The Secrets of the Castle

Chapter 5

I spun around on my feet, slashing my sword at an invisible enemy. My eyes darted over towards the oldest Prince sitting on a bench. As I swiped, my foot twisted onto the side, sending me falling onto the ground. The Prince snickered, heat rising to my face. I turned to him, trying to cover up that mistake.

"I, uh, meant to do that," I said as I got up onto my feet.

"Uh-huh," He smirked, totally believing my lie.

I snorted, rolling my eyes at the older man, "well then how about you try, young Prince."

"I'm older than you," he remarked, standing up, "and you wouldn't want to hurt your future ruler, would you."

I ignored the last part, grabbing a spare sword and handed it to him. He took the thing, a look of surprise crossing his face as he held it. I watched for a while as he adjusted his grip.

"You don't know how to hold it?" I asked, inwardly chuckling at his failed attempts.

"It shouldn't be that hard to figure out."

I rolled my eyes, walking over to him. Placing myself behind Ajay, I adjust his grip on the sword's handle. He kept shifting, unable to stay still for long.

"Is everything alright, Prince Ajay?"

"Yes, yes. I'm alright," he quickly said, stepping away from me.

I stared at him quizzically. Though he said he was fine, it was clear that something was bothering him. Prince Ajay refused to look at me, fidgeting with his sleeves. What had him all worked up? I brushed it off, assuming it was him being nervous for the upcoming ball.

"Would you still care to spar, Prince?" I teased, smirking playfully.

He nodded, but didn't say anything. I sheathed my sword, not wanting to hurt him of course, holding on to the cold handle.

"Do you know how to fence?" I asked.

"I've seen enough to know the basics."

"Alright, I'll go over a few things then," he said.

I went over the general rules, the stance and how to win, things like that. Though this would be fairly novice level sparring, it would be good practice for him. After saying everything he needed to know, I went into the fighting stance and did the salute. Ajay attempted it, quite poorly but he still tried. I lunged forward, jabbing his arm with the tip of the blade.

"Come on now," I teased, "it's no fun if you just stand there. Let's try again."

We continued sparring, Ajay improving with each round. A little more practice, and he would be able to somewhat defend himself. We went for a last time. I sliced at his shirt, not doing any harm of course. Ajay jumped back, but tripped over his own feet and fell on to the ground.

I swiftly pinned him down, resting my knee gently on his stomach, with the sword pressed to his neck. I looked down at his gold eyes, a trademark of the Royal family. I placed the sword on to the ground beside him. He didn't make any effort to move, didn't seem like he wanted to, either. We stayed frozen for what seemed like forever.

A loud cough sounded from a few ways away. I scrambled back up to my feet and turned to see Queen Balek and King Astron standing there. Both looked less than pleased with us. Ajay quickly got back up.

"We need to go over some things with you, Ajay," King Astron said coldly.

The Prince nodded, his head lowered as he walked over to his parents. I remained staring at the ground, my face growing hot. It wasn't like we were doing anything wrong. Right?

~~~~~

The door to my room swung open, Ajay standing in the doorway. I lowered the book I was reading down onto the nightstand and sat upright.

"Is there anything you need, Your Highness?" I asked.

He looked down at the floor, fidgeting with his hands, "What happened earlier can't happen again. It's inappropriate."

"I-uh-okay. Yeah. Okay."

"Good-"

"Is everything alright?" I interrupted, getting off the bed.

Ajay looked away, continuing to fidget. He chewed on his bottom lip, not saying anything. I tried to walk closer to him, but that only made him back up further.

"Prince? What's the matter?" I pressed, my concern only growing.

"I have to go. I'm sorry," he quickly dashed out of my room.

I stood there, frozen. Never had he acted so cold, so distant, before. It's just the stress, I told myself. Still unconvinced, I headed out of my room and down the corridor. I stopped at one of the doors, softly knocking on it. The door opened to reveal the new guard - Erica or something like that - standing there.

"What do you want?" She asked.

I hesitated, "Is, uh, is Princess Aryn here?"

She turned around for a brief second before nodding. I immediately pushed past her, ignoring the annoyed sigh. Though Aryn and I didn't really interact much, she still tolerated me more than most of the staff here.

"What good reason do you have for being here?" Aryn asked.

"Is everything okay with Ajay?" I blurted out.

"Ajay?" She scrunched her face and shrugged, "I don't know. Aren't you the one around him 24/7?"

"I thought you would have some idea. I just would think that he might've mentioned something."

"About what? He pretty much only hangs around you, y'know."

"Well....your parents seem like they're mad."

"Boyfriends in trouble?" 'Erica' teased, finally saying something from where she was standing.

My face grew hot, my brain not being able to compose a sentence, "He's not-we're not-I don't-"

"Relax," Aryn rolled her eyes, shooting an annoyed look over at the elf, "Eroi doesn't know anything."

Eroi chuckled, now interested, "What should I not know?"

Aryn didn't respond, saying to me, "Just let him sleep it off."

I frowned, still not satisfied with her answer. I left her room, muttering a goodnight to each of them. She was probably right, though. By morning, it would be fine and the two of us would be joking around again. I entered my room and flopped down onto the bed. Why was life so complicated?