A Love Throughout The Ages

Chapter 9: A Little Back and Forth

    King Calcipher and Queen Dara decided to become allies with the Blackwood Clan. Though, they wouldn't be allies through marriage. The king and queen didn't want their sons to go through the same thing as King Frederick and Queen Caldera. They knew that not all arranged marriages end well. So this would be the first time that the Evergreen Kingdom would have allies without personal ties intertwined in the alliance.

    King Darwin decided to stay in the Evergreen Kingdom to iron out the details of the alliance. Such as emergency battle plans, perhaps setting up trades, etc.

    Prince Calico had an older brother named Prince Daario. He was the other person who hugged Calico when he entered the throne room. Prince Daario was next in line to be king, so his father told him to go back to their home and run things from there. Pentheus would go back with him to get the lay of the area where the Blackwoods came from. King Darwin and Prince Calico would stay, along with a few others. One of them being Killigan. 

    Julien heard all of this from the workers and maids as they went about the castle. Julien had hoped that the night in the forest would be the last he saw of Killigan, but luck didn't seem to be on his side.

    True to his word, Killigan didn't leave Julien along. He always followed him around the palace. He even followed Julien around the kingdom when left the palace. Everytime Julien confronted Killigan, he would always have some stupid remark.

    "I told you, you're fun to play with. Did you know you squint your eyes when you're confused? It's very cute." Killigan said once.

    "Why would I stop following you? This is the most fun I've had in a while. Did you know you clench your fists when you're angry? You clench them so hard in fact, that you actually leave marks on your skin. Kind of like you're doing now." Killigan said another time.

    "It's so frustrating! Why can't he just leave me alone?" Julien said as he complained to Rayne who was sitting on Julien's bed.

    Rayne laughed.

    "This is not funny. It's maddening." Julien said.

    "But he wasn't wrong. You really do clench your fists when you're angry." Rayne said while pointing to Julien's hands, before falling back onto the bed in a fit of laughter. A few seconds later, he disappeared.

    Julien walked to the bedside nightstand and picked up a thick crystal.

    "Hello? Are you still there?" Julien asked.

    The crystal started to glow before Rayne appeared back on Julien's bed.

    "Sorry. I knocked mine off the bed by accident." Rayne said as he placed the crystal in his hand to one side.

    "Anyway, what do I do about Killigan?" Julien asked as he sat in front of Rayne.

    "Have you tried talking to your dad about him?" Rayne asked.

   Julien huffed. "As if he was any help. He told me we couldn't afford to break our alliance because I couldn't handle a little schoolyard bully." Julien pointed to himself then to Rayne. "We've faced school bullies before and Killigan's the first one I actually want to hurt."

    "What about your mom?" Rayne asked.

    "She wasn't any better. She suggested that maybe he liked me." Julien replied with a scowl on his face.

    "Really? Then why is he being a brat and annoying you?"

    "I don't know, but I'm at my wits end with him." Julien said as he fell back on the bed. Rayne laid down beside him.

    "Perhaps you should beat him at his own game." Rayne suggested.

    "What?"

    "I mean, be the better person. Be better at being annoying. Be better at stalking. Be better at-"

    "Rayne!" Rayne was interrupted. Rayne sat up and glanced around.

    "Sorry Julien. My mom's calling me." Rayne said.

   "Okay. Tell Queen Caldera I said hi okay?"

    "Yeah I will. Bye." Rayne said before grabbing his crystal and closing his eyes.

    Rayne disappeared, leaving Julien alone to face his problems by himself.

    Julien decided to take up Rayne's advice and he tried to be the better person. He followed Killigan around or at least he tried to. Killigan called him out on it multiple times. He then decided to put a few crushed wolf's bane petals into the blood Killigan would drink. Wolf's bane usually was meant for shapeshifters, but could also be toxic to other night creatures like vampires.

    The Blackwoods would get blood from some of the more mundane people that worked at the palace. They would offer up a small amount and in return, they would get extra things they might need. Whether that would be money, supplies, food, etc.

    Julien was able to convince one of these people to deliver a special cup of blood to Killigan. Julien watched from around the corner as everyone else filed into the dining room. The girl that Julien convinced to help him, gave Killigan his cup of blood. When it was in his hands, Julien snuck off to his room with a smirk on his face.

    Julien didn't see this as anything wrong. He didn't give enough wolf's bane to Killigan to actually hurt him. It would make him a bit sick, but other than an upset stomach, he would be fine.

    A few hours went by and nothing happened. Julien didn't hear any mention of anything when a maid had dropped by to deliver his dinner since he missed the dinner in the dining room. Julien was starting to get worried. He didn't want to ruin the alliance that his parents had worked on and he didn't want to seriously harm Killigan.

    A knock sounded on Julien's bedroom door. Thinking it was the maid coming to collect his dishes, he called for her to come in. Julien walked to a table off to the side and picked up the tray to give to the maid. He turned to see Killigan inches away from him. Julien flinched and dropped his tray.

    Killigan held up the cup for Julien to see and turned it upside down. "You'll have to try harder than that to kill me." He said before tossing the empty cup on the tray that Julien had dropped to the floor.

    "I wasn't trying to kill you." Julien said.

    Killigan stepped closer to Julien,  forcing Julien to take a step back. "Then what would you call it? Hmm. Speak up."

    "I was just getting back at you." Julien said while looking down at his feet.

    "Getting back at me? Really?" Killigan said in an eerily calm voice.

    "You've-" Julien looked up but stopped speaking when he saw Killigan's face so close to his. Julien tried to step back but he was already against the wall.

    "I've what?" Killigan asked, his breath fanning across Julien's face. "You've put everything that our kings work for at risk because of what? A little teasing?"

    Killigan flicked Julien's forehead. Julien reached a hand up and rubbed where Killigan flicked him.

    "Next time, think with your head. You're a prince. You have an entire kingdom to look after. You can't create new enemies because your feelings were hurt." Killigan said.

    "I know that. I'm not a little boy." Julien said.

    For a few moments, Killigan was silent. He continued to look at Julien almost as if he was memorizing his face. Suddenly, Killigan leaned up and kissed Julien forehead.

    "No. You're not a little boy." Killigan said before leaving the room.