~*~
The doors to the castle creak open as if they were leading into a darkened and abandoned lair. Kael steps inside, the heels of his shoes clicking against the wood. The doors creak shut behind them and they’re shrouded in silence. “My father will probably want to see me.” Kael says turning to Aiden and planting a chaste kiss to his cheek. “I’ll see you later.” He politely excuses himself, leaving Aiden to ponder about all that had taken place within the past few hours. He shoves a hand through his ashen locks and walks in the opposite direction that Kael had gone.
With his hands behind his back and his head held high, Kael walks to his father’s study and stops just outside the door. Despite the silence Kael could still hear voices, possibly the ones in his head. He raises a fist to the door and knocks twice. A moment passes before the door swings open his father’s burly figure standing behind it. “Father,” He bows his head deeply. The King looks to his son with disdain, ushering him inside. The door slams shut, the sound ricocheting against the walls. “I heard you went out with that bodyguard.”
“Yes,” Kael continues to stand behind his father, his hands clasped behind his back. “What did you two discuss or was it a date?” He sneers, his lips curling up darkly. Kael had the sudden urge to roll his eyes. “No, I went to settle a misunderstanding with a friend.”
“And at such a place?”
“Yes…” Kael understood that his father placed tails on him, that other bodyguards would follow his every move and report it to their boss—his father, the King. “Did anything happen that I should know of?” He turns around to look in Kael’s eyes, Kael keeps his gaze lowered. “Kael? Did something happen?” He asks again, Kael’s teethe grate together and the grip he has on his hand tightens. “No,” it wasn’t his first time lying to his father. “Nothing happened.” The King takes a step closer to Kael and tilts his head. “You aren’t lying to me are you?” Kael lifts his eyes to meet his father’s gaze. “I’m not lying to you.”
“You know that as a Prince honesty is a key trait.”
“Yes,”
“And if you don’t have that,” His father begins to circle him. “You have nothing.” You’re one to speak. Kael thought with a snort. “I understand.”
“Mmm, so let’s speak hypothetically.” His father was standing behind his back now. “If something did happen, a hypothetical kiss or argument…”
“Yes…”
“And if it got out to the media, how would you handle such a situation?” Kael turns to face his father and says confidently. “I wonder too, how I would handle such a situation father, aren’t you curious?” The King is slightly taken aback by Kael’s sudden disposition and stands up straight, his expression drawing blank. “If they did find out that the Lennon family’s only son is dating another male, how would they view his bloodline?” Kael tilts his head. “Hmm, I wonder, would they question the son’s upbringing?” He grins, a gleam casting in his feline eyes. “Or would they look towards the King and begin to question his own sexual-orientation…”
“Enough!” The King finally snaps and Kael’s grin immediately falls away. “Who do you think you’re speaking to?!” The King shouts but Kael says not a word. “As your father I am very much disappointed in your dating choices.” Disappointed? Please. “A man! Of all possible options, a man. I know women can be quite intimidating, even annoying but you could have at least handled one.”
“What?”
“You want an easy life, you’re young and it’s easier to quench your needs without the worry of getting another woman pregnant.” Kael takes a shaky step back, his mouth falling open. “You’re wise son, so have your fun with Aiden and afterwards start thinking realistically.” Kael stares at his father—this complete stranger and laughs. “You’re crazy.” He says in utter disbelief shaking his head at his father’s words. “I went out with a purpose, father! I wanted to see just how far you’d take things.”
“What did you say?”
“Even mother doesn’t stalk me around as much as you do. It’s like you’re afraid that I may find out something.” The King’s eyes flare with rage and he lunges forward. There’s a resounding POP and Kael’s cheek stings. “Don’t you ever make such accusations about your father, the King.” His words were sharp and his voice deep. Kael feels his cheek stinging, but he does not raise a hand to the wound, instead he glares at his father and shakes his head with a grin. “You don’t deserve such a title.” He declares stepping around him and walking out of the room, but before he’s able to escape the King lands a single blow to the back of his head. Kael feels dizzy, his head sways, the world tilts but he does not fall. He takes a step forward his body crashing into the wall and he waits for the dizziness to fade away until he stands up again and trudges down the hall to his room—his head still held high.
~*~
Janus and Aiden were standing at the foot of the stairs, their eyes straining to hear the slightest rustle, crack or creak. “What did you two do?” Janus asks not glancing at Aiden. “Huh?”
“Kael went out for a few minutes with you.”
“Oh, oh, we just went to meet Jenna.” Janus’s eyes widen and his head spins around to meet Aiden. “To see Jenna?”
“Yeah,” Aiden laughs nervously. “It didn’t go so well.”
“Where did you two meet?” Aiden shrugs. “Some fancy place downtown.”
“Are you stupid?”
“Hey, it was Kael’s idea.” Janus swallows, placing a hand to his head and sighing. “What the hell!”
“Hey, calm down, why are you getting upset?” Janus takes a step closer to Aiden and says. “The media will have a field day with you two.”
“Kael warned me about that.” Janus turns away from Aiden and grumbles under his breath. “This is not the time to be behaving so irrationally.” He suddenly turns to Aiden and jabs a finger at his head. “You could have used some common sense and talked him out of it.” Aiden’s eyes flicker seriously. “I don’t control him, he’s his own person; he makes his own decisions and mistakes, I’m just here to weaken the blow of his consequences.”
“You’re too soft on him.”
“I’m his boyfriend, not his father.”
“But you’re his bodyguard, get your head out of the gutter and start thinking like one.” Janus snaps and Aiden’s lips clamp together. “Don’t you want to know what Jenna said to us? What she told him?” He says with muffled anger. Janus shakes his head. “It’s none of my business, I don’t want to hear about your personal problems.”
“But she hurt him.”
“How do you know?” Janus’s brown eyes level with Aiden’s. “Kael’s been to hell and back, his head getting bumped along the way, I’m sure that whatever she said is a little scratch compared to all that he’s dealt with.” Aiden bares his teeth at Janus’s words. “You may have him now, you may think you know every little thing about the Prince, but I’ve been with him since the beginning.”
“You sound just like your cousin.” Aiden sneers and Janus stares at the younger dumbfounded, but instead of saying something back, he returns to his post and stares ahead. “Focus on your job.” He adds as his final words to Aiden that evening.
The unexpected is a 500 piece puzzle set that one may try to put together to lessen the blow of such shocks and surprises. But the puzzle is never finished in time; there’s always three or four, maybe even ten other pieces that still need to be put in place.
The unexpected is the sharp breath Kael takes that night when another panic attack settles against his nerves. It takes him by surprise, he’s not expecting it—it’s been a while. He clutches his blankets and chokes on air. Everything’s dark again. His head hurts. He’s drowning, drowning. His body spasms and he can’t stop shaking. He grips his hair and squeezes his eyes shut. Images begin to flash behind his lids, images from long ago the one’s he’s sworn that he’s forgotten.
The unexpected is the door flinging open and Aiden rushing over to cradle him in hi
s arms. “Hey, hey, hey, Kael, listen to me okay.” His anxious voice, his hammering heart, Kael can hear it all and unexpectedly he begins to relax. His huffs begin to slow, his hiccups become less frequent and light begins to splinter into his darkness.
The unexpected is what makes us grow.
The next day…
Kael was sitting up in his bed, the newly risen sun hanging high in the sky, its rays shining down into his bedroom. It was late morning, around 9:30AM and Kael didn’t feel like getting up and having to face his father once again. His mother would probably come in and tell him to apologize, he wanted to get away before that happened. He swings his feet over the edge of his bed and jumps down. The carpet was cool against the curve of his feet. His arms stretch above his head and he yawns. “Nnngh.” He turns around to straighten his blankets and there he saw a tuft of ashen hair. He tilts his head confused. He tugs the blue blanket covering the figure and his eyes widen, surprised to see Aiden lying there still dressed in his suit. He reaches forward to wake him but stops when the older’s bottom lip twitches and he groans. Kael pulls back, his eyes settling on Aiden’s features in a tender gaze. His eyes trace from Aiden’s forehead down to his nose and then lower to his lips where his gaze rests. He sits on the edge of the bed and reaches over to brush a strand of hair out of Aiden’s eyes. He stirs slightly, but Kael does not move his hand, instead he places his thumb to Aiden’s bottom lip and smiles. Aiden’s eyes open suddenly and Kael jolts taken by surprise, his heart skipping a beat. “You’re up.” Aiden says groggily, his head still resting on the pillow. Kael nods. “Y-yes, I woke up a few moments ago.”
“Mmm,” Aiden wipes at his eyes and begins to sit up, shoving his tousled hair out of his eyes. “Did you sleep well?” Aiden asks, his voice still husky with sleep. Kael nods. “Yes, I did, thank you.” Aiden smiles flashing a peace-sign. “Anytime.” He swings his legs on the other side of the bed and gets to his feet. He stretches just like Kael had a few moments ago, his shirt rises up offering Kael a glimpse of his boxers. And he slips off of the bed, walking over to Aiden and standing in front of him. “What’s up?” Aiden asks, his mouth opening wide to let out a yawn. Kael continues to stare at him, his hands moving on their own to Aiden’s chest.
“Hey…Kael,” Aiden was beginning to get worried. Kael’s hand slides down his clothed chest, over his stomach and then out to his hips. Aiden’s eyes follow Kael’s hand and he can’t help the shiver that courses down his spine. He grabs Kael’s wrist and pulls his hand away. “Don’t you think it’s too early for this?” Aiden questions nervously, his body still flushed with sleep and quite sensitive to Kael’s touch. Kael was staring back into his eyes and a slow smile descends across his lips. “I just wanted to touch you.” Aiden stares wide-eyed and then shakes his head with a sigh. “Does it calm you to touch me?”
“Somewhat.” Saying this Kael brings both his hands back to Aiden’s chest, his fingers spread out wanting to feel every muscle of the older’s body. His eyes droop down and his lips part to let out a sigh. His hands slide down, their grip tightening against Aiden’s stomach. The corner of his lips twitch when Kael’s thumb strokes in circles. Aiden gently knocks Kael’s hand away and shakes his head. “You like testing people’s limits.”
“No,” Kael tilts his head and leans forward to kiss Aiden’s jaw. “I was just testing my own.” He pulls back and smiles, his eyes glimmering. Aiden doesn’t know what to say so instead he just lets Kael walk away.
Sure enough the King and Queen were waiting in the dining room for Kael to appear. They sat stiffly in their seats, their gazes averted from each other. The King had explained to his wife the encounter he had with Kael. The conversation was settled with a sharp, “It was your idea.” And so now they waited for their son. “Do you think he’s up?” The Queen asks, her hands crossed together elegantly. “He should be; do you want to check on him?” She shakes her head. “No, I’ll just wait.” The King chuckles cynically. “Have you read the paper?” The Queen looks to him, her brow raised. “No…why?”
“Well,” He slides the newspaper in his lap over to her. “Our son and his knight have made the front page.”
“What?” She grabs the paper up, yanking it open to read the headlines. PRINCE LENNON CAUGHT IN A LOVE TRIANGLE.
“What—what nonsense is this?” The King rests his chin in the palm of his hand. “Read it for yourself.” She stares at her husband in shock and then her gaze slides away to the paper.
“Royal Prince, Kael Lennon was out yesterday afternoon with his bodyguard. The two were seen entering a restaurant that is visited by those of the high class.”
“It’s just another gossip column, why waste your time reading such useless garba—”
“Just keep reading.” After a moment of hesitation, she takes a deep breath and continues on.
“They were met by a young woman in her early twenties; we asked a few onlookers about what they discussed:
Onlooker 1: The woman they met with was yelling, she was so upset and wouldn’t stop screaming at the Prince.
Onlooker 2: What surprised me was the way she treated the Prince.
“They continued to say that the relationship between the Prince and his bodyguard was quite queer.”
Onlooker 3: When the woman left they held hands and talked in whispers, then they came over to us asking us to keep quiet.
The Queen places the paper down and slowly looks up to meet the King’s gaze. “Has this been released to the public?”
“I stopped it before it was able to spread.”
“What was he thinking!?” She finally snaps, the King shrugs as though he were in his teens again. “Who knows…I don’t think he was thinking at all.” There’s a tmptmptmp against the wooden floor and the cool flourish of Kael’s robe as he takes a seat between his parents. “You wanted to see me.” Without saying a word the Queen tosses the newspaper to Kael, he catches it with surprise. “What’s this?” He asks, looking warily into his mother’s eyes, she gestures for him to read it and so he does. As his gaze slides across each sentence, his eyes widen. “Mother—“
“I’m not going to yell at you or berate you like your father.” She begins softly, her hands clasped together once again. “But I want you to understand that your actions have consequences.”
“I know…”
“Do you really, Kael?” He crumples the paper up in his hands. “I don’t care about your relationships or who you fall in love with, but remember that all of your mistakes come back to us.” Kael’s eyes widen. “You’re a Prince, son, you can’t go about taking care of your personal problems in public like that.” The Queen continues and Kael stares at her dumbfounded. He scoffs, rolling his eyes. “I see why you’re married.”
“Don’t give me that, Kael.” He rises up from his seat. “I’m Kael before I’m a Prince, that’s who I try to be, I don’t want to mix the two.”
“Well, you’re going to have to.” She replies standing on her feet. “Mom, all my life you never—“ She holds up her hand shushing him. “Not right now, Kael.”
“But mom, I just want to be ‘Kael.’”
“And you are!”
“No, no I’m not!” He was acting childishly, his fists clenched together and his eyebrows furrowed, he didn’t dare to look into her eyes. “I’m not. Kael was replaced by the ‘Prince’ a long time ago and whenever Kael appeared neither of you cared to watch over him.”
“Kael,” She steps around the table and towards him. “I’m tired, tired, fucking tired.” Her eyes widen. “He was there for me last night; while I couldn’t breathe, while I was in pain—he was there.” The King suddenly rises up and sighs heavily. “I see that dating another man has made you into a woman.” Kael snaps around to glare at his father. “What did you say?”
“You’re defending him so zealously; should we start addressing you as ‘Princess’.” Kael’s offended, shocked and disgusted that his father would actually suggest such things. He looks between his pare
nts—they were beautiful and young, their looks were striking, but their hearts—he steps away from them. “If you’d excuse me.” He reverts back to his respectful, princely self, bowing and dashing out of there. He runs down the hall, knocking into Janus and a few other servants on his way down. He bursts through the front door and bites his trembling bottom lip. He was angry, seething beneath his clothes and just wanting to, to… “Kael?” He turns around at the breathless call of his name. Aiden stood behind him with a look of worry. “I saw you running so I—” Kael rushes towards him and grips the front of Aiden’s shirt in his hands. He pulls him forward and crashes their lips together. It’s a needy kiss, rough and unsure. Aiden stands with his eyes wide. Kael pulls back, his chest heaving. “Let’s go.” He blurts.
“G-go where?” Aiden manages to ask. “To our treasure.” Kael’s eyes flit across Aiden’s face and the grip he has on his shirt loosens. He sighs, stepping back and turning away from Aiden. “I feel like a nut-case, like I’m trapped in a house full of crazies. I think I’m gonna go insane.” He laughs, it’s a sad laugh. Aiden walks up to him, placing a hand to his back and saying softly. “Let’s go…where ever you want to go…let’s go.” His hand slides down to wrap around Kael’s waist and when the brunette turns around to look into his eyes—that’s when Aiden knew that it would be alright.
~*~
Aiden steps out of the car and walks around to open the door for Kael, but the younger was already out and stretching. “Lead the way.” He says to Aiden with a warm smile and so he does. He opens the greenhouse doors, that familiar forest-y scent wafting up their nostrils. Kael steps inside and spreads his arms out. “Aaah, I always feel so relaxed when I come here.” The door closes with no sound and Aiden smiles, watching as Kael flits about tinkering with a pot that was turned upside down on the ground. “Once things settle down between me and my parents, we should come here every day and keep the promise we made of cleaning it up.” Aiden nods. “Of course.” He walks towards Kael reaching over him and picking up a single flower. Kael turns around and smiles down at Aiden. “Do you know what that one’s called?” Aiden tears his gaze away from the flower to look up at Kael. “No…enlighten me.” Kael plucks the flower from Aiden’s fingers and places it behind his back. “It’s a Red Poppy.”
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