To Us and Beyond the Stars

The Invite

          Azin made no notion to pick up the invitation, where it lay in all its disgraced glory on the dark maroon carpet. A patch of white that was hard to ignore with alert-to-detail skills, and my knack for keeping everything clean. 

     "If you pick it up, I'm putting you on night watch duty for two weeks." Azin warned when I bent down to get it the first time. I froze, but didn't pick up the paper. Azin was sitting at his desk again, blankly staring at the same report, not truly seeing the words. Our eyes connected on a few occasions, where the only thing I saw was a bored glaze in his too dark eyes. 

  Sighing, I stalked over to him, and grabbed him by his ceremonial earring. (A band on the right ear, given to all male heirs on their eighth birthdays) Azin always covered his ears, trying to hide his naturally pointy ears and the almost web-like cartilage beneath it. He hated them, hated the ears he was born with, wished he'd gotten only the off-world ears from his mother. Though both his brothers, sadly enough, got the fish, web-like ears that poked out of their hair and were hard to hide. 

  "Kress!" Azin yowled, hitting my hand as I yanked his earring. 

  "Let me pick it up." I hissed, annoyed and unsure how to get it across to my stubborn charge. 

  "No!" He cried, swatting at my hand, twisting to get away. What was almost laughable about the situation was that he was quite a bit taller than me. All Urians were tall, soaring to the skies where people from my world were closer to the ground, but Azin was tall even by their standards. When he was toe-to-toe with me I had to lean back and look at him, given that he was *seventeen wenjents taller, so to have him trying to twist under my arm was quite amusing to watch. 

  "Azin, let me pick up the invitation." I commanded, throwing him to the floor. Before he could get up, I had pinned him- arms behind his back , with me straddling him. Azin whined, thrashing a bit before giving up and going quiet. He stared blankly at the carpet before sighing loudly.

  "My brothers are going to try and interfere with this operation." He said gently, twisting his hand so he could lay it on my wrist. The gesture was one of comfort and support, more for him than me. 

  "They don't believe in you quite, yet Azin. They've been gone for so long, that they haven't seen all the good that you've done for these people. The Crown Prince cares for nothing, but another battle. Kilgrin wants to satisfy his hunger, whether that be for blood or his lust." Azin was tense as I said that last part, as if every molecule in his body was hyper aware that his brother's eyes were looking over me not too long ago. He tapped my wrist, twice, and I rolled off, kneeling next to him as he sat up. 

  He looked at me, bringing a long leg out beside me and a knee to his chest, eyes baring, searching for something that I couldn't understand. A sigh escaped him again, his shoulders saging as he collapsed. His white to mint hair prickling my nose as he laid on my shoulder. 

  "What about me, Kress?" He asked, his voice wavering, broken. Here was another side that only I saw, the broken and fallen prince. The one beaten and tortured, not physically-but mentally-, by his father and brothers. The one so worn and tired that sleep evades him and nightmare plague his every moment. 

  "You're the Third Prince, Azin. The one who wears a mask of cruelty, but feels more than they will ever know. You are wiser than both you're brothers and stronger. You see past what lies on the surface, and you look for what lies beneath." He brought his head up to look me in the eye, smirking a bit at me, "Azin, you see hope where others see nothing." I finish. 

  "Kress," he breathed, leaning his head against mine, something we had done in moments of agony and gratitude, "you can pick it up now." 

  I got up with out hesitation, the white card so small and foreign in my hand. The date was set for three days from now, on the next Shanra Moon. Studying it more, I realized it was from both the brothers, not just Yandris. 

  "Looks like a family dinner is inevitable, Azin" I teased, handing the card to Azin. Who promptly ripped it in half.