Butterfly Prince

by Britannica Tany

  “Don’t say anything.” Kael quiets. Aiden’s fingers brush down the side of his face, up to his hair and then down to his jaw and the corners of his lips. “Aide—”

  “I said don’t speak.” He repeats, his thumb rubbing over Kael’s bottom lip. “Because if you speak it’ll force me to come to terms with how I feel….” Kael listens as Aiden talks. “I know it’s wrong to touch you like this and to want to be near you after things have ended between me and Jenna, but I…” Aiden takes Kael’s hand in his again. “I can’t stay away from you, everything directs me back.” Kael stares at Aiden, baffled and quietly he says. “Don’t say that.”

  “Why?”

  “It’ll make me think things, I don’t want to…think about you like that anymore.” Kael murmurs, struggling to pull his hand out of Aiden’s grip. “I…want to think of you as a dear friend and I want to talk to you about romance and dating and make fun of you and Jenna, I don’t want this,” Kael points to his heart. “To grow for you anymore than it already has.” Kael pulls his hand away and continues. “So for now, let’s go out like friends would do and have fun.” He rises to his feet and takes a step ahead, he glances back and ushers Aiden over. “Come on.” He smiles. Aiden thinks to himself for a moment and then follows after Kael. As they’re walking Kael started talking about his love for travel and communication. “Because I was isolated when I was young, I want to communicate with everyone that I can.”

  “Ah, that’s cool.” Aiden comments, his hands swinging back and forth beside him. “Mmm, I think it’s just curiosity, nothing to be complimented.” Aiden nods at Kael’s response. “Where would you go?”

  “Well…I’ve thought about it a lot, but…I want to go to Greece.”

  “Greece!?” Aiden exclaims, Kael chuckles, standing on the edge of the sidewalk to call a taxi over. “Yeah, it’d be fresh.” He waves his hands as though he had just finished performing a magic trick. A taxi comes to a slow in front of them, Kael holds the door open for Aiden, gesturing him to slide inside. Aiden ducks his head and settles into his seat, Kael scoots in next to him. “Where do you want to eat?” Kael asks, Aiden shrugs. “I was thinking a place where we can stuff our faces and never stop.”

  “A buffet?”

  “A buffet.” With a smile Kael tells the taxi driver where to go and off they drive. Aiden places his hands in his lap and peeks at Kael, surprisingly the younger was staring back at him, and he wore a small grin. “I’ve also noticed that you’ve been awfully tense.” Kael says, Aiden clears his throat keeping eye contact with Kael. “Tense?”

  “Yeah.”

  “How so?” Kael pokes the inside of his cheek with his tongue. “I don’t know how to word it, but it’s like you’re hiding something else from me.”

  “Aaahh.” Aiden laughs nervously placing his hand to the back of his neck. “I spent my whole life looking at people from afar, so I notice everything without trying to….” Kael adds. “Sometimes it’s annoying.”

  “I wish I had that capability.” Aiden mutters, Kael lets out a gentle breath. “Maybe you do and you just haven’t noticed it yet.” Aiden’s heart flutters and his cheeks warm. Kael’s gaze was intense, his brown eyes penetrating Aiden’s barriers and reaching his core. Aiden wanted to reach forward and touch his cheek again, maybe even lean in and kiss him—touch him like he did in his dream. Aiden jerks back at the thought, his heart skipping a beat. “You okay?” Kael questions with an amused grin. Aiden nods, lightly slapping his cheeks to gather his senses. Suddenly Kael is overcome with the urge to tease Aiden; he leans over and whispers. “Do I make you uncomfortable?” Aiden’s eyes dart in every direction except for on Kael who was scooting closer and closer until their legs touched. Aiden sucks in his bottom lip and chews on it. “Aiden?”

  “You don’t make me uncomfortable…just weird.” Kael contemplates his words. “I can understand…you make me feel weird too.” Kael’s expression was shy and when Aiden turned to meet his eyes, Kael turned away. This entire situation was weird, but it was a weird that…made Aiden feel as though he were taking off into the sky. With a satisfied smile he bounces in his seat. Kael looks to him confused. “Like last time, let’s forget, everything,” Aiden rolls the taxi window down. “Toss it out the window!” Kael watches his movements and he smiles brightly.

  “You’re really cute sometimes.” He blurts, Aiden looks to him and his round eyes blink really, really fast. Kael reaches over and presses the palm of his hand over Aiden’s eyes. “Allergies?” He questions playfully, Aiden shakes his head. “No,” He takes Kael’s wrist and removes his hand from his eyes. “I just saw something really beautiful.”

  ~*~

  Jenna was laughing with Francis as she forced him to eat another spoonful of diced carrots over stewed beef. “I don’t want to eat it.” Francis says turning his nose up to the food. Jenna rolls her eyes and places the spoon down. “Hey! If you keep eating like that you’ll be needing glasses in no time.”

  “I don’t care.” Francis forks down a pile of beef and rice. Jenna takes a gulp of the beer in front of her and begins talking. “Aiden—”

  “What about that midget?” Francis snaps, his words causing Jenna to laugh. “I…ended it with him.”

  “What?” The fork in his hand drops to his plate with a resounding clatter. “You…broke up…” She nods. “Why in the hell would you do that?!” Although Francis said he didn’t like Aiden, there was an inkling of like towards him. He was funny and charming and idiotic from time to time, but Francis would like him if Jenna did, so eventually Aiden grew on him. “I couldn’t do it anymore, Francis.” Francis leans forward, his elbows resting on the table. “You couldn’t do what, Jenna?” She hesitates in replying, her bottom lip quivering. “I couldn’t hold onto him when he was obviously letting me go.” Francis’s entire expression falls into a weakened glare.

  ~*~

  Aiden laughs as he and Kael walk out of the buffet they had just stuffed themselves at. An hour had passed since they left the university. “Holy damn you can eat!” Kael exclaims, reaching back and patting Aiden’s stomach. “Holy damn?” Aiden laughs. “That’s a new one.” Kael shakes his head, placing a hand to his hair and ruffling the tangled locks. Aiden watches as he does this, yearning to reach up and run his fingers through Kael’s hair in the same way he had done in his dream. Kael notices his gaze and responds with a smile. Aiden stares for a few seconds more before looking away. Once they reach the end of the sidewalk, Kael says, “We’ll have to part ways now.”

  “Huh?”

  “Someone’s here to pick me up.” Kael points to the black Sedan across the street—Aiden hadn’t noticed it, but that same car had been following them ever since they left the campus. “Oh, I guess…I’ll see you tomorrow.” Kael nods. “Mmhm, today was fun.” He begins to reach forward, but draws his hand back before he’s able to reach Aiden’s shoulder. Aiden takes note of his hesitation and with a reborn confidence, he steps forward, takes Kael’s hand and locks their fingers together. “Did you want to do this?” Aiden asks, Kael wore an obvious expression of shock. He laughs lightly.

  “Not exactly.” Slipping his hand out of Aiden’s, Kael brings his hand to Aiden’s shoulder and slowly strokes his arm up and down. “I just wanted to do this.” Kael squeezes the mid of Aiden’s arm and leans closer to him to whisper in his ear, “Have a good evening, Aiden.” Kael’s lips brush the side of Aiden’s neck in the slightest of ways—Aiden shudders—the brunette leans back, letting Aiden go and walking across the street.

  When Kael got home he took a shower. With his back to the water, it poured down his spine in heated streams and when he closed his eyes, he imagined the water to be Aiden’s hands. They’d roam from his shoulders down to his waist and the back of his thighs. The sigh Kael let out, sounded more like a moan and the Prince found himself struggling to sleep that night.

  When we close our Eyes Pt. 2

  The dreams didn’t stop; Aiden would have them almost daily and he’d
force himself to wake up because dreaming of Kael didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel right because it felt too good and it had only been two days since his break up with Jenna. He couldn’t think of Kael like that, but no matter how hard he willed the dreams to stop, they wouldn’t. In some dreams they would just kiss, others only touch and when Aiden was really frustrated, they would go all the way. Aiden preferred the dreams in which he only touched Kael. In those types of dreams Kael’s expressions were always vivid and the little shudders that rippled throughout his body did things to Aiden. But Aiden never touched himself after having dreams like that, he’d take a cold shower and wait for his hormones to settle.

  “You’re being quiet.” Micah says as he reloads his gun. “Huh, oh yeah…just thinking.”

  “Is the boyfriend having a hard time with his girlfriend?” Micah teases, Aiden reaches over and punches Micah in the side of his arm. They were doing target practice today because Janus wanted them to better their aim. “Soon the Prince will be doing a lot of travelling and meetings with other royalty, so it’s our duty to make sure nothing happens to him on these trips.” Aiden adjusts the goggles over his eyes. “You have to be quick and your aim must be perfect, anything less,” Aiden aims. “And the Prince could be gone.” He fires and the bullet hits the cardboard in the center of the chest. Fragments of metal and cardboard spray out. Micah claps his hand against his elbow. “Nice shot.” Aiden smirks in approval.

  “Of course.” He takes aim again and fires round after round into the cardboard target. Two shots in the head, one in the neck, several in the left arm and a few sprinkled on its leg. Aiden switches his gun to safety and takes off his goggles. “Getting one of these right here,” Micah presses a finger to his temple. “You’re asking to die.” Aiden rolls his eyes expressing that he already knew that. “What about here?” Aiden points to his heart. Micah shrugs. “Well, a lot could happen, you could die instantly or the bullet could travel elsewhere making it a slow death—maybe you’d be lucky enough to live.”

  “Ah.” Aiden replies, his eyes dimming. He watches as Micah shoots; he stood with a firm stance, the gun erect in front of him and he shook slightly once the bullets were fired. “But, seriously, what’s up with you?” Micah questions glancing over his shoulder as he shot the target perfectly in the head. Aiden raises a brow at his skill. “You’ve just been out of it these past few hours.” Aiden contemplates whether or not he should tell Micah. He takes a deep breath and pulls the taller aside. He looks into Micah’s eyes before speaking. He could confide in him without being ridiculed. “I’m no longer in a relationship with Jenna.” Micah’s eyes widen. “What?”

  “We broke up two days ago…” Micah gasps, his mouth opening and closing. “Why?! She was perfect!” Aiden scoffs at Micah’s use of the word perfect. “It…wasn’t working.”

  “Did you find a girl better than her or something?” Aiden shakes his head and says softly. “It’s a guy…”

  “Wait…what?” Micah places a hand to Aiden’s shoulder and leans down to get a clear look into his eyes. “A guy?”

  “Yes…”

  “Aiden, you—a guy?!” Aiden nods, his expression stern. “What’s s wrong with liking another man?” Micah waves his hands in defense. “No, nothing’s wrong with it...I just never thought…” He trails off, his hands clenching together, suddenly shy. “Are you sure what you feel for him is like that?” Aiden nods. “I would like it if you two met.”

  “Are you dating him now or something?”

  “No!” Aiden snaps back, his own outburst startling himself. He clears his throat. “I mean…no, it’s not like that.”

  “So basically you’re just crushing on him.”

  “Yeah, a crush.” Micah chuckles and squeezes Aiden’s shoulder. “Isn’t that cute.” He winks and Aiden laughs shyly. He heads for the door and pauses in his steps. I like him. He says the words aloud and a smile spreads across his cheeks and his heart bounces around in his chest. Is this okay? He closes his eyes and counts to ten willing himself to calm down. But as he counted off each number he saw a different part of Kael. One—his eyes, two—his nose, three—his fingers. He leans into the door and sighs. “You’re a real shit.” He mumbles remembering all that he had put Jenna through. All the time he spent with Kael and not with her. I really hurt her. His throat clamps up. He wondered when he’d be able to see her again. “Aiden?” He looks up at the sound of the voice. Kai was standing beside him with curious eyes and next to Kai was a sweaty Gene, his dark bangs matted to his forehead. “Sorry.” Aiden quickly straightens up. “How long have you two been practicing?” Aiden asks. Gene steps forward. “For a couple of hours.”

  “We were working on our close combat.” Kai adds, Aiden crosses his arms over his chest and tilts his chin out to them. “Show me something.” The two look to each other and then step back. Gene turns his back to Kai and Kai approaches him in a threatening manner. Gene grips the base of Kai’s arm, spins around on his heel and knocks Kai in the stomach using his elbow. Kai topples and Gene takes the chance to knock out his legs. Kai falls to the ground and Gene wraps onto him swiftly, his biceps flexing as he held Kai’s arms behind his head. Aiden claps slowly. “Nice work.” Gene helps Kai up, patting him down and checking for any accidental injuries. The two bow towards Aiden, he smiles reaching over and ruffling their hair. “We’ll be here almost daily since D-day is approaching.”

  “Yes, sir.” They say in unison. “Go over the rules once more and then I want you to recite them to one another before reciting them to me.” They both nod before turning away to the locker room. Aiden himself had to re-read the rules.

  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

  Aiden realized that he could have broken rule number seven that night when he got drunk with Kael. He groans. Kael probably wouldn’t tell anyone. He trusted him.

  ~*~

  Kael was sitting in the study, a pile of books stacked in front of him. He was dazedly flipping through them, repeating the words that caught his attention and the ones he didn’t know. Words like aphasia, canonized and disputatious. Kael really liked the sound of the word mellifluous. Whenever he said it aloud, it would flow off his tongue and its definition reminded Kael of Aiden “smooth and sweet-sounding.” Aiden had a really nice way of speaking; his words would flow into one another and sometimes Kael would find himself dozing off. With a small smile, Kael rests his head on an Oxford Dictionary and tries to catch a quick nap, but was awoken by a heavy bang on the study room door. “Yes?” he calls and in walks his father. Kael quickly straightens up, swiping his bangs aside. The King walks towards his son and takes off his crown. He switches it from hand to hand before resting it on the desk in front of Kael. “Your mother and I haven’t been seeing much of you around the castle.” Kael tries his hardest not to roll his eyes. “Yes, I’ve been busy.”

  “Since when have you been busy?”

  “Since I’ve started university and made actual friends.”

  “Oh, with that young man who goes by the name of Aiden?” Kael glares.

  “He’s my friend.”

  “Yes, yes.” The King picks up the crown and places it atop Kael’s head, it was heavy and uncomfortable. “Someday you too will wear this crown.” Kael knocks it off of his head and rises from his seat. “Don’t force such ideas onto me…”

  “Son, it’s about time you start meeting other princess.” Kael’s eyes bug. “A Princess…?”

  “Of course!” The King bends down to retrieve his crown. “The Lennon family line must go on for
generation to generation, forever.”

  “You sicken me sometimes father.” The King scowls. “It’s my job to sicken you, so that later you will be immune to disease, be grateful.” Kael’s fists clench at his side, he brushes past his father and out into the hall. “You’ll be meeting your bodyguards soon, I hope the recruits don’t come as a surprise!” The King calls, Kael stops in his tracks. What did that mean? He glances back at his father, the King was smiling, the crown on his head gleaming. With a final sneer, Kael hurries down the hall, his steps are quick. “Trying to marry me off with some woman.” He gripes. “I’m not even attracted to women.” He shoves past the guards who were blocking the exit to the gardens, they look to him skeptically before letting him through. He pushes the door open and finally breathes once he steps outside. The sun was bright and warm, but the approaching summer would soon be over and winter would take its place. Kael wanted to go out and shop for a few coats with Aiden.

  “We’ve never gone shopping…” Kael realizes and he claps. “That’s what we’ll do today.” He takes off down the steps and runs through the rows of flowers. The pollen was thick in the air, wafting every which way with the blow of the wind. Kael spins around through a bed of roses and picks one up and brings it to his nose. The scent was velvety and pungent, Kael pinches one of the petals between his fingers and smiles. He’d like to give one of these flowers to Aiden, Kael wondered which type would suit him. His phone vibrates with a text, it was from Aiden: Want to hang out today? Kael’s smile broadens and he does a little dance in the middle of the garden. Quickly he replies with a ‘yes’ and hurries back inside to change out of his royal clothes and into something a bit more casual. Preferably a t-shirt and a pair of ripped jeans.

  ~*~

  Aiden puts his phone back into his jean pocket with a grin. He didn’t want to think of it as a date; he’s been out with Kael multiple times and it wasn’t a date. But now that he’s acknowledged his feelings, well, thinking of it as a date wouldn’t be so bad. “Oh? You look suddenly happy.” Micah notices as he tugs his shirt off. Aiden nods. “I’m going out with the guy I like later.”