A Prince's Pride

*Aaron*

When I walk into the dining hall for lunch the next day, I’m surprised to see so many in attendance. My father, mother, and sister are here. However, so too are at least a dozen people. Our table has more than enough space to accommodate them, but still. My father would have only asked all of them here for a celebration. The problem is, I usually know what we’re celebrating.

As I walk down the table and greet our guests, I try to catch Riley’s eye. When I do, I see that she knows nothing more about this than I do.

“Ah, Aaron,” say my father with the air of someone who didn’t just send a guard with orders that his son was to attend a luncheon. In fact, he almost sounds like he wasn’t expecting me at all.

Is this what it’s like, being a king? I wonder. When I am King of Midoor, will I, too, hide everything behind a mask, like my father does? I decide to make a mental note here. I will not be that kind of king.

“Good afternoon, Father,” I say.

“I wanted to congratulate you,” my father says, holding his wine glass up and toasting the guests, “here, in front of our dear friends, your engagement to the Lady Corianne.”

Fuck. My father has me right where he wants me. He’s told important members of the court that I have proposed to Corianne. If either of us deny it, we will being calling the king a liar. 

The seed of worry planted by my sister starts to blossom. I still trust Corianne, but how quickly would she give me and Milo away to avoid marrying me?

There’s only one thing for me to do, and my father knows it.

“Thank you, Father,” I say, walking up behind Corianne and putting my hands on the back of her chair. She looks up at me. I see the worry in her eyes. She thinks we’ll have to get married. 

I have to play my part, but I don’t want to do this.

I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to do this. I DON’T WANT TO!

I lean over the chair and kiss Corianne.

 When our lips part and I start to pull away, I see the look in her eyes. She looks across the room. My eyes follow her gaze. 

Milo is standing among the group of servants, his face twisted in anguish.

*Milo*

I won't. I swear it to you. I'll never kiss anyone but you.

Aaron’s words reverberate in my skull as I watch his lips touch Corianne’s. Deep inside me, a dark, sucking vortex of hatred blooms. This is Corianne’s fault. Things were great between me and Aaron before she showed up.

And as for Aaron?

That no good, fucking, asshole, piece of shit, Prince Motherfucker can go die in a hole for all I care. How dare he? How dare he kiss Corianne when he told me he’d never kiss anyone but me? 

I feel my face twist in rage, but I don’t care. I know Aaron sees it, and I don’t care. I turn on my heel and march from the dining hall. 

Nobody calls me to come back.

*Aaron*

What a horrible day I’m having. At lunch, my boyfriend runs out, clearly mad because I kissed Corianne. Right after, I had to meet with Corianne’s parents. Her father, in what he says was a joking manner, but which I took as a blatant threat said, “Hurt my baby girl, and you won’t make it to king.” 

Of course, his threat was insubstantial. In fact, if he were anyone other than the father of my betrothed, he would be in the cells, awaiting execution. I think it’s a bit extreme, but it’s my father who makes the laws, not me. Not yet, anyway.

Once the meeting with Corianne’s parents is over, my father introduces us to Xion Cassasstra, the person who’s planning our wedding.

“It’s nice to meet you, Zye-on,” I say, making sure I pronounce their name correctly. I can’t tell whether Xion is a man or a woman. Their skin is the palest I’ve ever seen, almost white, and their eyes were bright red. I suspect they’re a person with albinism.

We spend three hours talking to Xion about the wedding. Or, rather, Corianne spends three hours talking to Xion about the wedding. Mostly because I couldn’t give a shit about any of this, I just want to leave. Milo is angry, I know he is. I want to go talk to him. To explain I didn’t have a choice other than to kiss Corianne.

It’s much later, after I’ve spoken to nearly every member of court, receiving a lot of praise for having chosen such a great wife, and listening to my father talk about how proud he is, that I’m able to leave the dining hall.

Corianne stays with Xion, pretending to plan our wedding. She plays her part well, I’ll give her that. She almost seems like she’s enjoying it.

“Did you see where Milo went?” I ask Sir Oswald, who’s standing guard outside the door.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” he says, “I didn’t. Is he okay?”

“I don’t know,” I reply. “Come on, let’s go find him.”

Sir Oswald and I search all over the palace, trying to find Milo. None of the guards know where he is. He didn’t speak to any of the other servants before he left. He just vanished without a trace. 

*Milo*

Before I know it, I’m at Corianne’s house in the city. All of the guards in the Upper Ring know who I am so, even though I’m standing outside some random house, nobody bothers me.

I don’t know if any of the guards see me when I walk up the stairs to the wrap around porch and circle around the building, but I’m not stopped by anyone.

When I reach the back window, I start to push it open, but stop. Something about this feels wrong. And it’s not that I’m breaking into Corianne’s house. I look around her back yard and find a small branch. I lay under the window in the back fo her house and use the branch to push it open.

I hear a thwang and a thud. It doesn’t take me long to figure out what it was. The back window was purposely left unlocked, and it was boobytrapped with a crossbow. I peek my head up into the window and see it. It was covered by a large blanket, but the bolt leaving the bow must have disturbed it.

I don’t see any other boobytraps, so I climb inside. But the fact that there was a boobytrap was very significant. Why would a simple lady of the court have a boobytrapped window? 

Cautiously, I head throughout the house. The living room, the kitchen, the bathroom, both bedrooms. I search and search, but find nothing out of the ordinary.

When I decide to leave, I figure it’s best to just head out the front door.

Unfortunately, I find two guards waiting for me.

“Milo Trennor,” says the guard holding handcuffs, “you’re under arrest.”

*Aaron*

After we’ve realized Milo isn’t in the palace, Sir Oswald and I return to the dining hall to see Xion is the only person left here, along with my father, sister, and Corianne.

“I’m sorry to do this to you,” says my father when I approach him. “But you were moving far too slowly. You may be mad at me now, but you’ll thank me one day.”

“You should have consulted me,” I tell him. “This was an underhanded move.” I turn on my heel and march toward Corianne.

“Have a wonderful day, my lady,” says Xion with a bow. “Your Highness.” Then, they leave the hall.

“Let’s take a walk,” I tell her. Outside the dining hall, I inform her of Milo’s disappearance.

“Let’s check his apartment,” she says. So she, Sir Oswald, and I leave the palace.”

We get to Milo’s apartment, Sir Oswald only paces behind us. I use my spare key, deciding to not waste time knocking, but the apartment is empty.

“I suppose we should just wait,” says Corianne, taking a seat at Milo’s table.

“I suppose,” I say, then pause for a moment. “You seem to be enjoying the wedding planning.”

“Don’t be silly, Aaron,” she says. “It’s just pretending. Although Xion did give me some good ideas I intend to use for my wedding with Criston.”

We wait for nearly two hours and I’m starting to get worried.

“Where else would he have gone?” asks Corianne.

“I don’t know. Maybe we could—”

I stop speaking when the door opens. Two guards stand outside, next to Oswald.

“Your Highness, forgive me,” says one of the guards, bowing his head, “but the King has ordered Milo’s apartment to be searched.”

“On what grounds?” I demand.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness, but I am not privy to that information. I do, regretfully, have to ask you and the Lady Corianne to vacate the premises.”

Up at the castle, I storm into the throne room to find my father sitting there. Corianne is hot on my heels.

“What do you think you’re doing, having my servant arrested?”

“Aaron,” my father says, sounding sad, “you do not yet know what he has done. If you’re going to be a good king, you must be willing to hear both sides of an issue in order to pass judgment.”

“And what is it that Milo could have done to warrant this?”

“Why don’t you have a seat and find out?” he suggest, indicating my throne. “Because of his standing with our family, and because it involves a member of court, I’ve decided to have him stand trial here, with just us.

With no other choice, I take my place next to my father. I don’t miss the looks of worry Riley shoot at me, but I don’t react to them.

“Bring him in!” shouts my father.

The doors to the side of the throne room open and Milo is marched in, chained up between two guards.

“Milo,” says my father, sadly. “You have been a faithful servant to the Royal Family for years. When I heard you broke into the Lady Corianne’s house—” He did what? “I was appalled to think someone like you would do such a thing. Do you deny that you broke into the Lady Corriane’s home?”

Milo looks at me before looking at my father.

“No,” he says. “I did it. But, Your Maj–”

“Furthermore,” says my father. “We raided your home and found photographs of the Lady Corianne.”

This shocks me so much, I stand.

“Let me see these photographs!” I demand, outraged. This is a lie, surely.

A guard comes forward with a stack of photographs. They depict Corianne and me, walking through the Upper Ring; Corianne buying fruits from a street vendor; and Corianne wrapped in the arms of a man I can only assume is Criston.

Where did he get these?

“Excuse me, Your Majesty?” says Corianne, stepping forward. The guards don’t try to stop her as she approaches the dais. She steps right up the dais and comes within feet of my father, then asks, “May I see the pictures?”

My father holds his hand out toward me as if to say, “Go ahead.” When she does, she grabs the photographs and flips through them, smiling.

“Your Majesty, this is all a big misunderstanding.” She turns to Milo. “Milo, did you forget where I told you the key was?”

*Milo*

I have no idea what Corianne is talking about, but I have a sense it’s better to play along.

“I did, my lady. I thought you said it was under the doormat.”

“No, Milo,” she says, walking up to me. “I said I left it on top of the doorframe.” She turns back to the King. “Your Majesty, I asked Milo to handle my bachelorette party. As he’s my fiance’s servant, I thought I could use him when needed. He had permission to be in my home. These were prop photographs for a game I’m planning.”

I can barley stop my jaw from dropping open. Corianne is giving me an alibi, without me even having to ask.

“Oh, my word,” says the King. He turns to me. “Milo, please forgive me, but it did seem really suspect and I can’t treat you any differently, no matter how dear you are to the Royal Family.”

“I understand, Your Majesty,” I say.

“Guards, let him go,” orders the King. Moments later, I’m free from my chains.

I look to Aaron and know immediately that he’s pissed. He didn’t buy Corianne’s lie.

“If it’s alright with you, Father,” says Aaron. “I think my servant and I will go up to my room with Corianne. There are some things I need doing from him.”

“Of course, of course,” says the King.

I follow Aaron out of the throne room. He, Corianne, Oswald, and I are silent all the way up to his room. When we enter, Oswald stays behind in the hall. Once the door is shut, Aaron grabs the photographs from Corianne, turns on me, and brandishes them in my face.

“What are these?” he demands. 

I feel shame welling up inside me, but it’s nothing to my furious distrust of Corianne.

“I hired a private detective to follow her,” I say. Aaron looks stunned. Corianne looks like I slapped her in the face. Her act doesn’t fool me. Aaron will understand once he finds out about the crossbow.

“Why?” asks Corianne.

“Because I don’t trust you,” I say, turning on her. “I don’t know what your end game is here, but I’m going to stop it.”

“And what did you find out from this private eye?” asks Aaron.

“Not a whole lot,” I admit, “but he gave me the idea of breaking into Corianne’s house. And do you know what I found there, Aaron?”

Aaron looks more interested now, almost like he always believed I was in the right and he was waiting for this moment, for me to explain myself.

“What did you find?” he asks.

“The back window was boobytrapped with a crossbow,” I tell him. “Why would she—”

But just then, Corianne gasps and puts her hand to her mouth. I see tears welling in her eyes. Either she’s truly terrified, or she’s a great actress.

“Someone boobytrapped my house?” she asks, sounding horrified.

“It was the back door,” I say. “Why would they boobytrap that?”

“She always goes through her back garden to look at the flowers. She never uses her front door. She told me once,” says Aaron. He walks toward Corianne as if to comfort her, but she waves him away.

“She’s trying to use you!” I shout at him, almost begging him to see reason. “She’s going to blackmail you when the time is right and you can’t even see it.”

“How could you think,” asks Corianne, her voice dripping with disbelief, “that after all I’ve done for you and Aaron, I would betray either of you like that? I could have gone to the King. I didn’t have to go out of my way to make sure you two had alone time. What have I done to make you distrust me?”

That, I didn’t have an answer to. Honestly, Corianne hasn’t done anything. In fact, she’s right in saying she’s helped us out a lot. Still, I feel it in my gut. Corianne isn’t to be trusted.

“So you have nothing to say?” demands Aaron. I shake my head. Aaron rolls his eyes. It’s the first time his eye roll has ever brought me misery. 

“Maybe you should just go home,” he says.

“He can’t,” says Corianne. “Your father ordered him to stay here until the threat of the Red Hand has been entirely cleared.”

“That’s true. Come on, Corianne,” he says, and he grabs her by the hand. He stops at the door to his room and turns back.

“Make sure you get a new cot to sleep on tonight,” he says.

*Aaron*

Twenty minutes later, Corianne and I are sitting on a bench in the gardens near a large fountain. A dozen ducks mill about, some in the water, some waddling on the ground.

“I just don’t understand why he did it,” I say.

“Maybe he felt threatened by me?” she suggests.

I let out a laugh. “No way. You’re beautiful, Corianne, but you don’t have the right…”

“Equipment?” Corianne supplies. I nod and we both start laughing.

“I think it’s kind of sweet,” says Corianne when we’ve stopped laughing. “He’s really protective of you.”

“It’s good of you to see it that way,” I say. “I’d be furious, if it were me.”

“I’m certainly not happy,” she says. “Although, I have to say, it’s good that Milo did. If I’d have gone, I might have set the trap off and gotten hurt.” She doesn’t say anything for a moment. “I don’t want Milo to get in trouble. I know how important he is to you, and if I’m being honest, I like to think that you and I are friends.”

“I think so, too,” I say. “What are we going to do about my father?”

“We’ll figure it out. He might be the king, but he isn’t all powerful. Maybe I should just tell him I don’t want to marry you.”

“What about your mother?”

“She scares me far less than your father. Springing this engagement on us? I haven’t even had a chance to tell Criston. He’s going to be crushed.”

“Let’s go now. Let’s go tell him and maybe the three of us can come up with something.”

“I’m not sure that would be wise, Your Highness,” says Oswald.

“We’re going,” I say, and Oswald nods his head.

“All right,” says Corianne, standing. “Let’s go find Criston.”

*Milo*

Later that night, I’m laying on the cot in Aaron’s room when the door swings open and Aaron stumbles in. Just by looking at him, I can tell he’s piss drunk. He’s with Corianne, and they’re both laughing about something. I think she’s been drinking, too. When they see me, their laughter stops immediately.

“Good night, Your Highness,” says Corianne. She looks at me and gives me a small smile. I don’t return it, or her “Good night, Milo.”

Aaron walks to the table in his room and sits upon it, looking at me. 

“Are you still angry with me?” I ask. He nods his head. 

“Why Milo?” he asks, his words slurred. “Why’d you do it?”

“Because you’re blind to her. You think she’s a good person, but she’s not.”

“Did you find something in her house to indicate that?”

I don’t say anything, but it’s all the answer he needs.

“I’m going to bed,” says Aaron, sliding from the table. “Tomorrow, you should apologize to Corianne.”

I say nothing still as he turns out the light, crosses the room, and climbs into bed.

My eyes burn as they fill with tears that start leaking down my face. I’m angry I got caught. I’m angry at Corianne for whatever she’s planning. I’m angry at Aaron for not being able to see it. And, more than anything, I want to crawl in that bed with Aaron and hold him until we fall asleep.

Instead, I turn over on my cot and close my eyes. 

Maybe tomorrow will be a better day, I tell myself.