Hollow Kingdom

"Come on, you can't be angry with me forever."

Alec grinned when the ferret refused to speak again, faced away from Alec. He'd been bitter about not being able to talk back when Alec insulted him in front of Lily. Normally, Alec would've heard all kinds of lectures, but Lily wasn't around for those. Erwin scrambled down from Alec's shoulder and started trotting along on his own, since the forest-like path between town and the palace was empty. Suddenly, Erwin's fur puffed up and he hopped behind Alec.

"What is it?" Alec frowned.

"He's here," Erwin hissed.

"Who- OW!"

Alec flinched away, tripping and falling back on his rear end as he avoided accidentally stepping back on Erwin. A scaled creature hopped up onto his chest with a hiss, and Alec quickly recognized it as the Queen's miniature pet dragon. He flapped his wings once to go up on Alec's head, claws digging into his hair, and then tried to pounce onto Erwin. Erwin squeaked and scrambled away, and the dragon would have caught him had Alec not caught it by the tail. He had to admit, it was quite a magnificent creature. When it wasn't snapping at him, that is. Alec quickly removed his cloak and threw it over the dragon, wrapping it up as it snarled and chomped at him, trying to claw free.

"Horribly rude thing," Erwin said in a shaky voice. "No decent animal uses language like that. Do you talk to your grandmother like that?"

"You can understand it?" Alec asked.

"Of course I can," Erwin scoffed. "What do you think I am? Only humans are incompetent enough to only understand their own dialects. Though trust me, you do not want to here the rude things he is saying. Dragons... Such barbarians..."

The dragon went a little wild inside the cloak at Erwin's words, and for a moment, even Alec panicked.

"What on earth is it doing out here?" Alec wondered.

"He's here to come after me, of course," Erwin said. "Why else?"

"He can't be alone," Alec frowned. "Someone would have had to let him out."

Alec tied the cloak so the dragon wouldn't be able to get out, freezing when he heard some rustling behind him. He slowly set the bundle down and pulled a knife from his belt, looking around the path for any sign of movement. He just barely caught it out of the corner of his eye, suddenly whipping around and yanking the hood off the figure, holding the knife at their neck.

"Please don't hurt me!"

Alec's expression softened when he realized it was Lily that he held at knifepoint, slowly sheathing the blade again and letting her go.

"What are you doing out here?" Alec asked.

"I wasn't sneaking out, and it's terribly rude of you to just assume that," Lily snapped.

"I didn't say anything," Alec said, raising a brow at her. "You haven't been following me, have you?"

"What? Of course not! I've been out all evening and I was going the other way. If anything, you've been following me!"

Lily's expression was stone, but her face had turned about as red as her hair. She quickly took the opportunity to change the subject when she saw the snarling bundle on the ground, eyes widening slightly.

"Is Raz in there?!"

She rushed to release the small dragon as Erwin scrambled into Alec's pocket and hid.

"It tried to eat my fat rodent," Alec said. "And then it tried to bite me. It needed to be contained."

Lily quickly released it, and Raz was surprisingly more friendly with her, though he still looked rather vicious.

"Where were you even going?" Alec asked.

"Where were you going?" Lily asked.

"Home," Alec said slowly. "You know, the place where you live. Contrary to popular belief, I have one of those. I waited for Evan, but it's gotten dark and evidently he's staying in the palace tonight. The queen really must have taken a shine to that idiot- I mean, that Lord."

"Oh," Lily said, a slight smile on her face. "That's funny, I thought he was a Duke."

"So, you're sneaking out?" Alec said, quickly changing the subject though he knew there was no fooling Lily anymore.

"No," Lily said. "I'm perfectly capable of walking on my own."

"This late at night?" Alec asked. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"I'm fine."

"Oh, are you?" Alec said sarcastically. "Alright then. I was going to walk with you, but if you're capable..."

"I am," Lily insisted. "I was just going home now. I didn't think I'd catch you going the other way."

"Home?" Alec frowned. "Back to the palace? Lily, that's dangerous. Bandits come out at night and-"

"Perfectly. Capable."

"Alright," Alec said. "Have a good night then."

Lily nodded and started on her way as Alec shook his head and picked up his cloak, sighing when he saw how much Raz had torn it up. And it was his only one, too. He walked for a little while, but couldn't help the feeling of guilt for abandoning Lily. He was sure he knew her way, but it really was dangerous, even for someone like Alec. While he may have been tall and built, there were bandits twice his size that traveled in packs.

He started back towards where Lily had gone, strolling at first. Erwin had fallen asleep in his pocket, and Alec was sure Lily wasn’t too far. It wasn’t until he heard a scream out in the distance. He took off into a run, surprising Erwin when he accidentally dropped him, but he knew the ferret would be alright. Angry, but alright. He found Lily wrestling with a band of bandits who were trying to get her jewelry. She shrieked as they grabbed at her, and they laughed when she’d try to shove them away.

“Get off her!” Alec yelled, catching their attention. “Don’t you know she’s part of the Queen’s court?”

“All the more reason she should die,” one of them snickered.

“You should know,” another said. “Aren’t you Tobias Spaulding’s son?”

Alec didn’t let him say another word before drawing his knife and hitting him right between the eyes with the hilt, knocking him to the ground. The men then turned to Alec, and he took the opportunity of them attacking first to attack right back in justified self-defense, slashing one across the chest and punching another in the face. He noticed Lily had also given a knee to the groin of the one still holding her, making him double over in pain. Alec was so amused by the sight that he didn’t notice the man he’d knocked back come up from behind. Not until a dagger was plunged into his shoulder, at least. It was all a blur after that.

“Alec!” Lily cried out.

His vision came in and out, but he saw Lily’s smaller figure suddenly speed up, and the pained cries of a few more men. Was she beating them up? Alec was just about as surprised as they were. He was twice as shocked when however vicious Lily got, it scared them enough to make them run away. She stood there for a few seconds to catch her breath before rushing to Alec’s side and helping him sit up.

“Are you dying?” she asked, panicked. “Are you going to die?”

“No, no,” Alec grunted, trying not to move his shoulder. “Belle can patch me up.”

“Let me help you get home,” Lily said, putting his good arm around her shoulders.

Alec did his best not to lean on her, but he did admit, he could barely see straight. The pain in his shoulder was only growing more and more as he felt blood soaking his shirt. He was weak, but able to give Lily directions as they found their way to the dimly lit tailor’s shop.

“Alec? Alec!”

Belle came running out the door to help the two of them inside, sitting Alec down in the chair. Lily quickly explained everything to her, as Belle bustled about to get her medical supplies.

“You’re an idiot, Alec,” she growled. “You’re stupid. I have the stupidest brother on the face of the planet. You’re such an idiot.”

“Yes, well he’s the idiot that saved my life,” Lily muttered.

“You saved mine,” Alec pointed out.

“Either way, we’re both idiots, aren’t we?” she said, a slight smile on her face.

“I’m Belle, by the way,” Belle said, smiling at Lily.

“Pleasure to meet you,” Lily answered. “I’ve heard much about you. I’m Lily.”

“Oh, you’re Lily?” Belle said.

The room went silent, and suddenly felt ten times colder than it was before. Belle dropped everything and left the room, leaving Lily a bit startled.

“Don’t mind her,” Alec said quietly. “She’s just… well… nevermind.”

“Alright…”

“But you’ll stay, won’t you?”

“Of course,” she promised.

“Good, I’m starting to enjoy your company more than I thought,” Alec admitted.

“You’re tired and you’ve lost blood,” Lily said softly. “Let me finish bandaging that shoulder, and you can get some rest.”

Alec watched her work in silence. He knew she thought he was tired, but he hadn’t said anything too insane. He wondered if anyone in the world disliked being in Lily’s company.

“I left Erwin in the woods,” he suddenly realized.

“I left Raz,” Lily remembered, frowning.

“I’m sure they’re capable.”

“Perfectly capable…”