Keep Me Closest

The expression ‘you could cut the tension with a knife’ barely began to cover the extreme pressure of the atmosphere surrounding the two teenagers.

The girl’s heart was literally leaping out of her throat, and she swallowed loudly to try and tame its frantic beating. She had never planned on being caught. From her careful observation, the only visitors to the castle gardens were the occasional cook and the gardeners, and even they rarely visited more than once a day. She had waited for the last maid to rush inside before running from her hiding place.

But, she concluded, she had to do something. The boy looked as though he was planning to simply stare at her incessantly.

“Hello,” she finally choked out, alongside a hesitant smile.

“…Hi.”

And so returned the silence. She shifted awkwardly under his gaze, slightly confused as to why the boy had not gone running to tell the King or alert the authorities about the strange looking girl running amok in the Royal garden. It was definitely not the reaction she expected, but there must have been a reason. Maybe he was a thief? But then, why would he be walking around so comfortably?

“I’m… Brenna,” she said hesitantly, testing out his reaction further. “Um, you might be wondering why I’m in your garden…”

“Not at all, actually,” he replied sarcastically, his eyebrows raised above his glittering turquoise eyes.

Brenna frowned, taking time to scan over the boy’s appearance. She couldn’t deny he was more than ridiculously good looking, with his messy blonde hair that fell into his gorgeous sea foam green eyes. He had cheekbones, too. Something she found extremely attractive.

Despite her former annoyance, an uncontrollable grin broke out on Brenna’s face. “Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit.”

“I would think you’re in no position to criticize my humour.” Aaron smirked at her. “So? Aren’t you going to tell me what you’re doing here? The rest of the maids are inside preparing dinner.”

Brenna almost choked on her own saliva. He thought she was a maid? “W-Well, uh…”

“I’m only kidding,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I know you’re not one of the maids. You’re a trespasser.”

“I can explain-”

“Explain, then,” he said inattentively.

Bren scowled at the boy in front of her. From what she could tell, he was obviously a sarcastic person. An asshole, in other words. She did not deal well with assholes. “Well, I’m currently running away, if you really must know. Not that you would care or anything, Mr High-and-Mighty.”

Her answer was received by silence. Looking at the girl, the fact that she might be a runaway never really crossed his mind. She looked like she’d just jumped out of a warm bath – or at least, her skin did. Her hair was greasy, and her clothes rumpled – her large t-shirt had been torn in one place even, her sandals worn down.

As he looked at her, Aaron could see himself in her place. She was a runaway – something he wanted to be. But now that he saw how she lived, he wasn’t so sure anymore. And what hit him after that thought was that he couldn’t believe in a single moment, this random girl had just made him doubt his entire view on life. He had it good in the castle. He had no problems as such to run away from. He got everything he wanted, give or take a few friends (okay, mostly take a lot), and had a good relationship with his siblings. He, compared to her, compared to most other teenagers in Astrael, was a spoiled brat. And a big one at that.

He felt the unexplainable need to make up for it.

“Do you need a place to stay?” He asked, shrugging at her, keeping his cool.

Now, Brenna was way past surprised. They hadn’t really got off on the right foot – they were bitching at each other since the first few sentences were uttered. But now in a sudden change of events he was trying to help her. What was he thinking? That it would all be fine and dandy if he did that? Everything would go on as normal? Of course it wouldn’t – nothing ever did!

“What are you talking about?”

Aaron sighed. “Well, you look like you need a place to stay.”

“I’m not taking help from you, so don’t even try it. I want to make it on my own.”

Aaron looked at her – really looked at her. He studied her posture, her face, her almost flat figure. Her hair was a smouldering red, held in an untidy rushed bun on the back of her head. Her expression was set in a strong jade glare, something that told him she liked to be independent. Or that she was incredibly stubborn. He couldn’t really tell – after all, he didn’t have much experience with reading emotions.

“Why are you looking at me like that!?”

He blinked, and the pretty porcelain face in front of him came back into focus, her large sparkling eyes narrowed in frustration.

“Well?”

“I was thinking,” he offered weakly, and the girl scoffed.

“Whatever,” she replied, running her hands through her hair before realising it was still tied back. Annoyed, she pulled the tie out and let her locks tumble over her shoulders. “I don’t even know why I’m having civil conversation with you. After all, you really should be shouting for someone right now-”

“I don’t really care.”

“-since I’m a trespasser and all that, and instead you’re offering me a place to sleep – wait. You don’t care?” She asked, bewildered. “Then why did you ask me to stay?”

“Spur of the moment, just forget about it and leave before someone else sees you. You’re lucky you ran into me,” he said dryly, not really feeling in the mood anymore. The girl was beginning to annoy him simply by being there, when she could be at home with her family who were probably dying of grief right now. She was selfish, in his opinion.

“… I don’t believe this. You, sir, are a bipolar asshole. Good day!” She growled and turned around, sprinting away through the maze of foliage.

Aaron’s eyes followed her fast skeleton, all the while contemplating just what a strange conversation that had been.

Brenna, on the other hand, was fuming. Never had she met anyone more confusing and complex than the young man in the Royal Gardens, and she never wanted to see him again. She was definitely not going back to the castle. She had completely blown her chance.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why are you such an idiot Brenna!?” She grumbled to herself, crouching behind walls as she snuck back through the castle grounds. She ducked behind a rather large rose bush as she spotted a maid wandering the garden, and took the time to catch her breath before proceeding. All the while her heart was hammering in her chest, adrenaline fuelling her movement, her face flushed with anger and total embarrassment. Bren had made a complete fool of herself.

She slipped stealthily around a cluster of apple trees and reached up, her hands pressed tightly against the small hole which was broken into the outer wall, barely visible or big enough for a person. With a grunt she hoisted herself up, pulling herself through until she tumbled out of the other side clumsily.

She landed heavily on her back and groaned loudly to herself as she rolled over, her face pressed into the spiky uncut grass. What was she doing with herself? Running away from home, leaving her family to worry, invading the King’s ground unnoticed… Although she was rather proud of the last one, and she had a feeling her home people would think that too, being master assassins and the like. However, her actions were all in some way effecting people around her. She didn’t want that. The object of her leaving was to stop people around her getting hurt.

Bren sighed and turned over, so she was lying flat on her back. She gazed at the sky, which was slowly but surely turning a wonderful orange sorbet colour. The sky back home in Katon would most likely be a little darker by now, due to the distance between them. Normally Brenna would have just been returning home after a long day of missions, yet here she was lying on her back in a field in private territory. Despite hurting her family, she couldn’t help but notice that she wasn’t killing people here. Definitely a good thing… right?

Groaning in utter frustration, she pulled out fistfuls of grass at her side. Unwillingly, her thoughts flitted back to the handsome young man in the castle garden. Her anger was slowly ebbing away. No matter how much of an asshole he was, he was still painstakingly gorgeous, and he had offered her a place to stay…

Wait.



Meanwhile, in the castle, King Peter sighed and, as cliché as it sounds, scratched his beard thoughtfully.

The office he was standing in was small and cosy, with a fire burning quietly in the fireplace, crackling wildly. The orange light flickered on the deep plum walls, bathing everything within range in a soft burning glow. The sturdy mahogany desk at the end of the room was cluttered with official documents and letters from important officials, including one very special one that was currently taking highest priority at the forefront of the King’s mind.

The King himself was standing at the window, gazing lazily into the great human city of Farrian. Though he was quite far away, and rather high up, it only made the view even better, enabling him to see a large portion of the capital at once. The city was sectioned into parts; there was the village directly below the castle where he invited the family of his staff to stay, the ‘suburb’ of the city and then it faded out into the city itself, built high with tall stone buildings and wide busy streets. Watching the everyday bustle from the slow moving atmosphere of his own office helped calm his mind and control his thinking.

And he needed it for the current proposition that faced him.

The letter that was burning a hole in his brain was addressed to him personally, written in delicate copperplate cleverly using blood red ink. He couldn’t decide whether it was a cruel joke or just coincidence. The contents were that of something confusing and rather momentous. It was a proposition that not only involved members of the Royal family, but also the whole of the kingdom and their feelings.

And King Peter was planning on agreeing to it.