A/N: I do not talk, I am just a writer

Three

"Silver, trust me, this is a good idea. While it is very risky…"

"No Kingston, this is not a good idea. This is a horrible idea. And we do not have time to talk about this right now, we're supposed to be getting ready for dinner," I say, or rather snap at my good, but also very insane friend.

"We have plenty of time before we have to escort Blaze to the dinner table; now, back to my idea…"

"Your idea is faulty. Prince Phoenix will not condone me sleeping with his sister and us trying to murder Prince Sonic…"

I stop my harsh whispering to Kingston at the sound of Phoenix's unmistakable chuckle and the sound of his lighter than air footsteps moving down the Princess' hallway.

"Gentlemen, is that what you're bickering about?" He whispers, standing between Kington and myself.

"Prince Phoenix. How much did you hear?" Kingston asks, taking a step away from him, as do I.

"Enough to form the conclusion that Silver is sleeping with my sister and that you two want my help to kill her fiancé." He smirks. "Seems to me like Prince Sonic translates to an infinite amount of trouble for the two of you. Especially you, Silver," He gloats, pointing at me. "So you've been having sexual relations with my sister, have you?"

I give a surrendering sigh and decide to confess. Lying when caught red-handed will only get me in more trouble. "Yes your Highness."

Instead of doing something to torture or kill me like I suspected him to, he bursts into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. "My friend, I already knew that."

What? He knew? This entire time?

I look over at Kingston, who appears to be just as shocked and baffled as I am.

"Yes gentlemen. I know what's going on between my sister and her guard. Silver, I knew about it before Kingston found out about it."

"But Prince Phoenix, if you knew…" I begin, but he interrupts.

"I like the idea of you and the Princess together. I was serious earlier when I said I'd much rather her marry one of you, and more specifically, you." He says, pointing at me. "I'm sure you're wondering why I never said anything. And you're wondering how I knew. It's very simple: I never said anything because I was awaiting it to come to the light. And I knew about it the first time it happened because, as you know, I am both blessed and cursed with a very acute sense of smell. With that being said, I smelled a faint odor of sex on the two of you. Now do not worry, no one else has figured the two of you out yet. None of the other guards are smart enough or close enough to the two of you to even remotely suspect anything. And as for my father, he's too busy to notice any strange behavior from either of you."

For a long period of time, I'm silent; for a plethora of reasons. First and foremost, Phoenix knew about Blaze and I's secret affairs when they first began, long before Kingston found out. On top of that, he kept his mouth shut about it for a little over a year, without even so much as hinting that he knew; and on top of that, he approves of my relationship with the Princess. And to top all of that, he's willing to help Kingston and I murder Prince Sonic.

All of this information has left me flabbergasted, and I believe that Kingston is rendered temporarily speechless as well, as he's yet to speak either. It's as though we're MacBooks on information overload…

"Well don't just stand there as a manikin would. Respond, ask how I can help you with your task," The Prince says after gazing at Kingston and I for my moment.

He continues to stare at us expectantly, but we remain silent, the same dumbfounded looks on our faces. .

It isn't until after we've been silent for nearly ten minutes before Prince Phoenix figures out that he's rendered us completely speechless; and he sighs before crossing his arms. "Since the two of you are unable to tell me what you need help with, allow for me to dictate to you what I will do. I will find out as much information about my sister's fiancé as I can and give it to you two to use to your advantage. I will not participate in any of the actual plan that you formulate unless it is completely non-violent and would make his death seem like an accident. Is this understood?"

Accident…

"Understood, Prince Phoenix," Kingston says before tapping my arm to pull me out of my stupor. "Come Silver, it's nearly time for us to escort the Princess to dinner."

He then begins to go further down Blaze's hallway, stopping just outside her door and turning to me with a triumphant smirk. "Did I not tell you so?"

"Shut up. Instead of gloating, why not use your head for more than just a shoulder plaque and figure out what we're going to do now that the Prince has agreed to help."

Kingston gives his over-dramatic eye roll. "Fine. We'll discuss this after dinner."

I shake my head. "Actually, I'm going to be a little busy after dinner…"

"No, you won't be. If you spend all your free time pleasing the Princess, this plan will not work and we will both be dead. Tell her that I need you tonight." He snaps before grimacing. "But don't use that exact diction…"

"You don't need to tell me twice," I whisper back just as Blaze comes out of her room, looking surprised.

"You two are on time for once?"

I nod. "Yes Princess, and while we're speaking on Kingston and myself, I have to tell you that he needs for me to assist him in something important tonight; which means that I can't see you after dinner tonight."

Blaze's gaze shifts between Kingston and myself multiple times before she crosses her arms. "And why is that?"

I hate lying to Blaze, and whenever I do lie to Blaze, it's never believable. I always stutter too many times. Luckily Kingston knows this and is ready with a believable falsehood.

"Because, I need to discuss and plan with him how he can see you as much as possible before you and Sonic share the same living space."

She gives a small chuckle. "Kingston, walk away."

He gives her a baffled look. "But your Highness…"

"Walk away," She repeats sternly, making him surrender to her command and saunter to the end of the hallway.

"Princess…" I begin but am cut off by her pulling me into her chambers and closing the door. As a guard I am trained to always stay on my toes, but Blaze always manages to catch me when I'm slipping. Perhaps it's because I don't expect her to try anything…

"Silver, you are my royal guard, are you not?" She asks, moving closer to me; backing me into the door.

"I am."

Her hands slide over my chest and she goes to whisper in my ear. "And it's your job to protect me at all times, is it not?"

"It is."

I feel her teeth graze over my ear. "So tell me again why you need to put your job in jeopardy and converse with Kingston after dinner?"

"Princess…Kingston already informed you of our reason…"

"Yes, but tell me the truth." A kiss is pressed to my neck, followed by a lingering swipe of her tongue, causing my knees to weaken.

"That is the truth Blaze…Kingston and I need to discuss things in order to maximize my time with you…"

This time, she bites, but this is more of a threatening bite than a sexual bite; I can feel her teeth digging into – but not breaking – my skin. "Silver, you'd better not be lying to me."

In a sense, I'm not lying to her, but I'm not telling her the entire truth either. "I'm not Princess," I respond before she pulls away and kisses the bite mark; the nearly overwhelming guilt setting in just as the words rolled off of my tongue.

"You'd better not take long. You know I don't sleep well without my nightly dose of you, nor do I sleep well with you not holding me in your arms."

I kiss the jewel centered in her forehead and then pull her into my arms. "I'll try not to take too long Princess. I promise."

She knows me very well, and I'm almost certain that she can hear the guilt in my voice; yet, she doesn't address it. This gives me an extremely uneasy feeling…

OoOoOoOoOo

Self-control. It is easily the best asset and/or weapon that anyone can have; and as a guard, I must have a high amount of this. If not, then what good am I in this castle for the purpose that I serve? If I cannot control myself in a situation where I am constantly being provoked, how can I possibly protect the gem of this kingdom?

I thank my Creator that I was given the gift of self-control along with the gift of patience, and I make that statement because this dinner was one of the most torturous dinners I've ever had to sit through in my entire existence. Kingston and I escorted Princess Blaze to the dinner table, as usual, and since we are higher ranked guards, we get to sit at the table as well. I had taken my usual spot next to Blaze, and Kingston next to me, but once Prince Sonic arrived at the dinner table, he began to express his unwanted and highly disrespectful opinion on how guards should not even be permitted to stand near the Royal Dinner Table, let alone sit at it. He also went on about how it is his right of passage to sit next to his fiancé on occasions such as dinner. As a result, Kingston and I were ordered to leave the table and eat elsewhere. Now, had I not properly demonstrated patience and self-control, I would be on trial at this exact moment in time because Prince Sonic made me so highly upset that I was calm, and if anyone has ever gotten that mad, it is a very scary thing.

"Have you heard a single word that I just said?"

A question…which would imply that someone was speaking to me…

"Silver!"

Shocked out of my state of deep thought, I look over in the direction that I heard that voice and see Kingston standing next to me, appearing rather irritated.

"You haven't been listening to me at all, have you?"

I shake my head. "In all honesty, I have not."

"You bum. I just came up with a plan to execute the Prince, and you didn't hear any of it."

"I apologize Kingston, I'm still upset about dinner…"

He nods and the irritated tone leaves his voice. "I understand. But now that I have your full and undivided attention, I'll repeat my plan. We can make his death appear to be a suicide…"

"No. If the Prince was chronically depressed and having suicidal thoughts, then that would be a perfect idea, but there is no depression or death wish about him. Therefore, that idea is faulty."

There is a short period of silence before Kingston speaks again. "Well, that was my only idea. Do you have any suggestions of how we can murder the Prince without getting caught?"

"Well," I give an indecisive shrug. "I don't have a fully thought out plan, but I have an idea."

"And that idea is?"

"When Prince Phoenix was telling us that how he could assist us, he told us that he would only help us actually murder him if his death would seem to be an accident…"

He tapped the spiracle on his beak, before his eyes widened. "That's it! Once Prince Phoenix finds additional information on Sonic, such as allergies and what not, we can use that to kill him."

"I believe that I overheard them speaking on anaphylaxis at dinner, but I don't recall if Prince Sonic said that he was allergic to anything."

"And that, my friend, is what we have Prince Phoenix for. I will consult him first thing tomorrow morning and you and I can formulate a plan from there."

He gives me his nonexistent "Kingston Smile" (which is merely a slight grin) and pats my shoulder before walking to his position at the end of Princess Blaze's hallway, leaving me to my position with the Princess. Taking a deep breath, I enter her room and see her rise from her bed and walk towards her bathroom.

She gives me a small smile and motions for me to follow her. "Come, your timing is perfect. I was just about to shower. We can talk about what you discussed with Kingston while we're in there."

On a normal day, I'm thrilled to get the opportunity to shower with her; however, today has been far from a normal day. I want to shower with her, but I do not want to have this conversation with her because I am conflicted on whether or not I should inform her of what Kingston and I are planning. I despise lying to her, but I know that if I tell her that I am plotting to kill royalty…that conversation won't be one of the better ones that I've had.

Closing her bedroom door behind me, I follow her into the bathroom, my stomach in knots and the guilt nearly consuming me. It's wrong to lie to the love of my life, but I can't tell her what Kingston and I are planning…