Halo: Heroes Awakening

8. The Eldest Prince

A/N: My prayers go out to the people of Ukraine. I know words may not be worth much in these trying times, but know that I am with you in thought and sending only lots of love and solidarity.

Malia

Malia's wrists were on the verge of snapping with how she fought against her shackals all night. Her hands were tied to the floor-to-ceiling bars of the dungeon. The hallway was dark and sinister, lit by only a dim torch on the wall.

She was frustrated and felt useless.

He really ordered me to be killed.

Malia knew her offense was big, but the last execution that took place in Kukoa was more than fifty years ago. Not even war criminals were executed, instead they were forced to do hard labour for the country. So why did she have to die?

King Vaea was horrible and she hated him with her whole chest. Her death would be just another injustice against the Sai people and proof of how little he thought of them.

She thought of her mother and Sina. Goddess, Sina must have been panicking trying to figure out how to save her. Her brain was probably on the verge of losing it with even having to talk to Malia's mother.

She was going to hate her.

Her mother had never agreed with Malia and Sina's disdain and loathing of the King. In fact, she had been rather complacent with his mistreatment. Malia could never blame her mother, she had lost all spirit after the war and having to endure the loss of her father.

The war had killed the life in so many people. When her parents were sent to the front, they were idealistic, patriotic even. Malia, like many other children whose parents took part in the war, had to stay by herself in a dorm.

She had to wait for it all to be over while still trying to go about life as normal. But nothing was normal, nothing had ever been normal.

The Old King ended the war against many of the wishes of the Elders, resulting in his untimely assassination. His consort had disappeared under suspicion of his death and his brothers were next in line for the throne.

Then somehow Prince Vaea became King? And everything was on its way to shit yet again.

Malia couldn't believe the eldest Prince had returned home. The nation had gone into unrest after he disappeared, as King Makoa had chosen Prince Halo as his successor against the wishes of his brothers. Everything was uncertain yet again with his return.

He had dyed his hair green. She almost did not recognized him, which must have been his entire goal. Why would he run away and then return?

Would he take the throne from his brother? People had always said he was the better choice. But was he truly? She had seen him yesterday and with how he was groveling to the King, he was obviously fond of him.

I wonder what will happen when he finds out what the King has done.

Suddenly there was a noise down the hall. Malia's ears perked like a dog and she stood up to stare further into the darkness. A cloaked figure appeared from the shadows, holding the ring of keys.

"Hello?" She said softly. "Is it that time? Are you going to kill me now?"

She couldn't show it on her face but she was terrified. She wanted to say goodbye to her friends and mother at least.

The figure knocked their hood off, revealing the fluffy green hair of the eldest Prince. Malia's jaw slackened. He would be the one to kill her? Was this a way to prove himself to still be a Prince?

His dark brown eyes scanned her up and down, examining her physique. "Do you have the strength to run?" He asked her, his voice lowered.

Her eyes widened. "Yes," she nodded dumbly.

The Prince smiled, then inserted the key to her cell. He clicked it open with a few rattles, then took her hands into his as he fiddled with her cuffs.

Malia looked up at him in wonder. Why was he doing this?

"Is this real?" She asked. He chuckled at her concern.

"As much as I think you should be punished for what you did, I don't think death is the way. I'm letting you go, but please stay out of trouble and don't make an enemy of the King anymore, alright?" He said, smiling down at her.

He was tall and broad. His cloak fell loosely over his muscles but Malia could still see traces of them under the fabric. He was so handsome, in a boyish, youthful way. She couldn't believe this was happening.

"Thank you," she struggled to get out, still unable to believe this was real. The cuffs fell off and clanged to the ground, giving her an opportunity to roll her wrists. Before she could do anything else, the Prince took her hand in his and pulled her out of the cell.

"Where are we going?" She asked, turning to look back, her paranoia at an all time high. Gus and his goons had to be around by now if it was the morning.

"There's a tunnel in the palace that leads somewhere safe in the forest. It's only meant to be used in emergency situations, so please don't come back here," he said as they sprinted down the hallway. His hair bounced like a fluffy dog as he ran.

Malia had to swallow her excitement for what was happening. He could be leading her to her death right now and she wouldn't even know.

They stopped at a dead end in the dungeons, when the Prince forced his hand onto a brick in the wall. The dead end parted with a soft rumble, revealing a forest pathway on the other side. When Malia passed through it, she could see the walls of the palace just metres away.

The sun had barely risen. It must have been the early hours of the morning. She couldn't believe the Prince had woken up that early just to set her free.

She turned to face him, and he was fiddling with his pockets before holding up a crumbled paper and small object.

It was a compass and a map.

"I circled the path back to the town," he told her. "They're executing you at sunrise so you had better hurry."

"T-Thank you," she said uneasily.

The eldest prince had saved her life.

The Prince could see her astonishment and confusion, seeing she desperately wanted him to connect the dots for her. To explain everything, but she knew she wouldn't get that. She was a commoner wrapped up in a big world.

It just baffled her how different they were.

"What's your name, rebel?" The Prince suddenly asked, stepping closer. Malia gulped down a breath and tried to recollect herself.

"Malia," she said. "Malia Lui."

He smiled at her. It was warm and genuine and it made her insides ick. She wanted to be those girls immune to the charms of Princes but she just was not built that way.

He took her hands (why?)  then put the compass and map into them, closing them tightly. Oh right, the map and compass.

"You have to go, Malia," his voice was like honey, smooth and pleasant to listen to. "While this has been fun, I hope we never meet again. Remember to stay out of trouble."

The Prince winked and whirled around, his cloak flaring behind him. He lightly sprinted back through the tunnel, and waved back to her until its entrance shut.

The doors closing had quickly brought Malia back to reality. She needed to get the Hell out of here and go home.

***

A/N: I apologize if I am bad at writing fluff. I am not good with relationships and have never been in love so forgive me if any of this is questionable