Gloom in Gold: The Awakening

Chapter Twelve

Coward running from his crown.

Lilith traced her fingers over the pictures beneath Miles' skin like she always does, dreamily following the lines.

"Why is there a broken crown on your neck?" Lilith asked almost in trance.

"Huh?"

"I was wondering if your tattoes have a meaning, you know? I just noticed the crown on your neck now and was curious."

Miles chuckled lowly and turned to meet her eyes. "My tattoes do have a meaning, yes. And funnily enough you asked about the most personal one."

"Oh, I'm sorry. You don't gotta tell me."

"Nah, it's fine." He shook his head with a smile and glanced away. "I'm pretty fucking old for a dude with the body of a barely twenty-year old, you know? I was born in 1470 as the son of King Edward VI of England." He met her eyes and his smile grew at seeing her flabbergasted. "Yup, I'm the dude they talk about when you google 'the king that vanished'. Funny, huh?"

It took her a moment to remember his explanation of the internet. "That's... wow. How did you vanish, I mean, if that's not too much to ask."

"Of course it's not," he smiled at her before looking away once again, his palm brushing over her arm, "I was assigned to reign England at the age of twelve years. I reigned for just a few months before I vanished. Almost everyone thinks we were murdered by my uncle but that's not true."

"Sorry to interrupt, but, we? Who's we?"

"Oh, sorry. My brother and I. Richard." Miles paused for a brief moment, a blurry picture of light blonde locks with an innocent face. "My uncle abducted us. Held us captive in a tower for years. Until Richard died. My uncle pretty much beat him to death in front of me and then drank him empty. He tried to do the same with me but somehow he accidentaly turned me and I lived." His face has become more serious, voice quiter. "I was a coward running from his crown; vanished. I have not set foot in England again since I left."

Lilith was shocked by the sudden reveal and snuggled against him. "I'm sorry to hear that you had to go through this."

"I turned out kinda fine in the end, I guess. It's alright."

"So the broken crown stands for the opportunity being taken from you?"

"Ha, no." Miles grinned as he leaned back and pulled her against him. "It stands for fuck family. My fucking uncle killed my brother and tried to kill me, all while my parents..." Miles became lost in thought. "They didn't even look for us. We were right around the corner, we could hear them talk sometimes. They didn't even try to find us." He was unusually quiet as he spoke. He raised his head again and smiled once his eyes found hers. "That's what it stands for."

"That's a pretty meaning," she whispered as she eyed the tattoo, with more thought this time. Now it made sense why the crown has three fractions; uncle, parents, brother, him. "I love it."

"My conflicted back story?"

"What you did with it. I like how you coped," she smiled as she trailed her fingers over the ink and his lips curved.

"Yeah. Aside from my blood I wanted nothing to do with my 'family'. I was unable to break the crown myself, so I did it on my skin."

"That's really cool. But if you don't want anything relate you to them, why didn't you change your name?"

"I did." Her eyes became wider as they watched his. "None of us are now called with the names they were given at birth."

"Oh. So who came up with Miles then?"