Bankside - Side: Sophie

Maighdean Island
Roughly Two Days later

"Second Lieutenant Alexander Benoic." The young man kneels before me as I lift a medal off of the oak and velvet tray. "For your heroic actions off of the Coast of Glaston, we award you with the Avalon Cross." Finally, he lifts his head up and looks at me, giving me a smile as the crowd behind us applauds.

"Thank you, my lady." He says as I hand the medal off to him. He then gets up and gives me a military salute.
"Thank you Alex, for your service to our country." I give him a smile back, and now his expression is different. It's content. Proud.

And something else I can't quite parse.

***

"Enter." The agents quickly escort the young pilot onto the car. It's placed inside of a fairly inconspicuous garage, where I presume we wouldn't be noticed. There's the military jeep that transported him just outside, and he enters awkwardly. A handsome young man - presumably my age - steps on and kneels before me, kissing my hand as protocol dictates. He's in a ceremonial dress uniform, the same type as he was wearing back at the ceremony. The medal I gave him glistens in the light. "You may rise, Alex. Please, do speak to me as an equal, not as royalty."
"Yes, your h- I mean..."
"Sophie will do." His nervousness makes me less nervous. I hope he can't hear my voice trembling.
"Yes, your...Sophie." I almost laugh, and he laughs back, awkwardly. He looks around once more. "Nice car." We stare at each other awkwardly as he turns a bit red. After a moment of staring, I decide I have to break the silence again. It's not as hard when you have a script to follow. 

"I apologize for asking to meet here. I presume this is nowhere near as impressive as a palace."
"Of course not, your highness. I mean uh, Sophie. It's been years since I last was on a limousine."

I completely forgot. Alex is a child actor.

"Do you wish to walk me by the river, Sir Alex?" He turns slightly red again, and I can't help but think it's a bit cute. "I would love to have company."
"Of...of course...Sophie." I giggle. He's...not that bad to be around. I look to my butler and the agents. It's time. I have to do this.

"Servants, please do leave us. I...I wish to talk to Sir Alex alone, in private." The others bow out. Alex looks at them, almost as if seeing them leave makes him nervous. I can't blame him, I'm nervous too. But nevertheless, I stick out my hand as is tradition. "The honor is yours, sir Alex. May you accompany me for a walk?" Fortunately, it doesn't seem Alex has noticed the fact that I am panicking on the inside right now.
"Sir Alex, huh?" There's a smirk on his face once more as he repeats me. "Of course. Gladly." He kisses my hand, and takes me up.

***

It's closer to a stream than a river. The beautiful autumn leaves litter the stream as we stand next to one another, trying our best to make conversation.

"So...I..." Alex trails off. "Uh, nevermind. Actually-"
"No, it's ok, I-"
"Oh, you can go first?"
"No no, you can go first." We stare at each other against before averting our eyes.
"Oh. Well in that case, what exactly is the purpose of this meeting? I'm grateful, I really am, but I don't think I can say anything until..."

That's a good question Alex. Why did I invite you here? I'm sure you have better things to do right now.

"I believe you were the pilot that rescued me from that airplane a month ago. I have yet to thank you for that." I look down at my feet, awkwardly. "I...wanted to say, thank you, Lieutenant. You saved my life."

"Oh!" He scratches the back of his head and smiles. "Well, no problem. Your highness. I mean uh..."

"Please," I tell him with a nervous laugh, "do address me as an equal, not as a princess." I twiddle my fingers. This is embarrassing. I'm sure he can sniff out my awkwardness from here. And here I am supposed to be a princess. "I...wish for you to talk to me normally." I swallow. "What...what exactly made you do...that?"

"Aha." Alex gives me a proud grin. It feels like some kind of internal friction - something I, truth be told, found unique - has dissipated. He's found his footing, and yet, it's oddly offputting. "At the risk of sounding antiquated, I simply could not allow a lady such as yourself be harmed." It's smooth, and he sounds more at ease, but I can see right through it. 

Maybe he's no different from everyone else.

"I see." It almost seems he sensed my feelings, because there's a look of horror in his eyes, and he quickly starts talking about something I don't know.

"Well, you know, I uh, didn't actually, uh, so..." Alex looks away, and then down at his own feet. "Uh, what about you?"

"What about me...what?"

"You're a princess." Alex looks up at the sky. "That's...really impressive. I can't deny being a child actor was...something, but there's something more permanent about royalty." He smiles. "I feel like I could get so much more done if I was a royal..."

"I don't like it Alex." I stop walking and put my arms around my shoulders. "I don't like being a princess." I leave Alex's side and go sit by the bank of the river, looking into the water.

"What do you mean?"

"When I was little and found out that I was becoming a princess, I was so excited." I smile, sadly. "But then reality has a way of finding you. I hate it. I hate being up here." Why I'm telling this to him right now, I will have no clue, but I continue. "The throne isn't a place to make your dreams come true like the little me believed. It's a hole that sucks out the humanity of everyone involved. Something like that...shouldn't exist."

"I see." Alex says, and we are silent again. "That's...eye opening, coming from a princess."

"I know it seems spoiled. It...probably is. But..." I look up at his eyes, and he averts them. "What do you think?"

"Well-" I grab his wrist. 
"Be honest with me, please." He looks at me, surprised. We listen to the sounds of the stream running in the background. After a moment of yet more silence, he takes a deep breath, and then begins.

"Okay." He gets up, and takes another deep breath. "I wonder, if I never played child Samuel, would I still have loved Knights of the Seven Stars?" His voice is confident and professional now, but it doesn't sound fake. Alex walks down the bank of the river. "That's something I've always wondered. I used to love Knights of the Seven Stars as a kid. Even before they announced the prequel trilogy. I loved watching the original. When they said that I - I would be the next star of the main movie, I was so happy."

"What do you mean?" It's a quite out of the blue statement, so I turn my head to him. He's already approaching the embankment.

"What I mean is that, I believe even had I never played young Samuel, I think I would have been the same Knights of the Seven Stars lore aficionado I am today." Alex smiles proudly. "Well, I'm not sure if that's something to be really proud of, but you know." He turns to me. "Do you...hate the throne because you are someone that hates that kind of stuff, or do you hate it because of what you went through?"

"I don't see how that makes a difference." I say to him. "I...well, I guess that's a good point."

"I think the throne is an integral part of our national psyche. If we weren't a kingdom, then what would the point of Elodia be? Mozaka may as well absorb us."

"That's Novemian logic, isn't it?"

"No, Novemians and Mozakans are two different people, with two different cultures. But Mozaka and Elodia are the same uh, 'people', no? We have the same language and same culture. The entire point we're divided is based on political reasons, not on any natural division." I shrug.

"Doesn't sound so bad." I raise my finger, speaking in a funny accent. "Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony." Alex snorts.

"Ah, that's a funny movie. But seriously. It sounds terrible." Alex says. "I just think something unique would be lost if the throne was to go away. Besides, it's been around forever. I know that's not a reason to keep it but...almost feels like history is alive, you know?" He raises his arms up and points it at me, framing me through his fingers like it's a photo.

"I see," I say, a bit annoyed. "So I presume that you're interested in me because I'm a living piece of history for you to study." I get up and look down at him. He gets up as well.

"Wha-no, no! I'd never do that." Alex sheepishly smiles and looks at me. "I...I value you more than that. Really, I do." Alex looks away. "You...you remember when we first met, right?" Now it's my turn to look away.

"Yeah." I look down now, feeling slightly guilty. "I apologize for not thanking you until now."

"No, not that time. I mean, at the awards. The awards for Knights of the Seven Stars."

"Huh?"

"I...I've kept our meeting that day in my heart...you know. I don't know if that's creepy or something. But...I've remembered you since then."

"I...see." I look down. "I...I wish I knew what you were talking about, but I don't remember."

There's a certain light in his eyes that fades as I say that, and I immediately regret telling him that now.
"Oh." He says. "Oh." He sits back down on the slope of the embankment. "Well, that's fine. It was during the Annual Film Award Ceremony. Eleven years ago now, I think."

I kneel down next to him.

"Tell me."

"I gave you a cloak." He looks away into the sun. "It was a cloak they gave to me for free because they were opening up a new merchandise store, and..." He stops. "Well no, that doesn't matter. You...really don't remember?" I shake my head.

"I see." Alex says, and I can see the pain in his eyes. "That's one of my most treasured memories, at least for me." He hangs his head. I...see. And for one final time, silence falls between us. I can't really say anything more to him.

Our moment together is interrupted by the buzz of a phone. Alex looks at his pocket, and then back at me, but with that, our time together seems to be over. I nod for him to take it.

"Hello? An examination? Now? But I'm..." Alex looks back at me.

"You should leave, soldier. Your duty is more important, is it not?" I look over at the butler, who was sitting around at a distance. "Ben, do escort Sir Alex here back to his base."

"Yes, my lady. Come this way, sir."

"Thank you, Alex. Thank you so much." And I'm so sorry Alex. I might not have been what you expected. But a part of me is glad this awkwardness is over.

"Hey, wait-"

I watch as the boy is escorted away to his jeep, and I can't help but feel as if this wasn't the way things were supposed to go.