We finally concluded our little secret meeting, finishing off with a hug before rushing out of the tunnel. The lantern's last flicker painted her face in shadows before we parted ways. We split at the dorms, but the unease stayed. Her plan made sense, but every step forward with Zeke felt like stepping onto thinner and thinner ice. And still, I kept walking.
I made sure I hugged her one last time, just in case we didn't see each other tomorrow before heading to bed. I had the feeling that befriending Assistant General Ramani would be a pain in the ass though. I've never met him in person, I think, but I had a feeling he'd be even more guarded than Prince Zeke was.
It had been a while since I've seen or heard from Remy now; a couple days flew by this month as if it were nothing. I hadn't seen the prince either, making me all the more nervous.
"Hey, Val? Your name is Val, right?" Someone hollered at me, causing me to whip my head back around only to be smacked in the face by my hair. I nodded, seeing the guy run up to me. He was out of breath, trying to pull himself together before standing up straight.
"Yes?" I scanned him up and down with my eyes, seeing just how out of breath he was. Just where did he come from? "Would you mind patrolling for me today? My cousin got hurt and is in the hospital, and I'm able to leave if someone can patrol for me." I could see him trying to pull himself together, but I could also see him wanting to cry. I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck a bit before agreeing. If it makes me look better as a person here, I'll do it.
Turns out, his schedule wasn't that much different from mine. The only difference was that he patrolled outside of the library. And of course, Remy was right; I wasn't allowed inside the library. I quickly glanced around before trying the door handle. Locked. I sighed, standing with my back to the door. I was more than just tired, my eyes closing every so often. I glanced at my watch, seeing the time go by slowly. The little hand on the watch got blurry suddenly, making it harder to see what time it was. The floor seemed to be moving too, my legs feeling like jelly. I tried to hold myself together, trying to stand up properly. People couldn't help but stare at me, their concerned looks getting to me.
"Whiteman? What are you doing here?" A soft and familiar voice asked. My hand wandered up my neck, rubbing it a bit as I looked at the prince. It felt like I was choking; sweat was dripping down my forehead as he stepped closer to me. His pale, soft hand reached out for me. I expected to get slapped, maybe even punched. After all, I wasn't at my designated station anymore or at the new one. I was sweating a lot; I even looked scared to see him. I was, in all ways, suspicious. But nothing happened.
"Hey, what's wrong? You're shaking a lot." He noticed, grabbing my waist as I stumbled back a bit. I felt heat rising to my face as I soon realized that Remy was right to ask if something was wrong. I wasn't okay. He wasn't looking directly at me but ran his hands down my back, almost comforting me. His eyes were directed all over my body, checking to see if anything was wrong. His eyebrows were drawn in, leaning closer to me than I would've liked.
"I'm sorry. I haven't been sleeping or eating much. I can do better, I promise. Please don't send me away." I admitted and begged, trying to pull away from him to stand up straight. But his hand never moved as much as I tried to wiggle away from him. He sighed, annoyed, before I finally gave in, leaning against him, giving up. He seemed happy to see me give up, using him as a crutch.
"Let's go. I'll see to it that my personal staff takes care of you. Do you like coffee or tea better?" He asked, pulling me along with him. I gave up trying to run away as he pulled my body to another room not too far from my patrol station. He stopped right outside the door, hollering at the maid, who asked me if I was okay beforehand to get us some tea. She curtseyed, rushing off as fast as she could to gather up some tea. I looked at him a bit before looking forward.
It was the end of a hallway, surrounded by windows that lit up the entire hallway—almost no need for lamps. As he pushed the white door open, I noticed how the room was large and full of old antique things. A stone fireplace was in the center of the room, along with a nice gray chaise sofa. Pillows neatly added here and there along the sofa along with the two other chairs around the huge fireplace. A carpet that screamed rich was placed under the sofa and one under the dining table. Some books were scattered on the table in one corner of his room. It was almost similar to my room, but much larger. White bookcases on the wall were stacked with books, along with some small plants as well. A larger bathroom was off to the right side, opposite side from the bed. It was easy to tell this was his room too, as it couldn't be for any staff member here. Large windows face outside to the gardens. Anyone would say it was an apartment rather than a bedroom.
He sat me down on his bed before pulling a soft throw blanket over my stiff shoulders. A sudden pang of shame smacked me hard as I felt his warm hands reach around me, pulling the blanket around my back and neck. "Your highness, you don't have to do this." He raised his left hand up, telling me to shut up. He pulled out his phone, calling someone to bring some tea with an attitude. Clearly she wasn't getting the tea fast enough. My eyes wandered down to my boots, not wanting him to see the little tears in my eyes.
"Don't feel bad." He said, although it sounded more like a demand. I looked back up at him, seeing him smile at me. This wasn't a big deal to him. So, why should it be for me? After all, he's killed way more people than I have, and yet he gets this type of treatment all the time. I nodded, feeling the tenseness in my shoulders ease bit by bit. "You know, Val, I like you a lot. I don't normally do this for just anyone." He spoke softly, lighting a candle before sitting down next to me while waiting for our tea. I watched the candle's light flicker a bit as he got up to shut the curtains. My heart was racing again as he spoke
. "Consider yourself lucky. Most people who get exhausted or sick are told to leave for not working as hard as they should or are deemed not fit to be a knight." I nodded, still looking at him. Before I could say a word, he got up as the butlers rushed in with a set of tea and some scones. I was never a fan of tea or scones, and yet, here I was nibbling on them and sipping on the disgusting peach tea. I didn't hate this, though. I should, but I couldn't bring myself to do so. He was a weird man. Seemingly cruel to others, always yelling and ordering people around with an attitude but was kind to me. How long will it be until he hates me? When I disappoint him, will he be done with me forever? I think the answer is obvious.
"Your highness?" I called, watching his sharp green eyes wander up at me. He set his tea cup down on the nightstand, putting his attention all on me. He smiled a wide, toothy smile as I continued. "Thank you for your kindness. I realize how lucky I am to be having you help me." As the words came out of my mouth, I felt oddly sincere. My emotions were everywhere now; first I was pitying myself, and now I'm grateful to be taken care of by my very own target. Maybe it was because I've never been treated this kindly by someone other than Remy, but I was happy. I was running on four hours of sleep and scones as my first meal in almost two days. I really was going insane.
"Val, just call me Zeke." I stopped sipping my tea. His face didn't change, completely unfazed by what he said. I chuckled a bit, taking one last bite of my sandwich. I started yelling at myself in my head for laughing as I drank the rest in my cup.
"Are you done? Here, you should go rest now. Don't worry about General Ramani. I'll make sure you're not punished for this. So just relax." I could only assume General Ramani was the big man in charge of this place besides the King. Although no one has talked much about him and I hadn't even met him before, I had a feeling he was super important. He helped me lay down, as if I couldn't do it myself. I didn't force him off, instead letting him cover me up some more. His hand brushed against my face, moving the black hair out of my eyes. The smell of his fuzzy blankets was clean, as if they'd just been washed. The faint smell of peaches and scones was still in the room as Zeke munched on them some more. I couldn't sleep. It was hard enough being in the same room with someone I had to kill, let alone having him take care of me. I pretended to sleep, closing my eyes. My thoughts were a mess, one after another; pictures of why this could all go wrong played one after another. And yet one thought made me feel better. He likes me.
Zeke seemed rude towards others but was soft-spoken and kind towards me. He had this cold gaze toward him. Unable to come up to, strike a conversation with, let alone get along with him is what most would feel around him. It made me wonder just how much he was trying to be my friend. What I hated most was that it was working, whatever he was trying to do to get closer to me. I couldn't stay up any longer, finally giving in to sleeping.
Thud!
I jolted awake, seeing a shadow figure move across the room quickly. Zeke got up too, staring at the figure moving across the room. I got up, wasting no time to strike the person. He yelled and knocked on the floor. Suddenly, they got up again, aiming for my head this time. I gasped, feeling their fist land square into my face. I staggered back, bumping into the chair behind me. I swung my fist this time, barely missing them as they leapt over me.
"Stop him!" Zeke yelled, rushing to get him on his own. I grabbed his foot, twisting it. It was like it was in slow motion, them falling over before kicking me in the face. Their heels struck me next to my eye. I shrieked, feeling it pierce the skin next to my right eye. Shattering glass fell from the window, my eyes only glancing up to see the person's beard and left eye. Golden eyes, brown beard. I looked down, shards of glass lying all around me. "Damnit!" Zeke yelled. Knights rushed in, surrounding the place. Some of them glanced back at me before turning away to deal with Zeke.
"Are you ok, your highness?!" One of them asked, and another one came over to help me up. "I'm fine. But he sure isn't." Zeke said, pointing at my face. I couldn't tell how beat up I looked, but I could tell it wasn't good.
I glanced up at the knight helping me, seeing her smile a bit trying to comfort me. "Take him to the doctor, please." He ordered, getting a nod out of the woman. She let go of me, leading me to the doctors in the castle. Thank God it was in the castle; I didn't want to leave to go to the hospital. With a castle this big, what don't they have?
"What in the world happened?" She asked, not turning around to look at me. I sighed, feeling my swollen face ache. "An intruder came in. I think they took some things, but I'm not sure what exactly." I stated, getting a nod out of her. She didn't say anything after that, dropping me off at the doctors before leaving with a bow and a smile. I thanked her for showing me before she left too. Maybe that way more people would trust me.
I left with a couple of stitches and an ice pack. I walked back to Zeke's room only to see people rushing in and out of the room. Detectives and investigators finally stopped me, holding their hands up. "We can't have you in here. Go back to your dorm, knight." They said, leaving me no choice but to leave. Or so, I thought. "Val? Where are you going?" Zeke asked me, stopping me in my tracks. "Uh, back to my dorm." I laughed a bit, seeing a small smile from him.
"Come on. Since we can't sleep here, we can sleep in a guest room for now." He reached for my hand, pulling me along with him. He didn't seem to mind the stares from others, but I sure did. Some winked at me while we passed by them, some gave me a thumbs up, and some rolled their eyes at us. I noticed it all. So much for having a good reputation.
We finally made it to a guest room. He opened the door for me, letting me walk in first. It was a bit smaller, but still pretty big. A bathroom was next to the bed, a single bookcase half full, and a queen-size bed. He laid down first, patting the bed before I laid down next to him. "I let others know you'd be sleeping next to me tonight. Don't worry about anything, ok? I'm sure my father will send more guards to make sure no one comes in." I nodded, staring at him for a bit. He smiled, flipping over before falling asleep. And with this much action that wore me out, I couldn't help but do the same.