Soldier, Poet- King.

Chapter 10: Nothing Stays in the Past Forever

"Wow, I didn't know Liz had so many friends!" Liv would giggle, mingling with Lili. The group had been talking for what seemed like hours.

"Newly acquainted—" Lili would correct, smiling. "I only met her yesterday," she'd confess.

"Right! Cause you're here from Erohakin," Alex would add. He too knew Liz, for they took a class together in uni before his debut as a traveling marauder. "And you mentioned you brought your other friend along too? What was his name again?" the golden boy remarked.

"Oh yeah." She had completely forgotten about how she was supposed to be here with Ben. "His name is Ben. We actually came together," she revealed, looking around now. "I sorta lost him in the crowd."

This name caught the soldier, the one that Lili now knew as "William," off guard. He would perk up and furrow his eyebrows, surprised. It was like the word was an arrow, directly piercing his throat behind all of his clunky armor.

The blue knight's eyes widened, no emotional value behind them. "Ben's here?" He muttered. His vision started to blur, replaced with a red haze, covered up by an abundance of thoughts. He would clear his throat. "Pardon me everyone," he would interrupt.

"Let me excuse myself. I have something to attend to with—" He would search Liv's eyes for an excuse. "Prince Evan."

With that, William sprinted away from the group, in some sort of rush.

"What about Prince Evan?" Lenci would look up to Liv for answers. "What's going on with him?" she asked innocently.

Olivia would set her hands to her side. "I don't really know, Lenci," Liv would say with confidence. "Probably just kingdom business. The prince does need to find his—" She would spark, her eyes lighting up.

"Wait a minute." Liv would infer. "Lili, are you seeing anyone right now?"

Lili would raise an eyebrow. "Not currently?..." She'd reply, unsure. "...why?"

"Oh my god," Liv declared, practically jumping with delight. "I have an idea."

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When Jess and Evan approached the Southeast tower, they heard a few pitches of voices. Sam suddenly emerged from the black tunnel of the hallway. "Evan. Thank god you're here," he'd say. He had a tight grip to his sword; it was so tight, his fingers began to bleed. His eyes were a little puffy, and he looked very aware of his surroundings.

"Sam? What are you doing? What's going on?" the prince would ask, a hint of fear in his vocal cords.

Sam would shiver, explaining that he had found someone sneaking around Evan's room. He would lead the two of them through the hall to meet this man, only for Evan to notice a familiar face.

Evan's eyes grew wide and dark. He was so hard to recognize, but this was no stranger to the prince. "Ben?" He'd ask, more to himself than anything.

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It was a dusty fall evening. The leaves were all falling in pairs of orange and yellow bundles, and everyone seemed so happy. The summer flowers were at the end of their blooming season; the last of the flower buds showing themselves to the world before they would inevitably be forgotten about—and covered up with the frozen whites.

The little blue prince and his best friend were on their merry way to pick strawberries. Steoqapis was one of the last towns in the area that had a late growing season, and so the strawberries were sweeter and riper than ever before.

Evan was asked by his mother to go pick the strawberries for her, as she was too weak that morning. Evan wasn't allowed to leave by himself, so he brought along his best friend in the whole world, Ben.