Butterfly Prince

by Britannica Tany

  ~*~

  Aiden was having a hard time looking Kael in the eye, especially after last night. His heart would race and his cheeks would flush with shame. He was a hot-blooded young man, what did one expect? And now…his feelings were beginning to bloom and it was becoming harder and harder to ignore them. They were lounging around in the garden since Kael was on break from his daily “Prince” routine. His fingers were grazing over the flowers, his eyes cast on each one he passed. Aiden watches him from the sidelines, his arms crossed over his chest. He’d catch his thoughts as they drifted away to how Kael could be so mesmerizing. Even the way he walked called for attention. Aiden continues watching the Prince; his pale arms stretching out to reach for the sunlight. He wore no robe today, instead, he dressed quite casually. His pastel green shirt tucked into his black pants. They fit to every curve and arch of Kael’s legs and (as much as Aiden didn’t want to admit that he had been staring) his butt. Kael’s fingers spread so that the sunlight could splinter through and down onto his face. Aiden’s heart catches in its rhythm, the beat going off by a single thump as Kael turned to slowly face him. “Quit being like a vampire and come join me in the sun.” He was smiling at Aiden, a lazy kind of smile that was charming in its relaxed nature. Aiden swallows, rolling his sleeves up and walking over to Kael. “Yes, your majesty?” Kael punches him in his arm. “You can call me by my name.” He says, his eyes rounding innocently and Aiden stood shocked by the fact that Kael had actually punched him. He rubs his bruised arm and mumbles something about how Francis was more of a vampire and his punch hurting. Kael laughs loudly, bringing a hand down to Aiden’s shoulder and squeezing. He glides around the marble column that stood beside them, he wraps a hand around it and hides from Aiden’s view. “Skye and I used to play out here…”

  “Really?”

  “Mhm.”

  “What did you two play?” Aiden begins walking towards the column, his hands in his pockets. “A made up game called Butterfly.”

  “Butterfly?” Aiden pauses in his steps as Kael’s head pops out from around the column. “I think I read something about that in her journal.” Kael’s eyes widen before settling into a mischievous slant. “You read her journal?”

  “Y—es?” Aiden says with an obvious infliction in his tone that made him seem unsure. “What if she wrote about her love affairs?” Kael questions with a gossiping raise of his eyebrows. “Hah! I’d know who she was dating even before her pen touched paper.” Aiden boasts and at that Kael laughs, coming from around the column and standing in front of Aiden. He stares into his eyes and Aiden stares back at him questioningly. “What is it?” He finally asks when Kael’s staring becomes too much. Kael shrugs, turning on his heel and walking away. “Hey,” He calls over his shoulder, Aiden follows after him. “Yes?”

  “Want to…go on a little adventure?” Aiden blinks, creases showing between his eyebrows. “Are we…going to elope?” He asks half-jokingly and Kael rolls his eyes. “Doesn’t that sound like a novel in the making?”

  “A little; the prince and his bodyguard run off to Greece so they can be together forever!” Aiden says, his tone rising dramatically. “I’d write it if I wasn’t so busy protecting you.” He nudges Kael with his elbow and Kael gets this cat-like, coquettish look in his eyes. “I’d write it too, if I wasn’t so busy being in love with you.” He leans over—Aiden’s breath catches—and he plucks a red petal out of Aiden’s hair. “These flowers are edible.” Kael murmurs, eyeing the petal. Aiden—still somewhat dazed—blinks and then stutters. “R-really?” Kael nods. “It’s a hibiscus, wanna give it a try?”

  “What—you serious?” Kael nods, placing the petal between his lips and taking a step towards Aiden. “Oh, so you’re going to eat it and not save any fo…” His words trail off when a slender finger hooks beneath his chin and lifts his head. He was afraid to look Kael directly in his eyes, but he couldn’t help it because the younger was staring at him so intently. “K-K-Kael?” Aiden had never been so flustered and unsuspecting in all his twenty-two years of life. Kael draws closer, the faint scent of the petal wafting up Aiden’s nose. Kael angles Aiden’s head, his own head tilting as their lips drew closer. And then Aiden’s lips were parting, waiting to receive the edible petal. It took a total of 3 seconds for Kael to slip the petal between Aiden’s lips. It felt like smooth velvet and tasted faintly of cherries and pumpkin spice. But the taste of the petal was quickly replaced by Kael’s taste. Kael kisses Aiden gently, his finger drawing back from his chin and then going to play around in his hair. A few moments later he pulls away and smiles at Aiden. “So? Taste alright?” Aiden’s eyes open a fraction of the way as though they were window shutters being pulled apart. He stares back at Kael, his lips tingling, he swallows. He brings a finger to his bottom lip and says softly. “You,” He looks into Kael’s eyes. “Taste better.” He finishes and Kael’s eyes widen. Finally—Aiden thought—it’s his turn to be shy and flustered. “Lets just go.” Kael says suddenly as though he hadn’t heard Aiden’s words. Aiden allows for Kael to take his wrist, dragging him towards the gate doors. As they’re walking, Aiden stares down at Kael’s hand wrapped around his wrist and ever so gently he moves Kael’s hand down to meet his. “Better.” He states happily and Kael bites his bottom lip to keep from smiling as joyfully as he felt.

  From the highest level of the castle, they were being watched. His dark eyes following after them as they left the castle. With a haughty scoff he opens the drawer in front of him and feels around for the pistol he had placed inside. Gripping the steel cold handle, he holds it in his hand. “That boy and my son…” He had seen it all—he knew that eventually it would come to this. “If worse comes to worse,” He tosses the gun from his left hand to his right. “I may just have to kill him, I can’t have him putting thoughts into my sons head, now can I?” A sinister grin snakes onto the King’s lips. He was hoping that they wouldn’t reconcile, that Aiden would come through and kill Kael. But that didn’t happen and so now he hoped that Aiden wouldn’t go searching for his sisters lover. If that were to happen...there was no way of telling what Kael may do. “He could turn on me—his father for that little bitch and her brother!” He paces up and down the room. “All because he’ll come to believe that I had a part in her death!” He laughs, the sound hallow. “If I’m confronted…” He clicks the safety off. “I’ll just take care of it myself.”

  ~*~

  They were sitting in the backseat of the car, their knees knocking together each time the car went over a bump. Aiden kept his hands fisted in his lap and wouldn’t dare look at Kael who was so obviously staring at him. Aiden could feel his gaze tracing from his ears, his neck and then to his shoulders. His knuckles turn white from clenching his hands so tightly and then finally he turns to look at Kael, but the other had been staring out of the window for the majority of the time. Aiden suddenly felt embarrassed, realizing that, that was how he wanted Kael to be staring at him. The Prince never seemed to get really flustered or taken aback. And again Aiden couldn’t help but think that maybe Kael had seen it all, that he was a wise old man at the age of twenty-one. Fine, then. He rolls his neck, the bones cracking—time to make this Prince a little uncomfortable.

  Kael watches as the castle shrinks away, further and further and he listens to the slushing waves beneath the bridge they were currently driving across. He had never gone out to listen to the waves…maybe he’d do it and invite Aiden to come along with him. His gaze slides down and his vision unfocused as he thought about their destination. The greenhouse. It was about time, Aiden should know that such a treasure of his sisters exists. It’s a special place, yes…she’d want him to know. Kael sucks in his bottom lip and sighs. He’s about to ask the driver to lower the window so he can feel the breeze, when there’s a sudden weight on his thigh. His words catch in his throat. The weight begins to press insistently and Kael suddenly feels hot and cold simultaneously. The weight—Kael realizes—is Aiden’s hand, sliding up and down as if in a casual
caress. He doesn’t speak as Aiden’s fingers squeeze tighter, harder. His head snaps around and he stares at Aiden, but Aiden wasn’t staring at him, instead he had his eyes focused straight ahead. And Kael had to think twice to see if this was actually happening. “Aiden, your hand.” Kael starts slowly, saying in a whisper so as to not attract the attention of the driver. But Aiden doesn’t move, instead his hand glides up Kael’s thigh, coming dangerously close to his crotch. Kael sits rigidly in his seat, feeling as though he had been dosed with a bucket of ice water. Why is he being like this? Aiden sat with a smug grin, his palm warming as he caressed Kael’s thigh. He’s really fit. Aiden notes with an approving mental nod. His hand moves down to Kael’s knee and then back up to the curve of the inside of Kael’s thigh. From the corner of his eyes he could see how stiffly Kael sat and he couldn’t stop himself from laughing. Kael cuts his eyes at Aiden and pinches his hand off of his leg. “Stop it.”

  “Why?” Aiden questions with a smirk, slapping his hand back to Kael’s thigh. “It’s inappropriate.” Aiden scoffs and then leans over to whisper. “I’ll show you something inappropriate.” Kael blinks and swallows, immediately regretting his choice of words when Aiden requests for the driver to put up the window between the back seats and the front. Once the window is up, Aiden slides his hand up Kael’s shirt. “You wanted to go on an adventure right?” His fingers were cold—a shudder threatens to shake Kael’s body. With a charming smile, he pulls the neckline of Kael’s shirt to reveal his neck. “Let’s go on a little adventure, Stale Kael.” And he latches his lips to Kael’s moon-colored skin.

  A few moments later, as they pull into the dirt driveway of the greenhouse. Aiden hurries to fix Kael’s shirt and Kael hurries to smooth down Aiden’s now frizzed hair. “Good?” Aiden questions as he adjusts Kael’s sleeve. Kael nods before opening the door and stepping out into the humid air. He stretches his stiff legs and yawns, Aiden comes out behind him, placing his hands to Kael’s hips. “The greenhouse? Why are we back here?” he asks, shifting his feet uncomfortably. Kael glances at Aiden and thinks back to the first time Skye mentioned the greenhouse. “Look at these.” Skye places a stack of pictures in front of Kael, her brown eyes dancing excitedly. “These are pictures I took of the greenhouse me and my family worked on together.” Kael looks to her, catching the tone of reminiscence in her voice. “Is it special to you?”

  “Of course.”

  “Did you and your brother work on it together?” Kael asks, Skye shakes her head ‘no’ “He wasn’t born yet and I still haven’t told him.” With a sighs she picks up the pictures. “I’ll tell him eventually that this place exists.”

  With a deep breath he says. “Your sister…Skye…she wanted to take you here before she died.” Aiden’s eyes double in size and his mouth hung open but no words came out. “I wanted to lie to you and tell you that this was my favorite place…but, she would have wanted you to know.” Kael places his hands over Aiden’s as they still rested on his own hips. “This was her treasure.” Aiden looks at the greenhouse and then he looks towards Kael and his heart did the oddest of things. It felt as though it were twisting into a knot and he felt as though he were dying. Kael begins to tell Aiden what Skye had told him. “Your family, they built this place before you were born.” He talked calmly, his tone even and his words relaxed. Every now and then he’d brush his thumb over Aiden’s knuckles. “I wanted to come here with you and—“ Aiden slumps forward, his head sagging against Kael’s chest. “Aiden…?” Kael places a hand to the back of Aiden’s head. “She always told me that there was someplace special we would go together.” His grip on Kael tightens. “And she always seemed so happy whenever she talked about it,” He gestures towards the greenhouse. “This place.” His words sag in the air; the driver looks to them blankly, his dark glasses shielding his eyes. Kael runs his fingers through Aiden’s hair. “I never would have thought…” His words fade off and Kael can hear his sharp intake of breath as reality dawned. “This is my sisters treasure and I never knew.”

  “It’s because she never got the chance to tell you.” Aiden looks up, his eyes glistening and Kael hoped to god that those weren’t tears. He brings his hand to Aiden’s cheek and leans down to gently kiss him. His lips open and close as he whispers in Aiden’s ear, two firmly spoken words. Don’t cry. Aiden leans back and stares up at Kael quizzically as though confused and then he takes his hand and starts towards the greenhouse. “Her treasure and your treasure,” He begins, reaching for the door. “Is now mine.”—and he pulls it open. A strong, forest-y scent hits their noses. Aiden recoils slightly, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed the air. Kael steps in front of him and looks around, the place was still in shambles since the last time he came here to let out his frustrations. “I come here…when I’m upset.” He says, flashing Aiden a saddened smile. “Ah, really.” Aiden lets go of Kael’s hand and begins looking around. His brown eyes dart every which way and he smiles when he spots a childishly decorated clay pot. “I made that.” He points and Kael follows the direction of his finger. “That pot?” Aiden nods, walking over to it and picking it up. It was cold in his hands. “It was a school project.”

  “What grade were you in?”

  “4th or 5th, it’s been so long.”

  “Yeah…” He turns the pot around in his hands, his eyes flitting over the scribbled pictures of dogs, flowers and clouds. “I kept wondering where it disappeared to,” He laughs. “Now I know.” Kael smiles at him, walking over and draping his body against Aiden’s back, his chest pressed against Aiden’s shoulder blades. Aiden lets out a relaxed breath, his heart calming at Kael’s presence. “You know you’re heavy.” He mumbles with a grin. “You’ll be fine.” Kael says and Aiden lightly laughs. “Kael,”

  “Mm?”

  “Lets start fixing this place up.”

  “I like the sound of that.” Kael hums. “We can make even more clay pots and buy fancy flowers with fancy names.” Aiden rambles dreamily. “Yes,”

  “And we can kiss here, holding hands and hugging as we straighten up.”

  “Sounds lovely.” Kael turns around, so now their backs were leaning together. Kael looks up, staring through the glass ceiling and towards the darkening sky. Aiden places the pot back down and turns his head slightly to gaze at Kael. He was close and he was warm. Aiden brings his hand down towards Kael and like swaying stems on a flower, their fingers intertwine. “In the language of flowers, how would one say that they love you?” Aiden asks, Kael shrugs. “A red chrysanthemum means quite literally ‘I love you.’”

  “That’s interesting…”

  “But then there’s the typical rose which also means love.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Oh! And the arbutus, which represents the one love.” Aiden nods, listening intently as Kael spoke on and on about the flowers. “Is there a flower that represents the beginnings of love?” He asks as Kael’s speaking mid-sentence. The brunette pauses to think. “Maybe? To be honest, I don’t know.” He laughs and Aiden felt as Kael’s shoulders bobbed against his own. “Then, how about I make one.”

  “A flower?”

  “Yeah,” They speak not facing each other. “Making a flower…” Kael echoes. “Well, not really making but, say you’re a flower.” Kael laughs loudly, the sound rattling Aiden’s ears. “Me? A flower?” He snorts, Aiden speaks softly, unfazed by Kael’s dramatic denial. “Because to me Kael…you represent the beginnings of love.” Kael’s voice catches mid laugh and he spins around to face Aiden. Aiden stares up at him, a slow smile spreading across his lips. “Is the truth so hard to face?” he questions somewhat smugly as Kael’s eyes continued to widen. “No, I just—what are you trying to say?” Aiden breaks his gaze away from Kael and brushes past him. “If we’re going to fix this place up we better start now.” He says, popping the single button on his suit jacket, taking it off and draping it over a wooden cabinet that was beginning to rot. Kael stares after Aiden still somewhat dazed and then—annoyed—he balls
up a patch of dirt and throws it at Aiden’s back. It crumbles on contact. “What the hell!?” Aiden shouts and Kael snickers. “Janus’s gonna have my ass if this white shirt gets stained.” Aiden emphasizes the word ‘white’ with a hiss. Kael continues laughing as he rolls up the sleeves on his shirt and goes to work picking up the discarded clay pots and gardening utensils.

  A few sweaty backs and heavy pants later—the greenhouse was beginning to look like something. On their way back to the castle Kael kept grumbling about how he smelled and how dirt would forever be stained underneath his fingernails. Aiden laughed, patting him on his back and saying that they could shower together. He said it jokingly, not knowing that Kael had took the statement quite literally.

  “Wait…you,”—he catches the towel that was thrown towards him—“Aren’t serious are you?” He questions as Kael disappears into the bathroom, a few moments later the rushing pitter-patter from the shower could be heard. Kael reemerges with a smile. “What? You smell too.” He says before disappearing again and Aiden groans, gripping his hair in frustration. “That’s not what I meant Kael!” he shouts, storming over to the bathroom and waiting in front of the door. There was no way he could go in there a sane man. In the past this would have been fine, but now? He laughs. No way. Kael peeks out from the door again and grips Aiden’s wrist pulling him inside. “Kael!” Aiden exclaims, the humidity and steam of the bathroom hits him. Kael smiles. “I’ll get in first.” The brunette disappears in another part of the bathroom. Aiden makes a move to call for him, but stops when he realized just how pointless it was. “Whatever,” He yanks off his tie and begins undressing. He looks around the bathroom and is amazed by its luxury. He scoffs. “Royalty, wouldn’t surprise me if the toilet is gold.” He unloops the belt from his pants and tugs his zipper down. As he’s doing so, Kael returns, a towel wrapped around his waist. “I’ll be getting in now.” He announces and Aiden doesn’t dare to glance his way. “Okay,” He says, surprised by the control he’s able to maintain in his voice. Kael opens the shower door, steam puffing out and he stands under the shower head, allowing his face and hair to get wet. He lets out a sigh, the sound travelling to Aiden’s ears. He swallows, tugging his pants down and staring at his nude reflection in the mirror. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” He mumbles before taking off the last of his clothes. He steps towards the shower door and takes a deep breath. “I’m coming in.”