“Yeah? Wish I could tell ‘em that.” The brunette rolls his neck a few times, giving his shoulders a good pull or two before gliding over to Aiden. “How long have you been up here?” Aiden shrugs, bouncing back on his feet.
“A few hours…I called Jenna before coming up…” He laughs softly. “She wasn’t too pleased to hear where I was headed.” Micah’s expression goes blank as he shoves the punching bag towards Aiden. “Stop rubbing the fact that you have a girlfriend in my face.”
“It’s not my fault I’m attractive.” He says with a smug smile. “I highly doubt that’s it.” Micah mutters, balancing himself as the punching bag swings back to him. “Hey, hold it for me.” He says, the tone of his voice shifting. “Got some stress you want to relieve?” Aiden questions with a raised eyebrow. Micah tilts his head from side to side. “You could say that…” He hums, cracking his knuckles and staring the black bag down as Aiden’s palms hold it in place. The brunette takes in a sharp breath, his thoughts trickling away to nothing. Aiden peers around the bag and shakes his head at Micah. “You’re pissed about something.” He says taking note of his friends tensed expression. “I’m pissed at this job.” Without warning he kicks the left side of the bag, Aiden is caught slightly off guard but remains unfazed. “We may die for some stranger.” He punches the bag this time and Aiden cracks a smile. “So now you’re getting me.”
“I’ve been ‘getting you’ Aiden, I just,”—a whoosh of air passes as he goes to land another kick—“I talked to that butler guy.”
“You mean the Princes Doberman security?” Aiden cracks and Micah laughs, his head falling back, his double adam’s apple bobbing rhythmically. “I can’t believe you call him that.” He says between chuckles.
“That’s what he is.” Micah regains himself, clenching and unclenching his hands. “He’s a butler and the little princes dog, that makes him Doberman security.” Aiden continues on, his expression serious as he tries to get the point across about the butler’s nickname. “Well, homeland security is our boss.” Micah grumbles. “So what’s gotten under your gloves?” Aiden asks and the corner of Micah’s lips twitch just slightly as he lands a light kick to the punching bag. “He’s gotten under my skin.” Aiden quirks a brow. “How so?” Micah tilts his head to one side with a lopsided grin. “He’s such a klutz.” Micah emphasizes his agitation by hitting the bag twice in one shot. “How can a guy like that run this place?” Micah gestures to the dimly lit room, his chest puffing out. Aiden steps back from the punching bag.
“Well he has his own ways.” Aiden says softly to which Micah lets out a breath of air in a peeved chuckle. “Everyone who’s close to royalty has their own batch of secrets.” Micah grits his teeth giving the punching bag one last kick before falling onto the ground out of breath. Aiden nods in agreement and swallows because he had his own secrets…personal ones, dark ones. “Hey, Micah…”
“Yeah?” The brunette swipes his bangs out of his eyes. “What’s a bodyguard’s duty again?” Micah looks at Aiden in shock, grunting as he rises to his feet. “Come on, you know this.” He says slapping a hand to Aiden’s shoulder. Aiden grimaces, a faint smile thinning his lips. “Yeah, I was just testing you.” He replies, Micah bellows brushing past his friend with a grin.
“I know what our duty is!” he calls pulling his shirt up and tossing it to the side. “It’s to protect the Prince, put his life before ours.” Aiden bites his bottom lip because he loathed those words. I have to die for him—for my sisters killer—I….He resorts to punching the bag several more times, his hate surging into his fists and coming out in each of his punches.
Rules of being a bodyguard
Protect
Serve and honor the royal court
Do not get close to royalty, you are only a servant
The Prince dies, you die
Do not love who you are protecting
Traitors will be handled as such and put to death
Your identity must be kept secret
Obey your orders
Do not question the King and Queen
You are a bodyguard and nothing more
The rules were strict and cruel and nothing short of what Aiden was expecting when he was first forced into security training. It hadn’t even been a month since his sister’s death and there was already a royal messenger knocking on his door to tell his parents that their sons training would start on his eighteenth birthday. Aiden couldn’t understand it, why the King and Queen would want him; weren’t they afraid that he’d turn on them and kill their son? That he’d murder the Prince with a smile? A chill prickle down the back of Aiden’s neck and he slaps a hand to his cheeks as if that would break away his thoughts. “Hey, Micah, what do you know about the Prince?” Aiden asks, walking to the window where he had placed his water bottle. “What do I know about him?”
“Yeah.” Aiden twists the top off of his water bottle and takes a swig out of it. The water slides coolly down his throat and spreads through his insides, cooling his body off. “I know that he’s probably as old as us—twenty-one or twenty-two, maybe a little younger.”
“So he could be some normal, run of the mill Melian?” Micah returns wearing a fresh shirt. He nods. “Yeah, but we’ll never know,” Micah shrugs. “Hell, he could be right beside us and we’d have no idea.” Aiden laughs nervously at that, his body suddenly cold. He could be watching from the dark like a ghost, laughing and cackling away like a maniac. “What do you…think he’d look like?” Aiden asks slowly, Micah shrugs.
“Ugly as fuck.” Aiden doesn’t mean to laugh, but he does. His cheeks puff out and his eyes go round. “He’d have a unibrow, right across here.” Micah traces a finger across his forehead. “He’d be growing a bush under his arms; sunken cheeks and lips that look as though they’ve been punched several times.” Micah continues on with a grin, Aiden shoves his friend in his chest choking on his laughter. “And…and his nose would be sharp…” Micah struggles to say, now that he’s also bent over with laughter.
“No, no horse nose, he’d have a horse nose!” Aiden exclaims and Micah laughs louder, his eyes squeezing shut, tears threatening to slip out. “The ugly ducklings and an uglier Prince!” Micah howls, Aiden was snorting now, his previous tension zapped away since he found enjoyment in making fun of the Prince’s appearance(even if they didn’t know what he looked like) “Snow White doesn’t even want to be kissed by him—she—she—” He struggles to finish his sentence, leaning on Micah for support. The door creaks open, but they don’t notice it because they were too engrossed with their childish jokes about the Prince’s appearance. “So you find humor in bashing the Prince’s outer appearance?” The voice that spoke was relaxed and calm, as though he were in no way offended of what the two men had spoken. Aiden instantly straightens, clearing his throat and swiping the grin off of his face in one swift motion. But Micah is still rolling, listing off as many fairytales as he could say in one breath. He only stops when he notices that Aiden is no longer laughing. “Hey come on, don’t leave me hanging.” He nudges Aiden in his arm. “Micah, while I admit that your back view is quite…” the light haired brunette tilts his head to the side, admiring Micah’s lengthy back. “Appealing, I’d rather see your face.” Micah knew who the voice belonged to—the klutzy, superior homeland security—Janus. “Yes sir, I apologize.” He spins around and does a full 90-degree bow. Janus chuckles lightly, standing in the doorway with a complacent smile. He walks to them, his hands clutched behind his back. He strode with a gentlemanly swagger; the black of his suit jacket sleek, and he wore a thick pair of glasses that added an intellectual charm to his already handsome appearance.
“If I have to defend the Prince, to be quite frank he’s a rather attractive young male.” Janus says softly, coming to a stop in front of Micah. “What are you doing here?” Aiden questions abruptly, no tact whatsoever in the way he spoke. To him he saw Janus as another one of the Royals pawns. And inevitably he’d become one too. Janus seems to be caught off
guard, but only for a split second. The corner of his lips curl up and he smiles down at the ground, his eyes disappearing into a ray. “The Prince wanted to go out, so my duties are not needed at the moment, another bodyguard goes out with him.”
“Don’t you still have to clean up?” Aiden asks with an obvious smirk. Janus chuckles. “You know Francis would have told me the same thing with the same type of smile.” Micah looks between the both of them unaware to the past that lay between them. Aiden knew Janus since he knew Jenna; they were young and just starting elementary school. Jenna wasn’t the shy girl guys went after, she was loud and stood her ground. And Aiden was drawn to that independence. There was her little cousin—Francis—following after her with sparkling eyes. And then there was Janus who tied the family together. When Aiden started dating Jenna he was first scolded by Janus, the typical don’t hurt her talk, but Janus was serious. In his words Aiden could hear: “Don’t let what happened to Skye happen to her.” Aiden took those words to heart, he couldn’t let Jenna get hurt because of him. There was also Francis who Janus tried to protect. “He can’t know that you’re training to be a bodyguard.”
“Why?” Aiden asks, keeping his voice low since Jenna and Francis were in the room beside them. “Because…” Janus starts slowly, pacing up and down, his hands crossed over his chest. “Francis really likes you, he may not show it like you want him to, but I can see it.” Janus turns to look Aiden in his eyes. “He really likes it when you’re around.”
“So, why can’t he know?” The silence weighs on their shoulders, Janus inhales.
“Since I’m already a bodyguard, I know how it affects him. He hates that I could be put in danger by protecting someone else.” Janus walks up to Aiden and places a hand to his shoulder. “So he can’t know what you’re doing—don’t tell him anything, no hints, no nothing.”
“So if he asks what I do after school…lie?” Janus nods, his grip on Aiden’s shoulder tightening. “Your protection is going to backfire.” Aiden says bitterly and Janus laughs. “Don’t…all things in due time?”
That question never did settle well with Aiden. Was Janus just waiting for it all to come crashing down? Like a weighted deck of cards anticipating the next blow of wind.
“Francis would tell you a lot of things….” Aiden says not backing down from the cold stare Janus was giving him. “Yes, he would, but first he’d tell me about you.” Aiden rolls his eyes, turning away from Janus and twisting the top back onto his water bottle. “What would he say?”
“Well, yesterday he talked about how he saw you with another man a few days ago.” Aiden smiles softly to himself remembering the toast to friendship he and Kael had made with ice-cream. Realizing how he’s smiling, he quickly clears his throat. “Yeah and?”
“He didn’t sound too happy.” Aiden chuckles lightly. “I’m not going to fall in love with the guy if that’s what he’s worried about.” Janus raises an eyebrow, curious as to why Aiden would think such a thing in the first place. “Who is this guy anyways…?” he asks with slight hesitation. “He’s a friend.”
“What’s his name?” Janus continues on, his heart sinking with each question. Micah was still standing up straight to show his respect towards Janus, who wasn’t even concerned with him. “His name?” Aiden looks back at Janus, his head tilted slightly. “Yes…”
“His name is Kael…why?” Janus’s blood goes cold and he shoves a hand through his hair. “Shit.” He mumbles. “What? Do you know him?” Aiden asks. Of course I know him! He’s the prince you dumbass! You have a friendship with the prince of all people. Janus turns away from Aiden’s curious eyes. “Shit, shit, shit.” He hisses. Aiden was confused as to what could upset Janus so. “Do you like…have a bad past with him?” Aiden asks, a hint of amusement in his voice. “How long have you been friends with Kael?” Janus asks. “A couple of weeks, why?” Rule number three rung so loudly in the back of Janus’s mind. This is why bodyguards must train for a long period of time without knowing the prince’s identity. They’re only able to meet him after all their training is done, physically and mentally. But now…everything was fucked. “Does…Kael know who you are?”
“Of course not. He thinks I’m some lousy university student.” Aiden assures Janus with a wave of his hand. Did the King plan this also? Janus racks his brain for reasons as to why the King would do this (if he did) and comes up short. The butler was at a loss for words and thoughts; how does royalty work? After years of being around such royal people you’d think he’d understand it by now. But there’s still things that the royal family manages to come up with to knock him off his feet. “Aiden…”
“Yes?”
“Stay away from him.” Aiden flinches back, at first offended but then he becomes angered. “I like being around him.”
“Just stay away.” Janus faces him with sharp eyes, but Aiden doesn’t waver. “I’m not going to stop hanging out with a friend because you say so.”
“Aiden, just—”
“You’re my boss, but you aren’t my father or even my brother. I only listen to you to please Jenna.” Aiden brushes roughly past him. “Aiden I’m trying to prevent you from getting hurt.” Janus declares, his voice strained.
“It’s going to backfire in due time, right? So let it just backfire right now.” Aiden mocks, grabbing his bag and walking out of the door. It slams shut behind him and Janus grimaces, his shoulders tensing. Micah looks at the door and then back at Janus.
“Everything alright?” He questions softly, unsure of what to do. Janus yanks his glasses off and rubs the crease of his eyes. “No, everything’s about to hit the fan, it’s all going to go to hell.”
~*~
Kael was rocking back and forth on the heels of his shoes, staring down at his phone. The wind blows his hair and he looks up at the sound of a person’s footsteps nearing. “Hey!” Jenna waves enthusiastically to him. Kael’s entire expression brightens and he goes to meet her halfway. Once she reaches him she knocks him in his shoulder. “My boyfriend wouldn’t answer his phone because he was out with you.” She says, Kael laughs nervously.
“I’m sorry.” She waves him off.
“It’s fine, it’s fine.” She leans against the railing behind them. “Aiden just can’t say no to the people he likes.” The words were like sandpaper on her tongue, with each word said they’d scrape and hurt her…but only a little. “Haha…he’s like a puppy.” Kael says tilting his head up to the sky. Jenna turns to stare at him. “Why do you say that?” Kael shrugs. “He just acts that way.” He laughs lightly to himself, as though it were an inside joke only he and Aiden knew of. It made Jenna uncomfortable.
“How he’s so quick to say he’ll be there for someone, how he gets excited at little and new things.” Kael begins to list off Aiden’s puppy like qualities, from his appearance to the deeper qualities Jenna herself uncovered over the years. But Kael talked as though he knew Aiden since he was young. “He’s really…” Kael closes his eyes and smiles—“…a puppy.”—the sun shines down and warms his face. Jenna stares at him, her happy expression falling into a blank stare because she saw it and she felt—no—in that moment, as the sun glittered across Kael’s brown hair, she realized that she couldn’t stop it—she couldn’t prevent what was going on between her boyfriend and Kael.
“Kael…do you…like…him…?” Her words break off, a pause and then another. Kael looks away from the sun and looks to her with a blank expression. A bird flies past their heads and then another, a flock following behind. A car drives past them as they stand on the sidewalk of the bridge.
“Do you like Aiden…?” Kael repeats her question as though he were asking himself. The wind blows and then it dies away into a flutter. Jenna was clutching her bag, her heart beating rapidly. “Jenna…” The brunette spoke with a gentle voice. “I can’t like him because you do.” Kael flashes her a sheepish smile and her heart drops. Those words: I can’t like him because you do. She was frozen in place, her gaze dropping to the
ground. Kael had returned to looking up at the sky, a relaxed smile on his face.
She opens her mouth to say something, “Kael, what do you—”
“Are you two on a date!?” At the voice both their heads snap around to look and there they saw Aiden waving to them with a broad smile. Kael jogs up to him and punches him hard in his stomach. “Like hell we are.” He says and Aiden laughs, reaching up and ruffling Kael’s hair. But his fingers linger in the younger’s head of hair, taking his time to feel the soft strands between his fingers. Jenna stares from a distance. “What are you doing?” Kael questions, Aiden keeps his hand in Kael’s hair and answers smoothly. “Checking for lice.” Kael knocks his hand away. “Go check for lice in your girlfriend’s hair.” Aiden slips his hand into his jean pockets, looking over Kael’s shoulder at Jenna who was staring them down. He laughs in embarrassment. “What’d you two talk about?” He asks Kael as they turn to walk towards Jenna. “Nothing in particular.”
“Really?” Aiden looks to Jenna once they’ve reached her, he steps from beside Kael and takes her small hand. “Did you talk about me?” He asks her excitedly. Jenna was still standing in a daze, she blinks and forces a smile onto her lips. “Of course we didn’t.” She replies sweetly, Aiden sighs, his bottom lip rolling out into a pout. Kael laughs loudly, throwing his head back and slamming a hand to his heart. Aiden stared at Kael and in his eyes flickered something, like a lighter had been switched on, a spark of flame that would eventually ignite.
“Good one, Jenna.” Kael says and the sun dances along the side of his face. Aiden was still staring at Kael and it was only then that Jenna realized that his grip on her hand had gone limp.
Aiden smiles when Kael sucks in a sharp breath of air trying to regulate his breathing. His laugh is something magical even as obnoxious as it is, there’s something pure about it…
Butterfly Prince Page 9
