The Prince and the Thief

"Kellin. Wake up darling." I shoved Vic's hand away and turned my body away from him. The bed dipped with his weight. I felt his body being hoisted above me. "Come on. You'll like this." I sighed.
"Why are you making me do? What time is it?" I rubbed my eyes, turning onto my back. He was smiling down at me.
"It's early. The sun rose an hour ago."
"Why are you waking me up this early?" I pushed his shoulder lightly. "I want to go back to sleep." He snuggled his face into my neck, brushing his nose against my skin. I shuddered. My heart was pounding against my chest.
"Come on. Get up." He pulled away, bouncing up and down on my mattress.
"How are you so happy?" He grabbed my arms, practically dragging. I yelped when my feet hit the cold wooden floor. He shoved some clothes in my hand.
"I'm going to go outside and if you aren't out there in five minutes, I'll pull you out. Get changed." He skipped out of the caravan. How the hell can he be this happy in the morning? It's like he has as much energy as a child. I pulled on the new clothes. They were the same color but instead of short sleeves they were long and the pants went to my ankles. I flung the door open, glaring at Vic playfully. He just flashed me another one of his amazing smiles and grabbed my hand. He started leading me to a part of the village I've never been.
"Where are we going?"
"I'm going to teach you how to use a sword and a bow."
"What?" I pulled my arm back to my chest. "Why?"
"You want to see your mom right?" I nodded. "Then I have to teach you. If we go to the village and something happens to me...." He paused, looking up at the sky. My heart fell at the thought of Vic getting hurt. Or even dying. I think I would be miserable without him. "I want you to be able to protect yourself if I can't."
"But you'll always be around right? You won't die on me?"
"I can't make any promises." He grabbed my hand again but this time his rough fingers laced with mine. We continued the walk."That's another thing we need to talk about. If anything happens to the camp or me, I want you to run."
"No way! I'm not leaving everyone to die."
"It's not up for discussion. I'm going to be distracted if you are in the line of fire." He brought me into a little fenced off area with weapons and dummies to practice on. What he said, did that mean he cared about me? Maybe a little more than a friend?
"What are we?" He picked up a real sword, totally disregarding the wooden ones, and handed it to me. As soon a the hilt rested in my hands, they collapsed under the weight.
"What do you mean?" He was shuffling through the weapons. I saw his warm breath create a small cloud of fog. It was chilly out.
"Our relationship?" He dropped an arrow, cursing under his breath. He turned to look at me. He wouldn't meet my eyes.
"We're just friends." He said bluntly then returned to searching. A small crack formed in my heart. I sat on the ground, playing with the sliver hilt of the sword. It was plain. No design like my father's sword. His had gold brands and rubies. A shadow was cast over my legs with the little sunshine we had right now. Vic was standing above me, offering a hand. When I hesitated he smiled warmly at me. I took his hand.
"How many fights have you been in?"
"Enough." I rolled my eyes. He handed me a bow, twirling the arrow in his other hand. I noticed a long scar going along his right bicep. He, unlike me, had no sleeves.
"Where did you get this?"
"When I was practicing with my brother." I let my eyes trail up his neck.
"What about this one?" I ran my finger along the bumpy surface. It was in the middle of his neck, more towards the left side. It was deep too. He moved my hand out of the way, running his own finger on it.
"When they had got my brother, I tried to go back for him. They caught me. They had just killed my brother when they decided I was useless. They tried to slice my neck." He was blankly staring at the ground. "Anciano came just in time to save me. I own him my life. I don't think I can protect you Kellin."
"But I think you can."
"I couldn't even keep my little brother alive. That's why we are doing this. Even if your father gets you, you can protect yourself until I get there." I smiled at him. I pinched his cheek.
"You're just a big softy." He frowned.
"No I'm not."
"Whatever you say sweetheart." He bent down and picked up the sword he gave me off the ground. He shoved the flat part against my chest.
"You willing to put your money where your mouth is." He was smirking at me. I grabbed the hilt, getting use to the weight, and holding it to his neck. The smirk vanished and he raised one of his eyebrows.
"Bring it on." The bow was completely forgotten on the ground along with its arrow as he led me to a little fighting ring. I suddenly started getting really nervous. Vic has been doing this his whole life. I haven't even touched a sword till now. I watched the guards practice with each other when I was little. How hard could it be?
"I'll take it easy on you." He winked at me. I stuck my tongue out at him, hearing his laugh echo. I shifted the sword in my hands. I glanced over at Vic's posture, mimicking what was more comfortable for me. "Any time now."
"Shut up." He shrugged. He was holding his sword in one hand. Then again he was stronger than me. "Why couldn't we use the wooden ones?"
"I want you to be able to see your mom as quickly as possible. This will speed up the process." He looked over my body, stopping to look at certain parts longer. "Look for my weak spots." He changed his posture to one that was less crouched. He was now just standing relaxed, sword at his side. We had at least five feet in between us.I took a swing at his left arm, closing me eyes. I heard the clank of metal. "Don't close your eyes."
"I don't want to hurt you." I opened my eyes, coming face to face with our crossed swords.
"Then don't close your eyes. That will hurt both of us. Go again." He pushed our swords away from each other. I looked over his body trying to find more weaknesses. His whole left side was left open. I swung, he blocked. It continued that way for a good twenty minutes until Vic disarmed me. My sword flung out of my view and he pulled my body closer, pretending to drive his weapon through my side. His other hand was place firmly on my hip. His lips were inches from mine. "You're dead." He whispered.
"I kind of figured that." He didn't move for a few seconds. We stood in that position for a good thirty seconds before Vic pulled away. I closed my eyes when he turned his back on me. He was so close. I regain my composer. I saw him pick up the bow. "What is this place?"
"It's where we train kids over eight. They learn before but this is where the elders teach."
"How do you use this?" I took the bow out of his hand, pull the string back. The wood was so smooth. I could feel it under my fingers. Vic put his chest against my back. He fixed my arms to a strong position then he slipped the arrow between my fingers.
"Relax." He wrapped his hand around my hand that was in front of me. His other was back against my hip. He was close again. "I can feel your heart beating." I closed my eyes as he whispered in my ear. I focused on his own heart beat. It was calm. Maybe he didn't like me and I was just crazy.
"I'm nervous."
"Breathe in and when you breathe out, release the arrow." I let my eyes flutter open. I took a deep breath in. When I released the air in my lungs along with the arrow an string. The arrow shot forward, landing squarely on the red bullseye I hadn't even realized I was aiming at. I felt a smile spread across my face.
"I did it!" I dropped the bow and warped my arms around Vic's next. He hugged me back. After awhile I pushed him back. "T-that felt amazing! I mean wow. It was like-" I stopped talking, looking back at him. He had so much amusement written on his face. Something sparkled in his eyes. "What?" A grin appeared on his face.
"Nothing." I walked in front of him and stood slight on my toes to place a kiss on his cheek. His usual calm face showed nothing but surprise.
"Vic? Is that you?" A small little boy made him push me away. He smiled at the kid.
"Danu, what are you doing here so early?" The kid pointed behind him where Anciano was walking with a few other children. The girl who was flirting with Vic the other day was bringing up the reel but as soon as she saw him, she ran forward.
"Bună ziua Vic."
"Hello Ranké." Vic crossed his arms over his chest. He continued to talk to her in whatever language they were speaking. Anciano put his arm around my shoulder and guided me towards where the children were fighting with wooden swords.
"How are you enjoy the village?"
"It's great." His face scrunched together in his cute little smile. I felt a tug on my sleeve. A little girl with tan skin, black hair, and the most amazing brown eyes was staring up at me.
"What's your name?" I glanced over where Vic was speaking with Ranké with total disinterest.
"I'm, uh, Kellin." She giggled.
"Your name is weird. I'm Mika. It's short for Mikancha."
"Well your name is weird." She pulled on my hand. I crouched down to her level as she smiled at me.
"Do you like-like Vic?" I look at her with wide eyes. Anciano had already let me alone with Mika.
"What do you mean?"
"Like Ranké does. Like you want to kiss him." I felt the heat come to my cheeks.
"Of course Kellin wants to kiss me." I jumped into a standing position. Vic was standing right next to me, with a little smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He hoisted the little girl above him. She started laughing. "I bet you want to get a kiss too." He kissed her cheek, setting her down. She crossed her arms and had a pouty face.
"Why doesn't Kellin get a kiss?" Vic and I looked at each other.
"I, uh, I-I.." I couldn't even finish my sentence properly. Vic placed a soft kiss on my temple. I literally started screaming inside my head. I loved the feeling of someone caring.
"Happy?" Mika nodded. She skipped away where Anciano was correcting some one on their technique.
"Why did you never correct me?" He wrapped his arm around my waist, resting it on my stomach.
"Because you never needed it." We started walking back towards the village. He kept his hand in the same spot. I don't know anymore. Maybe I am just over thinking everything he does.