Fifteen years ago…
"Why are we here again?" Ezra asked, glancing at Helios as he walked beside him.
Helios had pulled him away from sword practice to take him to the third prince's compound. Ezra didn't really care about the other princes.
The second one, Kaelis or whatever, was loud and irritating. And the third prince didn't have a good reputation either, so Ezra had never bothered to learn his name for the sake of his peace.
"I heard Aurien hasn't been reporting to Father, and he's getting worried, so he asked me to check on him," Helios said, smiling softly at him. "I know you're eager to practice your swordsmanship, but I also wanted to spend some time with you after this. Wait here while I check on him."
Ezra's eyes widened. 'He wanted to…spend some time with me?'
Seriously?
He had been so focused on training, keeping track of his friends, and trying to become a strong knight that he hadn't spent much time with Helios lately.
And yet, somehow, Helios had noticed.
"O-Okay then…?" Ezra stammered, turning away, heat creeping up his neck and into his cheeks.
From the corner of his eyes, he caught Helios' smile grow just a little before the older boy turned toward the palace steps.
"You can look around a bit. Aurien's compound is the biggest among the three of us, since…well, it's no secret he's Father's favorite," Helios added casually, with no trace of anger or bitterness. "I'll be quick. Promise."
Ezra didn't answer. His chest felt tight, a mix of nervousness and something he couldn't quite name.
He just nodded and watched as Helios climbed the steps and disappeared inside, leaving him alone in the courtyard.
'He always says such weird stuff,' Ezra thought, shifting his weight nervously. The courtyard felt suddenly too large, too quiet.
His eyes wandered over the trimmed hedges, the marble fountain that gleamed in the sunlight, and the tall windows of the palace.
'Ugh. When will this go away?'
Ezra's face still felt hot, and his stomach fluttered in a way he didn't understand, like tiny wings beating inside.
'I feel so…weird?' he thought, blinking rapidly. He decided to walk around, hoping that moving would calm him down.
The palace stretched endlessly in every direction. The gardens were immaculate, the hedges trimmed into perfect shapes, and the stone pathways polished until they gleamed.
Fountains sparkled in the sunlight, throwing tiny rainbows across the marble. It was easy to see why Helios had called it the biggest compound.
'It really is…huge,' Ezra whispered to himself. 'And the king must really favor Prince Aurien for him to have all of this specially made.'
But he couldn't help wondering why. Helios was smart, responsible, kind…practically perfect. And yet Aurien had the king's attention.
'It's not fair…' he thought, frowning. 'Especially since I heard the third prince is a coward. How could a coward even be a king? A king should be…'
"Come on, boy. We know you're better than this."
"Look at him…he's shaking already. Pathetic."
The voices made Ezra freeze. Laughter, low and sharp, coming from a secluded corner of the compound.
Adult male voices. 'Again?'
Dread crawled up his spine, curling around him like icy fingers.
He remembered the first time he had stumbled upon Helios surrounded by bigger kids. He had felt small, scared, and completely out of place, but it had led to something good in the end.
Then there was Kaelis, surrounded by women, laughing and flirting with them, making Ezra feel uncomfortable in a way he didn't understand.
Something always seemed to happen whenever he stumbled into these situations.
'Might as well check it out,' Ezra thought, cursing his own curiosity. His small feet carried him closer, careful to stay in the shadows.
He pressed himself against a marble column, peeking around the edge.
Knights.
Not from the Sunward Sentinels. Their uniforms were distinct and polished, adorned with the third prince's crest.
Ezra didn't remember their names, but he knew instantly they were Aurien's knights.
They hadn't noticed him yet. Their laughter rang through the courtyard, bold and careless, making Ezra narrow his eyes.
"J-Jean Luc…please, this was all I could ask of my father. If…if I had asked for everything he would've—"
SMACK.
The sharp crack of a slap made Ezra's stomach drop. He gasped and stumbled instinctively out of his hiding place.
He didn't care if it wasn't his fight, didn't care whose business it was. 'I can't just…stand here and watch!'
"Hey!" Ezra yelled, voice cracking with anger, though it sounded small in the vast courtyard.
Six knights turned in unison, their polished armor clinking.
All of them froze, surprise flashing in their eyes, before the realization of a small boy yelling at them seemed to sink in.
Ezra's chest heaved as his gaze followed their movements, but then he saw who they were targeting—and everything inside him went still.
Golden eyes.
Black hair.
Everything he had heard about the three princes clicked into place in that instant. There was only one prince with black hair and golden eyes. '
It's…Aurien?' Ezra's mind screamed, disbelief warring with fear.
The prince didn't flinch, didn't even seem as startled as Ezra expected. Aurien stood tall, chin up, shoulders straight, yet the tight set of his jaw and the slight narrowing of his eyes told a different story.
He was cornered, outnumbered by six knights who weren't supposed to act like this.
'Why are they crowding Prince Aurien?' Ezra thought, confusion twisting with rising anger. His small hands clenched into fists. 'What is actually happening right now?
"It's just a fucking kid," the man who seemed to be Jean Luc said with a snort. "Get out of here before I force you, kiddo. This place isn't a playground."
"No… I know that kid," the knight behind Jean Luc said. "He's the street rat Prince Helios took under his wing."
"Street rat? The one he's turning into a knight?"
"Yes! That one!"
Aurien's eyes widened the moment those words were spoken.
Jean Luc raised a brow. "Okay? And so what? If we can keep this little prince under control, you think we can't handle one kid?" He turned back to Aurien with a lazy smile. "Isn't that right, Prince Aurien?"
"Y-Yes…" Aurien whispered.
Jean Luc scoffed. "See? Wipe the worry off those ugly faces of yours. Stop acting like such cowards."
"But what if he snitches, Captain?"
"Then we make sure he doesn't."
Ezra's jaw tightened. 'He has bruises on his neck…' His eyes flicked to Aurien's face. 'And his face is red.'
"You're…hurting the third prince?" Ezra asked. His voice didn't shake, even though his chest felt tight.
'Is that why he hasn't been reporting to the king?'
"Hurt him? No," Jean Luc replied calmly.
Bullshit.
"Then why does he have bruises?"
Jean Luc shrugged. "We train him. He fails. When he fails, he gets punished."
"That just sounds like you're hurting him," Ezra said flatly.
"What do you know, rat?" another knight spat. "If you want to see real hurting, come over here and we'll show you."
"N-No!" Aurien cried, panic breaking through as he tried to push himself up from the ground. "Please, don't involve him. I'm…sorry. I'll give you everything you asked for. I promise. Just—please—don't hurt him…"
Jean Luc looked down at him, amused.
"Please, Jean Lu—ACK!"
The kick landed hard against Aurien's stomach. Aurien collapsed with a strangled sound, curling into himself.
"You—!" Ezra screamed, lunging forward without thinking.
Hands grabbed his arms from both sides, wrenching them back. Ezra struggled, panic and fury crashing together in his chest.
"Nice try, kid," one of the knights sneered. "But you've got a long way to go if you think you can play hero with that puny body against all of us."
"Naive little street rat."
Ezra's breath came fast and uneven as he twisted against their grip, muscles straining, teeth clenched hard enough that his jaw ached.
'These… assholes.'