The Prince and the Thief

Chapter Six

"Kellin. Wake up darling." I shoved Vic's hand away and turned my body away from him. The bed dipped with his weight. I felt his body being hoisted above me. "Come on. You'll like this." I sighed.

"Why are you making me do? What time is it?" I rubbed my eyes, turning onto my back. He was smiling down at me.

"It's early. The sun rose an hour ago."

"Why are you waking me up this early?" I pushed his shoulder lightly. "I want to go back to sleep." He snuggled his face into my neck, brushing his nose against my skin. I shuddered. My heart was pounding against my chest.

"Come on. Get up." He pulled away, bouncing up and down on my mattress.

"How are you so happy?" He grabbed my arms, practically dragging out. I yelped when my feet hit the cold wooden floor. He shoved some clothes in my hand.

"I'm going to go outside and if you aren't out there in five minutes, I'll pull you out. Get changed." He skipped out of the caravan. How the hell can he be this happy in the morning? It's like he has as much energy as a child. I pulled on the new clothes. They were the same color but instead of short sleeves they were long and the pants went to my ankles. I flung the door open, glaring at Vic playfully. He just flashed me another one of his amazing smiles and grabbed my hand. He started leading me to a part of the village I've never been.

"Where are we going?"

"I'm going to teach you how to use a sword and a bow."

"What?" I pulled my arm back to my chest. "Why?"

"You want to see your mom right?" I nodded. "Then I have to teach you. If we go to the village and something happens to me...." He paused, looking up at the sky. My heart fell at the thought of Vic getting hurt. Or even dying. I think I would be miserable without him. "I want you to be able to protect yourself if I can't."

"But you'll always be around right? You won't die on me?"

"I can't make any promises." He grabbed my hand again but this time his rough fingers laced with mine. We continued the walk."That's another thing we need to talk about. If anything happens to the camp or me, I want you to run."

"No way! I'm not leaving everyone to die."

"It's not up for discussion. I'm going to be distracted if you are in the line of fire." He brought me into a little fenced off area with weapons and dummies to practice on. What he said, did that mean he cared about me? Maybe a little more than a friend?

"What are we?" He picked up a real sword, totally disregarding the wooden ones, and handed it to me. As soon as the hilt rested in my hands, they collapsed under the weight.

"What do you mean?" He was shuffling through the weapons. I saw his warm breath create a small cloud of fog. It was chilly out.

"Our relationship?" He dropped an arrow, cursing under his breath. He turned to look at me. He wouldn't meet my eyes.

"We're just friends." He said bluntly then returned to searching. A small crack formed in my heart. I sat on the ground, playing with the sliver hilt of the sword. It was plain. No design like my father's sword. His had gold brands and rubies. A shadow was cast over my legs with the little sunshine we had right now. Vic was standing above me, offering a hand. When I hesitated he smiled warmly at me. I took his hand.

"How many fights have you been in?"

"Enough." I rolled my eyes. He handed me a bow, twirling the arrow in his other hand. I noticed a long scar going along his right bicep. He, unlike me, had no sleeves.