Royally Screwed

Kellin nodded, quickly getting off the ground and sitting onto his bed as the Queen walked over, her dress flowing from behind as she walked and took a seat while Vic sat down as well with Kellin being in the middle. She smiled at him, "Three things. The first is that I welcome you to Miridia."

Kellin nodded fast and she nodded slow, "Second thing, it is very rude to get up and leave a dinner without asking yourself to be excused."

"I-I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Your Majesty, r-really I-"

"It's alright, dear. It's something you'll learn when you have etiquette class and under the condition you're in, I would have done the same thing. And third, I already asked for Tino to not put any nuts in your meals, this shouldn't happen again so you don't have to feel embarrassed."

"It was that Duke that started laughing and everyone began to join in--" Vic began to speak up but the Queen raised her hand to silence her son.

"And Vic, when you say you are going to go to the bathroom, I didn't know it meant you were going to take one of the passageways to escape Rian and go looking for Mr. Quinn," she replied, tone of a reprimanding mother and Kellin could see Vic's cheeks flush, "You owe an apology to your guests for your behavior. I understand your concern for Mr. Quinn but you must be a host first and your possible future consort."

"But I don't like any of them!" Vic shouted, annoyed and the Queen sighed.

"You haven't even gave them the chance. . .I asked for their fathers to let them stay for a few more hours for you to speak to them individually."

"But me and Kellin were gonna go out and--"

"Vic, I just want you to talk to them and get to know them. . .some of them asked if they could see Kellin while you speak with the other girls," the Queen replied and Kellin's eyes widened at the thought the same time Vic's eyebrows furrowed. Why would they want to see him? He pretty much looked like a fool, he just hoped it wasn't Alexandria that wanted to be here to mock him and say how unusual he is. The Queen stood up, "They're outside the door. . .do you want to see them?"

Kellin realized she was asking him this and he quickly nodded his head yes. She smiled, giving a hand wave to Rian and he nodded his own head, turning around and opening the door to allow the people to come in. First that walked in was Princess Stella, Kellin remembered. Then after that walked in Princess Taylor, the girl giving Kellin a warm smile that he reciprocated gladly. Then finally, Sierra was awkwardly walking in, shaking left to right in her heels and took a seat at the foot of the bed to wave at Kellin.

The Queen looked at Vic, "He has company, now you can go sit and speak with your guests with dignity and as a prince," his mother sternly replied and Vic got onto his feet.

"Fine, I'll go. Who am I talking to first?" Vic replied, annoyed and then Rian stepped aside, Jaime walking into the room with a charming smile on his face.

"That would be me," the marquess said, walking over and getting on one knee like before to take Vic's hand and give it a gentle kiss, lips now coming in contact with Vic's soft skin. Jaime got on his feet and stood in front of Kellin, taking the boy's pale hand and kissing it, "My father apologizes for laughing and we both hope you get better, Kellin."

And Kellin felt his own cheeks redden deeply, having to bite his lip to keep from giggling like a schoolgirl at the gesture and how Jaime said his name, sweet and soft, like Jaime was a prince himself trying to sweep Kellin off his feet and onto a white horse in the fairy tales.

"I-It's alright," Kellin stuttered out, ducking his face to hide his reddening face and his eyes glanced up to see Jaime give him a gorgeous smile before looking at Vic and hooking an arm around the prince's.

"I was thinking we can go for a walk in the garden, Your Highness, would that be nice?" Jaime asked.

"Well, I don't. . .I mean. . .um. . ." Vic didn't really respond, Jaime was already escorting Vic out of the room with the Queen following shortly behind and Rian following after, the advisor giving a wary look over his shoulder at Kellin before closing the door firmly shut. Kellin turned to Taylor, then Stella and then Sierra, biting on his lower lip and rubbing his arm in slight awkwardness. He almost sighed in relief that Alexandria didn't come and see him.

"So. . .why did you guys want to see me?" Kellin asked and Taylor scooted closer, large eyes friendly.

"We just wanted to make sure you were okay. If it makes you feel any better, I'm allergic to cinnamon. Makes my lips swell up really bad," she replied and Kellin gave her a small smile.

"Thanks, that means a lot," he replied and she smiled back. Kellin looked over as Stella was keeping quiet, only watching their conversation. He then looked over at Sierra, sitting there rather awkwardly and Kellin crawled over to the foot of the bed to be beside her, "And what about you? You wanted to check on me too?"

Sierra cleared her throat rather loudly. "Yeah, I just wanted to check on you, dude. Allergies can get really freaking bad. My brother's allergic to bees and he had to stay in the hospital for like, a week when a bee stung him. It sucked, dude,' she replied, voice deeper than Kellin expected.

Kellin quirked an eyebrow, "Isn't everyone allergic to bees?" Sierra only gave a small shrug.

"I'm sorry for making Vic run after me, he should have been spending time with you guys," Kellin apologized and Taylor just gave a wave of the hand.

"It's alright, he's your friend. I would have done the same thing, royalty around me or not," she replied and Sierra nodded. Stella did as well, though still not speaking directly to Kellin. Kellin leaned forward on his elbows, his feet pushing against his mattress.

"Well. . .don't you guys want to be spending time with him instead of me? I mean, he's the guy you all want to marry right?. . .You all do want to marry Vic, don't you?" Kellin asked and there was a short silence in the room, Stella of the three girls looking the most nervous about the question and ducking her head down low. Taylor gave a small shrug.

"I wouldn't mind marrying someone like His Highness. He just showed me tonight that he's not like all those other princes," she said with a small smile, "He's caring and compassionate and he isn't looking to impress and flatter us."

"Well. . .I hope that you all love Vic if you're going to marry him. It wouldn't be right to either of you if you don't love each other," Kellin replied.

"Do you believe so?" he heard a voice, soft and accent thick and he turned, Stella looking over at him with eyes worried and he gave a slow nod.

"Well yeah. Don't you want to have the person you believe will make you happy as your prince? If it isn't Vic, then you shouldn't be putting yourself through this. . .you should find your Prince Charming, your true love."

"You sound like a fairy tale," Taylor pointed out with a small smile and Kellin shyly smiled back.

"Well, I read a lot of fairy tales. . .w-when I was little, of course. But the love in fairy tales is just so. . .beautiful," Kellin sighed, "A prince that loves you unconditionally and would do anything for you at any time at all. And he'll take care of you and never want to be anywhere else but with you. . .it's just really romantic. . . and if you find that person that will do all those things for you, you should marry them."

Stella jumped up out of her seat. "You are right," she said and Kellin's face blanked.

"What am I right about?"

"I need to find my father--"

The doors opened, Vic rushing in and taking Kellin by the hand. Kellin heard Stella run off, to find her father like she said she needed to, probably.

"Come on, we can still go out for dinner," Vic said.

"What? Vic, you're supposed to be talking to Jaime. What are you doing in here?"

"I managed to escape from him. Now let's go before all the good food places are closed--"

"Your Highness!" they heard the doors opened. It was unmistakably Rian's voice. Vic gave an annoyed scowl at the sound of it. The advisor glanced at Kellin with an angry expression and then looked to the prince.

"Your Highness, you are supposed to be with the marquess! Find him and apologize this instant!" Rian seethed. He looked to Kellin now. "And you. Just what did you say to Princess Stella?! She told me she didn't want to be a consort anymore, she's off telling her father!"

Kellin's eyes widened and he stuttered out, "I-I don't know--all I did was tell her she should marry the one she loves."

Rian looked at Kellin, eyes dead and cold. He gave a small growl before turning and grabbing Vic's wrist, hauling the prince out of the room and beckoning the remaining two girls out as well. Taylor gave Kellin a small wave and Sierra did the same, both getting off the bed and following the angry advisor out. Kellin stared at the closed door before looking down at the floor. The boy sighed and got to changing to his pajamas.

------------------

The full moon shone through the large window, its light casting onto Kellin's figure as the boy slept and dreamed about the hopefully better times he shall have here. It was only the first day, he can turn things around. He just needed to get some etiquette training, that's all. And Parliament said he was going to get a tutor too so everything is going to come along for him. He wouldn't be embarrassing the Royal Family any more, he would be respectable and mature and--

Someone was shaking him.

Why was someone shaking him?

The person must have sensed Kellin tensing at that moment since a voice softly whispered, "Kellin, it's just me."

Kellin reached over to switch on the small lamp beside the bed, rubbing at his eyes to see Vic standing there in his royal blue pajamas. He glanced at the clock on his nightstand.

"Vic, it's almost two in the morning," Kellin said with a yawn and then noticed that Vic was holding some things. A large jar, some strips of gold and white paper and scissors. He crooked his head to the side as Vic raised the jar.

"Don't tell me you forgot."

"I forgot," Kellin said anyways and Vic sighed, plopping down on the bed and Kellin scooted up to sit up straight.

"Paper stars. I'm going to teach you how to make them," Vic reminded and Kellin rubbed at his eyes again.

"Well I thought you would want to do it, I don't know, when the sun comes up," Kellin grumbled and Vic playfully stuck his tongue out, dumping the paper strips and scissors on the bed between the two of them.

"Someone's grumpy. Guess the sweet and shy part of you rises with the sun," Vic commented and Kellin blushed red, making Vic smile even more, "Guess not."

"S-Shut up. How'd you even get in here anyways?. . .And where did you get that jar?" Kellin asked and Vic pointed down to the corner of the wall, Kellin squinting to find that one of the decorative tiles that were along the bottom of the wall was removed to reveal a secret passageway, "Something that your great-great-great-great grandad did?" Kellin asked and Vic shook his head.

"No, there's one in every bedroom. For like escapes. I just used mine until I found the main passageway and took it to find yours. And as for the jar, it's from the kitchen. I took it before I went to bed. Now, here's how to make a star," Vic said excitedly. He took a strip of paper and handed one to Kellin who sighed but took it.

"First, you have to make it look like a ribbon, one end should be as short as possible and the other one long," Vic instructed and Kellin nodded, trying to match his strip of paper with what Vic's looked like, "And now you take the long end and slip it through the loop but don't pull it too tight and crumple it--"

"Whoops," Kellin murmured, his strip now with a balled up knot in it and Vic sighed. Kellin pouted, "These are hard."

"Not if you take your time and go slowly," Vic replied and handed Kellin another strip of paper. Kellin sighed, trying to do the past two steps and pulling the long end too quickly again, resulting in another knotted paper. He groaned, taking a strip into his hands before looking up at Vic.

"How did you get Stella to change her mind?" Vic asked and Kellin shrugged, watching as Vic repeated his mistake and tossed the knotted paper along with the other two.

"I don't know. I just said that they all need to marry their true Prince Charming and that they need to be in love with you otherwise it'll just hurt you both."

"Did it work on all of them?"

"No."

"Damn," Vic said. He sighed, taking another strip of paper and doing the steps correctly, handing the strip to Kellin who sheepishly took it. Vic raised his own strip, "Now, flatten the little area so it looks like a pentagon."

"Right," Kellin said, slim fingers doing as Vic told and the prince continued to watch him.

"They seem really nice, Vic. Why won't you give them a chance?"

"Because I'm not in love with any of them," Vic replied sharply and Kellin bit his lower lip.

"I'm sure you will fall in love with one of them in time. What about Jaime? He's awfully handsome and he seems very charming," he asked and Vic paused, giving a sigh of his own. Vic looked down at the strip of paper, "Okay, now tuck this short end into the small flap right here, see?"

"Yeah, I see it."

"Jaime is okay, I guess. He's really touchy-feely though, kept putting his arms around me," Vic critiqued and Kellin rolled his eyes.

"And you're not, Mr. Hand-Holder?" Kellin teased and he could see Vic blush red at the nickname.

"You don't like it when I hold your hand?"

"I don't mind. . .kind of feels nice. Like someone cares about me," Kellin said softly and the prince looked up at him, eyebrows furrowing.

"And why wouldn't someone care about you?"

"Well, because of my stepfather and my stepsister. . .I felt by myself for a long time," Kellin murmured shyly. Vic already finished up his paper star, he held it delicately in the palm of his hand.

"Well then, I'll hold your hand more often," Vic commented and then frowned, upon seeing Kellin's folded piece of paper.

"You didn't tuck the paper in, you have to start over," Vic pointed out and Kellin pouted, dropping the paper and crossing his arms.

"I quit."

"Aren't you impatient," Vic teased with a smile on his face. Kellin stuck his tongue out then yawned.

"You tired?"

"A little," Kellin said, rubbing at his eyes and Vic gave a soft smile.

"Then go to bed. . .but make a wish first," Vic replied, giving Kellin the star he had folded and holding out the jar. Kellin looked down at the small white star in his hand. His tongue poked out, trying to decide what he wanted to wish on that would have a better chance of coming true. He pondered and thought, sleepiness making his eyes flutter so many times he had to shake his head to keep himself awake before he let a smile come to his lips and he closed his eyes.

I wish for a big breakfast tomorrow.

Kellin brought the star up to his lips, giving a gentle kiss to the paper before dropping it in the jar. It was a silly wish, but it was more likely to happen so he had to start there. Vic looked down in it and smiled, placing a golden lid on it and screwing it shut.

"And there, your wish will come true," Vic replied and Kellin nodded, giving another yawn, "Go to sleep, there's still a lot of things to do later on today."

"Mm-hm," Kellin hummed, getting underneath his covers and burying his head in the soft pillows, "Night, Vic."

"Sweet dreams, Kells," Vic said back and Kellin hummed again, feeling slumber gently taking him away into sleep.

The next morning when the sun peeked over the mountains to shine through the windows of the bedroom, Kellin's eyes fluttered at the bright light and he sat up to stretch. Then he looked over at the jar he placed on his nightstand, surprise coming over him to find there were two stars in there instead of the one he made, the other star a golden yellow and slightly lopsided. Then Kellin glanced over to his right, his eyes growing even wider to see a spread of pancakes, toast, orange juice, eggs, bacon and two blueberry muffins sitting on one of the small tables by the chairs. The boy rushed out of his bed to the breakfast, inhaling the heavenly scent and his stomach growled in delight.

Kellin saw the little card near the muffins, picking it up and opening it as his heart began to flutter at the handwriting he would recognize anywhere

Okay, so maybe I'm the impatient one since I

wanted to wait for you to come to breakfast but

you were still asleep. So I had the kitchen service

send you something. Eat fast, I have a lot of

fun stuff planned for us to do today :)

- Vic

And Kellin just held the note close to his heart.

A wish came true.