Drakon

princely lies

[♘a l i s t a i r s e l w y n♘]

I was up at midnight waiting for a certain fiery visitor. Impatiently, I tapped my foot as I stood beside the castle walls. I was still wearing my hood, and it covered most of my face. Hopefully, the visitor, Kia Drake didn't know who I was. "Your highness," a voice hissed, "what are you doing out at this time? You should be sleeping in your room." I tensed, slowly spinning around. Thankfully, it was my good friend Cecil Brantley, who was captain of the guards and my unofficial bodyguard.

I glared at him. "Why are you stalking me again? By the way, you can call me Alistair, you know. We're on a first name basis, CeCe." I knew he hated the nickname.

Cecil sighed. "I had a feeling that you were up, so I went to check what mischief you were up to." Cecil closed his eyes, rubbing his temples.

"You're always up to trouble. I know you that well." My mouth popped open. I wasn't up to trouble all the time... Just most times.

I smiled hopefully. "Well if you think what I do is annoying, you could always abandon the babysitting job." Not exactly babysitting either, as I was almost 19. Stuck in the middle of childhood and adulthood was hard.

He smiled sheepishly. "Okay, I'm sorry." I turned away from him, my attention back to the wall. Kia would come any second. "Nah, not that sorry. Watching over you is quite entertaining, to be frank."

I sighed. "Cecil, now isn't the time for jokes. Much as I enjoy a good laugh, father is forcing me into my role as prince, as well as training me to be a king. The pressure is way too high, and the last thing I want is to 'forget my duty'."

Cecil raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, take a chill pill. Oh, and get some sleep, you need it." He himself liked to take the night shift, and sleep during the day. He claimed that 'the night breeze was more refreshing', but I never really believed him.

I rolled my eyes, making quotation marks. "I'm waiting for a certain visitor."

Cecil looked horrified. "No, CeCe, I'm not dealing drugs behind everyone's back." Cecil let out a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, a figure launched themselves off the wall, landing beside us. I let out a squeak of terror, then blushed furiously. I was glad that it was nighttime, and no one was able to see me. According to father, I should be 'manly', and not squeal whenever something unusual happened. But again, who wouldn't scream if someone dropped out of the sky? The figure wore a hood that concealed most of their face, only leaving alluring ruby red lips to be seen. The figure pressed a dagger to my throat, and I abruptly stopped breathing. "You lied to me."

I let out a sigh of relief. It was Kia, not some assassin that some rebel had sent to kill me. "How did I lie to you?" I mentally reviewed through our conversation earlier in the night. The sun started to rise, and I realized I had been waiting for her to arrive for several hours.

She glared harshly, and I winced back. "You told me your name was Russell. It's not- your name is Alistair Selwyn, and you're the crown prince of Lukar."

I cautiously took a step away from the dagger. She was only a girl, but she still terrified me- I was almost proud that I didn't pee in my pants. Laughing nervously, I replied her with a slight stutter. "That's not entirely true; Russell is my middle name, and middle names count as names, right?"

Cecil snorted. "Finally, someone who scares you. Besides your father, that is."

Kia rolled her eyes while waving a hand in the air. "I scare most people. Daggers, cloaks and overall mysteriousness seem to give off that effect." Sarcasm and snark dripped off every word, the sheer amount could have drowned a fully grown elephant or two. Maybe even Ironfang, who was a dragon my father gave to me for my birthday. Don't call me spoiled- I never knew the reason why.

Cecil laughed. "I'll take this as my time to leave." He jogged back to the wall, waving. "I'll go back to guarding the wall, like nothing ever happened. Have fun!" I could hear him snickering from a distance.

Kia raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?" She turned her glare to Cecil, who ducked away into the shadows. She turned back to me. "So, what do you so urgently have to say that you had to send a pack of guards to corner me back in the city?" Ah. I'd forgotten about that. She narrowed her eyes. "Wait. Pull off your cloak, I still don't know what you look like."

I raised a brow. "I thought I was the crown prince and everybody knew what I looked like?" Apparently, not her. I flicked off my hood, suddenly slightly self-conscious. What if she thought I looked weird? She probably already does, muttered my inner voice. I was glad I shaved earlier this morning, as my father deemed beards, mustaches and even a tiny bit of stubble 'unfit' for someone of my 'standing'. My older brother Cole was rather lucky, as he moved away a year ago, leaving me to be subject to father's demands. Sorry, I'm blabbering.

I ignored my inner voice, absentmindedly replying her. "The guard thing was purely coincidence. I didn't know they'd be there, although I knew you'd be." I took my gaze off her lips. I couldn't afford to get distracted and caught by another guard. "Take off your hood, I'm not sure if I can trust you." That was a lie- I probably wouldn't be able to tell if she was trustworthy. I just wanted to see what she looked like. So sue me; curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back to life, right?

She slowly teased off the hood, and I tapped my foot in anticipation. I wondered if she really was the infamous 'Queen of the Shadows', and whether my gamble had paid off. If I brought a deadly criminal or assassin into Knightsbridge Castle, I was dead meat. She let go, and my breath caught in my throat. A midnight black braid sprung out, falling onto her shoulders. My gaze wandered down to her brown leather boots, and I was almost unwilling to look her directly in the face. She let out a slight cough, and my emerald eyes met her dark violet ones. She smirked. "Done staring, your royal Highness?"

I stared at the wall, unwilling to meet her gaze. "Sorry, you just didn't look like what I expected."

She cocked her head, eyes narrowed. "What do you mean? Did you expect me to have scars all over my face or something?"

I backtracked frantically. "Oh no no no no no, I'm not trying to insult you or something." I lowered my voice, speaking under my breath. "I just thought you'd look like a criminal or something."

She shook her head with a scoff. "Looks can be deceiving." A bitter smile crossed her face, but her eyes betrayed none of her inner turmoil. "Trust me, I learned that the hard way." Her eyes hardened, violet eyes steeled. "Now, what did you want to tell me so badly that I had to break into a castle for?"

I took a deep breath, slightly scared of her reaction. "We might want to go somewhere more secretive."

She shook her head adamantly. "No. How do I know that you're not going to bring me into the palace, where a horde of guards will be waiting? Just tell me here, it's safer for me."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, then." Hopefully nobody would hear us. I lowered my voice, speaking in a whisper. "I overheard my father the other day, and he was talking about making a dragon army to protect the kingdom. He needs riders, and I thought you could help." I was glad it was dark, so she wouldn't see the red flush spreading across my cheeks.

She raised a brow. "Why me? Why not anyone else?"

I shrugged helplessly. "I dunno, maybe it's because you're actually really fast at running away from people." I remembered the way she streaked across the rooftops at ease. I was fast, but I'd never had a workout quite like that. My legs still screamed in protest, and I leaned down, rubbing them ruefully. "Please? I want to make my father proud."

Kia sighed. "Fine. Don't get too cocky- I'm only helping you because I don't have any parents myself, and I've tried all my life to make others proud of me." I breathed out a sigh of relief, but I was still curious. Maybe I could get to know her better in the next few days.

I dragged her into the castle as the kingdom began to wake, and the sun began to shine.

image: wade poezyn as alistair selwyn