Bound - Part I

The light knocking on her door coupled with the sunlight filtering through her window's curtains caused the pinkette's cornflower blue eyes to flicker open. Only as she was sitting up did the door to her bedchamber open. The white mesh canopy hanging around the princess's four-poster bed kept her figure hidden from the maid that entered, who stopped to bow and greet,"Good morning, Princess Claire."

Claire pursed her lips upon the use of her first name, yet did not voice her disapproval. Merely, she drew back the blankets of her bed and stood, pushing a hand back through the asymmetrical spikes of her hair while the curly tendrils fell forward over her left shoulder. The maid, a short woman named Lana with curly dark hair, straightened, smiling brightly as she approached.

Holding out the woman's robe, continuing to chat away,"General Amodar arrived late last night, Princess, and with him brought a handful of strapping young knights to prepare for the tournament. I got a peek at a few of them, and they seem like quite the rowdy bunch. They had the kitchen all up in a fuss about how much they could all eat, despite your Father's reassurances to bring in more supplies--"

The rest of whatever the maid had to say was simply passing in one ear and coming out the other. Claire shrugged on her robe and tied the sash, the brilliant red silk smooth against her toned, alabaster skin. She turned her eyes on Lana and the woman immediately shut her mouth, perky as ever as she smoothed out the front of her apron.

"Run me a bath, Lana. I will be training today," Claire said, evenly, moving to her boudoir and opening up her wardrobe. Lana chirped a quick,"Yes Princess!"  before scurrying off, leaving the woman to dress in a beige leather tunic with short cloth trousers underneath and a pair of strapped leather boots. The Princess left her room behind swiftly, her door clicking shut quietly behind her as she stepped in to the long hallway. The cobblestone floors provided a steady sound as her footsteps carried her out along through the castle's corridors.

It was no surprise to Claire to find the knights Lana had mentioned training in the yard at this early hour.

Every year, the Kingdom of Cocoon played host to a grand tournament. Knights from different sectors of the Kingdom would all gather to prove who was the best in different arts of battle. Spirits were high during this tournament, a grand festival being thrown, despite tensions between Cocoon and its neighboring Kingdom, Gran Pulse.

They were said to be a barbaric people, not nearly as civilized or as structured as Cocoon. Claire didn't concern herself with these things, however, setting about her routine despite the other knights about the yard. She continued to ignore the men, even as they stopped to watch her go about the motions of her use with a sword against a young silver-haired squire boy, Hope. He would fetch dummies for her to practice on, and even be her sparring partner, though that never lasted longer than a few seconds at best. He could simply not keep up with the way the Princess strung her attacks together so gracefully, the most lethal of dances.

By the time she was finished, the noontime sun beat down hard on the back of the Princess's neck. She sent Hope to fetch her a drying cloth, returning her sword to the weapon rack in the yard. Lana would no doubt just be finishing with preparing her bath, as the maid knew Claire's schedule off by heart. Hope soon returned, handing the cloth to Claire, beaming brilliantly up at her. She arched a single brow at him, wiping the sweat from her face as he started to suddenly yammer on,"Princess, did you hear? This afternoon, knights from Gran Pulse are to be arriving! Isn't that exciting?"

She frowned. A tactical move. See what both Kingdom's military forces were capable of under the facade of a good-natured tournament.

"No, I hadn't heard that," Claire replied, slinging the cloth casually over her shoulder and beginning to walk inside the castle's main doors. "You're excused now, Hope. Please, tend to the men."

"Yes Princess!" And with another great grin, the boy was off.

The pinkette shook her head. She knew he meant well... But alas, she had more pressing concerns to worry about. For instance; how was she going to get clean and prepare in time for lunch? She also wanted to stop by the smithy later this evening to see how her armor was coming along. After much protest from her Father and Mother, Claire had finally convinced them to allow her to join in on the sporting events. She'd been training her entire life in swordplay, whereas the younger Princess, Serah, favored archery. Due to this allowance, the two Farron sisters would both be participating in the tournament.

She knew that King Farron was merely entertaining his two daughters with this sentiment, and Serah thought it would be great fun, but Claire? Well, she was in this to win.

After her bath and meal, she slipped away from the hustle and bustle of the castle and its rowdy new guests to the gardens with a book tucked under her arm. Fountains spouted clear water that created a soft lull of splashing about the green foliage and brightly colored flowers. Taking a seat on a stone bench in the shade of a tree, Claire sat back in a simple white summer dress, the breeze causing her freshly washed hair to tickle her cheeks.

"Strawberries?"

Being so immersed in her book, she'd somehow not been able to hear the approach of one knight. He must have been strolling the grounds, too-- though that voice, it held such a throaty timbre, rolling with an unfamiliar accent that made a faint tingle run up her spine, it was far from masculine. Turning her head, Claire ended up looking in to piercing jade eyes, the sharp features both wild and beautiful. Which was really the only way to explain who stood beside her bench, supposedly catching the scent of her shampoo on the wind.

Standing taller than herself, the tanned woman wore a pair of black armbands with colorful, tribal bangles about her left wrist, the plate and chainmail armor both simple and accessible in design. It must have been forged with mobility in mind rather than protection, Claire could see no other reason why one's arms and legs would be so bare, though a blue sarong that reached mid-calf did couple the short chainmail skirt, yet the muscle definition was still very easy to see. A crazy dark mane of hair fell about her shoulders, poorly held back with a piece of twine, and a large black tattoo covered her upper left arm.

This woman was a knight, though not from Cocoon.

Claire frowned.

"Yes, strawberries," she said calmly, closing her book in her lap and setting it aside, sitting up a little straighter with one leg crossed over the other. "Though why that is any of your concern is beyond me."

A smirk pulled at the corner of the tanned woman's lips, and she reached a hand out, placing it on the bark of the tree the pinkette sat underneath, her other going on to her hip which held no sword. The spearhead of a lance peeked over her shoulder at the princess as the woman said,"I meant no offense by it, milady." She cleared her throat, obviously amused, a smile slipping its way across her face,"I am Fang of the Yun Clan, from the village of Oerba within the Kingdom of Gran Pulse. Oerba Yun Fang, for short."

She came off the tree, slowly circling around in front of Claire, winking at her as she concluded,"But please, call me Fang."

The princess blinked slowly once, not at all dumbfounded, but moreso irritated with this Knight's behavior towards her. There could really only be one explanation for such a brazen attitude -- this woman simply didn't know who she was. She probably thought she was some other chambermaid or lady in waiting residing in the castle. Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Claire cleared her throat instead, listening a moment to the wind that rustled the leaves overhead.

She watched in amusement at the shocked expression that overcame Fang's face as she replied,"I am Claire Farron. A pleasure to meet you."