Falling Stars

“How do you get paint out of hair?”

Calli attempted to get the bright blue paint out of her pale blonde hair with her fingers. Julian knew it was a waste of effort. He got paint in his hair all the time, and he was past the point of caring. He was too focused on the little details of the painting in front of him to pay attention to Calli, who had squeezed herself onto the edge of his chair to watch. It was a little harder to paint with just half a chair to sit on, but Julian was too focused to argue with her. He sort of just made a “hmph” noise, and even though he couldn't see Calli, he knew she was rolling her eyes.

“I asked you a question, doofus,” she reminded him.

“Soap and water,” he sighed. “Like how you would get anything else out of your hair. But it might stain yours a little. I don't know, I'm not a blonde. The only thing blacker than my soul is my hair.”

“You've spent an hour working on that one cloud,” she said. “How much effort does it take to paint a single cloud.”

“Not much, if you want an ugly cloud,” he said. “If you want an amazing, realistic, perfectly shades cloud, then it takes about an hour.”

“It's been an hour.”

“I'm a perfectionist.”

Calli huffed and flicked a bit more paint out of her hair, resting her head on Julian's shoulder and watching him paint for a few more minutes before she seemed to decide she was totally over it. She stuck her fingers in the container of blue paint and combed her hand through Julian's hair. He blinked a few times, trying process what happened as she laughed at him. He took a little bit of the blue goop from his hair and smeared it all over the side of her face, and she stopped laughing.

“It stains skin,” he told her, turning his attention back to the painting. “I'm several shades darker skinned than you, too. So I'm curious to see how that goes- HEY!”

He didn't have time to finish what he was saying before his chair was pulled out from under him and Calli had pinned him to the floor, smearing paint all over him.

“Hey, paint isn't cheap!” he argued.

“You're a prince, you can afford it,” she laughed. “Surrender!”

“Never!” he said, flinging more paint at her.

She had him pinned, though, and it didn't take long before she had him begging for mercy, both of them sitting in a sticky, rainbow puddle.

“In hindsight, maybe we shouldn't have had a paint fight,” Calli said, laughing softly. “You look like a clown.”

“Clown? You should see how you look,” Julian smirked.

“Oh no,” Calli frowned, looking at the canvas. “There's a little red splotch on your painting.”

Julian looked over, tilting his head to the side when he noticed the small splatter of red paint that had hit the canvas while they were fighting. It looked out of place and Calli seemed incredibly disappointed about the ruined canvas. Julian didn't like seeing her so upset.

“Sorry, that's my fault,” she said. “All that hard work… I feel bad. It's gone to waste.”

“Who says it's gone to waste?” Julian asked, raising a brow. “I'm not sorry. You shouldn't be either.”

“How are you not upset?” she asked.

“Because it's not ruined,” he shrugged. “Here, I'll show you. You'll be the one to fix it, so you get wipe that pout off your face.”

“I can't paint,” she said in a dull tone.

“Not with that attitude,” Julian said, fixing the chair and gesturing for her to sit down.

She gave him a weird look, but did so, taking the small detail brush he handed her.

“What we've got so far is a sky, a field, and a lake,” he said. “What else could we put there?”

“I don't know,” she shrugged. “There's no red in this whole thing. It doesn't belong there.”

“Just because I had yet to put red down doesn't mean it doesn't belong there,” Julian told her. “Come on, you can be more creative than that. What could possibly be in a field? This is such an easy question with so many answers.”

“I don't know, flowers?” she shrugged.

“There you go,” Julian said, guiding her hand with the brush to help her get some paint off the thicker part of the splatter and onto her brush, and showed her how to paint a tiny, simple wildflower in the grass.

“I see it now,” she said, cracking a smile.

“So use the rest of the red paint to dot the whole field,” Julian instructed. “Don't cluster them all in one spot. Spread them out, and keep painting until the splatter gets thin enough that you can't scoop more paint off of it.”

She did as he asked, and he watched her get more and more into the painting as she dotted the field with tiny red flowers. Eventually the splatter was just a faded spot, and was no longer dripping down the canvas.

“There's still a red splotch, even if it isn't thick anymore,” Calli pointed out.

“Well, what else could be in a field like this?”

“A person?”

“Sure,” he shrugged. “A woman in a red dress. How's that?”

“Yeah, that's good,” Calli said, handing him the brush.

He shook his head, cracking a half smile. “No, this canvas is yours now. You have to finish it.”

“I don't know how to paint a person,” Calli said, slightly annoyed.

“You said you didn't know how to paint flowers, either,” he said. “I think you did just fine with that.”

“Only because you showed me how,” she said. “Besides, a person is way, way harder than flowers.”

“I didn't say I was going to give up on you,” he laughed. “I'll show you. Don't worry. We’ll do it later, how's that?”

“Okay,” she sighed, giving in. “You're nuts.”

“Most artists are.”

She was about to say something snarky back when a knock on the door interrupted them. Julian looked over and saw Advisor Lorian staring at them with wide eyes, seeing them both covered in paint. Julian shrunk back slightly, making a sad attempt at straightening out his hair. He normally didn't care how he looked in front of others, but he had to admit, Lorian scared him.

“Am I interrupting something?” he questioned.

“No,” Julian said, a little too quickly. “We're just two adults, acting like adults.”

“As I can see,” he sighed. “Miss Sinclair, I hope you don't mind me taking Prince Julian away for a little while.”

“Oh,” Calli said, shifting slightly. “Yes, of course you can.”

“Where are we going?” Julian frowned.

“Don't worry, you'll see,” Lorian said. “Now, I suggest you both get cleaned up before someone sees you like this.”

“Right,” Julian said slowly.

He noticed Calli give Lorian a look that Julian couldn't really read, but Lorian just gave her a slight nod in response.

“I'm afraid I'll have to hold him until after dinner, Miss Sinclair,” Lorian told her. “Though, I'm sure you need the break, don't you?”

“A break from spending time with me?” Julian questioned, brow furrowed.

Lorian didn't answer, giving Calli a reassuring smile. “Maybe you can take some time to relax. Have one of the hand maids fix your nails for you.”

“That sounds lovely,” Calli responded, though her tone of voice wasn't all that excited over nails.

Lorian nodded to her once more, putting a hand on Julian's shoulder and leading him away. Julian was quickly cleaned up and scrubbed hard to get the paint off his skin and hair, leaving his skin sore afterwards. Lorian was waiting for him when he was ready, walking with him down the halls of the palace. Julian eyed the portraits of the past kings as they walked, then looked to Lorian. The man was unusually silent. He'd always been a good friend of Julian's father, and he'd been a stern man as long as Julian could remember, but Julian hadn't seen him looking that tense since Joshua died.

“You have bad news,” Julian guessed.

“It depends on how you look at it,” Lorian sighed. “Julian, by now I assume that you've figured it out on your own. There's no sign of Kaleb. We haven't announced it to the people yet, but the search has been given up. It's… Doubtful that he's out there. Scouts found that their ship left, but never landed anywhere. The only explanation is that it was either lost or obliterated.”

“I understand,” Julian said quietly.

“Now, your father likes to think that Kaleb will find his way home, no matter what anyone thinks,” Lorian pointed out.

“He's always been an optimist,” Julian muttered. “Maybe he's right.”

They stopped at the end of the hall, where a portrait of King Gerald stood with all the pride in the galaxy. The spot beside him was empty, waiting for the next King. Julian kept his eyes on the portrait as Lorian continued.

“As optimistic as The King may be, unfortunately, the council cannot continue to wait and hope for the best,” Lorian said. “They're afraid for the future, if Kaleb doesn't return. Which is why, unless he does make a miraculous return, he is no longer in line for the throne.”

“The council can do that?” Julian frowned.

“They already have,” Lorian sighed, speaking a little quieter. “Julian… You understand what this means, don't you?”

Julian thought for a moment, and his face fell upon realization of what Lorian was talking about. Both his older brothers were gone. Julian was next in line for the throne. He never imagined he'd be anywhere close to being King. He figured that if Joshua didn't bring an heir, Kaleb definitely would.

“I don't know how to be a king,” Julian said quietly.

“That's why I pulled you aside. Starting today, you put down those paintbrushes and pick up books on Centauri history and governing.”

“Don't act like my father is on his deathbed,” Julian said.

“No, he's not,” Lorian agreed. “Julian, I'm not supposed to tell you this. I've been asked not to by the rest of the council. However, I feel that you're not the child they think you are. For goodness sake, you're twenty-four years old.”

“Go on,” Julian urged.

“The rumors of rebellion are all too true,” Lorian confirmed. “There are some large groups of rebels out there, terrorizing loyal planets because they feel the monarchy is too fragile and weak to stop them. They've been suspected to be the culprits behind who's been tearing your family apart. We need to prove to them that they're wrong. We may be humans, but we are strong. We hold our ground, we keep our pride, and above all, we’re adults who know what we’re doing. Do you understand.”

“I understand,” Julian said.

“Good,” Lorian said, standing up straight. “Let's get started, then. Oh, and Julian?”

“Yes?”

“I believe in you. We all do.”