Clockwork Fable
Title: Clockwork Fable
Prompt: Resonance
Media: Fic
Characters: Terracotta, Random OC cook; mentions of Princess Vivi, Kohza, Carue, and King Cobra
Rating: G
Word Count: 297
Special note: Do with this as you will readers.
The messengers know first. It always begins with increased mail from Yuba.
The cooks realize it next as requests for exotic dishes are relayed.
The watchmen are next discovering it when candlelight in the window is burning strong past midnight.
By the time she is rejecting her dresses, the animal keepers already have the Super Spot-Billed Duck Squad ready for travel and the King is welcoming Kohza at the door.
They already know the Princess and the ex-rebel will be gone before sunset and won’t return for three days and three nights.
Just as predictably, there is always someone fresh in the castle that must inquire about this systematic routine. This time, it is a novice cook.
“Where has Princess Vivi gone?”
“Mind your ladle.” The head chef scolds, waiting to answer until the unsure han isn't pilling. “And everyone knows she’s gone to the coast.”
“The coast? Whatever for?”
“To listen.” Terracotta replies mysteriously. “The sea speaks to her.”
“Speaks to her?!”
“Mind your ladle!” She pulls at his ear until he whines.
Lesson learned, the questions stop and he becomes diligent in his work, losing not a drop. When the bowls are taken by the servers though, he asks with folklore shining in his eyes, “So what does the sea tell the Princess?”
“Stories say,” Terracotta grandly weaves, “That in the resonance of the crashing waves she hears echoes of the past and draws wisdom from the ages. Through these lessons, she learns how to better guide her kingdom.”
“R-Really?! Wow! The Princess is amazing!”
“Without a doubt.” Terracotta decisively agrees, declining to correct the farce in hopes of preserving his innocence even a moment longer.
For the day would come that he will learn the only past Princess Vivi can hear is her own.