Fit For a King <Lashton>

16; Ariana

There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit. ~Napoleon Bonaparte

Ashton's POV

Luke bolted from the room in a second, a little ungrateful if you ask me. After all, I did save him from Calum. I stood up all the same though and got out of bed. I was massively tired, but no one was going to bother me. I assumed I should go down for breakfast. Faye was sitting there, slowly consuming a bowl of porridge alone.

"Where is everyone?" I asked as I entered the room.

"Well.." Faye began. "You father is dealing with business. Your mother is making preparations for the ball. Michael is in town. I am not sure where Princess Leona is, and Luke left."

"H-He left?"

Faye nodded. "I am not particularly sure why he did, but he did all the same. Maybe Calum had scared him away. Despite the fact that Calum is now injured and I do not believe he would go after Luke anytime soon." Faye smiled up at me. "Good work, Prince Ashton."

I sat down in a chair and let out a sigh before my mother came rushing into the room, and I had to be fully aware once more. "Ashton!" She smiled wide. "The ball, it is tomorrow, you remember right?" I nodded my head, even though I thought I still had days left. "Alright, so. I just wanted to make this clear to you that this is for you to marry whomever you want."

"That is understood."

"And I do mean whomever, my dearest boy." My mother smiled. "Be it a princess or a peasant, it does not matter to me either way. I am going to give you the same amount of power as my parents had bestowed upon me."

"Your parents let you chose whom you marry?" I asked.

"Of course," My mother leaned closer across the table, although she was still far away. Faye and I looked extremely interested in what she would say. "Your father was no prince. He was a peasant. In fact I think he was one of the worse off in the village. He did not even have a house."

"He-He was!?" Faye's jaw dropped at my mother who was slowly nodding. "So..The King married into royalty?"

"Correct, oh we had to do so much work on his manners." My mother smiled sadly. "Although, I do wish that I had married someone else."

"What?" I went wide eyed.

"Well, once he became King, he was no longer the same man. Cautious, my son, for power changes people." My mother said. "Oh!" My mother changed the topic as she clapped her hands together. "Calum is now a slave for the servants, in case you were curious. I am not handling this situation one more time, it must be taken care of here and now."

"He is not a knight anymore?" I asked and my mother shook her head. "It only took me almost committing treason to have it done."

"Yes, well, Michael is making you look wondrous to the people now. But, otherwise I have no duties to you before tomorrow. In the morning you would decide your outfit, but otherwise go and enjoy yourself. It is a gorgeous day." And my mother left the room, she was always so upbeat and on top of everything. She had many royal qualities about her, I was shocked to know my own father was not of royal lineage though.

"Hey Prince Ashton, do you want to marry me?" Faye asked. "I do not actually want to be royalty. I just adore the food."

I chuckled and stood up. "Faye eat as much as you desire."

Then I left, I continued to wonder why Luke left? Was it because I scared him this morning? Or did Calum actually scare him off. I wanted to go and look for him, and of course all the attention would be focused in the town square. But I knew that Luke would not be too interested in showing his face there after being caught as a thief.

I grabbed the same back with the raggedy clothing and walked grabbed a horse, leaving the castle and no one said a word. But I slipped behind the tree and changed, then rode off. Carrying the bag with me this time.

If I was Luke, where would I go? I would assume into the forest. So I left my horse hidden slightly inside the brush and began to walk through it. I wondered what Luke would have to say when he saw me. I was slightly angered that he had just up and left as well. Why would he not say something?

Then I heard people arguing in the distance, creeping around a tree I could see Luke talking with a woman and a child. The woman looked extremely saddened but Luke was not phased at all by it. Who was that woman anyways?

Eventually, Luke was left alone once more and I could see the rabbit spit roasting behind him. He had so much food at the castle and he gave it up to commit another crime? I suppose old habits are hard to reach. All I know is that Luke was indeed running from something.

I stood up and took off my hood, walking out into the open. "You know, hunting and killing is a crime, correct?"

Luke screamed and jumped back, falling straight on his hind end. "W-What are you doing here!? And.. Why are you dressed like that?"

"I can not just walk around the kingdom in my normal clothes if I intend not to be noticed." I said. "I do this often."

"That's insulting." Luke scoffed. "Why would you pretend to be poor?"

"That is not why I dress this way, it is to avoid people looking at me." I said. Luke settled down slightly, but I could still feel the tenseness.

I crouched beside him. "Why did you leave?" He did not answer, so I took a seat in the dirt. "I have all day."

"Ashton get out of here!" Luke snapped at me.

"Why did you leave and not say anything?" I snapped back.

"You said I could leave whenever I wanted to, so I left." Luke snarled. "Why does it matter?"

"Because I had an extreme trouble trying to find you!" I sighed.

"Why were you looking?" Luke asked, he then shook his head as if he was changing his mind. "Never mind, why do you not go back to your pretty palace and be with Leona?"

"Leona?" I raised an eyebrow.

"She is your lover, is she not?" Luke responded, bitterly confused.

I laughed. "No of course not. We were childhood friends and the only reason she would ever marry me is to combine her kingdom and mine. We are not lovers, that is truly disgusting. I would not be hosting a ball if I was going to marry her."

"Should you not be getting ready for that?" Luke scoffed, a cold chill to his voice.

"I doubt it matters if I care about it or not." I shrugged. "I mean the whole point is for me to find someone to marry but.."

"You just cannot decide on a princess, can you?" Luke rolled his eyes.

I smiled. "I do not have to marry a princess. That is why everyone is invited. I am allowed to choose freely."

Luke pursed his lips together as if he was thinking, then he shook it. "Are you planning on leaving anytime soon?"

"No." I smiled and shook my head.

Luke let out a groan. "So I have to leave from here too?"

"Why are you avoiding me?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows. "What did I ever do to you?"

"I just hate your stupid kingdom." Luke scoffed.

"It is not mine." I shook my head. "It is indeed my father's. But not my own, not yet. I promise that it will be different when it is mine. Luke, if I intended to make no changes or did not care I would not have released you and Faye from the dungeon."

Luke let out a sigh. "Whatever, do you want some rabbit."

"Disgusting, no." I shook my head and wrinkled my nose.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Royal priss."

AUTHOR'S NOTIFICATION; Ariana

Ha, priss. It's a funny word.

Hugs, Kisses, Cuddles and Serenades xX