"I saw him out there! He took a helpless girl!"
The gathering in the center of the kingdom was dead silent either from fear or dubiousness.
A man stood on the edge of a fountain, waving his arms about.
"Why won't you believe me?! He kidnapped a girl and killed her rescuer! Our fears are true?"
"And how can you be so sure?" Called a man amongst the crowd.
"You have your five senses don't you? Can't you smell the stench of sin in the air? When your mouth hangs open in fright of that devil boy, does your tongue not curl in on itself from tasting hell's flames? The child isn't holy! He summoned his father's wrath from his fingertips!"
The crowd was quickly turning into a mob.
"Can his brothers do it?"
"What of the queen, did she not fulfill her purpose to the Devil?"
"He must be the only one, not one of his siblings has that fiery of hair!"
The leader raised his hand.
"We cannot fight this beast! The only way to rid it from our spirits is stealth. Fear not, I shall slay it where it lies. But he must not suspect."
Another half of the crowd shouted in protest.
"Violence is never the way to beat anything!"
"Did anyone know the girl?"
"Why should we believe this one?"
Another man stood on a platform.
"We wait! The assassination of a royal is not something to be decided of an angry mob! If we see anything more, it shall be brought up again."
The man on the fountain looked disgruntled to be put down so easily but, nodded in agreement.
And no one seemed to be to particularly worried about the girl anyway.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
ONE YEAR LATER
Kendra lay under a large evergreen tree staring up at the stars, head back against Hans' chest.
"And whats that one?" She pointed up at the brightest planet.
"Venus; named after the Greek Goddess of Love."
"How fitting." She smirked, intertwining their fingers on her waist.
Hans smirked and nuzzled into her hair.
"They don't shine brighter than your eyes." He fluttered his eyelashes in a half sarcastic gesture.
Kendra snorted and nudged him in the ribs.
"Watch out, your prince is showing."
He looked down to her, her eyes glassy from amazement from the spread of stars and took a moment to memorize how everything felt right now. He imprinted the comforting way her body lay against him like they fit, they way she was so dazzled by things she had seen many times. Her silver hair fell over her shoulder like the brightest moonlight was pouring from her. The pine needles blew a cheery scent around them. He was happy.
They sat in silence for a while until the sky was slashed with greens and purples.
"Hans!" She whispered, wiggling him awake. "Look.."
He glanced up at the sky blearily and grunted. Then he suddenly sat straight up.
"Oh lord, we need to go! Its late."
She whined and tried to grab him back down as he stood stiffly.
"I don't wanna go..."
"You know the groundskeeper comes by early." Kendra pouted but let him help her up. Her arms wrapped around his neck and tried to hold onto him a long as possible. There was nowhere she felt safer, more content than listening to his heartbeat.
His breathing became slower as they stood in each others arms until the quiet was broken by her whisper.
"I'll tell you my secret if you tell me yours."
He stiffened and frowned.
"You know that's not a good idea."
"Why do you wear the gloves?"
"Why do pigs fly?"
She laughed in spite of herself and poked his stomach.
"I was abandoned. That's...why I'm alone." She tried to pass it off as nothing but the air seemed to freeze around them.
"You were..." he started.
"My mother thought she had too many children and brought me to the marketplace one day and just...left me." There was a waver in her voice as the truth finally came out.
He chewed on his lip and of all the things he had been trained to say in different situations, he couldn't come up with anything to offer for the life of him.
"Now you go." She urged while trying to rub the tears away from her eyes, feigning sleepiness.
He looked between her and his hands then sighed and started to peel his glove away.
"Please...don't think any less of me." He held his palm out upward and conjured a ball of fire.
Kendra stood there with a strange expression that almost looked like confusion.
"You have-"
"-a curse." He interjected. "Nothing more."
"But...its so beautiful." She sighed, cupping his hand in hers. The flame surged brighter.
He snuffed out the light by closing his fingers and put his glove back on. "I haven't used them since the night we met."
She grabbed ahold of his arm and walked up to the main gates.
"But I have so many questions! How strong are they? Were you actually cursed?" She was getting more excited by the minutes, walking backwards in front of him to talk.
He opened his mouth to reply when her expression morphed into panic. Hans started to turn when she flung herself behind him in a blur of platinum. She shrieked from behind and he turned to see what had happened, a bad feeling growing stronger every passing second.
A villager with a bloody sword stood over Kendra, with a horrified look on his face. Before he had time to do anything he ran for the woods. Hans didn't look twice.
"Kendra!" He dropped beside her, the peace he felt earlier being strangled by a panic growing around his chest.
"H-Hold me." She gasped, trying to lift up.
"I've got you!" He scooped her up into him and tried to stifle the ugly red leaking from her chest. She coughed and blood sprang from her lips. She was dying, and there was nothing either of them could do. She curled up into his chest and closed her eyes, finding the heartbeat to calm her.
"N-no don't do this!" He turned her chin up. "You're going to stay with me!"
Her eyes met his comforting green and savored them, willing herself to speak.
"You're m-my king." she choked out.
He watched the life drain from her in his arms as he tried to talk her back to him.
Blood seeped through his hands, spilled over his pristine coat. He couldn't breath as he looked at her motionless chest, couldn't see as her eyes stared up at the sky like she was still marveling. The only thing real to him was the flood of grief that filled him to the brim and still overflowed out of his eyes as tears poured from them.
There was movement, surely guards hearing commotion. Then silence. Then hands pulling him away.
Christian's voice tried to talk to him before giving up and just pulling him into a hug.
Hans was sure he had no idea what was going on, but almost felt grateful for the comfort. It was to be the only piece of it given to him from his family.
Over the next few months, for once, his brothers became the invisible ones.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Well, you guys don't need to worry about Kendra, she's gone :/ I was still blubbering like an idiot when I wrote this. At three AM. Then again I cry at anything at three AM.