A Swan's Tale

Ah - the sequel to A Froggy Tale which people had been asking about waaay back. It's been nearly a year - but here it is anyway.

For Ariana Taniyama whose request this is.

Disclaimer: The characters of Ghost Hunt are the property of Fuyumi Ono and J.C. Staff i.e. not me. No real animals or unicorns were harmed in the production of this fanfic.

Cast

Mai Taniyama

(Heroine, princess-in-waiting, apprentice mage skilled at anti-magic crafts)

Naru

(Prince Oliver, still the most arrogant prince seen in recent times and put-upon brother and lover and apprentice)

Gene

(Prince Eugene, part-time teaching assistant at the Academy of Magecraft and only person not completely terrified of Naru)

Madoka Mori

(The Enchantress, only other person not completely terrified of Naru, trouble-maker)

Lin Koujo

(His Excellency, the highly esteemed Minister for Trade in Albion, Mai's guardian, the new Royal Tutor)

Ayako Matsuzaki

(The Countess of Carmine, heiress and part-time mystical priestess, also on hiatus for court duties)

Takigawa Houshou

(ex-Royal Tutor, Royal Musician on hiatus, general slob)

Osamu Yasuhara

(resident prankster, mediator and part-time Royal Secretary to Prince Oliver)

Masako Hara

(Princess of Nihon, Mai's love rival)

Sir John

(Knight of the Southern Kingdoms, expert incognito traveler)

Lord V. Rothbart VI

(The Wizard, megalomaniac, illegal practitioner of dubious arts of dark origins)

Other Cast

Various sheep, horses, fantastical creatures, mages (rouge and otherwise) and luminaries of Albion and the lands thereabouts (i.e. Nihon and South Kingdoms)

Once upon a time, in a distant land where magic existed and true love's first kiss had more at stake than the wet messy affair that it usually was, there lived a prince who was both as proud as he was handsome. Prince Oliver, (or Naru, as he was fondly called by his aide i.e. everyone else) had by the time this tale begins, already gotten his fairytale ending and shared his first true love's kiss. As happy endings went, it really wasn't bad. The King and Queen were no longer despairing over their son's worrying bachelorhood, he, Naru, could get on with his planned second book on the significance of Jupiter's irregular orbit on earth magic whilst simultaneously negotiating a peace pact with the warring South Kingdoms Confederacy over a cup of Mai's tea. Furthermore, it was a great source of relief to all affected parties that the eager suitors had been well disappointed and had gone back to their various mansions and chateaus, leaving the palace in a peaceful state it had not seen in a decade (they liked to start young, these eager matrons). All of them, that was, save one, and he, for he indeed it was, had far more to plan than getting in the way of a young, loving and somewhat argumentative Royal couple.

At this very height of summer, when the trees bore their full verdant glory and the ground below a certain seaside mansion's grove of elegant lime trees was littered with the astringent perfume of green fruit, the preparations for a wedding was in full swing…

"Damnit Naru! Open the door right now!"

The prince looked heavenward, resisting the urge to call for the guards to do something about the impudent presence daring to shout outside his private chambers. Ten seconds. He drew a deep breath and counted to ten. The door flew open and a brown-haired presence whirled in and planted herself squarely in front of him. It was an act that took some effort because she was wearing a long white dress and the veil over her head was getting increasingly tangled. Sweeping aside the bulk of translucent material brusquely, she plucked the book he'd been reading out of his hand and tossed it on the floor.

"Naru! Why are you still here? Didn't you hear me calling you?" Her narrowed eyes swept over him critically.

"And why aren't you dressed? Get up already!"

Naru closed his eyes for a long second. "Madoka. I'm taking my bath now. Whatever it is can wait."

"No, it can't!" she practically shrieked. Several bubbles in the bathtub popped weakly and the chandelier overhead tinkled dangerously. "The wedding is in two hours!"

"Yes. And I'll be there, like I promised." Leaning out of the bubble-laden bath, Naru picked up his assaulted book and smoothed the agitated pages.

"Can you leave now?"

"Oh, er. Yes," she said, her eyes trembling slightly as she wiped away at a tear. "It's just that it could get dangerous you know, and your mother will never forgive me if I get you turned into some animal again…" Naru sighed as he reached for the towel. Women. He'd never understand them. And it wasn't as if she was really getting hitched either, though it was as good a question why he'd allowed himself to be dragged into her hare-brained scheme to catch a known felon.

Barely a fortnight into his well-deserved retreat, Madoka had whirled in with an assorted collection of mages and insisted that they hold a wedding.

"To whom?" Naru had asked sarcastically, whereon the Enchantress promptly hooked her elbow under the nearest male – which turned out, not unexpectedly to be Lin.

"To him," she said defiantly. Naru looked towards the tall Chinese minister and raised an eyebrow that communicated, quite clearly to the intended party, and you mean to participate in this absurd ploy that is so transparent even a year-old babe would see through?

In answer, Lin's discreet cough had conveyed, I trust her in this and that should be quite enough – the felon will turn up, make no mistake. Another cough in Gene's direction added, ask him.

To everyone else who had witnessed only a series of puzzling minute body language, it was with immense relief that Naru finally sighed, put aside the draft of the peace treaty and scowled. "If you weren't all so incompetent…"

Naru thumbed idly through his book but he'd already lost his focus. Then, minutes later, Mai burst in noisily. Naru, who had been in the act of getting out of the bath prudently sat back down again. "Yes?" he said wearily, deciding that pseudo weddings currently topped his list of detested social functions. "Have you seen Madoka? One of the junior mages wants to ask her to check on the pentacle setup."

Naru muttered something darkly and Mai groaned in relief. "Thank goodness. She hasn't slept for three days straight with all the preparations. Could you do me a favour and go and see if the lawn's-

"Do you mind?" Naru said coldly. For the first time, Mai seemed to have noticed her surroundings. She stared at his soapy torso in horror. "I-I'm so-sorry! I er, I'll leave now!" she gabbled, backpedalling out so quickly Naru didn't know whether to feel insulted or amused. "Sorry!" he heard her muffled apology from behind the cream coloured double doors. Massaging his temple, he sank back into the bath. It was going to be a long day, and one didn't need to be prophetic to be able to foresee that he would not have the time to make any headway on his new dissertation.

It had been a nice day with almost stereotypical wedding weather – blue skies, white clouds. But then, Gene wasn't thinking so much about it – even if his face, upturned to catch the warm rays of the sun seemed to say otherwise. The other prince of Albion in fact had rather different considerations in mind. Like how the caterers were scuffing out the pentacles he had etched into the grassy courtyard. If there was anything he hated to see, it was good work ruined and that included his own, of course. Abandoning the letter he was writing at the foot of the domed folly, he waved at the nearest of the catering staff.

"Excuse me," he began, ever polite. "Could you please inform your colleagues not to rub out any of the pentacles on the ground? They're meant for blessing the wedding." A little bending of the truth wouldn't hurt.

"Of course," the man replied. "I'll tell them."

Gene watched as he walked away, frowning as he rubbed a temple with a hand. The dream he had last night had been worrying at him and he hoped the man would remember what he had told him. Pentacles were not common at weddings – but then, this was no ordinary wedding after all.

For one thing, it wasn't even really one, though with the way Madoka was carrying on, you would think that it was. This reminded him that he hadn't seen either his mentor or Naru in a while.

The courtyard was a hive of activity and after managing to squeeze past two builders and a waiter bearing a tray of cupcakes he found her sampling the refreshments with a critical air.

"The chocolate cake is dry and the icing on the cupcakes overly sweet," she said as soon as she saw him. Gene smiled and helped himself to one of them anyway. The cupcake was the lurid pink of deep-sea shrimp and had a red heart shape icing stamped crookedly on it. "Does it really matter? Everyone who's coming down knows it's really work and not a party."

"Well, that doesn't mean we can't have any fun while it lasts." She darted over to the crystalline punch bowl and dipped a finger in. "Remind me not to hire this lot again," she confided with a grimace. "The drinks are terrible."

"I've done up the barrier over the courtyard," he said. "But you'll better get one of the Academy wizards to strengthen it. You know I'm not good at tangible magics."

Madoka nodded. "Ah, yes. Then let me ask you about what you are good at. What is your prognosis for this?"

Gene smiled wryly, his hands spread helplessly. "It's not all set in stone."

Madoka ran a hand through her hair. "That bad?"

"We'll just have to ride it out," he said softly, his gaze meeting the sky again. "For better or worse."