Rags and Riches [DemonDays2 & Asuka_Layne]

[Asuka_Layne]

A Prince who is worried about the future of his position on the throne unexpectedly falls in love with a poor blacksmith with a large family. She believes that her kingdom is corrupted and can no longer support it's people due to the Royal Family's spending habits. Unknowingly, she starts to fall for the worried Prince as she sees him daily to fix his armor or to craft his equpiment. She may hate him but that can't quell the feelings from the heart now can it? Now throw in a spoiled Princess who has the wealth to bring the kingdom back to what it once was, the prestigious and righteous place it had once been. What do you get? Nothing good I can assure you that much. Chaos? Love? Lust? Danger? All of the above? TO GET TO THE OTHER SIDE?!

What happens when the Rich fall for the Poor, the Spoiled fall for the Honorable. Hearts are bound to be crushed, but who's heart? And was it the right thing to do? Would you be able to set aside your heart's desires for the better of a nation?  

[Asuka_Layne]

ஐ----тһε ßlα¢кšмıтһ----ஐ

εvεlyn "εviε"

 

[Asuka_Layne]

[♥`тһε Þяıиcεşş`♥]

Jocεlyn

 

[DemonDays2]

The Prince

Iago Keldan

 

[Asuka_Layne]

ஐ----тһε ßlα¢кšмıтһ----ஐ
εviε

Evie woke up to the sound of pots and pans clanging together loudly and little children screaming at the top of their lungs. She quickly jumped out of bed, her hair askew from her sleep and ran downstairs to check what was going on. It was just her younger siblings alerting the family that they were hungry. Evie sighed with relief and went back to her room to change into her work clothes.
Evie ran back downstairs after she'd raked a brush through her hair and kissed her mother's cheek.
"I must go to work early today mother....I belive that I am in charge of forging the Prince's sword," Evie scowled when she'd mentioned the Prince. "Again." She finished.
Her mother smiled at her child and shook her head. Everyone was aware of how much Evie despised the Royal Family, the Prince even more so than the others.
"I shall be back when I am finished...it might be late." Evie announced, grabbing a piece of bread from the bread basket before she left. She noticed how empty it was...as it usually seemed to be nowadays since the kingdom was slowly losing money. She sighed, before she went home she had to remind herself to buy some bread in the market.
Evie ran outside and into town where her forge was. It wasn't exactly HER forge but she ran it by herself enough, her boss took regular days off because he had the money too whereas she did not. Evie tied on her smock and let out another long sigh, blowing up her long bangs as she did so.
"Ungrateful family." Evie spat out as she reached for her hammer and a long piece of silvery metal. She started hammering away at it.  

[DemonDays2]

Iago woke slowly that day. It took his body a few tries to get going and get out of bed. He went into the attached bathroom and quickly washed himself in a basin of water. A recent innovation had been the ability to pump water from the nearby well into parts of the castle, and he was thankful for it.
Once he was clean, he quickly dressed in plain black pants, so black shoes, and a black shirt with some gold embroidery on it. He headed out of his room, and through the halls of the castle, into the town.
It disheartened him to see the way this town was. He hated the way his parents squandered away their fortune instead of helping out the town. It made him almost sick to see how poor everyone was.
He headed out toward the forge in the town, and he heard the ringing before he even stepped inside. There she was, his back to him. He smiled at Evie. She was quite pretty, and though she hated him, he still enjoyed coming down to see her whenever he had an excuse to.
He put on a straight face before she saw him, however, and waited at the entrance to the forge, until she noticed him.  

[Asuka_Layne]

ஐ----тһε ßlα¢кšмıтһ----ஐ
εviε

Evie smacked away at the piece of metal and wandered over to the large brick oven of sorts and stuck it in with a long pair of tongs. It super heated the metal until it was red hot and she went back over to her hammer and anvil and started beating at it once more. Most blacksmiths were burly and brawny, having large arm muscles from all the labor but for some reason Evie was not this way. She didn't understand why but did not find it important to keep investigating the matter.

Evie repeated the few steps until the metal was shaped in the form of a sword. Certainly it wasn't close to being finished but it was a started. It needed to be shaved and reheated once more as well as polished and sharpened. Evie sighed, she had alot of work to do for that good-for-nothing Prince and his Royal Pain Family. With a sigh, Evie removed the mask over her face to protect her from the heat and her gaze wandered to the forge's entrance. Speak of the devil.

"Do you need something or do you want to just pester me about some meaningless news as usual. You know we poor folk have to work for a living." Evie put her hands on her hips and looked at the Prince through narrowed eyes and somewhat of a smirk on her lips. Oh how she disliked the man.


 

[DemonDays2]

Iago looked into her eyes, and forced himself not to smile. Sure, she was pretty, but she hated him. He couldn't exactly fall for a girl like that. All she was, at the moment, was simply something beautiful that he could watch, but not get close to without being hurt.
"I came to check on your work." he said truthfully. That was the main reason he was down here, after all.
"I put my life in your hands every time I go out to fight, not directly, but it's still the truth. I just want to make sure that whatever you give me still allows me to live." he told her, his voice having a hint of a British sounding accent.  

[Asuka_Layne]

ஐ----тһε ßlα¢кšмıтһ----ஐ
εviε

So he questioned her iron work? Oh....that was a big mistake on his part. Evie's cheeks started turning a light pink color from anger. How dare he wander into her forge and doubt her work so publicly. Evie glared at him and turned around quickly, whipping her hair around so that it settled over her shoulder.

"You dare belittle my work by questioning it?" Evie asked aloud, reaching for a sword that had been finished awhile ago though no one came to claim it so they had some extras for when the work day got tough and too many orders came in.

In her hands, the sword looked monsterous though Evie could handle it just fine with her two hands. As much as she worked, you'd have never guessed it being that her hands were smooth and a creamy color. Her fingers were long and slender as they wound around the hilt of the sword. With a wide arc, Evie swung the sword into the durable brick oven. The sound of iron on brick resounded through the marketplace, drawing some curious eyes their way. The sword was unscathed however.

"I'm sure your life will be well protected with my work." Evie hung up the sword and looked at him again with a questioning eye. No one questioned her before.


 

[DemonDays2]

"Never questioned it, I was just making sure it-" Iago began. He took a step back when she pulled out her sword, and he reached for the rapier he had worn on his belt, before it had been snapped in battle. His hand closed on nothing but air, and he paled, thinking the strike was aimed toward him. But it turned out to be aimed for the oven. He relaxed a little, and bowed slightly, humbled.
"My apologies, Miss Evelyn." he said sincerely. He hadn't meant to insult her. His social skills were top notch when it came to other royals, but he sometimes had a problem talking to anyone that wasn't a prince, princess, king or queen.  

[Asuka_Layne]

ஐ----тһε ßlα¢кšмıтһ----ஐ
εviε

Evie bristled when Iago had used her true name. She was never a big fan of it and she disliked anyone who used it that knew better. Since he'd known her for awhile now, he was not exempt from her hatred.

"Evie...don't call me Evelyn." She turned away to go wash her hands. They'd become blackened after she'd touched her tools again and that just couldn't be. Sometimes she was a bit obsessive with her hygiene...which was unusual for a blacksmith. Then again, she was a woman so that might have been the reason.

"You are jumpy today." Evie stated cooly. She'd noticed him going for his belt where his sword would usually hang had he been ready earlier. Had he thought she was going to attack him? That put a smile to her lips. Most men did not realize what kind of woman Evie was, most thought of her as a fraile little girl they could push around. Luckily for them however, she knew mercy and spared them their manhood.

"What is the real reason as to why you are here? You know my iron work is talked about through these parts." There had to be something he wanted, the Royal Family memers wouldn't come to her forge and STAY unless they wanted something from her.


 

[DemonDays2]

Iago nodded. Evie. He could remember that. It sounded nicer than Evelyn did. Again, he forced himself not to smile.
"Of course I'm jumpy. The war is going horribly, a spy was caught amongst our ranks two days ago, and the village is still miserable." he said bitterly, pulling up a stool and sitting down on it.
"And you pull a sword on me. Of course I expected to be attacked." he said, looking up at her.
"I just wanted to make sure everything was going smoothly." he told her truthfully. "I know I gave you a basic design for my sword, but I wanted to see what you came up with." he added. All he'd done for her is tell her he wanted a hand-and-a-half sword, one that looked good enough to be carried on him at most times and yet still work in battle.  

[Asuka_Layne]

ஐ----тһε ßlα¢кšмıтһ----ஐ
εviε

Evie stiffled a harsh scoff when he'd told her how miserable the village was. Even a blind and deaf man could come up with that logic. Of course everyone was miserable, they were dirt poor and no one was doing anything about it while the Royals were sitting on their rumps and spending all their money that the villagers sorely needed. MEANWHILE, they were getting taxed to death. Miserable was an understatement.

"I know what I am doing your Highness." As much as she hated him....she knew she was to be courteous and polite as to the best of her ability.

When he'd taken a seat, she realized then that he'd be staying for awhile and tossed her head back, looking to the gods. Why did he have to stay? What did he want from her?

"Everything is fine...just...fine." Evie ran a hand through her hair and winced when she'd caught a tangle in her hair. It came out easily though, she had fine hair. She walked away from the entrance to the forge and grabbed at the unfinished product. It was time to work the metal again. Evie thrusted the metal into the fire and let it get red hot again so that it could be shaved down to size and then beaten once more. She did just so and cooled it down by dropping it into some chilled water. A loud hiss issued from the tub and the steam rose up and encased Evie.

 

[DemonDays2]

Iago knew she didn't want him to stay. Of course not: she hated him. No matter how much he proved himself different than his family, no matter how much he put down their policies, she, and most of the village, hated him so much that he was forced to wear chainmail under his shirt most of the time.
He watched her work, and waited until she quenched the sword to speak.
"I can leave, you know." he said, looking at the back of her head. He added something else, but he realized it would sound too much like a guilt-trip, so he stayed quiet, standing up while he waited for an answer.  

[Asuka_Layne]

ஐ----тһε ßlα¢кšмıтһ----ஐ
εviε

Evie had let the steam settle before inspecting her work with a critical eye. She was a stickler for perfection and would settle for nothing less than that. She'd run her finger along the edge of her creation until Iago had mentioned leaving. Evie sputtered and accidently dropped the sword back into the water. She coughed for a moment and regained her composure. Great...now she looked skittish. That's what she needed for sure. Evie's cheeks reddened and she hid her face behind her hair. She simply extended a hand away from her and pointed away from the forge with her index finger. She said nothing however, just simply pointed away from her and to elsewhere as she grabbed her wet sword with her other hand, setting it into a towel to dry off the water.

Great....it better not be ruined or there will be hell to pay. Evie thought to herself. If she didn't get it done and didn't start on the sharpening and polishing as soon as possible....she might have had to stay the night at the forge again and not return home until the next day. She hated doing that, her mother would worry herself sick and then Evie would feel guilty about the entire thing even though her work was the only income her family was making at the time.