War of the Hares

Chapter 4

"Yeah, but have you ever thought about why we chose blue as the field of my sigil?"

No one knew the answer. They hadn't really thought about that before.

"It's cause the Hargroves, who have demonic blood, can control blue flame."

Richie's jaw dropped. "You're serious? Your family can control blue fire? Almost no one can do that! It's too hot."

"Well, they can. And according to my grandma, there was a prophecy about someone in our family."

"What is it?" Mikhail asked, very curious.

Vance cleared his throat and spoke theatrically:

"From the blood of the traitorous rose, come the Manticore. He will wield blue flames as his sword and win the war."

"Who's the traitorous rose?"

"I think it's my great-grandma, Lucenyra Belrose. She was the twin sister of King Aethan."

"Stellarian? That's right, she supported the Queen during the war. But is the Manticore you?"

"Maybe. it could only be one of four people:" He used his fingers to name them off. "Neil, Billy; my mom; Nicole; or even me."

"Hmm, who do you think it is?" Mikhail asked while eating his food.

Vance looked to the side. As if he was deeply anxious. "I just pray it isn't Neil or Billy."

...

"What did Vance want us to find again?" Richie asked, alone in the supply closet with Mikhail.

"I think one of those silver sponges?" He said looking in all the drawers.

"The ones that scratch?"

"Yeah."

They kept looking for said item. But to no avail.

So Mikhail decided to ask about a sensitive subject.

"Did you love Eddie?"

Richie looked at him, confused, "Excuse me?"

"I asked: did you love Eddie? Or had any romantic interest in him."

He paused, looking back on his own emotions. He was betrothed because the two were friends due to their shared group with Stanley and Bill Denbrough. But he never got to see him. Lady Sonia didn't exactly approve of the match.

"I had a crush on him, yes. But I don't think he thought of me like that."

"How do you know?"

"Us demons, we can....we can sense a human's more carnal emotions. Usually with romantic interest comes some sort of lust. That's how we usually know. But with him, it never was like that. It was love, but in a platonic way."

His voice had started croaking at this point. And Mikhail couldn't help but hug the guy.

(But he had to be on his tippy toes, unfortunately)

"Richie, it was his loss. Maybe you're meant to marry for love."

He laughed and wiped his tears. "That's like finding a needle in a haystack. It's impossible for anyone but commoners to marry for love. At least you guys don't need to care about status."

Mikhail smiled and danced his fingertips on Richie's chest. "Well, to tell you the truth: I like you. I have ever since I met you and it's only grown stronger."

Richie grinned. He knew those feelings he sensed weren't for someone else.

"If you like me back like I think you do, don't feel bad. Don't feel guilty for trying to move on with your life. Eddie would want that for you. And so would Stan."