"What?!" I shrieked, standing on impulse. The Prince snickered to himself, "Don't worry, only a small bit."
"Only a SMALL BIT! What do you mean only a SMALL BIT!!! That doesn't make it better!" I snapped. It felt like I got hit by a train, and I start pacing around the room with my hands on my head. "Am I gonna die?" I asked panicked. "What? No!" he laughed.
"At least not yet," he mumbled under his breath. I screamed."NOT YET?! W-w-what are you? INSANE?!" I started pacing again. I don't have anxiety or anything, but I felt like couldn't breathe. I took deep quick breaths in and puffed them out again at 100 miles an hour. "I-I need a p-paper bag," I sat on the floor again, rocking back and forth bringing my face to my knees.
"What's wrong with you?" I heard my uncle growl at the chuckling Prince. "Laylana, honey?" I didn't look up at him. Sorry Uncle T, but I wanna be alone as of right now, so please leave a message.
"Laylana." I felt a hand on my back. He tried to coax me, but I wasn't in the mood. I just wanted to stay in my shell at the moment and comprehend what was happening. I finally look up at him, and he smiled warmly in response. "There you are. Are you okay?"
"No," I whimper, suddenly getting emotional. My throat burned as a tear streamed down my cheek, and he wiped it off with his thumb in a caring manner. "You're okay. I'm not going to let anything happen to you." His soothing voice calmed me down a bit, but I was still flipping out on the inside. I return to my shell again.
He sighed. "He didn't mean it like that Lay, he just means that if you use the camera too much too often, there is a chance that you may feel really weak. Only in rare cases does someone actually die from it. You're completely safe." He smiled again, then shot a heated look at the Prince. The Prince stood and laughed. "Is that all you need to know, friends?"
I sat quietly with a slight frown on my face. I didn't find that "joke" of his too funny. He chuckled at my all-too-worried expression. "You're fine Laylana. Don't worry." A smile worked its way across his face that was actually nice, and not mocking. "T-thank you." I forced a grin.
"Plus, you're not as utterly stupid as your uncle, so you'll be fine." I laughed at my uncle's reaction. He had a playful angry look that screamed, "Imma kill you!"
My nerves had finally settled after a few minutes of exchanging jokes and laughing together. The Prince looked genuinely happy, and my Uncle's pale blue eyes were flashing with content as he laughed. I giggled at the silly arguements about past stories about when they used to go on adventures together.
"Woah! You used to be a Knight?!" I asked, my mouth stood agape. He laughed softly, "I guess that's what you can call it. I mostly fought the Death Riders and maybe some other ghouls that got out of hand. It was fun actually."
"Can I be a Knight?" I ask, still amazed. Sure enough, the Prince laughed at my remark. "Maybe one day, but not now. It's as hard as it sounds. If not, harder. Being a Knight means being loyal to a cause, it means you have to give your freedom to the people of your kingdom, and even to the world." He smiled as memories played through his head, showing in his eyes. "It means you do your best to serve and protect them." His smile faded.
I study him closely after the abrupt ending. "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing I-I just... haven't been... you know what? Nevermind." He chuckled.
"Okay?"
Uncle Thomas told us a few more jokes before the Prince stood and went in the other room.
"Hey, where ya goin'?" We watched him walk through the beads to the gift shop. "I just gotta do something."
I shrugged, and Uncle T and I continued to tell stories.
