#i walked three miles in a corn maze yesterday

[lochlot-moved]

witches im not rlly happy with but can’t be damned to render and also a mummy that I am damned to render

[romantic-barnes]

unintended | part two

| part two - how can we win when fools can be kings |

Parings: king!bucky x princess!reader 

Summary: The moment you have come of age, you are being ripped out of the place you call home and into the kingdom of Cydonia ruled by King James, your betrothed. Neither of you pleased with the situation, neither of you being honest. Between fights, snarky remarks and glaring, do you find time to breathe? Is it possible to reconcile or even love one another?

Warnings: arranged marriage, insulting, being mean on purpose, a bit of a slow burn, the reader has a twin!

A/N: this is the second part of my entry in @sillyqt​ 1k writing challenge. I hope you like this, love! I’m still a little delusional from me staying up all night, but I hope you won’t be able to notice it! 

Dividers by @whimsicalrogers​

The next few days were very tense. You both tried to stay civil, only talking to each other when necessary. You tried tiptoeing around James as much as you could, retracting your steps when you saw him walking down a corridor. It felt strange, feeling so unwelcome. At home you could be found running around the castle grounds with the children, playing hide and seek for hours until supper, but here in Cydonia you felt like a stranger. 

This is not what you thought life would be like in Cydonia.

You decided to read a little outside, sitting by the pond. A few lady’s of the court were walking in the garden, chatting amongst themselves. You were itching to go to the maze in the far back of the garden with Clint. The warm feeling of the sun on your skin and a smile crept int’s way on your face.

The book you chose was one of the many Julia gifted you, but you couldn’t see the appeal of it. It wasn’t the reading that made you gag, it was the sitting still, concentrating on tiny words. Nevertheless it brought you a little closer to your sister. You missed her dearly, sitting like you now, preferably under the cherry blossom tree, reading for hours. You stared at the page, trying to refocus on the words but you simply couldn’t. 

You decided to walk around a little, but as you were about to stand up, James’s voice stopped you.

“What are you doing, princess?” James stood next to you, blocking the sun from your face.

“Reading, your highness.” You said sweetly as if nothing happened a few days ago.

“How nice.” The King smiled before taking the book from your hands, examining it for a second and then throwing it into the lake, a mischievous grin forming on his lips.

You stood up at once, looking at the book floating in the green water. The pages soaked in the green water and you were able to watch the letters bleeding into the white paper. You weren’t necessarily attached to the book, but an idea struck you and you ran with it. “How could you!” you shrieked, holding a hand over your heart. Walking towards the pond, down the slippery steps and into the water.

James watched whilst you were immersed in the water up to your shoulders, retrieving the book.  You grabbed your book, turning back to climb out of the water to sit on the stone steps. You sobbed, looking at the book and James approached you, feeling guilty.

He just wanted to be a little mean.

He kneeled before you, sadness in his eyes. “This was my mother’s book. She gave it to me before she was brutally murdered.” You spoke softly between sobs.

James reached out to rest his hands on your bare shoulders. “I-I’m sorry.”

“No, no I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I said. I was- I was rude and vicious-” You stammered through your tears, looking up to meet his eyes and a small but sad smile graced his lips. You leaned forward,feeling his breath on your face. The pupils of his blue eyes widened and you gently touched his nose with yours. Slowly, James tilted his head, pulling you closer by wrapping his arm around your waist. His other hand caressed your cheek and you melted against his lips.

You forgot all about your grand plan, feeling the electricity run through your veins. His lips soft against yours, moving ever so gently, the short stubble grazing your skin. You wrapped your arms around his neck to deepen the kiss, a low groan from James and you giggled into the kiss.

James was the first to pull back, smiling and drawing circles on your soft cheek with his thumb. He had never kissed someone so delicately, so passionately and so lovingly. All seemed to be forgotten, everything he thought was so wrong with you fleeting away. Maybe there was a chance to look past each other differences, to live a life happy and full of love. 

Maybe he could teach her how to ride a horse like a man, shoot an arrow, all the things he loved.And maybe, just maybe, he could learn something from her. Although he didn’t see the appeal in sewing, if that’s what brings her joy, he could try, for her.

You removed one arm from his shoulders, picking up the soaked book next to you, laughing a little. “I guess it’s ruined.” James joined you, apologising again. But you were having none of it.

You stood suddenly. “Good thing my mother isn’t dead.” You said, pushing James into the water, smiling wickedly and throwing the book into the pond after him. You twistend your hair out, leaving a trail of water as you walked back into the castle. But the wicked smile didn’t stay for long. Sitting at the foot of your bed as soon as you entered your chambers.

It took James a minute to process what you had just said. How could he be so stupid? He knows your mother’s not dead. How could he fall for that? He didn’t want his heart to break, but it did.

You should’ve been more occupied with guilt, but the thing you thought most about was the kiss. You touched your lips with your pointer finger occasionally, still feeling the tingle of his soft lips against yours. You had never kissed anyone and never in a million universes did you think it was going to be like this.

Truth be told that you felt a little beside yourself, knocking things over, spilling wine on your dress, running head-first into a door. There was something when you kissed James, but you couldn’t exactly place it. 

You needed clearance and you knew just how to get it.

Getting Clint to take the horses out for a ride wasn’t difficult, leaving for the stables as soon as you asked him early in the afternoon. The horse you chose was called Medossa, a beautiful black horse with a ring of white above her hooves.

You decided to ride through the woods, thick trees covering most of the ground, a hazard to ride through, but the beauty of nature around you was mesmerising. You rode in silence relishing the clean air, the sound of leaves crackling under the hooves, birds chirping above you. You took a deep breath in, closing your eyes.

“I don’t think the King and I will ever get along.”

Clint observed you with raised eyebrows, cracking a smile. “No shit, princess. You went pretty hard with the insults.” You cocked a questioning brow at him. “Sam told me.” Clint’s mouth stretched to a wide grin.

You rolled your eyes. “He insulted my intelligence! I should just go back home and become a nun.” You steered your horse past the trees, and you heard Clint laugh ahead of you.

“You ain’t a saint, Princess!”

You faked a gasp, holding your hand over your chest. “How dare you, I have never done anything wrong in my life!” Both of you erupted in laughter, but your voices died down at the sight in front of you.

A field, miles and miles of colourful flowers. Both of you got off your horses, walking through the knee-high flowers growing wildly all over the place. The skirt of your dress pushing the plants aside. There was a small patch of grass and you sat down, your white and yellow striped dress spreading around you.

You didn’t know how to tell Clint about the kiss. He would never judge you, but you feared you went too far. You mustered up the courage, taking a deep breath in. “The King and I kissed.” You blurted out, Clint whipping his head around to you staring at you wide eyed.

“You- what- when?” He stammered.

“Yesterday. He threw my book in the pond, I pretended it was a gift from my dead mother and then I- uh- kissed him.” You chewed your bottom lip waiting for him to say anything.

“Wow uh.” Clint looked away off to the distance. “Why would you do that?”

“I don’t know?” You picked a few flowers in front of you making a little bouquet. The though haunted you since yesterday. Exactly why did you kiss him? “I guess I just wanted to make him believe that I was sorry, I guess. Show him that I liked him.” 

“And do you? Like him?” Clint stared at you in anticipation.

“No?”

Clint nodded, very confused by the whole thing. One day you can’t stand the King, insulting his appearance and the next you’re kissing him. Clint dropped the topic, knowing full well that you were just as confused about this situation as him.

You rested your head on Clint’s shoulder, relishing the sun shining on your face. As the sun lowered on the horizon, both of you got back on your horses and decided to take a different route back. A cobbled walk led you along the woods, to your right a field of corn. Cydonia has way more nature than you were used to.

A house came to few, stables to the side along the path. The horse’s hooves clicking along the stone and you saw three children playing in the front yard. A woman sat on a chair sewing a piece of fabric.

A you got closer, you grabbed the attention of one of the children, a little girl staring up at you. Smiling down at the girl, you decided to get off your horse, Clint looking back at you with knitted eyebrows.

The little girls’ mouth wide open as you kneeled in front of her. “Are you a princess?” She asked, eyes wide with admiration.

“That I am. I-“

You were interrupted by the woman shuffling to her feet, frantically running to the two of you. “Oh god your highness, I am so sorry.” The woman apologised for her daughter too many times. You shook your head, smiling up at her.

“Don’t apologise. She wasn’t being rude.” You bumped the girls nose with your finger, giggles erupting from her. You held out the bouquet of flowers handing it to her. “You take care of these flowers for me, will you?”

The girl nodded and you stood up. The girl ran inside, and a sudden flash of jealousy hit you. If only you could be as free as her.

The mother thanked you for the flowers and you could not reason with her that it was in fact not a big deal. She gave you some berries wrapped in linen for you to take back to the castle and you bid your goodbye.

A week later and you were informed that the Queen mother would return from her travel, and you went into another panic. She was the one who chose you in the first place, the start to the fire. If she doesn’t approve of you, the way she thought you would be, then surely hell would break loose. You woke up with a terrible headache, Natasha getting you ready for breakfast. The only dress you had left to wear was the blue one with the pearls. Hopefully the King wouldn’t snitch on you and tell his mother that you had already worn that dress.

You wondered if James would say anything at all about your relationship with him. Hopefully, he’ll behave and not tell his mother of all people about your bickering.

Natasha tied the strings on the back of your dress into a little bow, fluffing out the skirt of the dress a little. “Why didn’t you take more dresses with you, Princess?” Natasha asked, examining you from a distance, making little adjustments around the sleeves.

“I don’t have more fancy dresses. My favourite ones are in the other chest.” You pointed towards the end of the bed. “But they aren’t really royally accepted.” You chuckled at the thought of it.

It was silly, really, having the same striped dress in five different colours, but no other dress is more suitable for your day to day life. Not too fluffy at the skirt interfering with your legs while you rode a horse or ran.

“Alright, I’ll ask the tailor to make you another one. Can’t walk around with the same three dresses all the time. Princesses like you usually have at least a hundred of dresses.” Natasha chuckled looking over to the two dresses hanging in the closet. “Ready?”

“Yup.”

Immediately upon walking into the dining hall, you felt the change in atmosphere. The servants standing even straighter, looking like they were going to break their spine, the guards all having their mean face on, a sight that wanted to make you laugh.

You walked closer to the table, James standing at his regular place at the head of the table and a woman standing on the other end. She had her back turned to you and your nerves were surely about to explode. You had met so many important people, but this was different.

You stood next to her, lowering yourself in a deep courtesy like you did with James. The moment you stood tall again, you were met with a warm smile.

“I’m honoured to finally welcome you to Cydonia, Princess Y/n.” She held her hand out and you kissed the back of her very soft hand. She gestured for you to sit down and you took your seat on the right side of the table, right in the middle of the King and the Queen mother. This is where you needed to shine. Your only first impression and the only chance for the Queen mother not to immediately hate you. The three of you ate breakfast in silence, a tense one on top of that. You glanced at James’ mother from time to time, checking if she saw how delicate and proper you ate.

“I heard you like to ride horses, is that true, Y/n?”

“Yes, a little.” You answered once you knew your mouth was empty. James coughed, excusing himself, taking a sip from his orange juice.

James couldn’t believe the show you were putting on. You were far from proper, at least your tongue wasn’t. The desperation of impressing his mother was so obvious and he knew she saw right through you.

“Maybe James and you could go for a ride through our beautiful nature after breakfast?” James’s mother looked between the two of you.

James cleared his throat, smiling at his mother sweetly. “Sure, mother, that would be a wonderful idea. Don’t you think, Princess?” James’s eyes fell on you and your mouth opened, but you just nodded.

The thought of spending more time with him was the last thing you wanted to do. Clint thought it would be fun to take a trip to town, exploring the town and what they have to offer, but now you were stuck with the King.

After you got changed into the blue version of your favourite dress, some complaining to Natasha and you were off to your one-on-one date with James.

You reached the stables and James was already sitting on top of a horse… the one you wanted to take. “You stole my horse!” You exclaimed, hands on your hips as you looked up to him.

“Your horse? Last time I checked these are my horses.” James laughed, galloping ahead of you as you mounted a different horse. Medossa was definitely calmer than the one you were sitting on.

Riding a little further along the path you focused on anything else other than James. The surroundings would be so much more enjoyable with Clint or even by yourself, it’s a shame you’re being dragged along with the King. You were annoyed, with both legs on one side, the most uncomfortable way to ride a horse in your opinion. 

You caught up with him a little, riding beside him and you knew just how to rile him up.

Pulling on the reigns a little too harshly, directing your horse to the right startling James’ horse a little. He glared at you, but you just smiled sweetly apologising profusely. “I’m still a little insecure on horses.” You giggled and James rolled his eyes at you.

You did it once more, earning a groan from James and you held back a laugh seeing him fighting inside.

Pulling on the reigns one more time, James’s horse steered far too the right, galloping to the dense trees. You followed him quickly but there was nothing you could do. James’ shoulder hit a tree, sending him to the ground. You dismounted your horse, kneeling beside him. He looked up to the sky, face scrunching in pain. You reached out but were unsure of what to do, maybe you had taken it too far, seriously injuring the King. Medossa ran away into the deep trees and you prayed she would find her way back to the stables.

James grunted with discomfort. “I can’t move my arm.” He panted, a pleading look your way and you were on the brink of crying. It was his left arm, the one that was already severely scarred and now you ruined his shoulder. Tears prickled in your eyes, seeing him laying there in pain, unable to do anything.

You looked around you, thinking about what to do, but before you could get up, James sat. “Well, that was fun!”

Your jaw dropped watching as he stood up with that stupid smirk plastered on his face. You were too distraught to come up with a snarky comeback. James walked to your horse, mounting it. “What are you waiting for? Don’t tell me you were actually worried!” You glared at him.

You stood, walking to the horse. As you sat in front of James you held on to the front of the saddle, hearing him chuckle. His body pressed to your back, feeling his warmth against your exposed back.

“I did worry.” You mumbled.

 [ part three ]