Royally Rebelling - A Goldric Story

Realization

I was back in the ballroom and dancing with Emira yet again. The room was less crowded now that more people had begun to leave. We both spun around to switch parters and I came face to face with Edric.

He smiled warmly, "hi". "Hey" I responded, "how have you been?". He shrugged, "fine, talking to the other kingdom leaders was nice, at least better then talking to my mom".

I laughed, "I guess we were both stuck with some shitty family, lucky us". He laughed lightly as we danced, "I guess so, though I'm kind of glad we were" his face turned a light shade of pink before he continued, "or I would've never met you, and I'm really glad I did".

I felt my face heating up as he said that. "I'm really glad I met you too" I whispered, gazing into his golden eyes

The music slowed and Edric put a hand behind my back and lowered me into a dip. I held the eye contact as his face inched closer to mine.

"Can I kiss you?" He said in such a quiet voice I almost missed it, but I didn't. I felt my throat go dry and I couldn't say a word, so I just nodded.

He cupped my cheek and leaned closer, tilting his head while doing so. His soft warm lips pressed gently against mine and I wrapped my arms around his neck. Wow people weren't exaggerating about the fireworks.

Edric pulled back, his eyes sparkling and a grin grew on his face. He pressed his forehead against mine and softly said, "I really like you". I opened my mouth to reply when I heard my name being called out.

"Hunter" wait, but that's Edric's voice. I stared at him as a sad smile appeared on his face, then he faded away as I snapped back to reality.

My eyes shot open and I saw Edric crouching in front of me, a hand on my shoulder that shook me awake. I felt my face instantly heat up as soon as our eyes met but I hoped it was hidden in the absence of the sun.

Wait, when did the sun set? How long had we been out here? Edric seemed to read my face because he said, "we've been out here for a few hours, I'm pretty sure the ball is ending soon so I thought it would be better if we snuck in there now so we can go back to our rooms without getting caught".

I was still partially in shock from the dream so I just nodded. He stood up and I pushed myself up to follow, he walked to the balcony and gripped my hand.

He spun his hand in the air and the familiar trail of green light appeared. A huge tiger lily sprouted out of the ground and carried us up the balcony. Edric climbed over the railing first and stretched his hand out to me, helping me climb over without falling.

He pushed open the glass balcony doors and walked back in towards the pillar we hid behind last time. I saw Edric's face twist in concentration as the illusions walked up the stairs towards us.

He motioned for me to follow him as he walked to the illusions, they disappeared in a blue mist as we took their place. We walked down the polished quartz stairs just a new song started to play.

Edric turned towards me and stuck out his hand, "care to dance?". I smiled and accepted his hand, "sure thing, blight". We walked to the dance floor and he wrapped one arm around my waste as I placed one on his shoulder , he took my free hand and we started dancing.

"What did you do when I fell asleep?" I asked. "Oh" he said, a little surprised, "I just practiced some spells and stuff, did you have any good dreams?" I felt my face turn hot, "I think so, I can't remember them though" I lied.

It felt so weird having to lie to him, I had only know him for a few days but he is the best friend I have and probably ever will have and I can't mess that because of my unrequited feelings.

I quickly tried to carry on the conversation and not let my disappointment show in my face, "what spells did you try?". "I tried a few more plant spells but I mostly focused on illusions" he answered.

The music slowed down and I could feel my heartbeat quicken. Edric moved his hand to my back and I wrapped mine around his neck as he lowered me into a dip, now I could hear my heartbeat in my ears so loud I could hardly hear the music.

It seemed as if we were in the position forever, just staring into each other's eyes. Unfortunately he pulled me back up and we untangled out of each other's arms.

"I think I'm going to go talk to Raine now" I said. I quickly walked away, trying to get the thought of us kissing out of my mind. He's never going to like me, why can't I just accept that.

I walked around for a bit until spotted a familiar kingdom leader with mint hair and large round glasses. "Hi Raine" I said, trying to catch their attention.

They turned around and looked at me, "oh Hunter, it's good to see you again" they said with a smile on their face. "It's good to see you too" I said, a smile growing on mine.

Their gaze wondered off me and to someone behind me, I turned to follow their eyes and saw the pale gray haired witch who ran the potion shop.

"Eda?" I asked. Raine turned to me, clearly confused "you know her?". "Kind of, she sold me a potion a while ago" I responded. Raine let out a small laugh, "I bet your uncle loved that".

I scratched the back of my neck, "yeah I haven't told him, what's she doing here anyway?". They shrugged, "she probably snuck in". Something in their face said what words never could, there was longing, admiration, but more clearly then all of that, love.

"Do you know her?" I asked, pretty much already knowing the answer. There face heated up as they answered, "uh yeah, we've been friends for a while but with all my work we haven't seen each other much"

"Then why don't you go talk right now, I won't mind" I asked. "I guess I could, I'm not really the best at speaking to people". I raised my eyebrows, "you can run and entire kingdom but not talk to one girl you know?"

Their face heated up more, "fine" they then walked over the the gray haired women who looked like they were about to steal the silverware. I had no idea why Raine liked Eda but they clearly did and I was happy for the both of them.

I didn't really have anyone else to talk to so I walked over to the entrance of the ballroom. I pushed open the doors and walked back to my room. Once I finally got there I opened the door and Flapjack gave me a happy tweet.

I didn't have the energy to do anything so I just took my shoes and jacket off and laid on my bed. I stared at the ceiling for a moment before placing a finger on my lips. No matter how hard I tried to get the image of Edric out of my mind I just couldn't.

The panic began to set in slowly as the thoughts kept repeating in my mind. I like Edric Blight. I like Edric Blight. "I like Edric Blight" I whispered softly to myself. Fuck