The next morning, Keigo snuck his way to Zalair’s bedroom. He peeked in, not seeing Zalair inside. Figuring the prince never left the den then, Keigo headed back in that direction.

Zalair came out looking tired, his hair a black fluffy mess. Keigo watched quietly, watching as Zalair headed down the halls to the kitchen. Keigo quietly followed the whole way.

Zalair stopped in the kitchen, looking sleepily at all of the cooks rushing around trying to prepare the morning buffet.

“Good morning, Prince!” said a woman, smiling at him.

“Uhn…” Zalair nodded, yawning.

“What would you like to eat?” she asked.

“Food.”

“As vague as ever,” she chuckled, “We have eggs, bread, apples…” She stopped, watching as Zalair went over and started to slice himself up an apple. “…Eat well, sire.” And then she went back to her job of cooking.

Zalair finished slicing up his apple, grabbed a kiwi and sliced it in half. He added a small orange, a small bunch of purple grapes and a quarter of a banana onto his dish. Next he added a corner of a loaf of sweetbread to the dish, then poured himself a glass of water.

Without a word, Zalair took his dish and his glass to the banquet hall. It was a nice large hall with a long stone table carved with the symbols of the kingdom, and matching wooden and stone benches. Thankfully, because Zalair wanted a quiet area, he knew that all his family would go into the dining hall instead; It was a much smaller room with multiple wooden tables carved just like the stone tables.

Eating quietly enjoying his food, Zalair peeled his orange. “If you attack me when I’m eating, I swear I’ll slam you into rubble.”

Keigo froze, lowering his sword, sliding it back into the scabbard. “How’d you get to hear so well?”

“Part of the training at advanced stages,” Zalair answered, finishing peeling the orange, starting to eat it. “You haven’t learned that yet?”

“No.” Keigo shrugged, sitting near Zalair, but not too near. “So…”

“I’m not talking to you about it.”

“About what?”

“You know what.”

“…I wasn’t going to.” Keigo shrugged, shifting to sit on the bench backwards. “Anyway… I wanted to know why you wanted to master all of the lessons and junk?”

“Nothing else better to do.” Zalair shrugged. “I had no one to really goof around with, so I figured why not just master them? After all, those techniques just might end up saving my life one day.”

“Hmph…” Keigo shrugged.

They sat in silence while Zalair finished eating his meal.

Once he was done, Keigo stood back up, unsheathing his sword. “So… Let’s get it on.”

Zalair stood up with a yawn, ruffling his hair into place a bit, “Meh. I’m too tired.”

Keigo twitched, the laidback prince starting to irritate him. “Man you can really piss me off.”

“I don’t really care,” Zalair said with another shrug. “So, buzz off already please.”

“No!” Keigo swung the sword down at him.

Zalair flipped backwards, his palm going flat onto the table. Then he pushed his way back up and onto the other side, landing on the bench.

“What the…” Keigo twitched, jumping up and swung horizontally. “Get hit already!”

Zalair jumped back, “And bleed? No thanks.”

Annoyed, Keigo jumped after him.

Keigo would swing back and forth, trying to hit Zalair, and he’d just dodge out of the way. Keigo swung the sword enough to corner Zalair into a corner. Feeling proud of himself, Keigo thrust the sword forward.

Zalair’s green eyes stared, a blank look, right at Keigo. That look sent a chill down Keigo’s spine, the point of the blade stopping just before it broke the skin of Zalair’s forehead.

The two didn’t move.

Slowly, Keigo backed up, lowering the sword. Zalair walked around him and to the large opening doorway to leave.

“Wait!” Keigo shouted to him. “How’d you do that?!”

“Magic.”

And then Zalair was out of the room. Keigo twitched, thrusting the blade forward into the stone where Zalair’s head had been.