Note: No BETA.

An Eventful Summer With a Witch and a Prince

Chapter One

It's Intriguing, Who You Are Now

A blush.

Of all the weaknesses Will thought she possessed as leader of the Guardians of Infinity, a blush was pretty far down on that list.

Why him, of all people? Honestly, she would have been less confused if it was Blunk; at least he never threw her down a pit with a grumpy Caleb.

Maybe she was just seeing him out of his usual evil context? He was not wearing the traditional black robes of doom all villains wore according to their dress codes and bylaws. Or was looking at her in a mix of anger and indifference, like he was frustrated at the situation but could care less about who was actually causing it. He was not sending hoards of magical beast after her and her friends. He was not bringing misery and pain to anybody. He was not….

And that was the problem.

Will blamed Elyon. If the Queen had kept him locked up, Phobos would just be fuming in his cage, whinnying about how no one ever dusted and room service was terrible. Instead, he was sitting peacefully in one of the castle's many lush and green courtyards.

The sun was shining on long pale hair, making it blend seamlessly into the pure white layered robes that draped loosely around his thin form. Blue eyes were raised to the clear sky in quiet meditation, an eerie quiet flowing from him, silencing all would be garden creatures around him and stilling the rustle of leaves.

There was something unapproachable about the fallen prince and, in a strange way, it was comforting. It reminded her of who he was and to keep a safe distance. Of what he did and what he will always try to do. Yet, as she watched from behind a pillar to a nearby marble arch way, she only found herself intrigued.

He did not know anyone was near, so why did he seem so reserved?

Elyon had given him free reign of most of the main castle a few months ago. Four years in prison did not change the prince like Elyon had hoped. She had though, with her display of superior powers, and him being locked away, it would make him more docile. The young queen even entertained the idea of hiring psychiatrist from Earth to help 'reform' her brother, but that proved to be too messy to go through with. Instead, he stayed surprisingly upbeat for someone with their freedom taken away from them and living in a small, dark cell. Even as his subjects swore loyalty to the new queen for their freedom, as his magic was sealed away with newer and stronger spells, he stayed sarcastic as ever.

Once Elyon realized that he still was not ageing, even with his powers bound, she felt the need to try and create some type of bond between them. So, she freed him from his prison and began to treat him like a 'brother'. Will remembered Caleb's constant irritation at his blatant disrespect towards Elyon and how the entire kingdom thought she was far too kind and was wary of her choice. Considering the out come of releasing him with pardon when dealing with Nerissa, there was reasonable push back against releasing him again.

Will understood Elyon's problem. She was raised on Earth to believe taking a life was a last choice solution, and now she was a queen of a medieval land that, even in peaceful times, had more death than she was used to.

Anything she did would seem to tame by their standards.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Will wondered about her luck to have found the prince in the large castle at all. Never bothering to fully roam the castle before, she tried to explore it once back when Elyon first came to power years ago, but found the palace to massive to explore completely in a short time. In fact, this was her first visit in over a year to not only the Castle in Meridian, but Metamoor. Most of the other worldly troubles came from other planets now and, while she treasured her time on Earth, she greatly enjoyed planet hopping. It was normally Elyon visiting them to take a break from her royal duties and to attain some much needed Earthly provisions.

So finding him here at all was nothing but pure, dumb luck.

A strong gust of wind picked up, ruining the picturesque view, and reminding her that she was looking at a living person, not a painting. The wind ruffled his clothes and picked up strands of pale locks, blowing them from his face and trailing them like banners of conquest behind him. He turned his head towards the breeze and closed his eyes, enjoying the wind. His lips twitched.

"Phobos," she whispered, shocked at the beauty of both the man and the scene.

In pure panic, Will darted fully behind the pillar and, for good measure, turned herself invisible. She bit her lip as her heart demanded to be set free from her chest.

What's wrong? her inner voice teased.

Are you afraid of him?

That time she nearly laughed.

Afraid of Phobos? Her? That was insane to even think! After all these years, and with her full mastery of the Heart, she was sure she could go toe-to-toe with a fully powered Phobos and win. Although, pure power was never what made him dangerous, but his vast knowledge of magical spells and items.

Yet, right now, she was hiding to avoid any awkward conversations.

Yeah, that was it.

She was overreacting right now! So what if she blushed a little when she looked at him! Maybe he was handsome. Maybe even one of the most handsome men she has ever seen.

Will regained enough of her composure to look out from behind the pillar. Phobos was still sitting in the same spot. Confident that he did not hear her slip of the tongue, she hurried away from the gardens and into the castle.

This was going to be a long vacation.

"That was quick," Cornelia mused as she lounged in Elyon's throne with her feet off one end and toying with Elyon's hair, who was sitting at the base. "I though aimless wandering took at least two hours," she finished with a flick of two of her long, impossibly elegant fingers in the air.

"She was walking around, not shopping an outlet store like some people," Irma said with a yawn as she sat at the side of the throne. She looked up from her book as Cornelia looked down and eyed her.

"As if I would be caught dead at an outlet," Cornelia defended with a scoff.

Irma looked back at her book. "Rip daddy's charge card."

"Oh, did you find the gardens?" Taranee asked as she looked up from watching Hay-Lin draw the other three.

Hay-Lin looked up from her sketch book and added, "The flowers should be in bloom, huh?"

"Did you need a maid to take you?" Elyon offered, causing a few snickers from the two near the queen.

Will looked away and shifted as she answered, "I found the courtyard, actually… and Prince Phobos."

Irma sat her book down, now interested. "One of us was bound to run into him," she pointed out with a thoughtful tap on her chin.

"Can you lock that monster up for one month? I wanted to enjoy my break without seeing his face," Cornelia pouted as she undid a braid and began to braid it again.

"You know she can't. If she wants him to trust her she can't keep locking him back up," Hay-Lin said as she hugged her sketch pad and knees to her chest.

Taranee leaned back on her hands as her eyes closed. "I still think that rehabilitation is hopeless for him. If there is one person who will never throw in the towel for world domination, it's Phobos."

"So how unpleasant was the conversation? Mind-numbing? Or just plain awkward?" Irma asked.

Will shrugged and clarified, "I didn't talk to him. Didn't see the point."

"True," she agreed. "Most likely he'll just say some snide comment and mope around. No fun, really."

Fun? Was Phobos ever fun? What an odd thought.

Will walked to sit with Hay-Lin and Taranee as she though back to the encounter. What would he say if she talked to him? He has not seen her in years. She was in her second year of college, already twenty. She finally looked like her guardian counterpart.

Will could not get rid of the uneasiness in her.

Will sat in front of the vanity in her room. Candle light was something she was not use to, so she used magic to light her room instead; a ball of pinkish white energy floated near her, brimming with magic. It was midsummer, so the sun was already rising, fast.

She hated quiet, but all her electronic were back on Earth, as they hated being disconnected from wifi signals, as they claimed it made it hard to think. Not wanting them to be uncomfortable, she left them at home.

Humming a soft song as she stared at her image in the mirror, Will combed through her shoulder length red hair and wondered, not for the first time, if she should grow it out.

Something in her was craving change.

She knew she was stalling, as she was holding back the urge to return to the courtyard from yesterday. Last night, she had decided to talk to Prince Phobos. Mainly to see if he had changed at all and if what Elyon was trying to do was working at all. There was a lot people that still held scepticism at the queen's choice, and the leader of the Guardians was among that group.

Will stood and dressed in a pair of jeans shorts and a green shirt. Most people in the castle found her and her friend's Earth clothes to be very inappropriate to wear, too tight or too short, but no one dared say it out loud, only whispered and pointed.

Will went down to breakfast once the sun was up. It was held in the queen's private dinning area, with a table that could only seat sixteen guest. Most spots stayed empty, as their group often came and went, with Elyon sometimes working from her spot and prolonging her stay.

The first to sit down, a thought entered her mind. Would Prince Phobos attend breakfast? They hand been in the castle a few days and, now that she had seen him actually free to explore, she wondered what activities he participated in, if any.

The cooks had already brought Will some fruit to hold her over, as she had arrived so early. Will suggested bringing more out for her friends, as they would be arriving soon, but they assured her the main food was about be served.

The other girls arrived in two staggered groups with Matt and Caleb next. As they were trailed by Elyon and Raythor, it seemed unlikely Phobos was showing up to pal around with them.

"Oh, is Princy not joining us?" Irma asked, as if she was the mind reader.

"No. He finds our manners deplorable and cannot tolerate it," Caleb grumbled, wearing a flattering tunic that conveyed him as a member of the royal council.

"Ooo, Will!" Hay-Lin said as she changed seats and plopped down next to her. "Where did you get that? It smells so sweet!"

The cooks had given her a strange, crunchy fruit that looked like a cluster of pink grapes held together with honey and had a sweet taste.

"I didn't sleep well and got here early, so they gave me this," Will explained as she held out the fruit to Hay-Lin. The dark hair woman snapped a piece off and popped it in her mouth.

"Oh, it's really good!"

"It's called a fortune fruit," Caleb said as he sat to the left of Elyon, who as at the head, with Raythor on her right. "They are actually hard to grow, as the trees need to be seeped in magic for years for the trees to sprout buds. The first harvest is said to bestow year round good luck." The frown on his face didn't match the tone of the information. "No one told us they were ready," he said as he glanced up at the door leading to the kitchen.

Irma reached over the table and messily broke a large chunk.

"Hey!" Will yelled at her pawing her food.

Irma broke the piece into three and gave a chunk to Cornelia and Taranee. Seeing defeat, Will broke off a chunk and handed it to Matt, who had sat on her other side.

"Uh, thanks," he said as he took the piece, hand lingering a bit too long on hers.

Will broke the last chunk in three and tossed the last pieces to Elyon, Caleb and Raythor, who all caught it with surprise.

"There, now we all have the same good fortune," Will grinned.

Eventually, breakfast was served and the group ate with various pockets of conversations. As Matt was sitting next to her, Will tried her hardest to focus on anything but him.

Listening to Raythor talk, there was a lot of unrest in the kingdom. Apparently it consisted of the same issues that Elyon's mother, Queen Weira, had to deal with decades ago; the lurdens were causing problems. Or, at least, were making galhot and escanors uncomfortable and uneasy.

They were not the smartest breed of creatures and tended to be harmless when not organized into an army. They were rumored to have once lived naturally underground but, after the Infinite City was build, they were forced above into the swamps. After the defeat of Phobos, many lurdens were detained in camps and prisons for their crimes. Slowly, they were being released. Yet, Elyon's make over of Metamoor with her powers meant there weren't many swamps left for them to live in. No one wanted a lurden living in their city or town, or anywhere they could be seen really.

Listening, if this was the same way the lurdens were treated before, Will imaged all Phobos had to do to gain their loyalty was give them a place to live.

Elyon seemed to understand this too, and was adamant about treating the lurdens with kindness, as they had shown remorse as a people for what they did. So many large, wealthy land owners were obligated to take in a certain number of lurdens while the kingdom looked for a permanent fix. Which, of course, pissed a lot of people off.

The first to leave breakfast, Will found herself walking through the endless halls wondering, not for the first time, what allowed Phobos to rise to power.

Following the faint pull of the Heart, Will looked up and saw she had made it back to the courtyard from yesterday. A few people greeted her as she stood at the archway that lead to the outside, summer sunlight basking the marble and stone in light and heat. A few girls rushed from a section that held a small, thick garden, giggling and laughing as they passed her.

After a few minutes, she was left alone and she entered the inner garden and spotted a vine covered, marble pillar not that far away. Beautiful trees and bushes lined the walkway and various, alien flowers blooming all around.

Everything was so perfect. Elyon's magic did wonders for the foliage and everything was brimming with life. Insects and small animals scurried under foot across warming stone, making Will watch each step she took.

And, then suddenly, he was there.

She steeled herself, preparing for the oncoming unpleasant exchange that was bound to happen. Yet, she couldn't say a word.

Phobos looked same as yesterday, same clothes and grooming choices, but now that the shock of finding him had wore off, he actually looked… different?

His face seemed older. She remembered him being able to pass for a teen, as that was around the age range he stopped ageing in. But it seemed impossible that the man before her could ever be mistaken for a boy.

Hard jaw line and broad shoulders, all mixed in with a frame that seemed looming even while he sat. His goatee had not a single hair out of place along with his perfectly sculpted eyebrows. Some features were deceivingly delicate; the pull of his lips, the arch of his cold eyes, the curl of long fingers against his own clothes, the fine bridge of his nose, the softness of his pale skin.

"Here again?" a voice, cold and detached, seem to question the wind, breaking her free of her thoughts. "Are you going to speak this time?" Icy blue eyes turned lazily to her. There was nothing readable in them as they bore into her honey brown ones. "Or just hide like the hopeless coward you are?"