~ Double Upload, don't miss the chapter before ~
Kazimir slammed his bedroom door closed and collapsed against it, his chest heaving as he tried to drag breath into his lungs.
His body was still reeling!
All the way back to his room and his body was rocking, jarred and shaken to the core.
He had never, ever felt something like that before.
That intensity.
He had touched other's Hearts before. It was a never something one did without permission of the owner. The feeling was always intense.
But manageable.
It was expected. It was like seeing someone in their rawest state. It was something private and being allowed to witness such a thing was an honour.
That though... that Heart...
Another wave of sickness slammed into him, right in the gut and he put his hand to his mouth, staggering across the room and collapsing against the windowsill, shoving the windows open wide and a strong gust of wind washed over him, spraying him with rain.
Keeping his eyes tight shut, he breathed in deep and worked to steady his nerves.
He couldn't let Aeralie touch that thing.
No wonder his mother wanted it. It was... poisonous. There was a harrowing level of pain stored in that Heart. It wasn't something that could stay on land, away from its true place in the sea. His mother had always had a gift for handling and soothing Hearts – well, so he was told from people who reminisced about his mother before her banishment from the palace.
She had been after that Heart... to fail to bring it back...
Another wave of nausea struck him and he forced himself to not dry heave.
The gentle yet solid hand on his back should have startled him but he was too distracted with the effort of keeping his food where it belonged that he barely noticed it.
"Are you alright?" Cole asked, his voice soft as he leant forwards to see Kazimir's pale face.
"Fine," Kazimir muttered, his voice hoarse.
"Quite the departure. Are you still feeling that sick?" Cole asked.
"It's nothing to concern yourself with," Kazimir said and pushed away from the windowsill, leaning back, eyes openings as he tilted his head back to the ceiling. He took a long, slow, deep breath, releasing it, then looked at Cole and blinked. "You? Why are you here?" he asked, frowning.
"Hah! Good to know I have such presence," Cole said, pulling his hand from Kazimir's back and turning, leaning back against the windowsill. "You looked like you were going to faint like a little lady when you excused yourself just now. I figured that if you collapsed and banged your head off something, someone should know."
"I'm fine," Kazimir said.
"That so? So, you're not going to faint anytime soon and I won't need to find the smelling salts?"
Kazimir frowned at him. "Do I look so frail?"
"You are very pale," Cole pointed out, his hand coming up and fingers brushing along Kazimir's jaw until Kazimir pulled back.
"That's my normal colour."
"Really? You look so unhealthy!"
"You certainly know how to flatter a man."
"You need to see the sun more and fresh air, that will put the colour in your cheeks," Cole decided, grabbing Kazimir's wrist and dragging him straight back out of his room – without any care for the fact that he'd obviously just been near on the point of collapse mere minutes ago.
"I need neither!" Kazimir snapped, almost falling over his feet. "Let go of me! Who do you think you are? Why do you think I had the window open? Let go! It's cloudy, what sun do you think we'll get! Are you listening to me?"
"Not really," Cole said and yanked Kazimir up a flight of stairs.
Kazimir frowned. They were heading away from the main castle and up into the towers.
"Where are we going?!"
"Up."
"Up?! I don't want to go up! Let go!"
"Trust me; the view will be worth it. That will make you feel better!"
"Why should you care for the health of someone else?"
"I care about health; do I look like an unhealthy human being?"
"And you wonder why I think you just play pirate?" Kazimir sneered.
"The healthier you can keep yourself, the more likely you are to get exactly what you want," Cole shot back simply.
Kazimir narrowed his eyes then tried to yank his hand free without using so much strength he'd send the 'pirate' down the stairs. "Let go! I don't want to go wherever you plan on going."
"Oh do stop whining. I'm just trying to be nice."
"To the man you just told off for being rude to your darling prince?"
"I forgive a pretty face."
"You won't make a good pirate."
"And you make a waste of a pretty face."
Cole hurled the heavy wooden door open at the top of the tower they'd been climbing and Kazimir almost felt his heart stop.
They stood at the very top of the palace, on the edge of a walkway that connected two towers. To his left would be the sea. To the right would be the castle gardens and, beyond, the city.
The rain was already easing off and Cole, used to storms, strolled right out into the last of the drizzle, admiring the view to the right.
Kazimir stayed glued to the threshold, not moving an inch, staring down at the stone walkway before him.
His heart started to beat again.
Then pound
Then thunder.
Blood roared through his ears and he had to strain to hear Cole over his own pulse.
"This is one of the best places to watch any ships come in." he was saying, "We'll start seeing a lot more soon. With the queen back, all the courtiers will be arriving back to the palace for the winter season. It's going to be unbearable very, very soon but then I guess being the servants of a princess, you're used to that kind of chaos."
Kazimir didn't say anything. He was concentrating on not falling back down the stairs from a real faint.
"Oh look, you can see some of the prep work for the winter festivals down in the city. Hell, I remember when Dalton and I snuck out of the castle once when we were kids and accidently set fire to one of the bandstands. That was an interesting night. Come look."
Kazimir shook his head.
Cole looked at him. "What's wrong? Hurry, the rain will start up again soon, these types of storms come in waves."
"No, I..."
"What's up?"
"I don't want to see."
"It's just for a second."
"No."
"We'll go right back, get some fresh air."
"I don't want to."
"I'll leave you alone for the rest of the day."
Kazimir glared at him for offering something so appealing.
"Just come look," Cole said, frowning at him
Kazimir didn't move for another long moment, then looked down and walked out.
"See? Isn't the view amazing?" Cole said, grinning at him and looked out across the city just as a strong gust of wind sent their hair flying out behind them, strong enough to untangle Kazimir's hair from its leather tie.
Kazimir grabbed the wall and closed his eyes, ignoring the view.
Cole looked at him in surprise.
He was holding the wall with both hands, legs trembling, eyes squeezed closed so tight he was causing wrinkles – the exact same way he'd looked when stood by his window. Cole had assumed that had all be due to his sudden illness.
He stared at Kazimir for a moment, then looked down at the deadly drop below them then back at Kazimir.
"Are... are you scared of heights?" he asked.
"Shut up!" Kazimir snarled. He was short of breath and a sheen of sweat was forming across his paling skin. Hell, the second time that day Cole had seen that reaction and he was looking worse than ever.
Cole just smiled slightly. "I won't let you fall," he promised gently.
"You can't promise that," Kazimir snapped, "If something happens, that's it! It's not like being in water! No matter how high you are, you can't fall in water! That down there is instant death!"
"I won't let you fall," Cole promised again, walking over and sliding an arm around his waist, pulling Kazimir against him – shockingly, Kazimir didn't resist, which told Cole all he needed to know about how Kazimir handled heights. "See? You'll be just fine. Come on, open your eyes, otherwise it wasn't worth the trek up here. Just for a second."
Kazimir's grip didn't release on the wall.
Cole pulled him tighter against his side.
Kazimir opened his eyes for exactly a second before he felt faint and almost fell over. Cole held him up and smiled.
"See? I said I wouldn't let you fall."
"That lake."
"Hmm?"
Kazimir raised a trembling hand and pointed off to their left. Cole looked around and spied what he saw. He was pointing to Laina Lake, a huge body of water that resided in the gardens of the palace, backing all the way up to the wall that separated the palace from the city.
"Will it freeze?" Kazimir asked, still not opening his eyes.
"It's probably already starting to freeze," Cole said, honestly amazed that he had managed to spot the lake off in the corner when he'd only opened his eyes for a second and had been looking out over the city.
"Can you skate on it?" Kazimir asked and Cole looked at him in surprise.
"You skate?" he asked.
Kazimir nodded.
"I... it's something I would like to show the princess. She's never had the chance to skate," he muttered.
"Well I'm sure a couple more nights and it will be solid enough to skate on. We can all go. Dalton skates, Jazz used to skate a lot as a child." He grinned. "I didn't take you for an ice dancer."
"Yes well I'm full of surprises," Kazimir said, "Now get me off this roof!"
Many, many floors below, Aeralie looked up at the ceiling.
Perry looked at her then looked up.
"Kaz is furious with someone," she said simply.
"You can hear?"
"No, just a sense."
"Probably Cole."
"Probably Cole," she agreed, then looked away, across the room to where Dalton was sat talking to his siblings.
The second Kazimir had said the jewel was fake, the queen had stormed away and Kazimir had stumbled off, both looking like death – one like the cause and the other the victim.
Cole had followed him moments later. The rest of the group had moved to a small sunroom – that was lacking the sun – and taken up residence there.
Cynthia and Jazz had moved to their own corner to talk amongst themselves. With their mother gone and no longer telling them who they could and could not speak to, the twins had followed their brother and his sole focus was now on them, listening as they told him all about their trip away.
This meant Aeralie no longer had his attention and she sat in a corner by the windowed-walls, watching the rain lighten.
Perry had taken the seat next to her and seemed to be trying to think of things to say but she wasn't paying him a huge amount of attention, her attention remaining on Dalton.
"The court should be returning soon."
Aeralie glanced at Perry to show she'd heard before looking at Dalton again.
"Cole and I probably won't spend as much time in the castle when that happens."
"Mm-hmm."
"Dalton will probably get busier when that happens."
Aeralie didn't answer and Perry pursed his lips, looking out of the window instead, taking a breath.
"His lady will probably arrive soon as well."
That caught her attention. She looked at him.
"Lady? What lady?" she asked.
"His lady, the one he favours," Perry said, without really explaining anything.
The doors opened at that moment as Cole and Kazimir walked in, their voices low though it was clear that Kazimir was growling at Cole and Cole was grinning back, highly amused by whatever Kazimir was saying.
Perry got up at the sight of his captain and Aeralie caught his arm.
"Wait, what lady? Who is she?"
"You'll meet her, I'm sure, don't worry, she's lovely," Perry said with a smile as he detached her hand and walked away to join Cole. Cole stopped annoying Kazimir for a moment to lean down to listen as Perry whispered something to him.
Cole's eyes flickered to Aeralie and a nasty smirk curled his mouth before he nodded to Perry and turned away.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen," Cole called as Perry walked out, "We have business to attend to. Enjoy your evening."
Others said their goodbye; Cole whispered something Kazimir and narrowly avoided getting smacked then saluted to the room and walked out, closing the door behind him.
Aeralie grabbed Kazimir's arm the second he took Perry's vacated seat.
"Kaz! Perry said Dalton's 'lady' would be arriving soon!" she cried.
"So?" Kazimir asked, his expression irritated by the instant barrage of thoughts.
"So?! So! Who is she?! Why does he have a lady?"
"Because he's a prince and even they have the ability to like the opposite of the species?" Kazimir suggested.
"This isn't funny, Kazimir!"
"Well what do you want me to do about it?" Kazimir sighed.
"You could use your voice and—"
The look Kazimir gave her silenced her in a second.
"Are you mad?" he growled, "Where do you think we are? This is not our kingdom and you are not the most important person in this room. Your will cannot just be done with a single command without thinking of the consequences. I can't just 'use my voice' however I want."
"You used it on the queen," Aeralie hissed.
"I wanted to have a look at her necklace, not recalibrate her emotions."
"Then I'll do it."
"You'll do no such thing. You don't even have a voice to work with."
It was like Aeralie had forgotten the sacrifice she had made for her legs in that moment and she blinked.
Kazimir rolled his eyes. "Look, Aeralie, I'm not going to understand your obsession with that man, I don't understand it – not one bit. And I'm not going to pretend to like him, I still don't. But we are not part of his world and we have no right to interfere with it. We are here for two reasons. To get me back and get the Heart. We only need to get the Heart back now. That is all we are doing. Do not forget why you were allowed up here. It wasn't to live out some crazy fantasy. I will side with you for as long as possible, but do not force me to protect Dalton from you."
Aeralie stared at him in shock.
Shocked at the idea that something as trivial as this would turn Kazimir against her.
It was trivial, wasn't it?
She looked down.
But it couldn't be so trivial is he was willing to side with Dalton.
She looked at Dalton and Kazimir leant back in his chair.
"Think of this from another point of view," he said gently, stretching his long legs out in front of him, crossing them at the ankles. "Dalton lives a surprisingly hard life – trust me on this one – couldn't you show him a level of kindness and let him be happy with whichever lady he chooses?"
Aeralie didn't answer.
Kazimir waited for her to reply but she didn't.
Instead, she got to her feet and walked out, closing the doors behind her.
Kazimir let out a sigh and sank back in his seat, closing his eyes; glad no one else had actually been able to hear the discussion. As far as they were concerned, Aeralie had just walked out in a perfectly good mood.
Hell, he wanted to go home soon.
~~~
Next Up: Thursday
Art By: Blue Pond, Hokkaido
So, mother's operation is done, all looks good, recovery is on track.
Sooo, double upload today and upload of books I haven't uploaded in ages basically just as a massive thank you.
You guys have been really patient, I haven't really been around in terms of answering comments but you guys have been so lovely with all the initial messages you sent and your general attitudes.
Someone commented on another chapter that we have a really nice comments section here and I'm really glad for that so just another big thank you for just reading and being around. Sorry I didn't manage to update every book that's been on hold though lol I'll finish everything eventually, promise XD.