Blood Ties

Chapter 10

She stared at him for a moment before speaking.

"Hey, Titan..."

He looked up at her. His back facing the window as he sat in the chair beside her bed. His small hands holding a picture book full of sweets.

He hummed in response. His eyes watching her as she sat up.

"Where are you going to stay?" she asked looking him dead in the eyes. Her hands playing with the covers in her lap.

"I might stay with my mom's friend, she said I was welcome anytime". He hadn't given it much thought where he was going to stay while his mother was healing. And if he was going to stay with his mothers 'friend'. He didn't want to. The woman wasn't just promiscuous on the job, but also in her free time. He's walked in enough times to know he never wants to witness such a sight again.

Ever.

"If you want you can stay here". She didn't want him to walk home at night, especially in his neighborhood. The possibility of him getting mugged or hurt in general, caused anxiety to fill her heart. He was eight for god's sake, even if he acted older.

His eyebrows rose at her suggestion. It wouldn't be such a bad idea, but if Claude found out they would be in a world of trouble. Bigger trouble than they were already in. But it sounded a lot more appealing than trying to avoid drunkards who were just waiting to bother somebody or thieves who were prowling the streets looking for vulnerable victims.

"Papa doesn't have to know!" she exclaimed excitedly, "It could be a sleepover!"

His face broke out in a small smile. Still baffled him how she could tell what he was thinking. 

"Eh, sure why not" 

"Yay!" she jumped up in bed and started dancing about. 

"Calm down, its a sleepover, not world peace," he said chastising the young girl. 

She laughed.

The door suddenly opened revealing Lily. 

"Lily, Titans gonna stay the night with Athy!" she exclaimed.

Lily's face went from peaceful to surprised. Her eyes turned to Titan who gave her a shrug and a smirk. I guess they would have to deal with the consequences in the morning. Besides, it was already night.

Titan left the room to stand in the hallway, giving the two privacy. His mind wandered to his mother. Was she really cured? Was she really okay? Was she going to wake up soon? Who cast the curse? Why did they do it? What could have happened?

Why did his hair stick up the way it did?

All these questions made his head hurt. 

He needed a cookie.

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Lily patted the princess's head and let her fingers run through her golden locks. The princess's eyes grew heavier and heavier till they closed completely, alerting the blue-eyed maid that the child was asleep for the night.

 The maid blew the lamp out and left the room leaving the sleeping princess to her dreams. She walked out of the room and was met with a golden-haired boy sitting on the opposite wall of where she was standing. His hands buried in his hair and his face scrunched up in slight pain. She rushed over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you all right!?" she exclaimed, trying not to wake up the sleeping princess in the other room. His eyes turned to her and he nodded slightly.

"Just a headache, I get them every so often"

She sighed in relief before standing back up, him following her actions. She looked at the boy and smiled. He caught the traces of worry in her eyes and returned it, effectively telling her he was all right. 

"Please come with me, I'll lead you to where you will stay," she said politely. She turned and let him follow her down the hall. He sweatdropped. So formal.

"No need to be so formal, Miss Lily," he said while following her. She gave him a small smile before leading him down another corridor.

"Nonsense, you're the princesses respected guest," she said before continuing "It would be improper to refer to you by any other means".

He gave a small laugh. 

"I do appreciate that you think I'm respectable, but I'm just a kid," he said calmly.

They arrived at a large door that was decorated with gold designs. She opened the door and waited for him to enter. He stared at the size of the room. It was HUGE.

'Just as big as Athy's' he thought incredulously.

"I'm sorry its a bit dusty, it's very rare that anyone sleeps over," she said sighing.

"I've slept in much worse," he said still gaping at the room. Worse? This is the best room he's ever slept in! He was supposed to sleep here, for real? This was the size of his house on the rim of the empire. How is it that a single room can be bigger than his house? How can people live with this much space?

"Is it not to your liking?" she asked humbly.

"N-no! it's not that I've just never slept in a room this big before..." his sentence trailed off as he saw the bed. A big fluffy bed. A really big fluffy bed. Just looking at it made him want to sleep. Sleep for hours, days even. Oh, how he wanted to sleep. His eyes felt droopy and he stifled a yawn.

Lily giggled at the sight and gently nudged him forward. He felt her place clothing in his hands and he faintly heard the door close. He looked down and saw black sleepwear, it felt soft. He quickly changed, well...as quickly as one could go when fighting back the forces of sleep. 

The door opened again to reveal Lily and a large blanket. His eyes widened and his heart felt like jumping. He loved large blankets. He could never really get his hands on one though. Blankets weren't cheap, everything was overpriced where he lived so finding a decent deal on most normal things would require an hour walk to the markets farther inside the empire.

She ushered him into bed and tucked the blankets around him before draping the large blanket on top of him. She gave him a warm smile before speaking.

"I figured you might like this, it gets quite drafty in these rooms and since the weather is gradually getting colder getting sick would be out of the question," she said softly. She looked at the boy and saw that he was already asleep. She smiled and quietly got up. She blew out the candle and exited the room.

Titan didn't hear the door close nor did he feel the slight chill of the cold. He didn't see the moon dance upon the leaves of the trees outside and he didn't see the shadows that laid behind the objects in the room. All he could feel in his dreams, were his mother's arms wrapping around him in a warm hug that made him feel safe in a way that no one else could. 

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I needed to add some minor fluff to sort of give some comfort before I make you hate me so be prepared for the upcoming chapters my dear readers

T-T I'm already crying even though I haven't started yet 

Give me strength~

(time to proofread and make sure my spell check doesn't get the better of my patience!)

bye for now!