A strangled silence filled the room. I quickly found my seat in between the two authority figures, my eyes darting to the door, where Casey gave a subtle thumbs up and sealed off the room. My anxiety consumed me in the deafening silence. I felt my parent’s cold eyes burn into me with disappointment.

“Angélo,” my mother began. “As you know, the gala is just around the corner. You are of age now to look for potential…suitors.” She gave me a once-over with a tight smile. My father sighed in the background.

My attention was snagged off my mother when maids and butlers entered from a side room, carrying various arrays of dishes. I was grateful for the distraction the constant clinking of cutlery and plates caused. Begrudgingly, I turned my attention back to my mother.

“With this event in the near future, you must not slack off in your studies. Especially in Ability Training. We don’t want a repeat of what happened yesterday to happen at the Gala, now, do we?”

My father eyed me suspiciously and I slumped into my chair. “What happened yesterday?” He asked with a harsh tone. The fleeting thought of speaking up crossed my mind; of explaining. But what would become of my attempt? Nothing but punishment would await me, no matter how I tried to salvage the situation. I remained silent.

“Why, our dear boy hadn’t told you?” His wife feigned a gasp. “I assumed you’d been made aware, considering how Angélo had been avoiding you.” Her calculating eyes landed on me, and a shiver ran down my spine. It felt as though she had rehearsed this conversation.

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” his majesty growled as he took a sip of wine, “What happened yesterday?”

“It was nothing much, dear, no need to get worked up—” Mother had a malicious look in her eyes, coupled with an innocent smile. 

My father slammed his cup down with a resonating clank, demanding the room's silence. He looked me dead in the eye. “Tell me, what, pray tell, transpired while I was away?”

The emptiness of the room threatened to consume me. As the walls closed in, I became aware of every detail. I could practically feel the molding protruding and digging into my skin while the angels painted on the ceiling stole my oxygen. A lack of movement made me realize that the butlers and maids laying food before us had stopped in place. The air had an unfamiliar weight to it.

Everything was still. 

Frozen.

“Your majesty…” My mother mumbled with fake tears. “Our son, he…he froze me!” 

“You what?” He roared, equally startling everyone in the room. His dark face wore an angry scowl as he contemplated how to deal with this situation. I could tell with one glance how upset he was. I looked at my mother. Her previous smile had faltered and her face showed that of confusion. 

Has your plan not gone as expected? I thought with unbridled hatred. My eyes were locked on the satin table cloth at my fingertips. I contemplated the color of it. A deep, alluring, blood red.

“She’s right. I froze her. But it was an honest mistake!” I raised my eyes from the table with a challenging gaze. My father matched it.

“If you’d have studied harder this never would have happened in the first place!” My mother screeched. It seemed our anger had rubbed off on her. She no longer had her cool, calculated gaze. Now, she’d acted on her own emotions. Something she may pay for later.

I stood and slammed my hands down on the table, tears budding in my eyes. “If you hadn’t startled me, I wouldn’t have accidentally caused a scene!” Heaving breaths left my mouth as I stared down the heads of the table. 

My father’s expression looked grim. 

Oh, no. I thought as reality caught up to me. What did I just do? I need to get out— I need to— I scrambled to push away my chair and leave the room.

“Hey!” The King called after me, “We’re not done here!! You hear me?!”

Hot tears rolled down my face and I burst through the doors which I’d entered from. Casey and Locke were waiting on the other side. “Locke—” I cried and threw myself into his arms. He was startled when he found my body in his arms. Catching on quickly, he rubbed the top of my head in a comforting manner. The sound of my sniffling filled the awkward silence around us.

“Hey, there,” Locke cooed as I cried. “I heard everything. It’s alright.” I wound my arms around his abdomen tighter.

“Let’s take him back to his room,” Casey whispered above me. I felt Locke nod against my head.

Before I could orient myself, Locke picked me up bridal style. The sudden action distracted me and caused blood to surge to my face; my skin felt hot, and my ears tinged a darker color. I sniffled, imagining how pathetic I must have looked being held in the arms of another man, clinging to his shirt. “Alright, here we go,” he mumbled and we started off towards my room.

***

Casey pushed open the large doors that led to my sleeping quarters. Without words, I stripped off the suit Casey had worked so hard to put together, and a pair of pajamas were shoved in my face. I gratefully accepted them. 

I didn’t care that I was being monitored as I dressed. I didn’t care that my bandaged arms were on display. I didn’t care that my pathetic, decrepit frame could be seen. I didn’t have the energy to care anymore.

The pastel blue, silk pajamas gripped me in a soothing embrace. I welcomed the soft hug. When I was fully dressed, I walked over to my bed and laid down. Casey and Locke stood at the end of the bed.

“...Lay with me? Just for a bit?” I pleaded desperately. I didn’t want to be left alone.

They smiled fondly and crawled into bed. 

I snuggled firmly into the arms that circled on either side of me. Casey was pressed against my back and whispered soft, motherly reassurances as she unbraided my hair. Locke, however, didn’t say anything. His arm was snaked around my waist, holding me close.

That was all the reassurance I needed.