Three months. It's been three months since Zak ran away and lived with me. And these past three months have been exciting!
Let me explain.
On the first month, the king, Zak's father, ordered the guards to inspect each house thoroughly. Of course, that made my heart drop.
The next few weeks went by as a blur. Houses got destroyed when guards came in. People got hurt, and some even got killed.
At the end of the month, guards came to the bakery and asked me to bring them to my house. I was prepared of course.
I told Zak that, each time I went to work, he would always go to the hill and only come back when it's midnight.
My house got destroyed, no surprises there. The guards rummaged through my house, and as expected, they found nothing that belonged to Zak. So I was on the clear.
They all left, but one. He looked young, about the same age as Zak. He stayed behind and let the others walk away. He turned to me when the other guards were out of view, and spoke.
"I know the prince was here. No need to lie. Now, tell me where he is if you want to keep your life."
My eyes widened and my breathing hitched.
How? How did he know?
I gritted my teeth, and fisted my hands. But pretended to be calm.
I am not letting him take away Zak!
"I don't know what you mean. But Prince Zak isn't here. Nor did he stay here. So please stop saying nonsense and leave, you and the others have already destroyed my house!"
I half shouted. I didn't know why, but this man made my blood boil.
The man smirked and grabbed my wrist.
"What the-"
My protest were cut off when he started dragging me to the hill where Zak was currently hiding.
Oh no! Zak!
I struggled to get out of his grip, but he held me firmly and continued his way to the hill.
My mind was racing, my heart was pounding, and my palms were sweating.
I'm sorry Zak. I'm so so sorry...
As we neared the hill, I could make out the silhouette of Zak in the distance. My heart dropped and I lowered my head.
"Prince Zak!"
The guard that held my wrist yelled and I felt my chest clench with guilt. The tears that were forming started to fall.
Then, I heard footsteps, and someone hugged me. I looked to the side and saw the guard smiling. Zak was hugging me, but I was frozen from confusion.
"Darryl! Are you ok? Did they hurt you?"
Zak asked, question after question. Checking my body if I had any wounds or bruise. I just stood there, confused out of my mind.
Then, Zak turned to the guard that dragged me here.
"George, please tell me you didn't burn his house down..."
If my confusion level wasn't out of this world already, it is now.
Wait, what? He knows this guard?
Just then, the guard let out an awkward chuckle. He scratched the back of his neck and answered Zak with an unsteady voice.
"Uhm, yea, about that..."
The guard, who I assumed was 'George' looked down and kicked a pebble.
"George?"
Zak said in a stern and serious voice. The guard named 'George' flinched and looked at him and answered in a whisper.
"The boys destroyed his house..."
He trailed off and and smiled sheepishly.
Zak burst into flames and started hitting the guard. Zak started yelling while I just stood there like an idiot.
"Uhmm..."
I said, catching the attention of the two male. Zak looked at me confused, then started to giggle.
"Right, Darryl, meet George. He was my personal guard when I still lived in the castle."
Zak pointed to the guard that looked half dead. He hauled him up and stabilized him using his arms.
"George is also one of the people that kept me going. He trained me so that I was prepared when I left the castle."
"Oh"
I said. The guard looked like he came back to life. Then it hit me.
"WAIT! IF THAT GUARD IS YOUR FRIEND, THEN WHY DID HE THREATEN TO TAKE MY LIFE?!"
I shouted. Then Zak froze. The guard that was leaning on him went pale. And before I knew it, they were running around, Zak trying to 'kill' George.
Then the other two months went by so fast.
I laughed at the memory of this. That event got me and Zak even closer than before.
George said he would visit once every full moon, and he did just that.
"Hey Darryl, do you wanna go star gazing tonight?"
I heard Zak yell from the other room. Most of the time, me and Zak would go to the hill and watch the sun set, or sun rise. Or like tonight, we would star gaze together.
"Of course! I would love to!"
I yelled back. Then Zak came running towards me. He grabbed my arm then my coat then he ran outside, dragging my along with him.
"Then let's go! The sun is already setting!"
I smiled at his eagerness to see the stars. My heart fluttered and I couldn't stop smiling like an idiot.
I knew this feeling all to well. And within almost four months of living with him, I knew I was in love.
He dragged me to the hill, almost tripping on the way. We reached the top of the hill when suddenly, Zak stopped walking.
He stepped a few feet away from me, then halted. I stood there, confused and concerned.
Zak turned around, his head was slightly lowered. I was about to speak when Zak suddenly rushed towards me and engulfed me in his warm embrace.
Completely caught off guard, I stumbled backwards. I fell down, bringing Zak with me. He was on top of me, his eyes staring straight at mine.
We just laid there, staring at each other. Then, unintentionally, I started moving my head forward. Zak quickly followed suit.
The gap between us was slowly shrinking until...
"Well, isn't this a lovely view?"
Zak and I snapped our heads to the source of the voice. A man with a black cloak stood there. Behind him, a small person was leaning against the tree, wearing the same black cloak.
"It's been awhile, hasn't it Darryl?"
The man leaning against the tree spoke. Zak stood up, and helped me stand up, then he hid behind me, cowering from the mysterious people that appeared.
"Indeed it has..."
I trailed of. The man leaning against the tree moved. Standing beside the other man who was taller than him.
"Is that Prince Zak?"
The taller man spoke. My gaze trailed to Zak then back to the unexpected visitors.
"Well, I guess you could say that..."
I rubbed the back of my head and looked down. Just then, I heard Zak gasp.
"Wait, your voices..."
Zak trailed off. He put a finger on his forehead and scratched it, before snapping to the smaller male.
"Your the personal guards of Prince Nick! You two were there when they visited 7 months ago."
Zak said in a rather quiet voice, which shocked me at first. Zak was always so loud and confident, but now he's acting scared and shy.
"I knew it would click eventually."
Then, the two visitors took off their hood and revealed the people underneath.
This is going to be a long night...