Eyes of Rose Flame l.p. (Slow Updates)

Chapter Two

"How can you say for sure that he was the Liam Payne?" I asked Peter. After the two men had disappeared through the palace gates, Peter and I had continued on our way to Doc's. Of course, my mind had been elsewhere since we had arrived. Peter had tried to talk about other things - most of them involving ways to kill Max or at least turn him into the guards without giving away we were also theives - but my mind kept wandering back to a certain set of dark eyes flaked with gold. He seemed a little shocked that I had finally spoken.

 "You forget I'm not from here, love," Peter replied taking another long drink from his tankard. He was already a bit tipsy.

I had forgotten Peter hadn't always lived in the central city. He was originally from the coast and had only lived here in the Central City for about two years. He never really talked about how he ended up an orphan in the center of the kingdom when he was from so far away. The five princes each ruled from separate cities throughout the kingdom. The council convened here, in the center. The princes only ever came here on official business with the council. Not many people had ever even seen the princes. At least not here.

Peter signaled to the serving girl that he needed new glass. "I'm from the city where Prince Liam rules. I know his face from before. I'm sure that was him." He emphasized Prince as if I would somehow forget.

Of course, I finally find the man I thought I had made up only to discover that he is an extremely wealthy ruler. Perfect. "Then the other man with him, the blonde, he must be another of the princes," I mused aloud. He hadn't shied away from Liam and had even dared to physically nudge him to continue into the palace when he had paused.

Peter nodded, taking a swig from his refilled glass. "Probably. I only know Liam's face." He looked thoughtful for a moment before slamming his glass down and looking me dead in the eye. He wasn't drunk just yet, but he was well on his way. I had barely even touched my own drink. "What is so special about him?" He asked me, completely serious.

I was shocked. Had I really made it so obvious that Liam was...well at the very least interesting? I never really looked twice at anyone though, so I really shouldn't have been thrown. I swallowed hard, but no words left my throat. What could I say? I had been dreaming about him for years? That wouldn't make me sound mad in the slightest.

Peter relaxed back in his chair, a bitter look on his face. His bright green eyes were still trained on my strangely colored ones. "I could give you whatever you want, you know. We can leave here. We could go anywhere, do anything." His voice was low and quite serious despite the amount of alcohol he had consumed since we had arrived.

I sighed, hating myself for putting both of us in the situation. Peter was only this forward when he had been drinking. He was my best friend. I trusted him with everything. Of course, he was attractive: tall, thin, completely muscle. Yet somehow I still only saw him as a friend. I hated myself for that, he really would have been perfect for me. I couldn't bring myself to turn him down again, so instead I signaled to the other boys that I was leaving. I'm surprised they actually saw me through their drunken haze, trying to pick up any woman that would look at them from across the room.

I easily maneuvered around the other patrons of the bar in their varying levels of drunkenness and stepped out into the late evening. The sun wasn't quite setting just yet, but the streets were still mostly in shadow thanks to the tall buildings. Peter stumbled out after me, lacing his hand with mine. It wasn't an odd thing for him to do but I normally pulled away as he made some joke. Right then I didn't have the heart to pull my hand free.

Peter sighed, running his other hand across his face. "I'm really not that drunk, you know." It was a statement rather than a question but I still nodded to show I'd heard him. I didn't really believe him.