The Prince's Heart (Ziall, Niam)

Chapter 2

"So Zayn...” I trailed off. I was sitting on my bed, leaning on my arms with my feet crossed at the ankles while Zayn remained standing a few feet in front of me. His face remained stoic and I wanted to slap him just to check if he would react. "What’s your full name? Where do you come from? Are you new?"

"Zayn Malik.  I came from Bradford Village, an hour from here. I've been here for about a year. I used to guard your brother's treasure room along with two other people. But when Josh d-died, Paul told me they could handle it on their own" Zayn said, his eyes showing the slightest bit of emotion when he said Josh's name. But it quickly disappeared as it had appeared. "Sorry, your highness"

"Its fine" I waved my hand around. "I'm not one to just look at people and not bother to recognize them. I like knowing stuff about people and being friends with them"

"But you're a prince, aren't you supposed to be stuck-up?" Zayn blurted out. He quickly realized his mistake and I could the start of a blush on his cheeks. He quickly bowed his head and kneeled on one knee. "I'm so sorry your highness for my rude words, I will take any punishment you inflict" he said. I rolled my eyes and stood up from the bed, only to kneel down in front of him.

I cupped his cheek. "It’s okay. I keep telling you, I'm not like that! If you continue that offending behaviour, I will punish you for real" I may or may not have purposely put a double meaning to it. I wanted to slap myself as I pulled away from Zayn. Stop! You're getting engaged to the most handsome, nicest, most perfect prince! He is just your knight! "Y-You can go, I'm gonna take a nap or take a walk" I said, dismissing him.

"But don't you need my company and services for the latter, sire?" Zayn asked.

"Its fine, I'm just going around the castle, nothing too risky" I said. "You may go” Zayn just nodded and left. I sighed in relief when he shut the door behind him.

I quickly went into my bedside drawer and pulled out the box which contains all of Liam's letters. I pulled out all the letters and began walking around the castle, reading each one slowly. I don't think about this often, but I am glad of my status in this castle or else people wouldn't be going out of their way to let me pass since I'm too busy reading to avoid bumping into people.

By the time I was finished with the last letter, I was back in my room and all thought of Zayn has left my mind.

"Josh, he wasn't just a knight, he was MY knight, my saviour and one of my closest friends" I started. We all decided to bury Josh in the noble cemetery, located outside the kingdom of Horan. Everyone in the castle, Josh’s old friends, even Liam and his family came to visit Josh's burial. "I've always thought he was gonna die saving me, and I was always scared for that day to come. But what hurts the most is that Josh died behind my back. He died while I was-- what? Talking to my future husband? Possibly just waking up" I let a few tears out. "I don't think I can say much anymore, I might burst right here and now. But here are my final words: Josh will be missed, he will be loved forever. We may have lost a knight, a precious one at that, but heaven gained an angel" I looked up at the sky. "Josh, I can't thank you enough because even up there, you're still watching over me"

When I stepped down the stage, I was enveloped in a hug by my mother, while my dad rubbed my back. "That was beautiful, son" he said. Greg sniffed from beside him. Niall pulled away from his mother to hug his soon-to-be-king brother. He's a twat but they share the same blood.

When the other knights buried Josh's coffin and covered it up with the soil using shovels, it finally hit everyone that Josh was gone, including me. I let the tears fall down fully and felt someone wrapping their arms around me. I didn't need to look up to know who it was; the familiar expensive cologne gave it away.