bakerstreet | The Royally Common Romance Meme

The Royally Common Romance Meme

♕ The Royally Common Romance Meme ♔

❝And I tell you truly, Daenerys, there is no man in all the world who will ever be half so true to you as me.❞

Inspired by an anon comment on rpanons ages ago about a PSL they'd like to play.

Heavy the head that wears the crown, they say, and little could be more true. Of course, there is glamor in the life: power, privilege, lavish feasts, fine clothes...if your monarchy is doing well, that is. But there are also struggles that few others would understand, such as life or death decisions that need to be made to protect your kingdom at best and being a mere puppet with no real power at worst. At the very least, you're lonely. Certainly there are people around you at all times to protect and serve you, yet they aren't truly companions. They're no one you can talk to.

Well, not no one. Not completely. There is one person who's allowed close to you. Perhaps they're even allowed to be alone with you. A trusted advisor, a handmaid, a knight, a court jester, whatever they are, their companionship and support may leave you wanting those peaceful moments and lingering glances to mean...more.

And what if you are the other side, someone without royal birth offering your service to your highness? You may have been born into this life, forced into it, or gave yourself to it willingly. It could be much, much worse - at least you and your charge have a good relationship, to the point that you might do anything for them. Have your feelings for them always been more inappropriate than they should, or is this a new feeling? And such feelings - they can't be returned, can they? Or you could see your charge as the human that they are rather than an ideal. Does that mean you can give them the best advice and service you can? And what of their duties to marry and continue their line? Will you step back and let them be bound to another?

Then there are the pressures of the throne. The most innocent could be corrupted by power, and you would be in no position to stop them, no matter how it pained you to see the one you cared for twisted and become a wholly different person.

To allow anything to blossom between the two of you is risky and perhaps even deadly. Not even royalty can put a stay to an execution of someone who's, for all intents and purposes, committed treason by becoming emotionally compromised. All the same, it may be worth it, in the end. Royalty, after all, has a short shelf life, and the head on the spike may be the one wearing the crown.

HOW TO PLAY

Comment with your character and preferences, any relevant info, and what role you'd like to play, royal or not. You might also want to include if you're open to smut.

Reply to others.

Let your imagination guide you! Stolen moments, keeping secrets, battle plans, discussions about ruling filled with double meaning, jealousy, learning about arranged marriages, just spending time together, or being able to do nothing as your love turns into an evil queen/king are just a few ideas.

~~My other possible picture for this meme was Eridan and Feferi before I settled on Dany and Jorah so there must be a theme.~~ I did it for OP.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I didn't mean it like that.

[He drops her hand in favor of pulling her close to him and draping his arm around her shoulders.]

I just meant don't let it bother you. They'll get used to you soon enough and it'll be like you were always with us.

But who knows for how long...

[Serah sighs, looking away from him for the moment.]

Clair will never give up looking for me. And I doubt she'd believe me if I said I wanted to stay.

[Earnestly looking at him, she seems sad, worried.]

We can't run forever.

[He doesn't respond right away. Instead, he picks up the boy on Serah's other side and carries both of the children over to the nearest wagon. After making sure both of them are tucked in and comfortable with a few protests, he goes back to where Serah is walking in the train by herself, looking almost scared.

He'd wanted to wait to talk to her about this until they were at least settled for the night, but it'll have to be now.]

I know that. We all do. This next camp will be the last one we make. We have to strike while Amodar's out of the castle and while Clair's vulnerable.

[He looks ahead to where he can hear his close friends chatting to one another as they walk. His face is as closed off as he can possibly make it, signifying how conflicted he really is.]

That's always been the plan.

[Serah looks scared as he approaches, fear reflecting in her eyes as he talks, and her expression turns desperate.]

You're attacking Clair....? My sister?

[She stops where she is, looking as if her heart has broken in two, staring into him.]

You lied to me. This was all just a trap to get my sister, wasn't it?

[Her tone grows angrier with every passing word.]

That's why he wanted to tie me up. But why would you...?

[Why would he do that to her heart? She's tearing up, turning quickly and beginning to run in the opposite direction. If he's going to hurt Clair, she has to know. And her heart...

Well, it's just better that he can't see it.]

[Even knowing that what he'd say would anger anyone, it hurts to see her in pain.]

I never wanted to attack her, Serah. I want to stop her. I have to stop her.

[She can be angry, but he's given her every opportunity to back down from this going too far. Because he knew that he'd have to fight her sister eventually. There was no other solution. She'd been living in a dream world if she thought that talking would solve things now.

He lets her run off for about half a second before he chases her down and picks her up and holds her. If she wants to hit him, he'll take it.]

You were supposed to be a bargaining chip after we took possession of the land around her castle. If you remember correctly, you were a captive. If I wanted to betray you, I could have kept this all from you. [His voice cracks from the calm facade he's been holding onto and he gives a shaky sigh.] I never expected you to be you. Or to fall for you. Or anything. I don't even think I'll live through this.

If you want to leave, I'll let you go. I won't keep you against your will, but I can't let your sister go unchecked. My life is more than just my own.

[She hits him, as hard as she can, which....isn't hard considering her noble lifestyle. At least, though, it keeps him from seeing the tears she's trying to keep out of her tone. She lets him talk, even if every word against her sister is a knife to the heart.

Her words come out, shaky and on the edge of wailing.]

Clair will listen to me. I can show her. Your plan will cause war.

[She can't look at him, not like this. Not when her heart is breaking.]

Just let me try. Please! No one has to die or get hurt. I won't let anyone do that.

[Despite the lack of actual force, every strike hurts him. Forty-eight hours ago, he wouldn't have really minded if Lady Serah was upset. Now, it feels like being gutted to hear her so distressed.]

I... don't want to fight, but it's been our only option since we started, Serah. [His voice is so quiet, so shaky that it's hard to talk, but he has to continue.] I want another way, so much. I want to be able to just have a quiet, simple life. I don't want to die.

I can let you go and you can try talking to her, but someone will get hurt. Both of us. The only way for this to end is for one of us to cave, publicly. And I'm fairly sure that after everything I've done, I'll be executed if I have to give in.

That's the truth of the matter.

I'm not leaving you!

[She stops hitting him, but her outburst is loud, almost loud enough to garner attention from the camp.]

If you let me lead you and your men to the castle, she won't fight. She wouldn't risk my life for yours. There, I can talk with her, and you can be there too. If she won't accept it, then I'll leave.

[She seems desperate to make it work, she'd do anything.]

Fighting will lead to death, and not just yours. My servants, my friends....and if you were to die....

[Serah's eyes well up with tears.]

I don't think I could take it.

[He's not sure if he wants to laugh or sob as she shouts that for everyone and the owls to hear.]

Serah, listen to me. The moment that I step inside that castle, if I'm not dragged away in chains and you locked in your room to rot until your sister can have you safely married, I'll die of surprise.

[She's so desperate and he wants to believe her, so badly. He wants to be with her.]

By now, your servants have given my description, as well as that of my friends, to your sister when we took you. I don't want to harm anyone, and taking your sister's castle wouldn't mean burning it down to harm the servants or any of your friends.

[He sets her down and starts stalking as he thinks.]

I'm a marked man. I knew that the second we decided to take you hostage, but I needed a bargaining chip. I figured if I had you, Clair would at least be willing to give into some of our demands if we got you back and I turned myself in. This, [he waves his hand at the two of them], was never supposed to happen. It never factored in.

But, I saw you. And, even with that snotty attitude you tried, you were beautiful and perfect and I really wanted to kiss you so you'd shut up and stop insulting me.

[He turns and balls his fists up uselessly.]

I don't know what to do anymore. I have my responsibility to these people, to make sure that I can give them what I promised them when they decided to fight. But, I want to live so that I can have you. And one of those things is a very scary pipe dream.

No. You're wrong!

[She takes his hands, shaking them gently.]

You're my miracle. I can't let you die. Not for anyone.

[She can't take it, her eyes letting out tears as she shakes.]

Come with me. If they arrest you, I...I'll....

[She shakes her head.]

Take me as a hostage. If you have me, she can't hurt you. There's no way. She'd have to listen to you.

[He smiles weakly at her. He wants so much to believe that her sister will believe what Serah has to say, but he's just not sure. Fighting against tyranny. That's what he's supposed to.

He was never supposed to fall in love. Ever. Especially not with her. And not in a day.]

I...don't... What do I do, Serah? Tell me. Tell me what I have to do and I'll do it. I don't want to die. I want to be with you, even if it's in exile, but I don't know how to get that and keep everyone safe.

I don't know what I'm doing.

[He should've listened to Gadot, shouldn't he? Ignored his heart and kept to the plan. It would have a lot easier and a whole helluva lot less confusing.]

[She sighs, knowing her hope is not good enough. It won't save these people, and it won't save Snow. And now? It's all she can think about. A day ago and she hated this man. Now, she cannot bear thinking to leave his side.]

....Let me go. Maybe....maybe if I go back to the castle and promise to follow everything Clair says, in exchange for these taxes being lifted and your freedom....

[It hurts, but she's willing to throw herself away for his freedom.]

You could go. And your people would be safe.

I can't keep you here. [As much as a part of him wants to do so.]

But I can't let you throw yourself away for me. [He goes over to her and kisses her, hard, pulling her up as he does so, trying to make them as one being through their lips. He loves her so much. He doesn't want to be without her.]

Stay with the villagers. Don't give yourself over to your sister and live a life of being in a gilded cage. Not again. [He buries his face in her hair, trying to memorize her taste, her smell, the feel of her body as he holds her.]

I'll turn myself in and tell your sister that I don't know where you are. Maybe that'll slow her down long enough for all of you to get away.

Just...don't go back. Please.

[A hot tear runs down her cheek as they kiss. She just wants to stay like this, forever. Then nothing else would matter, would it?

But she knows it can't, and she shakes her head.]

No. You're their leader. They need you...I'm just a princess to them. If Amodar finds me, it'll take him a while to escort me back to the castle, and you can all find somewhere safe. I can't let you die. I love you, so much. But even after I go back...you'll always have my heart. I couldn't love anyone else.

I don't want you back there. [He doesn't want to let her go either. She fits so perfectly in his arms. It's like they were made to be like this.] I can't live if you're in a cage and away from me.

That's not living.

Especially not if it means you'll be traded away to someone who will never love you. Please. Just stay with them. Don't go back to Clair.

So you want me to suffer your death instead?

[She's getting more upset by the moment, and she lets go of him.]

No. I know I'll have to marry royalty someday. I know I'll live in a cage for the rest of my life. But at least then you'll be free to fight for your people and care for them.

[She backs away.]

I'll be okay.

[Dammit! There's no way that this can end well. He's found her, loved her and lost her all within a few days' time. Just that quickly.

He looks at her, knowing that this will be the last time he sees her unless he does something. Now.]

What if... what if we sent word to your sister that you and I are lovers? What would she do?

[She pauses, taking some time to think before she responds.]

I....I'm not sure. She might search for me harder. She'd want to talk me out of it. She probably wouldn't hurt you, though. She'd just want you gone.

[He sighs heavily. There's no way he can have her and his freedom at the same time.

He's known it this entire time.

But he can't give up.]

Do you want to take the chance?

Snow.

[She's back in his space again, hand on his arm.]

Everything we've done...it's all been risky. But I think it's worth it. You're worth it.

Yes, I want to.

[He laughs, a little hysterically as he picks her up to kiss her again.]

Let's do it then. Let's tell her and try to get her to stop. Even if she tries to banish me. Even if she tries to send you away... I can't not be with you now.

[Her laugher matches his, scared and happy at the same time. This was huge. But she couldn't imagine anyone else, couldn't imagine a life without Snow.]

I won't let her. I'll be with you, no matter what.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The Royally Common Romance Meme

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject