Chapter Text
Foolish wasn’t sure what he expected of the maze. It loomed all-surrounding of the Crystal Palace, leaves twinkling in the morning sun. He expected hazardous pathways, twigs that reached out for him, shadows dancing on the edge of his vision. Because the Crystal Palace was famous. It was talked of all over, from windy Litus to the damp Iris Estate. Travelling merchants had oft spoke of the Palace, stating it was a sight one only saw once in a lifetime. That, and its gardens were extraordinary.
So, by extension, Foolish had assumed the maze would be equally, if not more, worthy of many tales and grand exclamations. It sat on the same land as the Palace, kept it free of road traffic and made any entrance not via mana-powered transportation spells utterly impossible.
What he found was simply normal green bushes that spiralled along in a rigid, rectangular fashion. The hedges were well-trimmed and staunch, unshaking when he pushed them. The path was prim and straight, branching off in multiple directions, with the hedges quietly parting for it.
It was underwhelming.
Bentley scurried around the path until he went in a circle without Foolish’s help, then came puttering back with a sheepish look that was evident despite him being a wolf. Foolish sighed, quite disappointed by the plain leaves and lack of other worldliness he’d been expecting, and turned around for the exit.
This was where he first found an issue.
Where there had once been a clear path behind him, was now covered by hedges. They’d slipped over the path innocuously and silently, to the point where even Bentley seemed surprised at the sight of them. The mutt sniffed at the greenery and whined, toddling back a few steps.
Staring forlornly at the hedge, Foolish realised his day was not going to improve the way he wanted it. First a catastrophe with his tea, then Eret being snappy and possessive (which, yes; he enjoyed them wanting to be with him at all times and how they made an effort to do so, but he also greatly disliked how they went about it by glaring off anyone who even blinked in his direction) to the weird man-flower-plant who apparently looked after the garden with weird and mildly poisonous flowers in it by himself (itself?). And now… Now this.
Trapped in a maze.
Maybe that was what he got as punishment for thinking something in his life would be boring for once. Everything had been hectic since he’d met Eret and it hadn’t even been a week of knowing them yet.
When Foolish looked down for Bentley, he found the pup gone. “Bentley,” he called out, voice more of a whine than he’d admit to anyone. “C’mon, squirt, come back.”
The distant sound of little paws pattering away, scuffling over the dried dirt of the maze, was his only response.
Slapping his cheeks to get some life into himself, unsure what had come over him, Foolish perked up and scurried off, following the zig-zagging route. He located Bentley nearly two whole hedge rows over, finding the pup staring determinedly at a dead end.
“Bentley,” Foolish bent to pick him up, tone a little scolding. “This isn’t how you get out of a maze.”
As if a wolf would know how to properly find his way out of a bunch of hedges.
Turning around to go back the way he came, Foolish stopped once more. He blinked at what was before him, quickly ducking his head around to stare at the dead end Bentley had just been gawking at.
He frowned, because the way he’d came in was no longer a way out. The hedge sat, still and faux-natural. It did not move. It had covered up the path silently and effectively.
Bentley, much like his father, blinked owlishly at the second, brand-new dead end.
“Okay, what the fuck,” Foolish scowled, securing Bentley in one arm as he pushed against the hedge with his other. It didn’t budge, reminiscent of a stone wall with how he couldn’t even ruffle the leaves. What sort of trick was this? “Oh, come on. This is just stupid.”
Whirling on his heel, he pushed against the other dead end. It didn’t move, though he wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting.
Suddenly, Eret appeared beside him, startling him into stumbling back. The hedge caught him as Bentley yipped happily. Looking rather emotionless, face blank, Eret stared at him. “What are you doing?”
Tempted to snarl at her, Foolish realised that he should at least attempt to be civil when Eret was. “Exploring the maze,” he said, rather simply.
Eret surveyed the dead end rectangle he’d gotten caught in and kicked the hedge to his left. It shivered and the section she’d kicked rolled back into a doorway. “The Southern facing hedge is always fake. It took Dream six months to figure that out.”
Laughing at that, because that seemed a very Dream-like thing that would’ve happened. “Surprised he kept coming in.”
“It was a fun game.” Eret said. “The knights would enter at different points and whomever got out first would win the last one out’s dessert.”
“I take it Dream usually went without dessert.”
“Indeed. He’s too competitive to say no to things he struggles at. It took being lost for three hours before he finally fell through the false side.”
They stepped through the doorway and Eret walked alongside him as Bentley ran off. She seemed more mellow now than she had been, and the easy conversation had eased something in Foolish’s chest.
Although they walked in silence, it was not oppressive. It was peaceful and serene, with the birds chirping and the hedge leaves gently rustling in the soft breeze. Eret whistled a note and Bentley reappeared, tail whirring behind him, tongue lolling out of his mouth. Foolish knelt to met him, patting his little head and noting that he needed to start carrying about treats with him to reward the pup for his good behaviour.
Beside him, Eret stood. There was a ruffling which he somehow immediately linked to them pulling at their buttoned blouse’s sleeve. Foolish, though intrigued, continued fawning over Bentley, intent on waiting for them.
“I’m sorry,” they blurted, words pouring out abruptly. Surprised, Foolish peeled away from Bentley and turned to look back at them. Ki wouldn’t look at him, instead deadset on staring at a spot of dirt beside their foot. She had a tight grip on her left wrist, and though she didn’t appear troubled via her expression, when she swallowed, her entire throat bobbed uncertainly.
Realising this was a tender moment (and feeling it deep in his chest), Foolish was careful. “For what?”
“For…” she took a deep breath, chest making a weird noise. Foolish realised she was shaking. He stood slowly, unsure if the sudden movement would make whatever was happening worse.
Eret did not speak any further. Worried, he reached out and stood frozen as they flinched back. Chest aching, he watched as they stepped away rather uncontrolled and hit the hedge. The choked, caged noise they made sent a spike of panic through his being, but he could only watch as they dropped the length of the hedge onto their backside, both hands shaking fiercely in their lap.
Was this a cumulation of earlier; from when they’d been poisoned? He seized with fright.
“Eret,” he murmured quietly, kneeling down on the dry dirt to be level with them. They were quivering, their entire body jittering in place, chest heaving fitfully, gaze lost somewhere between their boots and their hands. “It’s alright, you’re okay.”
“M’sorry, ‘lish,” he caught a mumble directed at him, amidst her sudden panting, which sounded more like her choking on air than her actually getting any in. The colour, if there had been any in her skin to begin with, had drained out of her, leaving her a pale little thing shaking in the middle of a maze Foolish didn’t know the way out of.
“Eret, it’s okay,” he tried again, voice soft and mellow. His heart hammered in his chest as he tried to think of what to do. Stay calm, he chanted. Reassure them. “You’re having a panic attack,” he murmured, trying to be as gentle in his wording as possible. “You’ll be okay in a few minutes.”
Her hand spasmed. The movement drew his attention down to the wrist she was clutching. Something tightened in his throat as he saw her digging black claws into her skin. Black blood dripped from her pale skin, staining the ground.
Startled, he reached out and pulled her hand away, causing wide eyes to blink at him. In his clutch, her skin seemed to jitter, her pulse beading underneath the cold expanse like a worm writhing in mud. “Don’t hurt yourself, sweetheart. You’re panicking. You’re in the Crystal Palace’s maze. Do—”
Something wrapped around the arm he held their wrist in. Blinking at it, he found a tail wrapping thrice around his forearm. It was soft and felt scaled, despite its black velvety appearance. At its tip, which knocked gently from side to side as it pulsed, was a sharp triangular point. Foolish gaped, realising it was exactly like the one he’d dreamed Eret having.
At his pause, Eret lethargically lolled her gaze down to what he was staring at. She stopped breathing.
Frantic, she tried to tug herself away. Her hand spasmed in his loose grip, black-tipped claws moulding back into human fingers as she writhed. “Pl’sh,” she whimpered, voice breaking. Liquid welled up along her eyelids, glittering purple against her white eyes. “M’sowy, puh- pl-eash.”
Connecting her sudden slurred words to her increasing panic, Foolish offered her a small smile. At the sight, Eret stilled, purple beginning to drip down her cheeks.
Leaning forward, he hummed gently as she flinched, and softly swiped his thumb along her cheek. Eret’s wide eyes watched him as he wiped away her purple tears, the tail that had wrapped around his hand tightening and loosening in pulses.
“You’re safe here, sweetheart,” he reassured, making sure all their tears were gone as he leaned in. Eret was still shivering as she tipped forward to meet him, their lips pressing together. Foolish curled his arm around their back, rubbing at their nape. Just like with their other massage, Eret turned to mush immediately, and sort of just spooled into him. She made a soft noise into their kiss and he pulled back, rubbing their noses together. Her breathing had settled and she now breathed normally. “Good girl. I’m so proud of you.”
They sat entwined for a further ten minutes before the shivers went away. By then, Eret had wiggled onto his lap and sat with her head tipped onto his shoulder. Her tail hadn’t once let go of him, though he didn’t dare mention it, in case it sent her off again.
“Feeling better now?” He murmured, brushing her hair out of her face. Foolish was glad he’d cut his own, as it had the perk of making it far easier to sit with her and not have everything in the way.
Obviously tired, Eret nodded slowly. Rubbing a hand up and down their sides (he was too scared to touch their back, remembering how inflamed it had been earlier) kept them sedate, though Foolish doubted they’d be filled with energy after that harsh attack regardless.
“Sorry,” ki whispered.
“It’s alright, don’t worry about it,” Foolish was quick to reassure. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
Eret nuzzled his neck with her cold nose. He let her, rubbing a pattern into her palm with his other hand. The scratches she’d gouged into herself had healed not a few minutes after she’d made them, leaving nothing but shiny skin alongside her already rugged wrists. Foolish had stared at those red, angry-looking scars earlier, but said nothing. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know how she’d gotten them.
“No,” she murmured, “M’sorry for earlier. Bein’ rude.”
Blinking, Foolish recalled his previous anger at her. It all felt so far away, as though he hadn’t been fuming with her less than an hour ago. He wasn’t used to his days being so emotionally charged. Just this morning, he’d been sparring with her, loving each moment of it, and now he was on his butt in a maze.
“Thank you for apologising,” he said diplomatically. He wasn’t about to tell them it was alright, because quite frankly, it wasn’t.
Eret hummed a tiny off-tune note. It vibrated in his skin and scorched through his bones. “I wanna nap,” she mumbled, voice smothered against his neck.
“Alright,” he made to get up.
She tugged him back down, hands shaking. “No,” Eret shook her head. “Here.”
Looking around himself, at the dry dirt and the towering hedges, Foolish wondered what Eret saw that made her want to stay. Maybe she was too sensitive to go back to the noisy palace so soon?
“Yeah, okay,” he decided, taking his shirt off to lie on it. Eret took off her own, stating she was warm (she did look a little flushed), and wriggled atop his chest, placing her ear over his heart. It thumped loudly as he stared up at the sky, noting the position of the sun overhead.
Foolish blinked and the sun had changed position – more slanted than it had been previously; now past the half-way point where it had nearly been directly over them – and Eret was wheezing softly against his chest, thick lashes sealed shut.
He was lying on his back, shirt taken off for him to lie on. Eret’s button-up blouse was slipping off her shoulder, the sleeves slipping over her hands as she pawed at his stomach. His trousers felt loose and when he looked down, he found his belt had been taken off, the button undone, likely because the buckle and metal button had been pressing against Eret where they lay. One of his arms was slung over her back (which was very warm in comparison to the rest of her), keeping her in place, whilst the other was on his own chest, clutching their limp hand.
The scuffling of dirt directed his attention to the path behind him. Tipping his head back as far as it would go, Foolish found Dream blinking dubiously at them. The man’s face was red, and he appeared a little unsure.
“Oh, uh,” he stuttered upon seeing Foolish staring. “Sorry to bother you two. I guess we know what you were doing, huh?”
His nervous laugh woke Eret, who stretched like a cat, digging her elbows into Foolish’s stomach, back bending. He grunted as all the air in his lungs was pushed out by her action, though she simply made a husky chuckle. There was a bug bite on her neck and another on her collarbone, the little dots of a bite only visible to him, whereas Dream only saw the raised, puffy skin. The man squeaked, though quickly clapped his hand over his mouth as Eret blinked at him.
Instead of glaring at Dream (like Foolish kind of wished she would), Eret was evidently in a much better mood after her little nap. She yawned cutely, rubbing at her eyes, and made to get up. Her limbs shook no sooner than her rising an inch, and she slumped back down.
“M’shaky,” she mumbled, likely painting an all too striking picture for Dream.
“It’s alright; here,” Foolish grabbed her and gently hoisted koi up as he stood, settling koi onto her own feet. She wavered a little, but with him standing beside her, ki simply leaned on him as she stretched again.
Dream stood in the pathway, practically wheezing as he attempted to stay quiet.
Foolish knew very well what this looked like. As Eret fixed herself up, he grabbed his belt and relooped it.
“Lunch will be upon the hour,” stated their prying messenger boy. Dream wiggled his brows at Foolish when Eret was still preoccupied with making her hands contort to push her shirt’s buttons in. Scowling at the nosey man, Foolish glanced down and found Eret frowning at her shaking hands. He gently pushed his hands in between hers and finished rebuttoning her shirt for her.
She smiled lopsidedly at him. Unable to stop himself, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead.
In the corner of his vision, Dream swooned.
“Off with you,” Eret hummed, flapping a hand at her mage. He yelped at being caught and disappeared with the flash of a rune.
Foolish pulled away to brush any dirt off his trousers and shirt. Thankfully the dryness of the dirt meant his clothes weren’t too dirty – the last thing he needed was his shirt making it look like he’d fallen down a mudslope. He shrugged it back on and rebuttoned it easily.
Now that they were alone, Eret yawned again and stepped forward. She swayed a little, but evened out as she continued on. Foolish kept on course, whistling for Bentley, who appeared from around the corner. He was sort of surprised the pup hadn’t ended up in their cuddle pile, but who was he to question a wolf.
Stepping up beside Eret, he asked, “Do you want to go inside?”
Yawning again, she shook her head. Foolish took a concered note of how tired she still looked (and evidently was).
Trying to tempt her, he said, “I’ll give you a massage before lunch.”
“I’d sleep through it,” Eret mumbled, blindly reaching out towards him to loop their arms. Foolish found himself supporting most of her weight, though said nothing, blinking as her tail reappeared and curled loosely around his waist.
Last he’d checked, the Crown Prince was a human. Humans did not have tails.
(Demons did though.)
“We have to reset the wards,” Eret said. “Or we’ll have a few feral demons on our doorstep tonight.”
Never having seen a demon (usually because, for people like him, to see one was to be close enough to die), Foolish had only ever heard the horror stories of entire towns wiped out in hours. Cities had been sieged by onslaughts of the creatures, citizens killed, the survivors left to fend for themselves until the Imperial Army came to their rescue.
“Do you get a lot of demons around the Palaces?”
“Yes,” she nodded. They exited the maze after hours of being inside. To their left was the infamous Garden and to their right stood the courtyard, still bustling with people but not as busy as it had been when they’d first arrived. Eret sent a sour look towards the crowd and lead them both towards the Garden. Instead of taking the right towards the opening of the fences, Eret directed them along a thin path around the edge of the fencing, which looped back behind the mazes. As they walked, she explained: “With so many high mana users here, the demons are attracted to that power and seek it out. Just as the Temple is a target due to their priests, anywhere I go is plagued with monsters.”
“Is that just because of you?” He asked, then realised how that sounded. “Because you have so much mana?”
“Dream holds an awful lot more than the average man, Technoblade included. Jabber’s mana store is impressive, as well. Even a few of the maids have large mana capacities, although they can’t use it as they don’t have the skill.”
“So, it takes skill to use mana?”
“People are born with mana. The average person has a very small amount inside them, although some will have a lot. Only a fraction of those people with a high concentration will actually be able to use it.”
“Have there been mana users who don’t have a lot of mana?” Foolish enquired.
“I’d suppose so,” Eret shrugged. “However, there are no successful ones that I know of.”
“Who would you say has the most mana that you know of?”
Bentley circled them on the path, little tail wagging happily. They came to the end of the maze after a forty foot walk. Foolish found the path, instead of continuing on behind the maze, carried straight on and disappeared into the outcroppings of trees that surrounded the Palace grounds. Eret did not appear worried over this development, and instead walked on. The treeline was only two to three trees thick in places, mayhaps four in others, and they stepped out into a large area of what seemed like untamed wilderness.
Hills rolled for miles, settlements and farms dotted along the edges of sight. Creeks dribbled in his ears, even from where he stood, and odd little outcroppings of forest stood gaudily along roads. Foolish wondered how a demon could make it all the way to the Palace without being spotted, though at the same time realised that it was probably still standing for a reason.
“Out of living beings, currently alive,” Eret mused. “I probably have the most mana available to freely use. However, it’s entirely possible that someone has a larger capacity but is unable to use it.”
He was more interested in this than he’d thought. “And how do you know what your mana capacity is?”
Eret yawned again. Her tail untwined from his waist and bounced back and forth languidly, a few inches from the ground, giving Bentley something to swat at with his little paws.
“Dream can measure it for you, if you’d like,” she murmured, unlooping their arms to crack her knuckles. They’d stopped at a line of pebbles which stretched around the Palace’s grounds in a circle, going on as far as Foolish could see. “You’ll get a good idea of how much you can hold and use.”
Wondering why Eret couldn’t do it herself, he asked her.
“Dee’s better at gauging the real value better than I am,” she shrugged. “An’ I’m tired.”
That brought about another hot topic. “Did you get any sleep last night?”
She didn’t look at him, instead sitting down onto her butt along the line of pebbles. He supposed that was answer enough. One of her fingers moulded into a black razor-sharp claw. Foolish watched sharply as she dragged it down her wrist, catching the blood that pooled out with her more human-like fingers.
Eret did not speak as she carefully drew her blood onto a few of the pebbles. Foolish wasn’t sure he could’ve spoken anyways, as he watched her intricately map out well-worn designs. They looked a bit like Galactic letters, like the ones inscribed into old tombs that the museum had dug out of caves and brought the entire walls back to showcase. As she carefully wrote onto four pebbles with her bloodied fingers, she held her cut above the gap of two others and allowed her black blood to drip into a well there.
What may have been a trick of the light was carefully reconsidered as Foolish blinked. One moment the pebbles were little grey stones, the next, Eret’s blood shook in the puddle it had formed and spread out over each one. It created a thin sheen that lasted for all of a moment before moving on, each and every pebble turning a dark grey that made them look wet. Foolish was motionless as he stared, watching Eret tip her wrist up to reveal a healed gash. She’d pulled her scribing fingers away from the pebbles before the colour change, and now she wiped her hands on her trousers and stood.
“What you just witnessed was blood warding,” Eret turned to him, eyes bright. “And no human alive has ever seen me do it.”
Feeling a little put on the spot, Foolish struggled for words. “I take it this is a hush-hush situation?”
Eret smirked, looking down to Bentley, who now sniffed the air cautiously. “Indeed. Consider yourself treasured to be here.”
Smiling at that, Foolish offered her his arm. Eret slipped her gangly elbow through the gap and clutched him tight.
With them so close together, there was nowhere for her to run. “How much sleep did you get last night?” He asked again.
She pulled a face at him. “You seen me in bed with you.”
“Being in bed doesn’t mean you’re sleeping,” he hummed. “And, I seem to remember you meditating or something.”
Tilting her head up at him, Eret seemed to pause to think. “And what of your dreams?”
“Don’t deflect,” he teased kindly, pinching at her waist. She snorted and stepped away, dancing out of his reach. “Ah-ah,” he called, “Come back here.”
Eret laughed as he chased after her. Jumping over small creeks and weaving between thick evergreens, Foolish only ever got close enough to see her hair whirling out behind her. Bentley yapped at their feet, bouncing between them both easily, not seeming to understand that he should pick a side and help him catch Eret.
“I wasn’t deflecting,” she said to him, standing beside a tree trunk as he ran past. Skidding to a stop, he whirled on her location and found her gone – running in the opposite direction.
“Oh, yeah?” He shouted after her, though was laughing. “This seems like the definition of deflecting.”
“What are your dreams like?” She asked again from behind. Foolish span on his heel, sweating from the run, heart hammering, and found her ten-foot up a tree. Pouting up at her, she grinned and gave a cute wave.
“Like yours, I’d suppose,” he shrugged, then amended; “If you even sleep enough to have any.”
Eret’s laugh echoed in the trees as he set to scaling the bark. It wasn’t a particularly difficult tree to climb – with convenient gaps and broken branches sticking out for hand and footholds, but Foolish wasn’t a professional climber and struggled his entire way up. When he finally got to the branch Eret was upon, she took pity on his sweating demeanour and offered him a hand up. Her skin was lucid cold under his, and he nudged her over until they shared the surprisingly strong branch.
Up here, they were so high up that they saw over the other trees and could see the glittering Palace glow in the sunlight. It was practically a beacon in the vast space of nothingness; shining crystal walls standing tall and proud over sinewy hills and green trees. If he squinted, Foolish swore he could see cattle milling about on a mound a mile away – could see a windmill churning in the distance, with a beam of blue showing a great river that split the unending grasses in half and continued swooping down into the crevasses of the hills to the East.
“I do dream,” she answered, voice quiet now they were together. Bentley had settled at the bottom of the tree, occasionally breaking off to chase a rabbit. Each time he did so, though, he returned a few moments later, peering up at them with a lolling tongue and a waving tail. “Just, only when I’m really tired.”
Not sure what to respond, Foolish hummed. “Are they nice dreams?”
“Not really,” Eret seemed pained. She stared off into the distance with a longing look in the slant of her brow and the pinch of her lips. “I see old things. Things I wish I didn’t.”
Swallowing in the soft but tense air, Foolish scooped her hand up in his. “I dream of death.”
Eret’s eyes shot wide. “What?”
“I see these… segments. Parts of a reality we’re not living,” he tried to put into words what he instinctually knew these visions to be. “It’s always about something that’s happened or about to. I dreamed of Alyssa arriving, of you getting angry. And then, on another occasion, I saw you standing before her with a tail of velvet and shadows for arms.”
In his clutch, Eret’s fingers twitched.
He did not look to her, afraid of what he would find.
“When do you see these?” She asked, voice breathy.
“When I’m not awake,” he shrugged. “I saw Alyssa arriving when I was… drowning. And then, the arm one when I fainted earlier.”
“You seen one today?” Eret startled, pulling him so much towards her that he had to look.
Her eyes were wide. Shoulders tense. Her hands were shaking again.
“What?” He broached. “What’s wrong with that?”
“I—You—Who’s your mother?”
Foolish was a piece of moss stuck between a tree and a rock. Eret was the rock; unyielding and demanding. She’d nearly turned grey in her haste.
“I,” the thought was painful. “I don’t know.”
Eret worked her jaw. She nodded, then looked away, then turned back to him so quickly her hair slayed out between them in a ferocious slash. “When did she die?”
“When I was seven,” Foolish’s throat went dry. His words came out quiet and choked. “The Irises ran her over with their carriage.”
His partner did not speak. Her wide eyes spoke enough for her.
“She pushed me out of the way.”
“Do you know where you lived before the Estate? Do you remember any of your mother’s friends?”
He shook his head. “We had no home. Roamed a lot. I… remember lying under the stars a lot.” Here, his gloom was broken by a nostalgic huff. “She knew all the names to the constellations.”
Eret’s brow had furrowed. She stared at where their hands met, her skin almost like snow against his.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” she said honestly, looking up at him with a slant to her eyes he’d never seen before. Sorrow? “But, is it possible you’re some sort of seer?”
Foolish shrugged. This all seemed a bit too much. “I never had any of these dreams before coming here.”
“Really?” Eret frowned again, as though her thought process had been derailed. It probably had been. Foolish had read of seers – they always saw visions from birth, sometimes the more powerful ones could witness their own eyes opening before they could even see. Or so they claimed.
“It’s probably just anxiety,” he confided, not wanting to get her hopes up only for them to be squandered. Everything about Foolish was boring. He wasn’t special. He wasn’t different. He was Foolish. Foolish with no last name.
“Do you get anxious a lot?”
“I’m not sure,” he said, though knew it was a lie immediately. From the raised eyebrow Eret sported, she knew it was too. “Well, uh… Alyssa scares me.”
“She’s two heads shorter than you,” Eret clarified.
“And?” He huffed. “You’re three inches shorter than me but still scary.”
Ki laughed, smile brightening her face. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Yeah, you’d better,” he agreed amiably.
There was a subtle lull. The leaves whistled with the wind. Down below, Bentley yipped at a bumblebee passing by and scurried off after it.
When she spoke again, Eret’s voice was soft. “Why does she scare you?”
The sun glinted down on them. “She used to hit me the most when I was younger.”
Eret’s hand froze in his. She stopped moving so abruptly that he hadn’t even realised she was swaying gently with the wind until she ceased all movement. Foolish blinked at her, alarmed, and watched her chest for the rise and fall of breathing. He found none.
“Eret, you have to breathe,” he chastised, worried. Resting his hand on their shoulder, they looked down at his appendage as though they’d never seen it before. “Eret, hey, it’s not that big of an issue. I’m sorry for bringing it up.”
And just like that, Eret deflated. “I’m sorry,” she said instead of explaining. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude.”
“It’s no big deal,” he shrugged. Something told him to bare his chest to her now; to open up his ribcage and let her pick a bone to chew on. His logic floated away and he said; “The shed was worse anyways.”
“What?”
Eret’s voice wavered.
Foolish shrugged again and explained.
At his response, whatever it was that he said, Eret went so pale that he decided for the both of them that it was time to get down from the tree. It was a good thing, as Eret’s focus was obviously hazy – she nearly walked into a thinner tree on the way back, and almost tripped over Bentley twice. Securing his arm around her to make sure she didn’t twist her ankle and drop, Foolish lead them out of the foliage and sat them both down on the path of the Palace grounds they’d first followed to get to the treeline.
It was there Travis found them; panting and terribly out of breath. He ran up to them and keeled over with his hands on his knees. Eret did not turn to greet him, so Foolish did, looking away from Eret’s face and the dark trees which she’d lost her gaze into for the first time since he’d sat them both down.
“Yeah?” He asked.
“Lunch is ready, Your Highnesses,” the Knight clarified. “I think if Head Maid Elizabeth has to shout again, she might combust.”
Smirking at the thought, Foolish stood and hauled Eret up with him. Travis’s stare burned into his back as he ensured Eret was steady enough on her feet to progress – though the arrival of one of her knights seemed to have snapped her out of her daze, prompting her to wave Travis away and hook her arm back through his.
“Let’s go back,” she hummed, acting as though this wasn’t the first thing she’d said in close to half an hour.
Nodding along whilst another’s eyes were on them, Foolish whistled for Bentley. The pup jumped after them, appearing from the treeline with a leap, yipping as though talking to them.
Eret ate very little at lunch.