A Prince's Pride

*Aaron*

Looking at the back of Milo's head, his crown sitting upon it, I feel an overwhelming sense of happiness. We made it. We finally made it. A part of me never truly expected us to get here. To be married. For Milo to be king consort. In this moment, I can't stop the image our future from bubbling up. A happy life with my husband. Citizens that adore and support us. The defeat of the Red Hand and the Lower Reach. 

That happiness evaporates in a second when a woman in the crowd screams and everyone tries to move away from the windows as one. Something huge is flying straight at the throne room. I know what it is, and the realization makes time slow to a crawl around me. Exavier rushes forward and tackles Milo to the ground, covering his body with his own. Oswald is behind me, but I know he won’t be able to make it to me in time.

As the bomb nears, it explodes in midair, blasting the windows inward and spraying glass shards in every direction. People scream and begin running in panic. Smoke from the bomb and the dust from the rubble of the windows rolls over the elegantly decorated throne room.

The next thing I know, Oswald's arms are around me and he's lowering me so I’m leaning against the stairs of the dais. Once stationary, I become aware of a dull pain in the side of my neck, which is growing sharper with every beat of my heart.

When he looks at me, Milo's scream wrenches the air, drowning out all other sounds. I try to turn my head to look at him fully, worried he's hurt, but the motion sends a jet of agony shooting through my neck. Milo crawls to me, the blood draining from his face.

"Aaron, are you okay?!" he asks. 

I reach up to feel the spot on my neck that hurts so ferociously, but Oswald grabs my wrist. 

"Don't, Your Majesty," he says. He’s sitting on my right side, Milo on my left. I glance behind Milo to see a gaping hole in the wall where the windows used to reside. Four of the windows still stand intact, but the middle three are gone.

"Someone help him!" shouts Milo, looking around frantically. I’m not sure why he’s freaking out so badly. Sure, my neck hurts and I’m starting to feel lightheaded, but I’m fine. Right?

"Should we pull it out?" asks Exavier. 

"That's the worst thing we could do. We need Zelda! He's losing so much blood," says Milo, tears now streaming down his face. 

I’m losing a lot of blood? From what?

Oswald leans over me to place a hand on Milo's shoulder and says, "I don't think there's anything she can do."

Milo looks down at me, hopelessness etched on his face as I feel my eyes droop. 

"No!" he shouts and my eyes snap back open, finding his instantaneously. "Don't close your eyes, Aaron! Don't leave me! Please, stay with me!"

I can’t answer him. I try, but I feel as though there’s something in my airway. I feel it filling with liquid as I look at Milo, his face showing nothing but horror. 

My vision grows dark and I feel my eyelids slide closed over my eyes.

*Two Months Ago*

*Aaron*

Although I've lived in the Grand Palace my whole life, I'm constantly finding new secret passages, so I often wander the corridors, hoping to find a space behind a tapestry or one of those walls that pushes open into a staircase. 

As I walk past my mother's room, I hear her singing. It's a song in Old Midoorian, which I don't know, but it sounds beautiful. I stop by their door and peer in. She and my father are dancing as she sings and they gaze at one another as though they would be lost without each other. 

I recognize that look on my mother's face. It's the same look Milo gives me when he sees me. Like he wants nothing more than to look at me for the rest of his life. 

I know my parents' marriage was arranged, as my father is trying to do between me and Corianne. I still don’t see how we’re going to get out of it. I'm impressed that my parents fell in love so easily and so hard. That they love each other still, even in their older ages. How much easier would my life be if I were straight? If I could just marry Corianne, have a child? 

"We have an admirer," says my mother in English when their dancing turns so she's facing me. My father breaks away from her and smiles at me. 

"Aaron!" he says jovially, waving for me to join them. "Come in, son."

I walk into their room, leaving Oswald at the door. My mother puts a hand on one of my cheeks and kisses the other. 

"How are you, my boy?" she asks. 

"I'm okay," I say with a shrug, but she gives me a shrewd look. 

"I have business to attend to," says my father. He claps a hand on my shoulder and gives me an approving look. I suppose he’s happy I’ve chosen Corianne now that he knows what her family does. My father turns to my mother and pulls her hand up to kiss it before he leaves the room. 

"How are you, really?" asks my mother. 

"I don't know," I say, then pause. A moment later, my thoughts come spilling out. "How do you two do it? How did you fall in love? Father wants me to marry Corianne, but it's not what I want. I want…" I trail off, not ready to tell her about me and Milo. 

"I understand," she says. "It'll come, I promise. It starts with friendship, just like any love. It won't be easy, but I know you're strong. I know you'd rather—" she stops, seemingly on the edge of speech. She hesitates and sighs before continuing. "We all have our duties. Still, I think it would be better if you follow your heart."

"Thanks, Mother," I say. She hugs me and kisses me on the cheek again.

"I'll always be here for you. You know that, right? You're my son and I will always love you and stand by your side, no matter what you do or who you choose to spend your life with."

She gives me a look that seems a little too knowing, but I know she doesn't know about me and Milo. How could she?

"Your Majesty?" says a voice near the door. We turn to see Mirra Haan, my mother's Royal Attendant, standing by the door with a sealed envelope in her hand. "Queen Allandra has sent a letter for you."

"Probably more pointless gossip," says my mother. "I'll see you later, honey.”

I leave her room as she opens the letter and sits to read it. 

Seeing my parents like that made me think of something, so I make my way to my room where I find Milo cleaning.

"Hey," he says, his face lighting up like my mother's was when she was looking at my father. "What's up?"

"I just walked in on my parents."

His face twists in disgust and I can't help but laugh. 

"Not like that," I say. "They were dancing."

"Oh, thank the Gods," he says, also laughing. 

"It got me to wondering though. About us. About the future."

"Well, we have to figure out a way to get you out of your engagement to Corianne first," he says as he straightens the tablecloth on the table in the middle of the room.

"Do you think we'll love each other as much as we do now? As much as they do, when we're older?" 

"Well, duh," he says, as though it's the most obvious thing in the world. 

"Even when I'm ancient and wrinkly?" I insist. He crosses to me and wraps his arms around my neck, looking into my eyes with the most sincere expression I’ve ever seen.

"I'll love every wrinkle,” he says. “Every line."

I kiss him and feel the electricity shoot between us. 

"I don't like thinking about us being old," he says. "Old people die too often. I don't think I could survive it if you died."

"It's settled then," I say. "I'm never dying."

"You promise?" he asks, his face lighting up again as he smiles.

"I promise."

*Present Day*

*Milo*

"Aaron!" I shout, shaking him. He opens his eyes and relief floods me.

I can't stop staring at the shard of glass sticking out of Aaron's neck, at the blood gushing around it. He keeps closing his eyes and I have to shout over the sounds of people screaming in pain and fear, over the sounds of people running and guards shouting orders, over the sounds of misery all around us.

I whip my head around and look for Zelda, but she's probably in the crowd, helping the injured. Or she's dead. I see Riley, uninjured, trying to calm her screaming mother. Elaine doesn’t look hurt at all, but the attack has clearly unhinged her. My eyes lock on a figure walking calmly toward me. A woman with raven-black hair and icy blue eyes.

Piper Dylan. I don’t know how she got in here, but I don’t care about that now.

"You!" I shout, pointing at her. When I raise up to my knees, I’m aware of the weight of the crown still on my head. "Guards, bring her to me!" Two of the Crown Guards surrounding me and Aaron move forward, grab her by the arms, and pull her to me. They aren’t gentle.

"What can I do for you, Your Majesty?" she asks calmly, as though a bomb didn't just destroy the room we stand in. 

The first time I'm being addressed as a king, and it's by Piper Dylan.

"You're a witch. Help him!"

I look down at Aaron as he lets out a gurgle, like he's trying to speak. 

"Don't, Your Majesty," says Oswald. "Save your strength."

"If you want magic legalized, help him, and I'll make sure he does it. I'll do everything in my power to make it legal if you save his life."

"I'll do what I can," says Piper, setting her face into a stony resolve.

When she crouches and approaches Aaron, he lets out another gurgle and fear shoots across his pale face. A purple tinge is spreading across it. I know he's choking on his own blood. 

Piper reaches out and he tries to move away from her, but I close the distance between us and look him in the eye. 

"It's okay," I say, cradling his head and looking into his eyes. "She's going to help you. Let her help you. She's our only hope."

He can't nod, I don't think, but I see the acceptance in his eyes. 

When I move away, Piper reaches out again and he doesn't flinch until she pulls the shard from his neck. A spurt of blood erupts from the wound, but Piper stems the flow with her hand. 

She opens her mouth and starts to speak, but it isn't her own voice that comes out. A hundred different voices come from her throat as if they're all using her mouth at once. The words echo and crash over each other so it's impossible to know what's being said. Her icy blue eyes flash for a split second.

When she pulls her hand away, I'm afraid of Aaron bleeding out, so I clap my hand to the spot and find nothing but smooth, whole skin. 

Aaron takes in a deep breath and coughs. 

"Aaron?" I ask. I don't miss the desperate plea in my voice. 

"I'm okay," he says in a slightly hoarse voice and I can't stop the tears that start gushing from my eyes as I throw myself upon him and start sobbing into his chest. 

He grips me tightly as though I’m what’s keeping him from leaving this world.

"Is she okay?" I hear Exavier say. When I look around, I see Piper has collapsed. She lays next to Aaron's legs, unconscious. 

"She's alive," says Oswald after checking her pulse. "Your Majesties, we should get you away from here." He looks shaken, but his voice is steady.

"Can you stand?" I ask Aaron as I wipe my eyes. He nods and sits up, then looks to the row of Crown Guards standing between us and the crowd. "Take Piper Dylan to the dungeons until we can decide what to do with her." He’s still pale, but his voice sounds strong now.

I watch, wanting to argue, as three guard work together to pick up her limp body. I'm still not sure what her game is, but she did save Aaron's life. 

"Your Majesties, I highly recommend we go to the Queen's bunker," says Oswald. The King’s bunker was turned into a tomb for King Theodore and was sealed off. Criston knew it’s location anyway, it was too compromised to use again.

"No," Aaron and I say together. 

"This was their attack, Oswald," I say. "We need to stay here and help our people."

I'm relieved Aaron is okay. I'm still shaken up about him almost dying. I have mixed feelings about having magic's existence proven to me. But I can't focus on any of that. I've decided to take my royal duties seriously. I'm a King of Midoor and that has to be my first priority. 

I resist the urge to pull Aaron into my arms. To hide away in a bunker and hold him until everything passes. He looks dazed, probably from both almost dying and from Piper proving magic to him.

I stand and call over the noise. 

"Hey!" I shout. "Everyone!" 

The guards all shout in unison, bringing the noise in the throne room to a halt. 

"This was the work of the Red Hand," I say, trying to project my voice. "This is what they seek: to destroy us in the most horrific way they can. Those who are uninjured, check on those around you. Our guards will help you. Those who can be moved should be taken to the infirmary. Has anyone seen Zelda Offrand?"

"I'm here, Your Majesty," says Zelda, walking forward. Bandages cover her left arm, blood seeping through them. "I will lead those who can walk to the infirmary. I'm sure the explosion was heard throughout the palace. My assistants will surely be here soon to help everyone else."

"Good," I say. "Anyone who is injured but able to walk, follow Madam Offrand please."

Aaron comes up beside me and clutches my arm.

“Magic is real,” he says as though he doesn’t believe it. I nod, but don’t say anything to him.

“Guards,” I say, addressing those around us, “leave us with our sworn protectors. Go around and help anyone you can.”

Most of them are stone-faced, seemingly accepting my order. The rest seem hesitant, as though they don’t want to leave us after an attack.

“You heard your king,” says Aaron. “Go!”

After that, all the guards nod and move away from us. I feel slightly betrayed that Aaron had to assert his authority for them to move. Would they have hesitated if Elaine had given the same order when she was the reigning queen?

I look up to the throne and see Elaine, now quiet, though Riley is sitting on the armrest of her silver throne, holding her.

“I really think it would be better if we took you two somewhere safe,” says Oswald, but I shake my head.

“We’re staying here, Oswald,” says Aaron. “We’re helping our people.”

He just nods and together, Aaron, Oswald, Exavier, and I head towards the crowd.

***

It’s hours later when Aaron and I enter the Small Council chamber. Aaron takes his father’s old seat and I take his. Though the entirety of the Small Council was at the wedding, none of them are hurt except Zelda.

We sit in silence for several moments, too many to count, before Aaron speaks.

“Death toll?” he asks.

“There were nearly a hundred in attendance,” says Zelda. “Twelve are dead. Six are critically wounded. Twenty-nine are wounded, but it isn’t serious. The rest are either perfectly fine or have superficial wounds. We moved those who need critical care to the hospital in the Upper Ring once they were stable.”

"The windows of the throne room were built to defend from boulders or other objects that could shatter it," says Yora. "The designers never imagined a bomb strike."

Another long silence follows Yora's words. I’m sure the rest of the Small Council, like me, feels shocked.

“How did this happen?” I ask, looking at Delgara. He was in charge of security for the wedding, after all.

“It seems Red Hands working within the city built a trebuchet on top of a building and launched the bomb at us. We were not expecting such an attack.”

“To be honest,” says Cara, “I am more concerned with talking about Piper Dylan.”

“You would be so crass as to ignore an attack on the palace?” asks Yora. “The cost of fixing the throne room will be—”

“Is that all you care about, Yora?” asks Cara. “The money?”

“I am the Master of Coin. I see these things as monetary transactions. I can’t help it.”

The Small Council starts arguing with one another, though Zelda stays silent, but I don’t catch any of their words.

“Silence!” says Aaron, and silence falls immediately. “I agree that we should talk about Piper Dylan. We know the attack was by the Red Hand. We’ll deal with them later. I know Zelda has always believed in magic, but I saw it today with my own eyes. Piper healed me with nothing but her voice.”

“I have seen something similar, but not as powerful," says Zelda. "Certain herbs and ingredients, when combined with magic, can speed up the healing process, but to heal a wound with nothing but spoken word? I’ve never seen such a thing. I think we should be wary of her.”

“I disagree,” says Dellrie. “If she saved the King’s life, surely she can’t be against us. She could have let him die, said it was out of her power, but she didn’t.”

“I agree with Dellrie,” says Aaron. When I give him a shocked look, he continues. “I do. I still don’t think she’s entirely benevolent, but I don’t think she means us harm.”

“The old crone who gave me my prediction said she didn’t have your best interests at heart,” I argue. “But then again, you didn’t believe her prediction, did you?”

“I didn’t until now. Now that I know magic is real, who knows? But I can’t just cast her aside because of a fortune teller. Not when she saved my life.”

“There is also the matter of the thing she did before,” says Zelda. I see confusion cross the faces of the other Small Council members. They don’t know what she’s talking about.

“There’s something I haven’t told you,” says Aaron. He launches into the explanation of what happened to him at the Mission Inn and he tells them he thinks Piper cast a spell on him. 

Several of the Small Council members start talking at once, but Aaron silences them with a raise of his hand. 

“We’re not talking about whether or not Piper enchanted me at the inn,” he says. “Not until we question her.” 

“Your Majesty—” begins Dellrie, but stops when Aaron glares at him.

“No,” he says. “No arguments. We will question Piper when she wakes. We’ve already given orders to be alerted when she does.”

“I would like to point out, as the Master of Laws,” says Dellrie, “that whether or not she enchanted you in the Mission Inn is highly relevant. If she used magic to force you to sleep with that woman, that magic was permitted under her immunity. The magic she used to save your life was illegal.”

“I grant her immunity for that,” I say.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” says Cara, “but you do not have that authority. Only the highest reigning monarch, that is to say, King Aaron has—”

“Milo can grant immunity to whomever he wants,” Aaron cuts in.

“If that is what you desire, Your Majesty,” says Dellrie, “but I will remind you that you retain unilateral authority. You can overrule Milo whenever you wish.”

“I am aware of the powers afforded to me by the law, Dellrie,” says Aaron, sounding exasperated. No wonder why Aaron doesn’t like him. He spends his entire time in that chair disagreeing with everyone. “My word still stands. Milo is free to do as he wishes. If I disagree with him, I will talk to him and we will come to a decision together.”

“That’s that, then,” says Dellrie. “Piper is granted immunity regardless of whatever she does.”

“Like save the King’s life, you mean?” I say. Silence follows my words as Dellrie looks uncomfortable.

“Are you disagreeing with the Word of the Crown?” asks Aaron.

“Of course not, Your Majesty,” says Dellrie, “but Milo—”

“King Milo,” says Aaron.

“Yes, sire, King Milo is new to his position and—”

“Dellrie,” I say, cutting across him, “you are to start preparations for making magic legal in Midoor.” I know I’m tiptoeing a line. I know magic was outlawed by King’s Law. I don’t know how far the scope of my power is as king consort, but I won’t break my promise to Piper.

“Why?” questions Cara.

“I told Piper I would see to it that magic was legalized if she saved Aaron. She held up her end of the bargain. So will I.”

“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” says Zelda, “but I believe that was a grave mistake. I have seen the work of magic. I know of it’s power.”

“And that power has reached Midoor,” says Aaron. “I think Milo is right. We need magic on our side to fight magic. Piper is our best chance at gaining that strength.”

“Your Majesties,” says Pallenore, speaking for the first time, “surely this is a matter for the vote.”

I know what he’s talking about. The reigning monarch can pass on decisions that affect the whole of the country to a vote of the Small Council. Still, it’s a formality. As king, Aaron’s word is law. 

“It’s up to you,” says Aaron, looking at me.

How should I play this? I could pass it on to the Council and let them vote. I could insist magic be made legal. 

“There won’t be a vote,” I decide. “I told her we’d make magic legal. It’s to be done.”

Cara and Yora don’t seem to care about my decision. Pallenore, Dellrie, Delgara, and Zelda seem frustrated, but I don’t care.

“If that’s all,” says Aaron, “I would like to retire for the night and I’m sure you all think the same.”

“Actually, Your Majesty,” says Dellrie, “there is one more thing. Pallenore?”

“I think we should focus on the Red Hand, rather than the Lower Reach, at least for the time being,” says Pallenore. “They are a much larger and more capable group than we ever realized.”

“I agree,” I say before Aaron can respond. “We have to take them down.”