Eight: Kidnapping the Heir 

“Where are you going?” Everett calls after Floryn as he starts a quick pace away from the prince, not waiting even a second for him to breathe after his near-death experience.  

“Back to the castle, my prince. Follow me and walk quickly; the Mushrai travel in packs. There are more nearby, and soon they will realize what happened.” Floryn turns his head over his shoulder, and with the glistening light of the sun shining behind him, capturing his handsome features in a unique way, Everett felt his heart stutter.  

“Mushrai?” Everett scurries after the assassin, eyes squinting with curiosity.  

“You’re lucky you did not go too far.” Floryn ignores his curiosity, cutting away at a drooping vine with a knife he kept secret beneath his pants, attached snuggly to his boot. How unfortunately alluring, Everett thinks to himself shamefully. “The Fae Woods are not to be travelled alone, especially with what little experience you have.”  

They cross the streams and bound over the grass patches Everett had run through with no care just minutes before, unaware of the true danger lurking around him. 

“I’m sorry.” Everett croaks, embarrassed. “I didn’t realize how dangerous it was. I just wanted to run, to see something I had never seen before. It does get quite boring staying in that room all the time. I hope you understand where I am coming from, Floryn.”  

The man twitches at the casual use of his name. He twists around, a sympathetic look on his face for a mere second before turning back. They reach the edge of the forest soon, and Everett hesitates to step back out. The castle was before them now, and the evidence of his struggle was apparent. Wood pieces lay broken and scattered below the window, the grass where he fell was squished flat.  

“The Mushrai know I’ve killed one of their own. I hear their breathing, their footsteps. They draw closer.” He tells the prince, gesturing towards the castle tower to encourage him to head back. “You must go now.”  

Everett takes a deep breath which leaves his mouth in a mournful sigh. Even though he had been pursued by a monster, his life threatened and narrowly saved, he did not want to go back. If he did, he would be yelled at, punished worse than he had before. He was already on thin ice with his father, and he was sure this was enough to send him over the edge.  

And though he had nearly lost his life, it had been the most he had felt in a long time. A rushing heart, trembling legs, quivering lips. All things he experienced rarely. The first time he had done so was when his father yelled at him, but that was something he found he grew used to rather quickly. The thrill in his life had dissipated throughout the years, and he wanted that part of his life back. 

“I do not want to go back.”  

Floryn’s head tilts with confusion. His brows furrow and his tongue clicks.  

“Well, you must. You’re the prince.” He says in a matter-of-fact way. 

“No!” Everett raises his voice once Floryn seems to begin his retreat back into the woods. This catches the assassin’s attention. He jolts, eyes widened in shock at the sudden, poor temperament of the prince. Everett feels his cheeks burn red in embarrassment. Why had he yelled like that?  

The assassin waits for the prince to continue, arms crossed behind his back in a polite manner.  

“Take me with you.” Everett pleads.  

Floryn releases a little laugh, amazed by what he is hearing.  

“I, unfortunately, must decline. As much as I would like to see you struggle to keep up, I simply cannot bring you along. You are to return to the castle, where you belong. The King will have my head if he realizes I have kidnapped his heir.” Floryn grabs Everett’s wrist, dragging him out of the woods by force. Everett tries to rip his arm away, but it is no use. The assassin is much stronger than the wimpy prince with no fighting or survival skills.  

“I... I don’t belong there! You are wrong!” Everett pants as he is dragged towards the side gate, stumbling over dry patches of mud and grass. “I hate it there. Please, Floryn. Don’t make me go back.”  

Floryn releases his wrist, facing away from the prince. His dark cape from his hood flows gently in the wind, framing his slim waist and broad shoulders. His expression suggests that he is deep in thought.  

“I said no.” He repeats finally, reaching once again for his wrist, only to notice the reddened palms of the prince. He reaches for his hands softly instead, inspecting them carefully. “You’re hurt? Why did you not inform me?”  

The prince yanks his hands away, hiding them.  

“It barely stings.” He holds his chin up high, trying his best to ignore the slight worried expression Floryn has on his face. Why did he even care so much? It was not a big deal! It hardly hurt. 

“You need to seek medical attention. The castle has the best team of medics in the entire kingdom. Your place is there, with them. My prince.” Floryn suggests, voice firm and unmoving.  

Everett bites his tongue, anger growing rapidly in the pit of his stomach. If Floryn was not going to help him, then he would go on his own! He would live in the villages, in the countryside. He would agree to live anywhere if it meant he no longer had to live in the castle.  

“No. I’m not going back, and if you don’t wish to take me with you, then that is fine!” Everett marches away from the gate, along the border of the forest and in the direction of the villages of Seles. He had never truly seen the whole kingdom, spare for a few homes in the Noble’s District. He could stay there, but his face is too recognizable, his clothes too. He would have to navigate to the smaller villages, the ones where his face was more unknown, his features less gossiped about.  

“You do not know your way around, much less how to live on your own.” Floryn comments, following the prince closely. “You will fail before you truly begin.”  

Everett growls, spinning around and pointing a threatening finger at the assassin. Floryn looks down at it, a little smirk growing on his lips. Just what did the prince think he was going to do with that?  

“You don’t know anything about me! Have you never wished to be something other than what you were forced to be?! Have you ever wished to feel freedom in a way you haven’t? I’m sure not! Not everyone is born into a normal life like you! Do you not get it?!”  

Floryn cracks a grin. 

“I guess I understand. Come along then, no need for the dramatics.” Floryn hums taking Everett by surprise. He playfully skips alongside the prince now as he continues his advancement towards the Noble’s District. Tall townhouses with ornate columns and grand, twisting white staircases begin to come into view against the gently sloping mountain that bordered the Seles Kingdom. Everett stops when it does finally reach his eyes, at a small cliff at the very edge of the castle grounds. He had seen the top of the mountain from the gardens, through the tall fence surrounding them, he had seen it through the castle’s small windows, but it did not compare to seeing the actual thing in person, right before him.  

“Woah.” Everett breathes, and Floryn continues to don his twisted smirk that Everett would much like to smack right off his mouth, amongst other things he wouldn’t mind doing. 

“Hey! Who goes there?” A deep voice calls from one of the guard towers, and Everett spins around to see a heavily armored man raising his bow and aiming it right towards them. “Prince?” He calls, voice unsure. The bow slowly switches to Floryn, aiming right at his head.  

Though Everett’s teeth start to chatter with nerves, Floryn remains calm. He moves in an instant with an expert’s intent.  

First, he flings off his hood and sets it over Everett’s shoulders instead, effectively covering him and his identifiable royal garbs. Everett tugs them down onto himself quickly, pulling the hood over his head to cover his fair-colored hair.  

Then, Floryn takes a deep breath, loading his bow in seconds and firing right above the guard’s head so quickly Everett thought he might have missed it, only hearing the wind caused by the arrow and the place it hit against the stone walls of the castle. The guard ducks his head down in response, giving Floryn enough time to tackle the prince down the cliff and out of sight.