuoh, a fosterling from the next kingdom over and already becoming a good friend.

“Ah, Syaoran! Come on in!” The other boy grinned and stepped back, gesturing broadly.

“Thank you,” Syaoran said, coming in and closing the door. “Is Captain Souma here?”

“Yep! She’ll be down in a minute. Whatcha need her for?”

“His Majesty has said that I’m to catalogue the treasury as my next assignment, so I must get the key from Captain Souma,” Syaoran explained, grinning excitedly. “How have you been, Page Ryuuoh?”

“Would you stop with the ‘Page’ thing?” the other boy complained, grimacing at him, before sighing and letting it relax into a grin. “Not bad. Captain runs me near ragged sometimes, but-”

“But you’ll never make a decent knight if you can’t learn to work now,” the woman in question cut in, descending the ladder-like staircase from the upper level of the guard house. “Good morning, Archivist. How may I help you?”

“Good morning, Captain. His Majesty has set me the task of cataloguing the treasury, and said that I could get a key from you,” Syaoran explained, bowing slightly.

“Ah, of course. Just a moment,” she said, nodding, and disappeared back upstairs.

“The treasury, huh?” Ryuuoh asked then, perching himself on a table and crossing his legs, leaning forward excitedly. “I’d like to see that! There must be all kinds of amazing things in there!”

“His Majesty did say it would keep me busy for awhile,” Syaoran admitted, not hiding his own eagerness very well. “There are probably all sorts of really old things; jewelry and artifacts…maybe even some books that never got put into the library….”

“Think of the weapons!” Ryuuoh sighed happily and fell back until he was lying across the table. “Much better than any of the practice swords in here….”

“The swords here are perfectly acceptable,” Souma cut in, coming down the ladder again, “and you’ll have your own at the proper time.”

“Yes, Captain,” Ryuuoh said automatically, then went on quickly, “but since I’ve got all my morning chores done, couldn’t I go with Syaoran to see the treasury? Just for a little bit?”

“Here’s the key, Archivist,” Souma said, handing Syaoran an ornate iron key, and then turning to face Ryuuoh with a stern look. “Learning to be a knight requires discipline, of both mind and body. Frivolities weaken concentration-”

“I know, Captain, I know! But it’s just for a bit, and it’s not a frivolity anyway - it’s reminding myself of what I’m working towards,” Ryuuoh argued, sliding off the table and standing at attention. “Please, Captain? I’ll work twice as hard this afternoon.”

“I don’t mind, Captain,” Syaoran put in, giving his friend an encouraging smile.

Souma eyed them both for a moment, then sighed and acquiesced with a wave. “You will at that. Very well, but you’re to be back here by noon-tide and no later.”

“Yes, Captain!” Ryuuoh grinned and started tugging Syaoran towards the door. “Come on, let’s go! What’s the fastest way to the treasury?”

Laughing, Syaoran hurried to keep up. “It’s down near the cellars, at the back.”

“Then I know a shortcut,” the other boy declared, “this way!”

‘This way’ meant out through a side door of the courtyard, and then around the outside of the castle through some of the smaller gardens, including that belonging to the Princesses.

“If we go in this door here,” Ryuuoh explained, leading the way, “I know we come to a hall that’s near the entrance to the cellars. But you’ll have to lead the way from there.”

“All right,” Syaoran said, nodding and taking the lead once they had slipped through the small side door from the garden. “Ah, now I see where we are. You’re right, it should be just up ahead and around this corn-!”

The sudden shock of bumping into someone rather hard cut they Archivist off and knocked him back into Ryuuoh, who steadied him. When he looked up, though Syaoran let out a small noise of dismay and was quick to bow to hide the heat growing in his cheeks.

The person he had just run into so carelessly was the youngest of the princesses, Sakura. She had been supported by her sisters behind her, and though slightly dazed, appeared unhurt.

“M-My apologies, Princess Sakura! Your Highnesses!” Syaoran stammered out quickly, still bent nearly double so as to avoid looking at them.

“I-It’s fine,” Sakura returned, still sounding dazed. Syaoran missed the slight blush coloring her cheeks as well, more concerned about the cool glances he was receiving from the other princesses. He took himself out of their way quickly, standing with head bowed against the wall as they ushered Sakura forward and went on their way; likely out to the garden.

When they had gone, Ryuuoh waited only a moment longer before sniggering and punching Syaoran lightly on the shoulder. “I know who Syaoran likes~” he teased, even as Syaoran colored again and looked away quickly.

“I-It’s nothing,” he insisted, stubbornly.

“You like Princess Sakura!” the other boy crowed delightedly, nudging him forward again. “You’ve got a fancy for her, haven’t you?”

“Even if I did,” Syaoran said, unexpectedly sober. “It wouldn’t make any difference.”

At that, Ryuuoh quieted as well. “Because of the curse?” he asked softly, peering around quickly as though something unsavory would come out of the walls merely at the mention of it.

Syaoran nodded. “I could never marry her anyway, but I wish I could do something to help them.”

“Hey, you know what the King said! Whoever solves the mystery gets one of them for his bride,” the page pointed out, grinning at him.

“What are the chances of my being able to do that, though?” Syaoran asked, still serious, as they headed down the stairs to the lower parts of the castle.

“You never know,” Ryuuoh said, and went on to make several suggestions of precisely how Syaoran could go about doing it, each wilder than the last, until they reached the huge double doors that guarded the treasury.

At which point both boys promptly forgot their discussion in favor of the glittering wonders that lay inside.

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Hope you enjoyed! ^_^
~A