I - Breath of Flame

Chapter 16 - I am His, He is Mine

-Dareon Hallow-

        After that day the castle seemed to dim. It was quiet all around, and seemed much darker, and only after two days did Dareon find out that it was because King Bathyl had died. Or was killed, to be exact.

        Good riddance. Though death wasn't a welcoming thought, and there must've been people who suffered because of his death, there were many that Dareon knew who suffered when King Bathyl was alive.

        Penny hadn't visited either, and he wondered if something happened other than the coronation ceremony of Prince Willim—King Willim now—that took up her time. Maybe it was the princess' fault, and Penny, who had no regard of the the princess' authority before, was actually driven away. People always talked about how different it would be to have a different king, how rules would change and how the air was different. For the past hours of continuous nothingness that Dareon had been experiencing, all he could think was that no, nothing was different. 

        Everything was bitterly the same.

        At this moment, he missed nothing more than the forest and the fresh breeze he had grown up with.

        When Lillian came by to collect the princess for the coronation, the girl refused to go. At this, Dareon scowled at her from his corner. His feet were sore and so was his arse from sitting in the same spot for endless hours because the princess never left the room. The fact she was there made Dareon less willing to walk around and loosen the kinks.

        Now, she wasn't standing at her balcony, which she had shut. She had slept most of the day or had sat on her bed and stared at nothing, which wasn't much different from before, but this time she was in the center of the room.

        It had been dreadfully quiet from her as well. When Lady Bane returned from her summoning to the late King Bathyl, her hands were covered in blood and she didn't speak. She was quiet as she sat on her bed and put her head in her hands, and Dareon winced, wondering if she'd rather have a bath first. He didn't offer.

        It had been two days since the coronation. 

        Today, she had bathed, and now she was once again sitting on her bed, hair wet and messy, tangled worse than it ever was. Lillian was busy and wasn't there to attend her, though she was Lady Bane's personal handmaiden. Dareon found that strange, that the handmaiden was hardly ever present, though she was specifcally supposed to be serving the girl. He wished he could escape from the crazy princess just as often.

        There was a knock on the door, and Dareon stiffened. He glanced over to the girl on the bed, expecting her to react to the guest that he wasn't going to answer himself. He hesitated, but still sat, unmoving.

        The person knocked again. "Aleks?" A voice called quietly from the other side.

        At the corner of Dareon's eye, he saw the princess stiffen, eyes widening in surprise. She pushed her hair from her face, and answered, "come in! I'm decent."

        The door opened, but Dareon wasn't in the position to see who entered. He didn't lean forward to see who it was either. Instead, he bit into an apple that Lillian had given him before she left again, telling him to eat because he wasn't allowed to leave to collect any meals from the cooks. The princess had ceased all her own meal deliveries, and that meant Dareon's as well.

        Great.

        There was a silence. Then, "you didn't come to my coronation." King Willim stepped forward, crownless, and in casual breeches and a vest over a faded shirt, his sleeves rolled halfway up to his elbows. His light blond hair was pulled into a low ponytail and his sharp brown eyes seemed hooded with sadness, "I'm sorry to intrude, I heard you were ill. It also took me longer than forever to get rid of the Ambassadors and servants before I could even come here myself. They're like bees, y'know, with much less sting and more buzzing." The boy smiled sadly, "but it seems you're just up to your old tricks again, feigning illness to avoid the big events, Aleksandra."