Murmurs of “H-Heath...?” leaked out from the bewildered crowd of boys around her.
Fie did not answer them. If she let this continue to run its course, soon everyone would know she was actually Princess Fie. Yet there was nothing she could do to stop this. If only she had explained everything to Fielle... As her confidence grew throughout her year as a squire, she had started to think that pretty soon it would be the right time to tell her sister the truth. But thinking about it practically, even if Fielle lied for her, she doubted the chancellor would accept it.
“Wh-What’s wrong, Heath?” one of the boys asked.
Another one chuckled nervously. “Maybe he’s scared of being reported to the king...?”
“Yeah, it’s scary to be told on to the king, for sure. But won’t that prove you’re right?”
“Hey, come on, Heath...”
Fie said nothing in response. Tears began to well up in her eyes.
Perhaps expecting this response from her, the chancellor turned back to her and said, “Your Highness—no, excuse me, you’re married now. Your Majesty, then. We must get to the bottom of this.” Fie’s hand on his sleeve slackened and drooped. The chancellor led her away as the remaining boys broke out into wild speculating.
“There’s no way, right? Is Heath really Princess Fie?”
“But people say Princess Fie is mean and ugly. Heath’s the complete opposite! I mean, sure, he’s a complete troublemaker, but still!”
“Is this for real...?”
“I dunno. But I mean, from the way he was acting...”
“Wait a minute, does that mean he was a girl all along?”
“I guess...”
“If I’m going to be honest, I’ve looked at him before and thought, ‘Dang, if he were a girl, I’d be into that.’”
“Yeah, his face is definitely on the cuter side...”
Queen was as white as a sheet. Fie was in trouble! He had to help her! He had to... Queen panicked, but amid his turmoil, found that he could do nothing. Classic Queen.
That was when the boys finally remembered him. He was always tripping around at Fie’s heels, so that meant he must have known something was up.
“Queen, did you know anything about this?”
“Yeah, anything weird?”
Queen felt like digging his own grave right about now. “I-In terms of weird...” he mumbled. “We... well, um, we...” Queen wore his heart on his sleeve far more than Fie ever did. If he tried to lie, there was a hundred percent chance the others would catch on. If he stayed silent, there was still a ninety percent chance that they’d find out. His blushing and trembling alone confirmed the boys’ suspicions.
“Wait, don’t tell me... Were you...?” one of them asked.
“Were you dating...?”
“Um, no, I mean...um...” Sweat poured down Queen’s bright red face.
The boys were astonished. “No way...” they breathed.
Now, no matter how much time passed, the image they had of the person they knew as Heath would never appear before them again.