Only Winter Knows

Sleepless

Kata stares at the ceiling above him that's lit by moonlight. The glowing little stars shimmer almost like they're real, making the room feel alive. He can hear a clock ticking, having long passed the midnight mark. There's a calm rhythm of breathing along his own, not slow enough to be considered sleeping.

The prince adjust himself slightly on the thin matress and glances to his left, seeing Rowan's figure on the bed. Neither of the boys are able to fall asleep despite wanting nothing more than to have the peace of not being awake. The constant ticking of the clock makes Kata more and more anxious.

Just sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep.

Kata lifts his hands to his face and queezes his eyes shut, willing himself to fall asleep.

"No luck?"

"No hope at all," Kata groans.

Rowan adjusts himself on his bed and rests his face against his hand, looking down at Kata. The prince looks pale with the moonlight shining on his bruised skin. Half of his hair is tied in a bun that's currently squished against a pillow and Rowan hates to admit that he quite likes the style.

"What are you gonna do?"

Kata rests his hands back down and faces the other. He observes Rowan's eyes as they stare right back at him.

"Honestly? I don't know." Kata looks back up to the stars. "I sure as hell can't go back to the kingdom so maybe I'll just..."

Rowan can't help but feel bad for the young prince.

"You could always fight along us," the sorcerer states and watches as Kata's eyebrows scrunch down lightly, looking displeased.

"You want me to betray my own kingdom?"

"I didn't mean it like that but honestly there's nothing for you there. You're literally considered to be a criminal and your own father, aka the king, is against you," Rowan argues.

"Wow thanks, needed that."

Sighing Rowan runs a hand through his open hair. "Sorry but it's just how things are right now."

"I know," Kata says quietly.

.

"So let me get this straight. You found the elf prince in the forest, found out he's a criminal, felt bad and decided that it was a good idea to bring him to your house?"

Giselle sits on a chair on the said of the kitchen table in Rowan's house.

"You're making it sound worse than it actually is!"

"The fuck were you thinking? How did your parents even agree to this?"

Complete silence follows the girl's guestion.

"Oh. My. God. Rowan!? You're HIDING an elf prince inside your home," Giselle screams, completely stunned.

"You know I can hear you, right?" Kata asks with an annoyed look.

Giselle just gives him a glare, silently letting him know that shutting up is his best choice.

"Gi, you've met him before! You know he's not any harm to us," Rowan tried to reason out.

"No, Rowan. I've met him? yes. I know him enough to say that he's safe to be around? No."

"He could be useful on our side, though. And he really can't go back either, what was I supposed to do?"

"You know I generally consider myself to be a good person but this really is none of your business!"

"It quite literally is," Rowan mumbles and looks down at his fidgeting hands.

Giselle sighs deeply and buries her face into her hands, half of her body slumped on the table.

Kata looks between the two, feeling awful. He shouldn't be here. Fuck it, he wouldn't even want to be here. Actually anywhere far away from these two creatures would be ideal.

"I'm more than content to leave you two to your little sulking gathering and head somewhere nicer," Kata states, looking around the room with a judgemental face to emphasize his point.

Rowan looks at the prince in total disbelief. He's incredibly close to listing all the curse words in his vocabulary to the other and kicking him on the street but instead he just let's out a small laugh.

"Go ahead then, prince charming. Find a more suitable house, maybe even a five star resort while you're at it."

Kata wasn't prepared to actually act on his words so he goes silent, thinking of a back up plan. It's not like he actually wanted to sleep on the streets.

"What? I thought you were going?" Rowan asks innocently.

"Oh fuck you," Kata pouts slightly and crosses his arms over his chest.

Giselle huffs out a breath and stands up. "If you cause even the tiniest bit of inconvinience to any of us, you're out of here. Got it? I don't care where you end up so keep that in mind."

Kata looks at the short dwarf girl with a raised eyebrow and slowly nods. Giselle tiredly waves a goodbye to Rowan and heads out with heavy steps. Kata listens closely until the door of the house clicks shut. An awkward silence follows.

"We'll have some military training tomorrow and get our equipment ready. You're coming, too."

"The fuck do you mean 'I'm coming'? Do you think it was a joke? That suddenly there's no one out there looking for me to throw me into a concrete cell for the rest of my pathetic life?" Kata's voice keeps getting louder as he speaks.

"Now shut the fuck up before someone hears you!" Rowan quiets the prince down. "No one will recognize you if you just keep your hood on and don't talk. You're on our side now so better be prepared to fight along us."

Kata looks at Rowan as he keeps going on baout the training. He's really doing this. He's going against his own father, his own kingdom. And all because of this fucker in front of him who's now explaining how to use a bow properly. He's not going to make it out of this alive.