Kingdoms Unite

Elements of Fantasy

I woke up to a cold cloth pressed to my head. I gasped and sat straight up. The maid who was tending to me jumped back.

"P-Prince Liam!" She yelped and dropped the cloth into a nearby bowl. "I-I shall fetch Prince Ethan." She quickly ran out of the room. I flopped back and rubbed at my forehead. Still cool from the cloth earlier. What happened?

"Nice to see you awake sleeping beauty!" Ethan said from my doorway. I sat back up.

He was wearing the same clothes from yesterday, albeit more wrinkles along the previously ironed suit. His hair was more disheveled and his green eyes showed signs of fatigue.

"Did you stay up again?" I asked. Ethan waved me off.

"Not the first time!" He chirped. Suddenly, his cheerful mood disappeared and he stared at me. It was the first time in a long time his goofy and happy emotions had been replaced with something more serious. "Mind explaining what exactly happened last night?"

"I'm not too sure myself..." I said honestly.

"Are you sure?" He stepped closer. "Because you were hot."

"I appreciate the compliment but-" Ethan interrupted me with a shake of his head.

"No Liam. I mean burning hot. Hot to the touch." He said seriously. "I tried lifting you without using my powers but I couldn't. Your body started heating up and you nearly burned me."

"This isn't a funny joke Ethan." I said seriously. "I can't control my body temperature."

"Do I look like I'm joking?" He asked. Ethan didn't. "To make things worse, the blue streak in your hair was a lot more prominent than normal when you use your powers. You started mumbling a lot of phrases that I frankly didn't understand, and you were panting like a cat in heat."

I frowned at his choice of words. "Can't you put that in a better way...?

"That's the best way I could describe it!" He said loudly. Ethan ran his hand through his hair. "You freaked me out Liam. I come into your room to see you on the ground clutching your head like you're in pain. I try to pick you up and place you on your bed only to nearly get burned by something as hot as a flame. I even tried splashing water on your body only for it to evaporate into steam!"

"You need to calm down." I tried to soothe him.

"I am calm!" Ethan yelled. He gave a nervous laugh and messed with his hair again. "It-It's just that I didn't know what to do. I used my powers to pick you up off the ground and carried your unconscious body to your bed. Although, it was harder considering the fact I'm not used to carrying something heavier than 100 pounds."

Did he indirectly call me heavy?

"But I managed. I tried cooling your body down with anything I could find, and soon enough your body cooled down. I called in the maid to help place a cold cloth on your forehead hopefully to get at least five minutes of sleep. Then you woke up. The end!" Ethan said cheerfully. Although his green eyes were still wide with panic and fear.

I brought my legs off my bed and stood up. I placed my hands on my brother's shoulders. "You can stop worrying okay? I'm fine. I probably had a small cold and started getting a fever before it broke. I'm fine really." I gave a reassuring smile.

Though, I could see the doubt on his face. He didn't believe me and frankly I didn't believe my words either. I knew if I was getting sick. I wouldn't be standing away from my bed.

"If you say so..." He said unsurely. Ethan stifled a yawn.

"I think you should get some sleep." I stepped back, "When was the last time you actually had a good night's sleep?"

"Doesn't matter." He cut me off and stifled another yawn. "I'm quite awake by now. Besides, don't we have a library to clean. I don't think Father would enjoy our late presence at breakfast today." My eyes widened.