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Jade had thought her day would turn out much differently than the way it was going. It had started off like any other. She’d had a wonderful night’s sleep and went out into the courtyard for a great training session with the other knights. Once she was done, she’d retreated to her room to clean herself up and meet Kit in the stables for their daily ride. It was one of the few things that kept her princess from going insane due to boredom nowadays. Kit had had a taste of great adventure and now after being home for a few months, was starting to go stir crazy.
The two of them had set out and their lackadaisical pace quickly turned into a galloping race as it usually did. They rode hard and fast and free, the wind whipping their faces and stinging their eyes.
Though she had lived there her whole life, there were still many areas surrounding the castle that Kit had never been too. Her mother had her watched like a hawk as a child and while she found the time to sneak out to see Jade at night, during the day, the kingdom bustling with people, it was much different. So their rides through the countryside took them east and west and north and south—anywhere they wanted to go. Riding on well-beaten paths, winding through barely touched trails, it didn’t matter.
And of course, one day it was going to bite them in the ass.
Kit had never met a lick of trouble she couldn’t get into. If it was risky business, then she forged along headfirst.
In future tellings of this story, Jade will claim it was her own fault. She should have been paying better attention, never letting Kit get off her horse until Jade had seen what had captivated her so badly.
But Kit dismounted with Jade completely oblivious to it and she bent down in front of a group of brightly colored plants, the pink petals swaying gently in the breeze. She stared at the flower with intrigue and her curiosity got the best of her. Plucking the stem from the ground, she held it up to her nose and inhaled deeply.
The smell was pleasant enough, but nothing special. Taking another whiff and then yet another one, Kit shrugged and let the flower drop. With a sigh of disappointment, she slapped her knees and stood up. The instant she straightened, a buzz filled her head and she blinked, trying to force it down. No use. The foggy haze took command of her brain, spilling into every crevice. It was actually kind of…nice. Kit let out a laugh as a tingly sensation flowed through her body, her head spinning on its axis.
“Kit?” Jade had finally taken notice of her wayward princess. She took one look at the pink flowers blooming by Kit’s feet and her shoulders tensed with alarm. “Oh no, you didn’t touch those flowers, did you?”
Kit merely blinked in response, a thousand-yard stare in her eyes. She swayed on her feet and Jade quickly hopped out of the saddle to steady her.
“Kit? Answer me.”
“Whoa,” was all she said. Her pupils were completely dilated and she continued to stare off into the distance at nothing in particular.
Jade nodded to herself and grabbed her arm. “Okay, come on. We’re going back to the castle.”
“Wha—” Kit stumbled behind her, her legs feeling like they weighed a hundred pounds each.
With a great bit of difficulty and a little bit of luck, Jade managed to hoist her up onto her horse, climbing in the saddle right behind her. Her arms looped around Kit’s waist to ensure that she wouldn’t fall off. Nudging her horse closer to Kit’s, she reached out and grabbed the reins, forcing the riderless horse to follow along beside them. As they set off, Jade felt Kit lean back, her weight slouching against her. They rode in silence for a long while, Jade focusing on keeping it together and worrying about what would happen when they reached Tir Asleen. She somehow needed to sneak Kit into her room without anyone realizing there was something wrong.
“You alright, Princess?” she asked concerned. That was no ordinary plant Kit had messed with. Those were poppies, a plant known for its strong medicinal use and even stronger recreational use. It was a powerful narcotic and anesthetic that caused the user to temporarily lose track of their senses. Healers would use it when the pain was too intense for their patients, but there were some who actually delighted in sniffing the stuff or even ingesting it just for fun.
Jade had only ever been handed it once when she was twelve and broke her arm in several places. The healer had been forced to set the bone and had given her the poppy to inhale. Its effect was almost immediate and she hadn’t felt a thing. But she also hadn’t liked how it made her feel. Like the world was spinning and she wasn’t in control of her own body or thoughts.
So whatever Kit did with it just now, she was in for it. It would take at least a couple hours for the effects to wear off, maybe longer.
“Kit?” Jade asked again. “You good?”
“Mmh,” she replied, finally coming out of her frozen stupor. “I feel…funny.”
“Yeah I bet you do. Did you sniff that flower?”
Kit tilted her head back before bringing it down in a very exaggerated nod and when she spoke, there was a noticeable slur to her words. “Yeeeaahh, it was verrry pretty.” She paused for a moment. “By the way, who are you?”
She shouldn’t have been surprised that Kit didn’t remember her under the poppy’s influence, but her eyebrows still hit her hairline. “I—I’m Jade. Your—” girlfriend, lover, partner “…best friend, remember?”
Kit frowned, trying in vain to turn around and look at her.
“Stop moving, Kit, you’ll unsettle the horses,” Jade said sternly.
Kit froze and slumped back into her again, deciding it wasn’t worth the fight. “You’re my best friend?”
“Mhmm,” the redhead confirmed. “Have been for like over ten years now.”
“Well, I don’t wan’ a be your friend.”
The words cut through her like a knife. What the hell did that mean? I mean, sure Kit was high on poppy right now so whatever she said needed to be taken with a grain of salt, but not be her friend? How was she supposed to respond to that?
Jade cleared her throat. “Kit, you—”
“I wan’ be your girlfriend.”
Oh. Of course.
Jade could have laughed herself silly. Of course, Kit would still try hitting on her even when she was out of her own wits.
“How about we talk about this later?” she suggested, trying to keep the humor out of her voice. They were entering the castle gates and with the amount of people milling around, she didn’t want anyone to overhear their princess like this. “We’ll go up to your room and you can sleep it off.”
“You wanna sleep wit’ me?”
Though she couldn’t see her, Jade just knew there was a shit-eating grin forming on Kit’s face. Her cheeks flamed red and she glanced around to make sure no one else heard that.
“Kit,” she scolded. She brought their horses to a stop in the courtyard and a stable boy came over to take the reins for both. Dismounting, she held out her hands for Kit to fall into—and fall she did. About as gracefully as a newborn calf, Kit flung her leg over the saddle and nearly dropped like a stone if it hadn’t been for Jade’s strong arms keeping her steady.
“See? Can’t keep your hands off me.” The princess’s confidence in her intoxicated flirting was growing, much to Jade’s chagrin. “Still wanna sleep with me?”
"Kit,” she said as a warning, “I will take you to your room and lay down on the bed with you if you stop phrasing it like that.”
Kit was about to respond when Airk came skipping out of the palace, a surprised look on his face. “You guys are back already? I didn’t think you’d come back until dinner time.”
“Airk!”
Oh sure, she remembers him, Jade thought, rolling her eyes as Kit bounded over to her brother and slung a heavy arm around his shoulders.
“Guess what?!”
“Uh…”
Kit got real close to his ear and cupped her hand by the corner of her mouth like she was about to tell him a secret. “Jade’s gonna take me upstairs and sleep with me.”
The look of utter shock and disgust on his face normally would have amused her to no end. But Jade was exasperated at this point.
“No! No, we’re not,” she vehemently denied. “She’s just—she’s a bit crazy right now.”
"Uh huh,” Airk said unsure of whether he should run away or stay to hear more.
“We were out riding and your genius sister decided to practically inhale a poppy plant.”
Disgust morphed to disbelief which morphed to delight. “You’re kidding me.”
“I wish I were. She’s higher than the palace ceiling right now.”
“Oh, that is fantastic!” Airk turned his head to look at his sister who was leaning her whole weight into him and staring at Jade with a dreamy look on her face. “…But also kinda gross that even like this, she’s so disgustingly obsessed with you.”
“I’m not obsessed!” Kit protested. “I’m in love! I love her and wanna marry her and fu—”
“Whoa whoa whoa, okay, Kit I think it’s time Jade takes you to your room,” Airk said, hurrying to cut her off before it got any worse. He wiggled out from beneath her grasp and handed her off. “You can confess all you want there, just uh…not here. And also, like as your brother, I’d rather not hear about…whatever you were just about to say.” He had a pretty good idea what it was and a horrified shudder ran down his back. It was bad enough that he had already been subjected to hearing about what they got up to while alone. His room was right next to hers and nothing he did kept the sounds from creeping through the walls.
“Pfft, fiiine,” she whined, entwining her hand with Jade’s.
Jade sighed, smoothing her free hand down her face. “Let’s go, Kit. The sooner we get you alone, the better.” The second she said it, she winced, knowing the response that was coming.
And Kit didn’t miss a beat. “I think I like where this is going.”
Jade groaned in frustration and began walking away, towing Kit behind her. Winding through hallways and up staircase after staircase, they managed to slip by mostly unseen. Upon reaching Kit’s room, Jade breathed a sigh of relief and practically shoved her princess through the door, shutting it firmly behind them.
“Jaaadddeee,” Kit singsonged from where she perched herself on the bed. She crooked a finger at her. “C’mere.”
“If this is your lame attempt at seducing me, Princess, it’s a wonder how you managed to get a girlfriend at all.”
Kit’s eyes widened at the new bit of information. “I have a girlfriend?!”
“Shhh,” Jade hissed. “Keep it down or someone will come investigate. The last thing we need is this getting back to your mother. But yeah, you do.”
Kit’s expression turned from surprised to joy to disappointment in a matter of seconds. “But…but I don’t want some stupid…hussy.” Jade nearly lost her composure at the word. “I want you. I’ll just-I gotta dump her.” Kit got up from her spot only to have Jade block her way out.
“Hold up, there, you don’t even know who it is.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Kit said sternly. “Nobody’s better than you and ‘sides, I love you.”
Jade felt her heart melt and she grabbed hold of Kit’s waist to pull her close. “Even high on poppy, you’re still so charming.”
“Exactly why I should be with you, not some other girl. Now just lemme—”
“Kit, you wanna know a secret?” Jade interrupted.
Kit looked intrigued, her mind easily distracted right now.
Jade leaned in super close, a mischievous grin on her face. “That girlfriend I was talking about? It’s me.”
The princess’s jaw dropped and Jade was sure she had never seen her so excited before. “Shut the fuck up! You?! Oh, I am winning at life right now!” she exclaimed, pumping her fist in the air. She threw her arms around Jade in a massive celebratory hug.
Jade caught her and couldn’t stop smiling. The giddiness and excitement in her voice was apparently contagious. Also, seeing Kit act like this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and one she wasn’t going to waste. She may have been a little frustrated and concerned earlier, but now that they were alone and Kit was safely in her room, Jade was able to relax and enjoy the spectacle of her girlfriend high as fuck.
“I can’t believe this,” Kit said. “We went from strangers to best friends to girlfriends in like two hours!”
Jade snorted. “Maybe on your end, Kit. You just can’t remember anything right now because of that stupid poppy plant which, by the way, you should really stop sniffing things when you don’t know what it is.”
“Eh,” Kit waved her off. “It was pretty.” Like that excused it.
"Yeah, well, sometimes the prettiest things are the most dangerous.”
“Kinda reminds me of you.” Kit batted her eyelashes at her.
“Does that mean you’re memory’s coming back?”
Kit shrugged. “I think so. Everything’s still kinda hazy up here,” she pointed to her temple. “But you keep coming to the front of my mind. It’s like all I can focus on.”
“Wow, Airk was right. You really are obsessed with me.” Not that she wasn’t a little pleased about that.
“Well, how could I not be? You’re like, perfect.”
“Okay, Kit, that’s enough outta you,” Jade said, trying to hide her growing smirk. She shouldn’t have let it get to her, but the constant stream of compliments was giving her a big head. And while it was cute to see her so completely and utterly consumed with love, she wanted her grumpy girlfriend back. “C’mon, I’ve got nothing for the rest of the day. Let’s take a nap and hopefully by the time we wake up, the poppy’s influence over you will be gone.”
“Gettin’ you into bed on the first date, alright,” Kit smiled to herself.
Exasperated beyond belief, Jade pushed her back onto the bed and knelt down to take off Kit’s boots. She was very pointedly ignoring the look of lust being sent her way as she dropped each shoe to the floor with a thud. Taking off her sword belt, she kicked off her own boots and waved at Kit, gesturing for her to scoot up the bed.
Kit complied without hesitation and the look on her face screamed for Jade to come closer.
Before she settled in next to her, though, Jade held up a finger to stop her. “Kit, I know that look on your face and I’m telling you right now, if you get up to anything funny, I’m leaving.”
“But—”
“I’m serious. You may think it’s cute and it kind of is—but I won’t take advantage of you when you’re like this. When we make love, I want you to be yourself and actually remember why you love me—not just because I’m pretty.”
Kit’s eyes softened and she bit her lip. “So if I promise to behave, you’ll come over here?”
“Yes.”
“Then I promise.” At Jade’s wary expression, she sighed. “I’ll keep my hands to myself, I promise.”
Jade nodded and then climbed up next to her. Kit immediately rolled over, cuddling into her side, a leg and arm thrown haplessly across her. Her head rested on her shoulder, her nose buried so deep, she could feel it skimming her throat.
"You’re comfy,” Kit mumbled against the fabric of her shirt.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Jade chuckled. Her arms wrapped around Kit, holding her close as she pressed her cheek to the top of her head. She let the feeling of contentment wash over her. It wasn’t often the two of them were able to just lay around and have a quiet moment together. Their days were filled with the chaos of their responsibilities and the nights were filled with the passion of their bodies. The minutes after their lovemaking while they drifted to sleep, clinging to one another, were some of Jade’s favorites.
She enjoyed the peace—the serenity these moments brought. Where Kit was curled into her, face buried in her neck to shut out the rest of the world. Where she could tangle their legs together and loop her arms around her back until neither could tell where one began and the other ended.
The tranquil reticence was interrupted as she felt fingers trail lower and brush aside the hem of her shirt, slowly pushing at the edge of her breeches.
“Hands, Kit,” she warned.
“It was an accident.”
“It’s still there.”
“It’s still an accident.”
A beat. “Kit, get your hand out of my pants!”
Kit laughed into her shoulder, but her hand retreated. “Sorry.
Jade shook her head, trying not to laugh with her. “No, you’re not.”
“No, I’m not.”