Logan stared at Caldwell, slightly puffing his cheeks like a chipmunk. He glared at her doing paper work for while, until she finally looked up with her glasses sliding down her nose.
Pushing it back up, she says, "You may be a Prince, and I have given you permission to see the girls many times, but taking them out for a journey. . . That depends. Did your father grant you permission?"
The boy froze in his spot, wondering weather to lie or not.
"If you say yes, I'll have to speak to your father to see for myself."
"No. He did not grant my permission." Logan whispered.
"Ah," the ends of Caldwell's lips, curved into a smirk, "Just what I thought."
"But miss! Can't you just let the girls out of the orphanage for once?! They have been stuck here for nearly their entire life!" Logan begged, "They need to see the outside world!"
The old woman went back to her own paper work, "Well, your highness, it wasn't my fault that their mothers put them here. They are only allowed to leave until their adopted, or turn eighteen."
"Cassidy is seventeen."
"Seventeen, not eighteen." She sighed and looked up again, "Are you going see the girls today as well, or is this all you just wanted to talk about?"
Feeling hopeless, Logan took a step back and sighed, "That is all, ma'am. I will visit the girls another time."
"Very well. Good day, your highness."
"Good day." He turned on his heels and walked outside of the old grey building. Looking over to the side where he sees his carriage, he frowns, "What should I do now?"
"Well, there is always a point of time in your life where you have to break the rules."
The Prince flinched, then looked the opposite direction. There he sees a hooded figure, sitting on a rock as they peeled an apple with a small pocket knife. "What was that?" Asked Logan, stepping back.
The figure looked up, light finally shedding down on the face of a man. The man had dark blue hair, that it would be mistaken for black, along with midnight blue eyes that seemed to have sparkled. He smiled, "Do you really want to know the secret of the fallen stars? Because if you do, I can be some help to you."
~ * ~
"Boring!"
Coal flinched at his friend's sudden outburst and looked to his side to see a pair of icy blue eyes staring intensely at him. He shuddered under the gaze before burying his nose back into the book he had been reading. "Then find something to do," he spoke, pushing the boy's head away from him, "Other than stare at me."
"But I can't do anything!" whined Dylan, "I would like to explore Suqaria for a bit but no! Apparently my best friend doesn't want to go out and explore with me!"
"You can go and explore by yourself, if you want to stumble upon danger." barked Coal, not taking his eyes off the book. "Who knows, there may be thieves out there. If they found out we were princes from another region, they'll probably target and kidnap us for our money."
The blonde rolls his eyes, "Coal, I doubt that Ira is like our regions. It's not like they're raging war with Iref. Besides, I look out the window almost everyday wondering," he paused, making a dramatic pose as he clenched his fist, shaking it in the air, "Why? Why can't I be free from the boredom Coal has trapped me in?"
Now the brunette was slightly irritated, closing his book to send a glare in Dylan's direction. "It's dangerous." he said. Getting up from his seat, Coal made his way to his bed and lied down, grumpily facing the wall.
Dylan watched with pity. Ever since he and Coal had been forced to to move to a kingdom across the sea, the brunette never saw the world as he used to as a child. The boys were both princes, Dylan was from Pisceies, Ewart, and Coal was from Capri, Threa. In their younger years, they lived happily with their families, thinking that Zosodia was a Utopia, where everyone and everything remained happy and perfect. However, they both witnessed the bloody murder of their loved ones, the screams of pain from their people, the cries, the abuse. . . They witnessed a scene called war.
Due to the violence and young age of the boys back then, they were chased out of the region, forced to become refugees and settle in some parts of Iref and Ira. Dylan and Coal met each other in a ship by chance, and settled together in the Aquarius kingdom, Suqaria.
War.
Dylan thought. He thought back about his childhood, wondering what was the cause of the war in the first place. Sure it started with the murder of the royal family in Scorpio, but there was something that happened before that event. . . He just can't seem to remember it.
". . . Morrow."
"What?" Dylan snapped out of thought, looking to the boy he thought who had spoken.
"Tomorrow," repeated Coal, "We can go out tomorrow."
A smirk appeared on the boy's pale face, as he approached the bed and sat near Coal. "Oh? Why the sudden change of heart?"
Coal mumbled something, but it was very low that Dylan could barely hear.
The blonde leaned over, cupping his ear, "What was that? I can't hear you." He smirked even more, "Are you asking me on a date?"
"Over my dead body!" Coal finally sat up, glaring seriously at his friend.
Dylan laughed despite the expression on Coal's face. He just finds it very enjoyable to mess with the younger boy.
"I ran out of books to read," he finally admits, "And I'm getting bored of rereading the ones I have now."
"Really?" Dylan tilts his head, then looked over to pick up the book that Coal had put down earlier, "But I thought you just started to read this one? Were the first few chapters really boring to you or something?"
It was Coal's turn to roll his eyes, "I've read that book five times already. . . I'm tired of it."
A chuckle slips from his lips and he puts the book down. "Okay then," he spoke, "I believe there would be a public library in this kingdom. Lets go check that place out and see if there's any other interesting books there."
As his friend smiles, Coal nods and looks away, "Yeah. . ."
~ * ~
In the dark of night, Celesta slept peacefully on her bed, deep in her dream.
Tap, tap, tap.
Until she heard the sound of tapping on the window, that is. Groaning a bit, the girl shifted in her bed, folding the pillow over her head to cover her ears. However, it was absolutely no use for the tapping sound got louder.
Tap, tap, tap.
"Mm. . ."
Tap, tap, tap.
"Stop. . . Stop that."
Tap, tap, tap.
"Damn it, Cass!" she growled, instantly sitting up, "If you're just trying to scare me, it's not going to work!"
"But I'm not doing it." Cassidy got up beside her, startling her.
"EEK!" Celesta jumped in surprise, managing to fall right off the bed and tumble on the hard concrete floor. She glared up at the older girl on the bed, "What do you think you're doing, sleeping in the same bed as me?!"
"To correct you, this is my bed. You fell asleep beside me while we were talking about going on an adventure with Logan."
The brown haired girl felt heat rise to her face, the moment she realized that her friend was right. Shaking her head, trying to forget the moment, she looked over to the window above Cassidy's bed. "Then if it's not you, who is it?"
"A ghost."
"Be serious."
"I am serious."
Celesta sighed, climbing back on to the bed. "You're hopeless," she mumbles, "Go look outside and see if it's a tree branch or something."
Following her orders, Cassidy stood up on the bed, and looked at the fogged window. Unlocking the latch and sliding it open, she looked out to the breezy night, not seeing a single branch near the window. "There's no tree-" she was cut short by a pebble hitting her forehead. "Ow!" she cried, "For heaven's sake mother nature! What did I ever do to you to make you hate me?!"
"What?" Celesta got up, moving Cassidy's hand to see her forehead for the second time, "What happened?"
"I got hit by a pebble!"
"Really? First a tree, now a peb. . . Wait, a pebble?"
"I'm sorry, Cass! I didn't know you opened the window!"
Both girls were startled, then looked out the window to see-
"Logan!"
"What are you doing here?! Wouldn't your father be mad that your out of the castle this late at night?!" scolded Celesta.
Logan shrugged, "So what? He doesn't know I'm here to get you two."
"Wait, you mean like. . . You snuck out?!"
"Of course I snuck out! I mean, how else will I be here?"
"You're insane, Logan! Do you know what trouble you'll get into once you're found?!"
"Says the girl who sneaks out orphanage to steal outside food."
She growled, "That's different! In your case, you have a father who's also a king!"
Rolling his light green eyes, Logan shouts, "Could you at least hurry and come down?!"
"Come down- Are you asking us to go with you?!"
"Well I did say I came here for you two, didn't I?"
"You're not serious, are you?"
"Yes, I am! Come on, Celesta," begged the blonde, "I really want to go on this adventure before I get married. I would go alone but- It would be boring without the two of you!" Then he looked around, "Now will you come or what? If I continue yelling, someone might find me here!"
Celesta but her bottom lips, then yelped back, "Where will we go if we do run away?"
"I'll explain unless you come down!"
The girl was now hesitant, not knowing if she should follow the boy or not, till she looked at Cassidy. The blunette smiled softly at her and Celesta frowned. "We snuck out many times just to steal food," she said, "If we go with Logan, Caldwell will surely notice our disappearance."
"And so what?" laughed Cassidy, "Because if that old hag, she's made this orphanage feel like a prison, to be honest. I highly doubt she'll even care about our absence." She shrugged, "Plus, it's pretty darn obvious that she hates us."
"Are you two still deciding?! We don't have day- or, night!"
"Well, if you want to stay here, okay then. I'll be going with Logan, alone, however, it will boring if you're not there with us." Cassidy still smiled, as if she already knows what Celesta wants, which she does.
Staring at the older female for a moment, she glanced down at the prince, then to the dresser where they keep the rope ladder hidden underneath. "The both of you are really hopeless," she grumbled, "But I guess I'm hopeless too."