Drakon

awkward conversations

  [⚔k i a   d r a k e⚔]  

King Felix laughed nervously, apparently trying to start a conversation. "Well, Kia, where did you grow up?" He was trying to make small talk, and I was no expert at that.

"In the streets." I didn't want to say too much about my past. Life in the castle was nice, but I still missed Ash so damn much. I remembered the good old days we spent simply goofing around, sleeping on the roofs of the tallest buildings, staring up at the starry night sky.  He was like a brother to me.  Much as I liked spending time at the palace with Alistair, Terris and the dragons, I still missed my best friend.

King Felix cleared his throat, shaking me out of my reverie.  "Um, why didn't you live in an orphanage or something? They would have been glad to accept you."

"They did accept me, but my friend and I ran away." Alistair's arm remained tightly wrapped around my waist, although the bloodlust was long gone. I resisted the urge to sneer at the king.  "The matron couldn't train us into perfect little children anyway." Apparently, I was too headstrong, and Ash was too much of a wild child. So we left, building our empire step by step.

"Oh." The king blinked, struggling to find a good topic. "How are you finding the stay at the castle?"

I shrugged. "It's better than living in a dumpster." I took a sip of water. It was far cleaner than the stuff I was used to.  "The beds are comfortable, although the corsets are not." King Felix chuckled, carefully dabbing at a stain by his mouth.  "Your son is also a very good fighter. I wonder who trained him?"

Alistair looked slightly irritated. "I'm right here, you know. There's no need to talk about me in third person." He sighed as I ruffled his short chocolate curls again. "But thanks for the compliment anyway. You still need to work on your stance." I huffed, turning my back on him. "Just saying, Cece taught me. He prefers to fight with a staff, but he's still a very good sword-fighter."

I frowned, just remembering a topic. "I'm just curious, but what happened to Prince Cole? And why does the public not know about Princess Berniss?" The atmosphere crackled with tension, thick enough to cut with a knife. Briefly, I wondered if I said something wrong.

"I sent Cole to another kingdom for the time being, and Berniss passed away from pneumonia at a young age." I narrowed my eyes. The king was obviously lying. He was tapping his fingers on the table anxiously, looking everywhere but at Alistair and I.  He also didn't look anywhere near sad.

Celeste coughed, an evil look in her eyes. "Uh, Kia, you have a stray hair dangling in front of your face. Did your maid do a bad job with your hair?"

I stared at lock of ebony hair, cross-eyed. "No, I braid my own hair." I tried to blow the strand away but to no avail. I glared at it with a deadly scowl. "Seriously? That's the worst place to be." Celeste giggled, a funny look on her face. I turned my attention to her instead. "Oi, whatcha looking at?"

She smiled and propped her head up on her hands with a dreamy expression on her face. "Oh, nothing."

Suddenly, Alistair cupped my face in his hand, turning me back towards him. "Don't move." My lips popped open as he leaned closer. He brushed the stray strand away with his other hand, hooking it behind my ear. His fingers were rough and calloused, unlike Poppy's.  Must've been from all that sword fighting, I mused to myself.  "There you go. Much better, isn't it?" He murmured in a low and husky voice, lips grazing my earlobe. I couldn't help but gasp, a shiver running down my spine.  I felt him lean back, so we were face to face.  Our noses were almost touching.  I saw his gaze flicker down to my lips, and I subconsciously bit my cheek.

In my peripheral vision, I caught Lady Celeste and Duchess Rachelle whispering to each other, giggling every few seconds. But I wasn't bothered with them, with Alistair acting as a welcome distraction. Celeste shot me a grin. You owe me, she mouthed. I huffed, shooting her a murderous look. She made a face in return, and her mother looked unimpressed. I'm totally dibsing flower girl when you two get married. This time, it was Alistair's turn to glare.

"Ahem. Teenagers." Alistair and I sprang apart, me flinching away from the voice and Alistair yelping as I pushed him and he toppled off the chair and onto the floor. King Felix was looking both of us with interest, and a brow raised. He blanched as Alistair pulled himself back onto the chair, slumping over onto the table. He closed his eyes with a helpless sigh.  "Please, just remember to use protection. I don't want grandchildren just yet." I flushed a bright shade of red, Alistair just as flustered as I was. Celeste, on the other hand burst into laughter, a tear trickling out of her eye. I buried my head in my hands with a groan. I knew she meant no ill will, but I really hated that girl.

"Sorry, father." Alistair muttered meekly, the tips of his ears as red as beets.

Celeste choked on her juice, laughing far harder than she should. "Your- ears- are- so- red-" She broke off into laughter again, spluttering in between crazed giggles.

"Oh good lord." King Felix groaned. "Silence!" The room immediately became quiet, and I was fairly sure you could hear the crickets from outside chirping through the stone walls. "Now, Kia, what about your family? Surely you remember them before you were put in the orphanage."

I shrugged. "Don't remember anything. The furthest my memories go is when I first met Ash. I remember someone gave me to him. Don't remember who it was either." In all honesty, I couldn't care less. "Ash is my family now."

King Felix looked slightly disappointed, but it disappeared after a second. "Are you sure you don't remember anything about your parents?" He pressed on. Why was he questioning me so much about my family? Last time I checked, I was just some street thief, a nobody.

"Yes, I'm sure." I replied snappishly. I didn't like the way he probed into my past. If he wasn't the king, I would've stabbed him a long time ago.

"Father, just stop asking." Alistair muttered with gritted teeth, staring at the king. "She doesn't know, let it go."

"Of course, son." The warm smile on his face was everything but kind. "She just looks like some friends I used to know. Jordan, I think her name was, and Vlad. A nice couple. They had eyes just like yours. The shade of your eyes are fascinating, don't you think? They aren't quite blue, more to the purple side, yet they aren't violet either. They're like pansies."

"Father, enough." Alistair growled sternly. "We'll be leaving now. We have a long day tomorrow. Full of training."

"Training? For a girl like her?" Duchess Rachelle wrinkled her nose. "How unladylike." Like mother like daughter, I guess.

Alistair took my elbow and guided me out of the room, where I immediately whirled at him. "Is your dad a creepy stalker all the time?" I hissed.

"No. It's the first time he's regarded someone with such interest." He said, scratching his head. "I guess this is goodnight then, Miss Drake?"

I smiled a bit at his politeness, before graciously dipping my head.  "Goodnight, Prince Alistair."

He laughed with a mock bow. "Goodnight, milady." I blew him a fake kiss, the door shutting before I could see his reaction. After changing back into my normal clothes and finally taking off that blasted corset, I was out like a light.

image: cate blanchett as duchess rachelle greenswick