In the middle of the night, Prince Alexander jolted awake. The nightmares had haunted him yet again. He could never remember them when he awoke but it still chilled him to the bone to know that he dreamt something horrifying. All the Prince could remember afterwards was the blurred faces and unclear words. Nothing really ever stuck with him, and he did not know if he was grateful or not for that. Instead of dwelling on the blurred faces of his nightmares, he settled back down in his bed and closed his eyes; yet the young royal refused sleep. It was before dawn, therefore he had no permission to get up yet and the Prince had never refused allowance to stay in his warm bed in winter. Unsure of what to do with all the time he had before he had to move, he thought. And, of course, his mind did not avoid the tall boy. Jack. He's so simple, but not like the others. He's ... different. Dammit, Alexander, pull yourself together - you hardly know him. But you do, don't you? Ugh, he's messing with your head too much, do you think he's ... magic? Magic was forbidden, by all laws. Witches were burnt at stake, but that hadn't happened in years. Jack did not seem the sort to be magical, in any sense, but with that boy, who knew?
The thought was thrown away, replaced by the possibility of what exactly Jack could be. The criminal instantly found a clear place in Prince Alexander's mind. The teenager could not believe what he had just thought; outraged, in fact, because no way was Jack a criminal! The boy was mysterious, of course, but even Jack was not stupid enough to sneak into the royal grounds if he was a wanted criminal. Or was he?
When the thoughts, images and possibilities began to give him a headache, the boy decided to get up to take his mind from things. He changed into simple clothes, that his parents would probably have burnt if they could find them; because the Prince looked like a mere kingdom citizen in these clothes, but he did not care. Or, rather, he could not find it in him to care.
It was still before the sun had risen, and all people in the castle would be at rest at this time. Therefore, the young royal had to sneak from his sleeping chambers, and to his beloved garden. It was risky, and the boy could have swore that a guard saw him disappear around a corner, but he was not caught.
It was cold outside, and the Prince realised his garden was covered in a layer of snow. It was beautiful; the sky grey, littering the land below with tiny snowflakes, glistening pure white snow blanketing the ground, leafless tree branches swaying in the almost-unnoticeable breeze, and the frosted pond sparking against the light of dawn.
Prince Alexander stood and stared for a few moments, gazing at the beautiful sight of his garden in the winter scene, his breaths becoming white mist in the air.
"Frozen, Princess?"
The young man jumped out of his trance at the voice that sliced confidently through the silence. He whipped his head around to the source, which was, of course, Jack, jumping down from the wall and landing so perfectly on his feet.
The to-be ruler blinked a few times. "Uh- no, of course not. Good morning to you, Jack."
"It's hardly morning yet, Alex, you're up earlier today. Were you that excited to see me?" he winked cheekily at the Prince, carefully stepping on the stone pathment to avoid ruining the fresh snow.
The Prince rolled his eyes fondly of the other, placing his right hand on his hip and waiting for Jack. Said boy finally finished stepping carefully away from the snow, and instead standing in front of Prince Alexander, mocking a curtsey with a, "Your highness, it's my pleasure."
"I hate you," mumbled the Prince, grinning at the silly gesture.
"No, you don't," replied Jack, standing up properly again and shoving the shorter's shoulder lightly. The Prince said nothing as he shoved Jack back, to which the boy shoved him again. From there, it turned into a match of who could shove the other more. They began to run around, into the snow, pushing each other and laughing, without a care for who heard them.
