Butterfly Prince

by Britannica Tany

  I have friends now.

  Kael’s gaze drifts towards Aiden—bright smile and puppy eyes, ashen hair and bushy brows.

  You are…my friend, a person I can hold onto and trust, but those words didn’t feel right.

  A Royal History

  Janus fluffs the pillows, taking them one at a time and pressing his fingers against the silky pillowcase. Next, he adjusts them at the head of the bed, aligning them as so; three at the back and three smaller ones up front. He smooths down the sheets and stands back with a proud smile. He’s been working for the Lennon family since his early twenties. The job was appointed out of the blue. Of course he knew their history—the burning and the lives that they took with them. But there was someone whom he was curious about—their son Kael Lennon. When he first started working at the castle the Prince was only a child, who was the age of ten. He was young and full of a quiet spirit. He didn’t speak much. “Are you scared of me?” Janus asks to a ten-year old Kael. The Prince looks quizzically at him. “I’m here to serve and protect you.” The Prince still didn’t say anything. “Come on, talk to me.”

  “You’re weird.” He blurts suddenly. The butler’s eyes widen and he rushes forward. “So you can talk!” he exclaims, picking Kael up by his under arms. The small ten year old dangles in his hands, his feline eyes unblinking. “You’re quite a cutie.” Janus compliments placing Kael onto the big bed and ruffling his brown hair. The boy doesn’t speak, but he continues to stare up at Janus as though he was searching for something. “I’m not a bad guy.”

  “I know you aren’t.” He responds catching Janus slightly off guard. “Just like you said my mom sent you here to serve.” Janus laughs. “And to protect you.”

  “Why?”

  “In case someone tries to hurt you.”

  “Who would want to hurt me?” Janus pauses a moment, trying to think his answer through. “There are a lot of people who would want to hurt you.”

  “You said that already.” Janus chuckles lightly, taking a seat next to the young Prince. “You don’t have to worry, young master, there’s so many people who are here to protect you.”

  “But what if they get hurt?” Kael questions, the baby fat from his cheeks hanging cutely from his face. Janus stares at him, taking a moment to think up a proper response. “We…come to your side knowing the risk.”

  “But why? Why must you risk yourself for me?” Janus swallows, turning away. He sure does have a way with wording his questions. What are they teaching him in this castle? “I think that’s enough trivia for today.” He gently pinches the Princes cheeks, who knocks his hand away before Janus rises up to his feet.

  “I wish my brother was as intelligent as you…” Janus mutters, walking towards the door and exiting. Kael sits on the bed, lifting his hands and staring at his fingers. He counts them—one, two, three—and he does this again and again until he grows bored with his made up game. He jumps from his bed and lands on the floor with a thump. He hurries towards his room door, his small hands curling around the brass knob and slowly pulling it open. The hallway was empty and silence filled the air. A curious Kael peeks his head out of the crack of the door and looks up and down the hall. The velvet carpet spanned the entire length of the wooden floor, a trail of escape. A glimmer of excitement flickers in Kael’s eyes before he steps out into the hall. Since Janus wasn’t watching over him he could run freely throughout the castle. Maybe he could go outside and explore the back garden. The door clicks shut behind him as he takes off, the sound of his feet padding against the carpet. His parents had warned him when he was younger that he was special and that if someone were to ever take him away the kingdom would be in danger. Kael never understood the depth of that danger. “What if they come after him?” Voices. “They won’t, he’ll be fine.” His father’s voice. “We haven’t heard from that gang in decades, he’ll be alright.”

  “But that’s what worries me, we haven’t heard anything from them…I have a right to be suspicious.” Kael blinks before pushing open the door and staring at his parents with curious eyes. His mother was standing up, staring down at the King who had his face buried in his hands, they both looked up at the creaking sound of the door. “Kael!” His mother exclaims, rushing over to him and bending down to embrace him in her arms. “What are you doing here?” She questions pinching his left cheek between her fingers. “I was bored.” The ten year old replies, his dark eyes peering back into his mother’s gaze. The woman laughs softly, smoothing her hand over her son’s head. “There’s so many books to read, there’s no way you have yet to read them all.”

  “I’ve read thirty-five of them.” He states and she smiles. “See? You still have a hundred and seventy-seven more to go…if that’s the correct number.” She glances at her husband. “Is that right, dear?”

  “Yes, that’s correct.” His reply is stiff and distracted. Kael looks between his parents and a thought enters his mind that something was going on. “Mommy, is something wrong?” he asks her, his wet eyes meeting hers. “Oh no! Nothing at all!”

  “But Janus says he’s here to protect me.”

  She smiles thinly placing Kael back onto the ground. “It’s because you’re special.” Kael didn’t understand or fully comprehend what she meant by special. But they needed him to continue the Lennon family legacy, Kael was to be the heir to the throne whenever his father dies. “You’re always saying that…” He mumbles, his arms crossed over his chest. His mother giggles nervously, turning Kael towards the door by his shoulders. “Go on back to your room okay,” She says pushing him out into the hallway. Kael turns around to defy her, but the door is already slammed shut in his face. He flinches, his heart aching. “They always leave me to play by myself.” He mumbles, turning on his heel and heading the way he had come. Being an only child Kael was spoiled and pampered to his every need, but he was also lonely, heartbreakingly so. He came out of his room to make appearances at dances and dinners, but then he’d be placed back in his castle. His room was a dark cave, there were monsters all around, and he’d close his eyes hoping they’d go away, but that only made things worse. He wanted a friend—someone to talk to other than Janus and the tutor that would come by. Kael wasn’t allowed to go to school, people weren’t allowed to know that he existed. They knew that the king and queen had a son, but they didn’t know the boy’s name or how he looked. Kael felt as though he were a ghost, drifting and floating through life.

  The way things worked in this government, this society, was the king and queen had a major role in who received a job and where their job would be. People from the city—Gloria —would travel by boat to greet the king and queen before going back to their daily lives. Kael didn’t understand it, why they were King and Queen and how they came to be such royalty. Yeah, sure he got the gist of it—family line, blood line, whatever. But why make everyone bow their heads towards you? Whenever a person from the city comes here they wear a look of fear on their faces; afraid of his mother and father and Kael can understand them. They leave us alone and threaten us from afar and then they expect for us to come to their castle with our heads bowed, dropping our pride and prejudices at the door. Kael clenches his fist and stomps his feet. He was annoyed and just once he wanted to ignore the orders his parents had instilled on him and break free. He looks towards the end of the hall where his room was and then in the opposite direction where the backdoor was securely guarded by men in black suits.

  “Don’t ever go outside by yourself.” His mother’s voice was whispering in the back of his mind. He shakes his head and takes a step forward. “You could get hurt.” He takes another step forward. “The outside world is very dangerous, you’re safer here.” And then he breaks out into a full jog, rushing at the guards head on. “W-woah there!” One of the men say, gripping Kael by his shoulders and holding him in place. “Let me go!” He screeches. “You can’t go outside buddy.” The bulky guard says, his hold on Kael firm. “I want to go outside!” Kael yells, but the guard stood sti
ll. Kael continues to stomp his feet, making a motion to run, but instead he is jerked to the side by the other guard. “Let ‘em go outside, if the brat gets shot he’ll learn.” Kael’s eyes widen and his previous desire for freedom wanes. “You know we can’t do that.” The bulky guard says to the taller one. “Our heads will be the next target.” The man removes his hands from Kael’s shoulders and steps away from the door. “If ya wanna go outside,” He gestures to the door. “Go on.” Kael looks between them, they were like two humungous chess pieces, looming over him, taunting him. Kael takes a step back and shakes his head. “Don’t want to?” They chide, Kael continues to shake his head.

  The guards are supposed to protect him, to make him feel at ease, but he felt afraid. His bottom lip trembles—don’t cry, don’t cry—his teeth sink into his bottom lip. Don’t—“Excuse me? What is going on?” A female voice eases into his thoughts, Kael looks in the direction of the voice and sees a young woman who emitted a vibrant aura. “Prince Lennon?” Their eyes meet, in her hands she held a stack of books. “It is you!” She exclaims, dropping her books and charging towards Kael. Kael stares wide-eyed, shocked into place by the sudden shift in her demeanor. The guards chuckle. “It’s the intern.” One says.

  The woman rolls her eyes, flipping her light bangs out of her eyes. “I’ll have you know that I’m a historian here to study the Lennon Royalty.” She stops in front of Kael. “I plan on publishing a book on what I find. From their past and to their present.” She smiles down at Kael as she says this.

  “Yeah, how will you do that?” She crosses her arms over her chest and smiles confidently. “I have the King and Queens permission that when this little guy,” She points to Kael and winks. “Becomes King, I can publish all that I’ve uncovered.” Kael stares up at her and she continues smiling at him, Kael thought that her smile was as warm as the milk he drank every night before going to bed. “I don’t have a title yet…but I’ll think of one, it’ll come to mind eventually.” She mumbles more to herself than to anyone else in the hall. With a shrug she drops to her knees and peers at the little prince. “I don’t think I ever introduced myself.” She extends her hand, Kael looks at her open palm and saw two silver bracelets hanging from her thin wrists, there was a pastel pink charm placed in each. “I’m Skye Kim, it’s nice to finally meet you Prince.” Kael tears his gaze away from her hand and looks into her eyes. They were an inviting color of brown and he thought—for a second—that if she were to become his guard he’d feel both protected and cared for. He moves his hands from his sides and takes her palm in his. Her hand was much bigger in comparison to his still developing one. She shakes his hand dutifully, with a prideful smile on her sparkling lips. Kael could smell her perfume, it was fruity and sweet. Kael smiles, watching as she rises up still holding onto his hand. “Want to go outside with me?” She asks, Kael doesn’t say anything. “Hmm,” She looks between the guards and rolls her white shirt sleeves up to her elbows. “I think I can handle two of these guys.” She bounces back and forth on her heels. Kael cracks a smile before doubling over with laughter. “What’s so funny?” She asks, blinking curiously.

  “Y-you’re really weird.” He says between laughs. Skye smiles tugging Kael towards the door. “So you can speak.” She murmurs, twisting the door knob and pushing the door open. “Yes…I just don’t speak to strangers.”

  “Well,” they step out into the sunlight. “Think of me as your older sister.”

  “Older sister?”

  “Yep.” She beams. “I have a younger brother at home so I’m pretty familiar with the older sister role.” She winks again, causing the prince to smile even wider. “So, Sister-Skye…how long will you be here?” She shrugs. “God knows how long I’ll be here.” She laughs lightly to herself, an echo of her hidden sadness blending in. “I just want to make enough money so my younger brother isn’t forced into becoming a guard…” A cloud drifts over the sun, dimming the light. “I know he’ll have to protect you, but honestly and selfishly, I don’t want him doing that.” Kael stares up at her.

  “I’m a burden, everyone comes here to protect a ghost.” He murmurs, Skye spins around and shakes her head frantically. “No, no, don’t think like that!”

  “But it’s true…” Neither say a thing; a guard had slipped outside to keep an eye on them, making sure Skye didn’t try anything that would harm the prince. “Can I call you Kael?” She asks.

  “That’s my name.” Kael responds, she laughs.

  “Right, right—well, Kael—do you want to play a game with me?” Even though she was older, much older than Kael, the childish twinkle in her eyes made her feel younger. Kael’s heart begins to race with excitement and he nods eagerly. “What’s the game called? How do we play it? What are the rules?” He asks excitedly, Skye laughs gleefully. “Well, it’s called Butterfly.” Kael blinks, even though he didn’t play many outdoor games he had a good idea of what some of them were called but he never heard of this one. “Butter…fly?” She nods, stepping farther out onto the path before them. “It’s where we’re both butterflies, free, beautiful butterflies.” She spoke wistfully. “You have to collect as many flowers as possible so you—the butterfly—can grow into an even more beautiful butterfly.” The game sounds exciting—refreshing—Kael wanted to play it as soon as possible. “The one who collects the most flowers—they have to be pretty!” She adds, looking back at Kael with a vibrant smile. “Whoever collects the most and the prettiest of flowers wins.” Kael drops her hand and takes off across the garden. He could feel the guards eyes on him, he could hear his mother scolding him, his father warning him, but that didn’t matter, none of it mattered when Skye was yelling out to him—“That’s not fair! I didn’t even say start!” Kael chuckles, dropping to his knees and plucking a peony from the soil.

  The sun was once again shining above them and Kael was the one who won the game. “So what does the winner want from the loser?” Skye asks, hands on her hips, brow cocked expectantly. “I want to play another game with you!” Kael exclaims, the flowers blowing gently around his feet. Skye smiles softly, she could see the beginning of his wings taking shape. “Okay, another game it is then!” She raises her hand and Kael jumps up to high-five her.

  He really liked Skye, she was the friend he was always hoping for, but could not meet because he was forced into isolation. Skye was definitely like a sister to him, a mother, even though his mother was there…she never really was.

  He got excited whenever she came to visit; they’d play outside and then come back inside to eat lunch. From this day forward she read to him his books; different genres and the classics such as Shakespeare and poems by Robert Frost and they managed to get through all two hundred and twelve of them before they burned away in the fire. He was able to read all the books, every single one of them….but he wasn’t able to see Skye again, he’d never again recall her name or her face.

  Just like those books that had burned away, each page turning into ash, Skye burned with them—her smile, her fruity scent, nothing was left of her but ash. And Kael’s memory of her burned away too until it was ash and then those ashes…were blown away.

  Smile for me, please?

  Aiden counts the seconds that pass, he double checks his watch and then his phone for a message from his training partner—Iron. He rocks forward on his heels, standing in the morning cold; they made plans to do some early jogging and then head back over to the RPA building to get a few more rounds of shooting practice in. Aiden pulls his hoodie up over his head and begins to walk down the sidewalk. It was five in the morning, the sun was slowly beginning to rise, the first rays of light splintering into the gray sky. Aiden heaves a sigh, trudging on. He plugs his headphones in and plays the latest song by an up and rising rapper. He picks up his pace as the rhythm of the song speeds up. He breaks into a jog, his feet pounding against the concrete. His breath leaves him in thin puffs of air and his heart thrums quietly against his chest. He had trouble sleeping last night, images of his
sister invaded his dreams and he sat up in bed practicing his punches against his pillow. He turns a street corner, jogging in place as he waited for a single car to drive past him. He does a few toe touches before crossing the street. She was smiling in his dream, her teeth shining white pearls behind her pink lips.

  The sun sneaks up over the horizon and Aiden follows the path he usually took early in the morning passing the university and a park he and Jenna went to on their first date. It was a local park that was located a few blocks away from the campus. The thought of bringing Kael here slips into his mind and his steps slow. He stands in front of the park and stares at the wooden benches and the trail of flowers that led to a gateway. Behind the gates was a water fountain. He steps forward, his phone vibrating in his pocket. He walks ahead pushing past the gates and standing in front of the water fountain in a daze. His phone continues vibrating, the screen lighting up with a message. Aiden stares at the water as each drop falls to meet the pool in the ladle part of the fountain. His phone vibrates again and he takes it out without looking away from the fountain. Inevitably he has to tear his eyes away to read the two messages on his screen. Iron – sorry for being late, looks like you went ahead without me?? Aiden hmphs, putting his phone away without replying. He turns away from the fountain and begins his jog again. There was something hypnotic about the fountain and each drop that fell into the arms of the other.