A Princess Summoning

A Princess Summoning: I'll save you too

A Princess Summoning chapter 2

The smell woke Benjamin Glance; the sweet pungent aroma of vegetarian curry from a nearby table made Ben’s nose twitch. He turned to his side and groaned, his arm flopping over the side of the bed as he half dug his face into the pillow. Although the smell of food made his stomach rumble, it was too much for him. Everything just seemed to make his feelings worse. The streams of light coming from the open window opposite of him washed his gaze with a blinding glow. The rough material lying against his thin, short body was itchy. And the headache…the sound of a constant beat in his head vibrated.

He traced his fingers through his brown hair without moving the rest of his body, locating the reason why his head hurt so much- he could feel a large lump on the back of his head.

How did this happen? Ben thought, flapping back over so he faced the ceiling. The brown wood of the hunt caved over him like a bowl and he wondered where exactly he was. Although, he wasn’t too worried; countless times before he would find himself waking up to an unfamiliar home after playing with his friends the night before. The only difference was that he never had to wake up with a bump on his head.

Then an intense rage and hopelessness engulfed him as he remembered what happened. He sat up straight, throwing the patterned blanket that had covered him onto the dirt floor. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and jumped forward, eyeing the wooden door that was next to the window.

“Not so fast,” a male’s voice said. Ben felt a hand that did not have enough of the soft babyish skin like a little boy, but didn’t have enough of the boxy fingertip for him to be a workingman, grab his shoulder. Ben jerked back down on the hay bed and glared at the man who stood over him with a smirk on his face.

Ben’s eyes narrowed, his lips curling into a growl. “So you’re the reason I am injured!”

Dillon rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his bare chest. “Don’t you know not to accuse people so rashly? You got that thing on your head because you were being stupid.”

Ben frowned and patted his head again, trying to remember what happened. All he could recall were the red and black heat surrounding him as he tried to escape the falling buildings that crushed at his feet. The numbing sensation of his fingers as he pulled his older sister, Sara, away from the dark scaled creatures. The deep chocking breaths as he inhaled the smoke and the dry tears that itched his eyes.

What happened after that?

“Dillon…” Ben whispered. When he realized Dillon wasn’t paying attention- the fifteen-year-old was looking out the window, whistling at the women that passed by, peeking at him from long eyelashes- Ben kicked the man’s leg. Dillon jumped back, dodging the lifeless attention grabber.

“What?” Dillon snapped, rubbing the spot on his leg that was almost hit. Ben looked up at him, his green eyes wide. His lips trembled as he spoke.

“My older sister…what happened to Sara?”

Dillon looked down at the little boy. Ben just stared back, his eyebrows drawn together, his mouth hanging open for an answer. Dillon’s glare relaxed into a sympathetic spark.

“I’m sorry Ben,” Dillon started. He went on his knees and was now eye level with the kid. Putting his hand on Ben’s shoulder, he whispered, “Sara became a princess.”

A jolt of fear shot up Ben’s back. It hit him so fast; the first thing he could do was lunge at Dillon, digging his fingers into the man’s bare arms. Dillon tried to wrestle out of Ben’s grasp, but stopped when a tear tickled his chest.

“You’re lying!” Ben said. He clawed, the flesh beneath him feeling like rubber under his fingers. “She can’t be a princess…I made sure! I protected her.”