LONG byler oneshots

Time Travel.

Will worked at the foot of the king's throne daily. He helped his mother, the King's maid, scrub floors or shine boots, he helped prepare breakfast for the King, attempted to help sharpen his swords, make his bed, polish his armor. He enjoyed helping his mother, but he was only ten years old, there was not much he could do just yet. He looked forward to quality time with her when they would mop the ballroom or clean the thrones. But he mostly looked forward to the end of the day when they were free to go home and he could practice his magic. He was born with, what his mom called 'unmatched', powers. Maybe that was true, but he hadn't seen another person use magic. 

There were times when he would use magic to help them with their chores, but this made his mom scold him for being so careless. Will knew that any use of sorcery was not allowed in Hawkins. The King has made it punishable by death, that was why it was so important to keep it hidden. Though it would not stay that way for very long.

He and his mom took down the decorations that were still up from the celebration of the night before. Will stripped the long table of chalices and platters while his mom took down the decorative wreaths. The massive doors opened just slightly, and a small whisper filled the room, "psst." Though it was a whisper, they could tell it belonged to a child. The King's son, Mike, who was only one year older than him was peeking his head inside the doors, waving him over. His mom smiled down on Will, who gave her an apologetic look.

"I'll finish this, you two go have fun." She nodded to the door, and after Will wrapped his arms around her legs, he joined the Prince in the hall. It wasn't all the time Mike would get to do things, he had frequent preparations or training sessions that Will could not attend. But when they were given the chance, they enjoyed every moment of being with each other. They had ongoing games where they were both knights and fighting against each other. But Will was never good at those games and Mike would always win. Though he always thought if he was allowed to use his magic, he'd win in a heartbeat. 

As they ran past the guards with smiles plastered over their faces, someone stopped them. A woman who Will had seen many times. She was in the poor area and not where she belonged, she was the queen. "Mother." Mike stuttered, "What are you doing here?" He asked, sounding guilty. He knew his father did not like when he played with the servant's son.

"I'm paying a visit to my people," She said. Her smile was always wide and genuine, she was very graceful and looked effortlessly beautiful. Her dress was red and had expensive embroidery details all around. "You two don't get caught, you know what the King will say." She gave them a wink and their faces lit up once again. Will bowed to her before Mike began pulling his arm and running. They ran between stone walls where people set up their wooden shops filled with items made from animals or baked goods from their houses. 

"Where are we going today?" Will asked Mike as he had always had a scheme of places where they could go.

"I can't tell you that yet." Mike said, they were in the courtyard and racing through it, out of the gates and down the path of dead grass. Their voices were high and giddy, their steps were unbalanced, they teetered on old abandoned stone walls and jumped off large rocks. Once they had left the trail, Mike began to act as if he were a woods expert, finding broken branches and saying things like, "There was a deer here." Though he had no clue what he was talking about. He would make his voice sound deeper and act as if he were trying to impress Will.

The kingdom rested at the edge of a peninsula, almost entirely swallowed by water. There were beaches and rocky cliffs. Sometimes, Will hated being a servant, but then again, he enjoyed it when he would get to be with Mike. When they would go down trails into the shaded woods and find little huts or baby dragons. When they looked back to the kingdom, seeing their red banners hanging proudly out of the windows, walls standing impossibly high with steeples at the top. Ponds formed in the grass, wildflowers bloomed everywhere. It was the beginning of spring and nature was showing off her colors with pride. Will wanted to stop and take in the view, but Mike grabbed his hand and tugged him along.