Playing Princess
by Diana Forester
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“So what exactly are you celebrating?”

The Tagli Ambassador looked at Tom Paris out of the corner of his eye.  Never once did his attention fully stray from the events before him. “One thousand years ago, the daughter of an old king was captured and held for ransom. Though our planet was divided and a great number of  factions existed, the old King was well respected. The nine most powerful Kings each
sent a brave knight to rescue the Princess.

“Though they faced a great many challenges, the Princess was rescued, and their success proved to be a catalyst for peace. The harmony we now experience on Tagl is a direct result of the courageous efforts of those nine noblemen. We celebrate each year by recounting their
efforts.”

“Right.” Tom was at a loss for what to say to the obviously rehearsed explanation of the day’s events. Instead, he turned his head back to the scene before him. In the dawn’s light, the nine men were strapping on their leather armour, and discussing their options for rescuing the princess.

Tom wasn’t particularly interested in the ceremony, but B’Elanna would be beaming down in a few minutes, and he knew she was excited about the Tagl re-enactment. She’d said something about it sounding like Klingon romance.

On the other side of the crowd, Janeway strolled through the square with Tragon, the Tagli Prime Minister. They’d completed trade negotiations in record time, and Tragon had asked Voyager to stay for a few days of shore leave. Janeway had been happy to spend time on a peaceful planet with reasonable people for a change. Her only complaint was that the Prime
Minister was a tad stuffy, even for a diplomat.

He was explaining some historical nuance or other about the buildings in the square, when a young Tagli male in uniform came barrelling toward them.

The young man stopped, breathless, just in front of his leader. “Prime Minister! Prime Minister! Something terrible has happened!”

Grasping his shoulders, Tragon tried to calm man. “What is it young man? What has happened?”

“It’s Princess Takara, Sire. She’s fallen ill of Bertugu syndrome.”

Tragon’s hands fell, “Oh no.”

Janeway stepped forward now, “Prime Minister, is there anything I might do to help? Perhaps our Doctor could help find a cure for this Bertugu syndrome?”

Tragon shook his head tiredly. “I’m afraid not, Captain. You see Bertugu syndrome is a culturally significant part of Tagli life. The infection is rarely dangerous and only lasts a few days, but it is
seen as the first trial of adulthood. If I were to have her cured, I would be doing the fair princess irreparable social damage.” He let out a breath, “No, Captain, as inconvenient as it is to our ceremony, the Princess Takara will just have to suffer the hallucinations like the rest of us.”

“I’m sorry Prime Minister.” Janeway would have been glad to lend the doctor’s skill to their friends.

“As am I Captain. Takara was King Dampt’s only daughter. Without her, the ceremony cannot continue.”

“But surely, Prime Minister, there is another who could fill her place?” Janeway knew many of her crew would be disappointed if the celebration were cancelled.

“Prime Minister, if I may…?” Janeway turned to the chief guard in surprise. It was the first time she’d heard him speak.

“Of course, Heget.”

“Captain Janeway fills all the qualifications for taking part in the re-enactment. She is unattached, of age, and quite beautiful.”

“Heget, in ten centuries, an off worlder has never had a role in the Princess’ rescue.”

Heget nodded in agreement, “that is true, Sire. But for ten centuries the celebration has taken place, through war and peace. Is in not better to change the tradition than abandon it?”

Tragon stood for a moment thinking before he turned to Janeway.

“Captain, the Tagli people would be honoured if you would take the role of the Princess for our celebration.”

Behind Janeway, Tuvok scowled. Quickly, Tragon amended his request. “There is of course, no danger to you, Captain. This is purely a re-enactment. Janeway thought of role-playing in Victorian holonovels, and decided this might not be such an unpleasant idea. If nothing else, it would provide a reprieve from Tragon, the bore.

With a smile, she answered, “I’d be honoured, Prime Minister.”

Chakotay was starting to get nervous. He’d beamed down to Tagl after standing a double watch on Voyager’s bridge. Sitting in a standard orbit of a friendly planet, there hadn’t been anything urgent to occupy his time. As a result he’d caught up on two weeks of backlogged paper work. The duty roster for the next two weeks was completed, and he’d handled 3 shift transfer requests. Now caught up, he was looking forward to spending some time on the surface relaxing.

Unfortunately, Captain Janeway was late for their meeting. They’d planned to explore the impressive Tagli national gallery. They been scheduled to meet 20 minutes prior, and the climax of the celebration was about to begin.

A particularly fierce solar storm had started a few hours earlier, playing havoc with the sensors and communication systems, both on the planet and on Voyager. The transporters had also been affected, forcing the Commander to take a shuttle down to the surface. As a result, he had no easy way of finding the Captain.

He knew he was over reacting, but he couldn’t help but worry about his Captain. Too many things had gone wrong in the Delta Quadrant for him to rest easy without knowing where Janeway was.

Taking a deep breath, Janeway steeled herself and pulled on the dress. Tragon may have been right about her physical well being while part of the ceremony, but she was sure she would never survive emotionally. It was just too damn embarrassing.

The dress she was to sport for this very public display made the Victorian corset of her holoprograms feel like a loose shrift. The boning made every movement a fight, and with the thick layers of wool and leather, the costume must have weighed 25 kilograms.

And then there were the tears. Somehow the designers had managed to remove well over half of the material, leaving wide patches of bare skin. Betazoid weddings aside, captains were supposed to remain fully clothed. Nothing was really showing, except her navel, but it still bothered her to be dressed like something out of a Ferengi holoprogram.

With a sigh, she exited her small dressing room, attendants in tow. She’d suffer the blow to her ego wearing the dress caused in the name of friendly relations with the Tagli .

Unfortunately for Captain Janeway, the dress wouldn’t be the last offence against her pride before the day was out.

Chakotay was becoming more agitated by the minute. Captain Janeway was still nowhere to be found, and the crowd around him seemed to be growing thicker by the minute.

A yell went up from the gathered people, catching Chakotay’s attention. The stage that had been set up in the middle of the square had been covered with a black curtain since his arrival. Now, the curtain was lifting, and what it revealed made his blood boil.

There, before him was his captain, bound and gagged, and tied to a wooden pillar in the centre of the stage. The tattered dress she wore was filthy, and he could see her shiver in the evening’s chill.

As he watched, a man dressed in black leather with a hood covering his face strode onto the stage. In his hand he held a burning torch. With a quick movement, he plunged it into what must have been a channel cut into the stage. In an instant, flame erupted from the space, encircling Janeway in fire.

Without a thought, Chakotay rushed toward the platform, pushing his way through the crowd. What he didn’t know is that another group was also making its way toward Janeway. The warriors had finally found the princess, and were making their way toward her from a much further distance. As a result, Chakotay beat them to the dais, even with the crowd in the way.

Janeway looked out from her place tethered to the stage. She saw her first officer rushing toward her, and realized that despite the dress, despite being trussed up centre stage for all to see, her day was only going to get worse.

Paris also saw Chakotay’s push toward the Captain. Leaning toward B’Elanna, he asked, “B’E, does Chakotay know about the celebrations down here?”

B’Elanna shook her head without looking away from the stage. She’d been surprised as Hell to see their Captain playing the role of the kidnapped Princess. “I don’t think so, Tom. He’s been working like mad the past few days. And this is his first shore leave.”

Tom chuckled. “Looks like it’s going to be pretty interesting, too.”

Finally, Chakotay reached the stage. In a single bound he was up and running toward Janeway. The channel in the stage proved to be larger than he’d originally thought, but without hesitation, he leapt over it, through the fire to Janeway’s side. Quickly he worked the knot at Kathryn’s hands free.

It was then that the nine other warriors arrived. As one, they rushed to the far side of the pillar, driving it down with brute strength so that it formed a bridge over the fire.

Chakotay didn’t hesitate, as he scooped Janeway into his arms and carried her over the fire. The nine warriors seemed to be standing guard for him, which seemed odd. It was even odder when Tragon stepped onto the stage, smiling.

“Congratulations, Chakotay on being the first to reach the fair Princess.”

Stunned, Chakotay all but dropped Janeway. “What are you talking about?”

“You jumped over the chasm of fire and rescued the Princess. You’re one of the Nine Noblemen who risked his life to bound over certain death to rescue her.”

From the crowd, Tom Paris called out, “Shouldn’t that be Ten Lords a Leaping?”

From the stage Chakotay and Janeway, now free of her gag, turned as one to the pilot, “Shut up, Paris!”

Tragon ignored them. “Yes, yes! This will henceforth be known as the year of Ten Lords a Leaping!” Turning to Chakotay, he delivered the final blow. “All that is left, Chakotay, is for you to kiss the fair Princess.”

Chakotay hesitated, prompting the Prime Minister to wonder, “Don’t you find her attractive, Chakotay?”

Chakotay instantly recognized his peril. “Of course, Prime Minister, it’s just that…” Oh Hell he thought, and leaned in to kiss his Captain gently on the lips.

Silence from the crowd greeted his efforts.

And once again Tragon found it necessary to interject. “Commander, if that is how you kiss on your world, it is a miracle your people have the passion to reproduce.”

Chakotay was seething. Not only had he made a fool of himself by rushing in to save his Captain when she clearly didn’t need saving, but now his kissing technique was being criticized by a geriatric Prime Minister.

Moving toward his Captain with lightning speed, he dipped her deeply, pressing his lips to hers, and plundering his Princess. She didn’t hesitate more than a moment before mirroring his passion.

As one, the crowd erupted in cheers.

For her part Janeway had only two thoughts run though her head before giving herself over to the moment. The first was a silent thanks to Tragon, who it seemed wasn’t such a stuffed shirt after all. The second was: "It’s about time."