Wings (Klance)

Chapter 7- Drunk Antics

Keith groaned subtly into his palm, silently cursing the universe for doing this to him. He was having the worst day ever.

And maybe that was a little dramatic, but he seriously did not care. Say what you will about his imagination, but he found it genuinely impossible to think of a worse situation to be in right now. His only hope was that a wild space rock would shoot out of the sky and hit him smack in the face.

Okay, so he was still being dramatic. But weren't princes supposed to be dramatic? His brother was, so why should Keith be any different? He felt it was his duty.

Besides, even if it wasn't, he had the right to be dramatic. Lady Heinford seemed hell-bent on ruining his day... and quiznak, it was working.

A soft whisper from his right side stirred the prince from his thoughts.

"Your highness?"

Keith glanced up, and met eyes with Shiro.

"What?" He asked ever-so-eloquently.

Shiro offered a sympathetic smile. "Lady Heinford has just excused herself-"

"She's leaving? Thank the stars!" Keith managed a grin, his spirits raised considerably.

"-for a brief meeting before her trip before they depart after lunch," Shiro finished.

Keith deflated, falling back into his seat. His forehead dropped onto the edge of the table a little harder than necessary. He knew he was being very informal, but for once he didn't really care. He had been on best behaviour all day, surely his guards would understand.

And it appeared they understood more than he expected...

"If it makes you feel any better, Your Highness," he heard one of them speak up. Based on their playful tone, he assumed it was Matt. "I put poison in one of the drinks. I meant for it to be Lady Heinford's, but I'm not sure."

The prince snorted. He lifted his head from the table and reached for his goblet. With a smirk on his face, he muttered, "The way this lunch is going, I hope it's mine," and downed the rest.

The rest of the guards lost it, choking on their mouthfuls and spitting wine across the table.

"Keith, please," Shiro chuckled. "Just hold on for three more hours, okay?"

"Wait, three hours?" Keith spluttered. "You said she was leaving after lunch!"

"Yes. It's around twelve now, and lunch will take about another hour or so, and then after that, at three, Lady Heinford is leaving."

"Oh for the sake of Quiznak!" Keith groaned. "Are you certain we can't leave now? I'm sure the Pods will be fine. Right?" He resented the desperation in his voice.

Shiro sighed, and Keith was slightly comforted to note that the older man had the decency to look apologetic. "I'm sorry, Keith. But the Pods cannot fly in this weather."

"Well," a sly voice interjected. "Technically speaking, the Pods can't fly in any weather. They hover."

Shiro let out a heavy breath through his nose. "Not helpful, Matt."

Keith, however, was a little busy with the realisation that Matt's voice sounded drastically different to the one that had made the joke about poisoning Lady Heinford's wine. So if it wasn't Matt who said that, then who?

The rest of lunch was just as awful as the beginning. Lady Heinford returned, and brought with her all the condescendingly cold half-smiles that the prince had come to absolutely detest. Each time their eyes met across the room, it took more and more effort to mask his growing loathing for the woman.