Secrets Of The Wisteria (Velvetfrost)

Chapter 3

Red sighed, staring into nothingness as he continuously thought of the other prince he'd recently met. Suddenly a knock at the door made him sit upright.
"Red, come here. They wanna talk to you!" His little brother's voice came from the other side, knocking on the door.

"I'm coming, go away!" Red snapped, annoyed by his brother's nagging.
Downstairs, the king and queen were waiting ominously in the throne room, eyes staring hard into their son's soul.

"Mother, father," Red greeted stiffly.
"Red," the king snapped, "You are aware of the war between us the Frost Kingdom, aren't you."
"Yes..."
"You are no longer allowed to go near the border. For all we know, they could use you as bait," the king scoffed.

"What!?" Red snarled, eyes burning with rage, "But I--"
The king slapped him across the face, quieting the prince and causing tears to spark in his eyes.
"Do not raise your voice at me."
"Yes, father..."
"Go to your room, young man," the queen snapped, looking to the ground to avoid the pain and tears in her son's eyes.
"Yes, mother..."

Red ran up to his room and sobbed, slumping against the old wooden door and burying his face in his hands.
He would never see Ant again, never see that pretty smile lined with sharp upper teeth or fluffy brown hair or those beautiful blue-- no, turquoise-- eyes again.

Wait, when did he realize Ant's eyes were turquoise and not just blue? When did he start caring so much about seeing him? When did he notice how two of the boy's front teeth were pointed like a cat's?

Red shook his head, he had no clue what was going on. His mind raced and ached, head pounding with the headache that came with the tears sliding down his cheeks.
Another knock on the door and Red was wiping his tears quickly, making himself look presentable before opening the door to his little brother.

"What do you want, Tommy?"
Tommy blinked innocently up at the boy, "I saw him slap you and I wanted to know if you were okay?"
Red sighed, annoying as the child may be, he was far too sweet. Then again, he was six. What else was a 6-year-old to do besides annoy his older siblings and be confused?

"I'm alright Tommy."
"Really?"
"Really. Leave me alone."
The exchange only lasted a few seconds, but Red had to force himself to shut the door on the confused and worried little boy at his door.

Then it dawned on Red that he had to meet Ant tonight. However, he was forbidden to even go close to their Northern border.
Screw it, he thought. He'd go himself. Forget his parents, he was going to see that boy again.

Red packed his bags and hopped out the window, remembering the unguarded part of the wall surrounding the palace.
That part of the stone wall was hidden far from the other parts of the castle grounds, in a small corner.

The rest of the 8-foot-tall wall was regularly maintained and kept clean and tidy, prestigious and shining under sun and moon alike. This part, however, was overgrown and covered in ivy leaves.
The once shining stone was now cracked and covered with years of debris, caked in mud, and left to crumble as the years went on.

The perfect place to escape the grounds. No guards or patrols were ever stationed there, the rulers having forgotten about it since their rein began.
However, on the way there, there was a wide patch of grass regularly patrolled and flooded over by moonlight.

Red gritted his teeth as he landed in the grass, almost inaudible but far too loud in the silence of the night. The prince shivered despite the humidity in the air surrounding him.

Red sighed when nothing came of the noise, feeling foolish for thinking anything would happen and he ran across the grass fast as he could while simultaneously trying to keep as still as he possibly could.

Another part of the inner wall that was heavily surrounded was the boy's next challenge.
Red crouched in the bushes, glancing around for something to distract the guards before he spotted a sword.

A common object to use, perhaps easily suspected, Red would've thought it to be unusable if he hadn't known that particular group of guards.
Not the brightest bunch, to say the least. They came from long lines of royal guards and took their jobs very seriously despite not being well-known or even very respected.

He threw the stone and it landed near the end of the wall, and all guards immediately ran to the source of the noise.
Red took the chance and bolted over the wall, jumping it easily due to his agility.

Red sighed as he approached the broken down part of the wall, stumbling and falling as he fell on his back due to a piece of the chipped stone giving out from under his hand.
With a rumble of annoyance deep in his throat, Red finally got outside the palace grounds and ran across the nearly flat plains of their land.

Finally, he came to the beautiful Wisteria and finally took in a sigh of relief, not realizing he'd been holding his breath until now.
Where was Ant? Was he okay? Why wouldn't he come?

Eventually, Red had fallen asleep against the tree as he waited for the other boy, his eyelids growing heavy and slipping closed.
The next morning, he would wake Ant shaking him.