The Tears of a Prince

Eyes closed, steady breathing and a rapidly beating heart. Everything around him seemed to happen faster as he hit his usual sandbag. He only looked forward, his firsts landing steadily on the worn out leather when footsteps approached them. Instantly alarmed he stopped, turning his head towards the source of the sound. Kai had visited him, standing at the door frame, looking at him. 

"Want to practice together?" he asked him but the young vampire shook  his head negatively. He didn't want to. "Why?"

"Just because." Ash answered, shrugging his shoulders.

"Are you mad we will be going to the human world?" the young prince asked him. 

"No." he answered shortly. 

"Then are you mad that you will have to drink my blood? It for you to be able to stand under the human sun longer, there is nothing we can really do about…"

"It's not that either." 

"Then what is it?" Kai kept asking curious why Ash seemed so down. He hadn't reacted at all when the prince had informed them that they would have to leave, it was as if he hadn't been bothered by it, something that seemed like his usual kind of attitude but it wasn't. He didn't ask anything, nor say anything. 

"I just don't get why Olivia has to come along." he stated and Kai blinked, surprised by the unexpected reason. 

"Is that it?" 

"Yes. I don't like her." he told him and Kai tried to hide a smile but he was unable to. "Why are you smiling??" 

"It's nothing, I just thought you didn't like Philip, that's all." 

"Well, I don't like him either but he is your mate. I can't say anything about that." he told the prince, pouting and Kai chuckled, approaching him. He patted his black haired head. 

"Olivia is nice. She is just a bit sheltered but like her brother she has a good heart." he told him and the young warrior scoffed, walking towards one of the benches. He had a small water bottle on it, undoing the lid, he drank all of it, throwing the bottle to the ground, and small droplets of water landing on the wooden floor before he sat down.

"Don't make me babysit her during our journey. I am begging you." he told Kai. The prince sat down next to him.

"Why not? She actually seems to like you. She was asking all the time about you, Soran told me." 

"Yeah, give a royal girl that has never left her home a man who doesn't fall to his knees about her and suddenly they are all interested. She blushes every single time I look at her, like I don't know what she's thinking. It's awkward." Ash told him, surprising Kai. He didn't expect the young vampire to be so adept in female emotions. Considering though where he had grown up it kind of made sense, women all around him and not the very restrained kind. 

"You don't like her like that? She's pretty." he asked him and heard Ash snort.

"I won't like anyone, ever." 

"Why?"

"Love kills people. It gets them weak and then they lose everything. Even if the only thing they have is themselves. I've seen it happen all the time. Ladies at the alleys falling for jerks, them killing them in the end, or loving someone they shouldn't, trying to escape to workhouses and getting killed by the guards. Love only causes you troubles and a woman like Olivia is the embodiment of a bad story." Ash stated, confident in his words. He actually wanted nothing to do with her. He had managed to spend his miserable life with no problems of that kind, he wasn't going to ruin it now, not when he had found a home and a purpose all just for some girl that would lose her feelings in a week or so. Ash knew what she was thinking. He was different, he didn't pay her attention all the time, he didn't like her and he didn't sugar coat everything for her and that made him interesting. Crushes like that were bound to disappear faster than the first snow. 

"I see. That is quite the mindset you have there. Let's hope you don't get to spend your life alone then" Kai said, shaking his head.

"I will be serving you. All my life." 

"That won't do. You're your own person." 

"I have decided that for myself." he insisted, making the blond prince sigh as he stood up. Kai looked at him from above while he was seated. 

"You are a lot more than just a guard Ash. You better remember that." he said.

Ash didn't answer him, his dark blue eyes just looked at his face, thinking what he could actually mean by that. It was quite funny. How he knew so much about others and not himself. Maybe trying to survive all your life gave you an unexplained sense of understanding others to shield yourself but when it came to knowing your soul, you lacked. "I am going to Philip. Pack your stuff okay? Tomorrow we are leaving."

"I don't have stuff." Ash said, the prince rolling his eyes.

"Pack something anyways. Just stop training, you will collapse."

"Okay." he agreed watching Kai walk away with a smile.

To say that Kai wasn't concerned about Ash would be a lie. Soran had informed him that his sister was probably head over heels for him and that she couldn't stop talking about their little trip, begging their parents to let her go. He just hoped Ash wouldn't give her too much of a hard time, he tends to be a little rough around the edges and oblivious to his own feelings. It had been quite funny, seeing him so riled up about a girl. He usually does not pay any mind to anyone but he did have a lot to say about her and Kai was sure it wasn't just because she was a pureblood. 

He opened the door of his room, thinking about how he was when he was a teenager, a faint smile on his face when Philip's voice reached his sensitive ears. His mate was seated in one of the armchairs in his room, reading one of the books he had stacked on his nightstand. The moment he entered he closed the hardcover edition of the picture of Dorian Gray and looked at him.

"Took you a while to appear." he said and Kai tilted his head to the side.

"Are you keeping time?"

"When I am waiting for you yes, indeed I am." he told him, getting up from his seat and getting closer to him. "I have to say now that I will be the leader. You will have to listen to me more, maybe even call me with a title." Philip joked, pretending to think of an appropriate way to be called. 

"Oh really? Then tell me sir how would you like me to address you?" Kai asked him, a  cheeky grin on his face. 

"How about master?" Philip asked. 

Kai took a second to look at him, staring right into his hazel eyes before he bursted into laughter making the Alpha raise his eyebrows. 

"You look more than a shepherd's dog to me…master" he teased him and the Alpha faked a gasp, taking an offended step back while his palm touched his heart.

"Your dog jokes need to stop." he said, deadface. 

"Never." Kai stated, spelling out the word slowly. 

"Then why don't we talk about how you enjoy having a dog do…."

"Don't" Kai said, pointing a finger at him, his blue eyes wary about what he was supposed to say next. Philip started laughing. Walking once more towards him and wrapping his hands around his waist. 

"Then call me master."

"Do you have a superiority kink?" Kai asked. 

"No, but I think it would sound good if you said it."

"With the right context then." 

"And what is the right context?"

"You and I…naked, alone…sweating…if you're good, I will call you master." Kai whispered, making Philip's heart beat faster. 

"Okay then your highness. It's a deal." the werewolf agreed, smirking deviously. 

It was quiet, peaceful at the palace while everyone was getting ready for their journey, maybe one of the biggest moments of their lives. Lun, Xan, Ash and  Kai all of them had been in the palace working on those last minute details they considered important. The youngest prince had checked up on everyone, making sure they were alright and now he planned to be with him, the man he had been waiting for so long. 

As he stood before him, the only perfection in his gloomy world he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed, his heart going insane as if he was a teen again. Looking into his eyes, hearing his voice and feeling his strong arms around him, being in his little shelter was enough to make him relax. 

So relaxed actually that he didn't think, he didn't wonder why he hadn't seen John in so long, hours had passed but the young werewolf had not made an appearance.

His friend, his only friend from the human world was in the process of losing himself once more and this time, no one could help him.