The ground shook with the sounds of loud blasts in the distance. The vibrations were so powerful that the leaves on the shrubs shook alongside it while the vines that covered a quarter of the grand palace and the gazebo in the royal gardens threatened to fall. Nobody wanted war, it was dark, dangerous, and the lowest part of humanity. He had been ordered to stay back, to stay hidden and to seek protection within the castle's walls. But, as he looked on from the doorway leading to the garden, eyeing his friend, his confidant, his knight rushing into battle, off to fulfill his duty of service to the throne the thoughts and feelings of guilt and admiration flooded his senses. Admiration at his knight's undying loyalty and honor for he knew that no matter what training you've received or what other trials and battles you've been in, they could never quite compare to the true horrors of war. Then, there was the unwavering guilt of watching him go alone. Its there, in between the quakes and the deafening sounds of bombs that he looked back to understand himself now.
He was but a wee little prince, red curls bouncing uncontrollably despite all the work and attention the poor royal stylist put into it. His mother, the queen shaking her head in embarrassment as he continually moved it aside to see through it. It was early morning and his bow class was going as well as one would expect for a young prince with a near nonexistent attention span. He was normally a very good student, attentive and hardworking but things were a little different today. Today, his dad, the King, was coming home from his adventures. "Kyle, Bubbie." He flinched at the sound of his mother's voice. "Please pay attention." wordlessly he shook his head. His mother was overall kind and just but could definitely be scary when angry. His father liked his women spicy, he heard the knight commander say once. Prince Kyle wasn't sure what that meant at the time but it did bring the king to tears as he laughed, joking that her own ginger hair was the cause for the rage. He quickly received a wink from his father, noting that the prince had inherited that gift as well.
Just as he was beginning to follow his class again, the sound of wheels rolling over the stoned pathway rang in the young prince's ears. "Dad's back." He yelled, getting a sigh and a nod of the head from his mother, giving him permission to run off. Running as fast as his little legs could carry he rushed to the carriage his father was riding.
"Whoa, there." the knight commander said, his arms coming up, signaling him to slow down. "Careful, Your Highness." He continued as Kyle came to a screeching halt. His father gave him a smile before turning back into the carriage, speaking softly to someone Kyle couldn't see. "We have a little stowaway." the commander whispered, the young prince's eyes widening in excitement, thoughts of furry creatures coming to mind. But, to his grand surprise it was not a fluffy rabbit or chubby chipmunk that the king was holding in his hands. No, in his palm he held the small hand of another young boy.
Kyle squinted his eyes in confusion and curiosity. The boy looked to be around his age, sharing the same height and youthful eyes. However, that's where the similarities ended. The boy's eyes carried a sort of sadness and fear unlike the bright eyes of the prince, his straight raven hair contrasting the ginger curls but, the biggest difference of all was the boy's ears. And with a winning grin the prince ran to the strange boy, grabbing a hold of one, the boy jumping in alarm. "You're human!" the prince shouting gleefully clearly intrigued. "Just like you Commander." Kyle said, earning himself a chuckle from the knight.
It wasn't as rare to see humans within the Elf realm as one would tend to believe. There were quite a few humans who chose to leave their respective kingdoms to make their way to live among the elves. It was known for being much more accepting and prosperous than its human counterpart. The Kingdom of Kupa Keep had never quite recovered after the ancient war with the Army of Darkness and just continued to fall into questionable ventures. That being said, it wasn't just seeing a human that got the prince excited. It was that he was seeing one his own age. Being the only child in the castle could be quite lonely. "What's your name?" Kyle asked, barely being able to contain his jumping joy. The human boy lifted his head up slightly, wrapping his arms around himself for comfort.
"Stanley." he answered shyly, the words barely audible. Overjoyed, the prince grabbed hold of the human boy's hand introducing himself. He was much too busy making a friend that he completely missed the look his father and the commander gave each other in surprise at the lost boy speaking his first words.
They had found the lost boy with the woods leading into the Elven kingdom. He was alone, scared, and hungry. He had spoken no words and even now years later a true telling of the happenings was never recovered. Stanley could not fully remember what had happened in the forest, the doctor suggesting that he had blocked it from his memories as a coping mechanism. Not being able to leave the poor boy alone to fend for himself, the king naturally brought him along. The Commander feeling much sympathy with the small boy, feeling a sort of kinship with his fellow human he took it upon himself to look after him. He considered himself a surrogate father to the boy as he helped him work his way up to being a knight himself. The boy quickly thrived, enjoying his new life and his time as a page and later a squire, all while remaining good friends with the prince.
"You'll be a knight in no time, Stan." Kyle said from his place on the lush green grass of the royal garden, watching as Stan practiced with his sword. He was still a bit clumsy as the metal weapon was still a bit too heavy than he was comfortable with.
"No." Stan shook his head. "I still have a long way to go. They only really let me carry the weapons and flags right now." he struggled as he stopped his training to come sit in front of the prince.
"But you're very good in all your training." Kyle said, making the squire look down bashfully. "Then when you're knighted you can be my personal knight." he exclaimed, Stan looked at him in happy surprise, a small smile developing on his face. "Really?" he asked, still in disbelief. "Of course," Kyle smiled back, "That way you can always be with me." He replied nonchalantly, causing the squire to again face away from his prince in self-consciousness, a rosy hue hidden by his raven hair. "Then with your master swordsman skills and my magic, that I'm getting better at. We'll be unstoppable." the prince proclaimed.
"I'd like it." Stan said softly, before being caught off guard as the prince jumped to his feet in one quick motion.
"Sir Stanley." Kyle announced playfully, his chin turned upward and a hand on his chest. Laughing lightly, the squire stood up before bowing down, a hand across his torso. "Your Highness. Always an honor." he giggled right before the prince scrunched his nose in disgust. "Ugh. I wish you could come with me today." Kyle pouted. "It's always so boring when we have guests over and Princess Kenny is so annoying." He crossed his arms and rolled his eyes at having to entertain the young princess of Kupa Keep.
"Nuh uh, you're on your own there, Your Highness. I've seen her. She's always so, 'Oh look at me and all my royalty.' "Stan mimicked, his voice rising in tone as he flipped back an imaginary braid of hair out his face. Kyle covered his mouth to muffle his laughs, the squire grinning happily at being able to make the prince giggle. "She's just waiting until your parents are friends enough to propose a betrothal." Stan suggested, earning him a face of horror from the prince.
"No never." Kyle shook his head frantically. "How could you say that? I don't believe my parents would ever make me go through that much punishment even if it meant the union of our kingdoms." he groaned in disgust, before his mouth shifted into a smirk and lifted a hand to his chin. "I'll offer up Ike instead." he snickered as his younger adopted brother tackled him with a loud 'No!'. "Oh no, help me, Sir Stanley! I'm being attacked by a monster." Kyle shouted playfully as he ran away.
"Cookie monster!" The younger prince roared with his arms overhead, his hands curled like claws as he chased his big brother through the gardens, the squire choosing to forget his training for the time being to act his age and play along.
Years later, Prince Kyle stood on the sidelines next to his little brother who kept elbowing him irritatingly as he watched his father carry on the knighting ceremony. Having had the pleasure of witnessing his journey from page boy to where he was now, Kyle could hardly hold in his joy as his dear friend kneeled before the king on the investiture stool. He bit his lower lip to keep a smile from forming, attempting to appear as neutral as possible and held his hands tightly to keep them from clapping prematurely. "I, King Gerald, do hereby dub thee, Sir Stanley Marshwalker, may your courage and devotion become a shining example to the people of the Elven Kingdom." the king concluded, lifting the sword previously resting on the new knight's shoulder. "You may stand." he said, Stan following orders immediately to face the king directly. "You've done very well, my boy." the king told him as the queen standing next to him nodded in agreement, looking like she was holding back some tears herself. "And because of that I have decided to grant my son's wishes." he paused, the prince's eyes widening as he ignored his brother's sharp jab. "You have now also been appointed as the personal knight of Your Highness, Prince Kyle. As he is now taking more responsibilities inside and outside the kingdom, it is time for him to have protection and I believe I can trust you with that as long as you keep up with all your other Knightly duties of course. Don't let me down now." the King finished, with a nod.
"I won't, Your Majesty." Stan replied confidently, a sense of overwhelming pride and uncertainty taking over his entire body. It was truly surreal for him. Once he was a young lost boy in the forest wishing for a home. Now, he was an appointed knight receiving praises from the King himself. At last, being granted his release, the knight promptly made way to the prince waiting for him. He in turn had to quickly brace himself as the prince leaped forward, wrapping his arms around the knight's neck in a tight embrace.
"I'm so proud of you." Kyle whispered in his ear, as the knight shyly circled his arms around the prince's waist.
"Bubbie." the queen's voice called out. Reluctantly, unwrapping himself from the knight and planting both feet on the ground, not noticing that he had been slightly lifted before, glanced over at his mother with slight embarrassment. "Let Sir Stanley get his things in order now." Kyle nodded, stepping back with a quiet, "right, of course."
"I'll be back later." Stan whispered to the prince as he walked away, following his commander and surrogate father.
"Ugh, now you'll be even more insufferable." Ike groaned while rolling his eyes so far back that only the white was visible. The comment swiftly earned him a heavy punch in the arm by his older brother. "Ow, mom, Kyle punched me!"
Rushing over to the commander, Stan wiped the sweat off his brow. He had been enjoying his new status despite the hard work. His favorite task other than accompanying the prince was his daily routes around the kingdom. It helped him make connections and know the people he was there to defend. Many knew of him as it was. The small lost human boy that worked his way to be the right hand man of the prince. "I'm done with my rounds, commander." he said, stopping in front of his higher up. "Can I go now? Kyle is waiting for me." he said, receiving a cock of the brow. "I mean, His Highness is waiting for me. He's not looking forward to the meeting today." he grinned awkwardly, hoping his commander would let the small slip slide. Sighing and waving him off, Stan saluted before running off.
"We're going to end up with some sort of scandal with those two." The older knight said to himself, shaking his head as he watched the younger knight sprint off in search of the prince.
Leaning against the wall of the corridor that led to the grand parlor, Prince Kyle waited for his knight to arrive. "Sorry for making you wait." Kyle heard a breathless voice call out to him as Stan finally made his way towards him. Grinding to a stop the knight stood in front of the prince who was just pushing himself off the wall he was resting on. "My rounds took longer than expected." Stan explained himself as he pinched the bridge of his nose remembering the irritation he felt from being held up. "Did you–" he stopped, interrupting himself as took a once over at the prince for the first time that day. Being a eldest and the first in the line of succession, Kyle always maintained an impeccable wardrobe. Yet, there was something about the long, regal red and golden robes that perfectly matched the prince's red curls and green eyes that had the knight lost for words. For once, since he started his life in the kingdom he was left without the ability to deny his attraction. "Your robes. Those are new. You look. They look. It's nice." he struggled to say, the prince attempting to straighten out all imaginary wrinkles as a way to hide his sheepishness.
"My mother said I should begin to look more the part." he shrugged, adjusting the woodland crown on his head.
"Princess Kenny will really be after you now." Stan joked, Kyle releasing an agonizing cry as he pulled at his hair. "Really not forward to her, are you?"
"It's not just Princess Kenny. It's not really her at all. I can deal with her–unwanted advances." Kyle said, crossing his arms. "It's that Grand Wizard." he clarified with an angry scowl. "Can you believe that the king and queen aren't even coming to this gathering? It's just that pig headed, arrogant, pretentious—It's hard to fathom just how easily the king and queen have been manipulated. Who does he think he is other than a self important, self righteous–wizard." He said, stopping himself from saying something not princely. "And the things he says about elves, he just fills me with so much–" he continued with his hands curled in anger, pausing from his rant as he heard the knight snicker beside him. "What are you laughing at? I wasn't trying to be funny." he asked, beginning to turn red.
"I know, Your Highness. I'm sorry." The knight said, in between laughs he was trying to stop. "I agree with you fully. It's just–it's sometimes the commander says you've become the spitting image of your mother and it's times like this that make me see it too." he said, the prince deflating completely.
"Oh, is that a bad thing? I know my mother can be a bit much." he asked self consciously, knowing full well of some of the murmurings that were said around the kingdom.
"No, no you're never too much, Kyle." the knight quickly replied, "On the contrary, it's really enduring how passionate you can be." he said, taking a step forward reaching out for the prince's hand, making sure to put him at ease. "It's a sign of a good king. It shows that you care. Even about us lowly humans." Stan finished hoping to lighten the mood, only to receive a worried frown.
"Don't say that." The prince shook his head. "You know I've never thought any differently of you or any other human, the commander, my brother. There are many humans that live here. I don't want them to think I think any less of them." The knight smiled at him softly, reaching for the prince's other hand.
"Well, I can tell you from my daily routes that they don't and that you've managed to have stolen a few hearts while you're at it." he winked, the prince blushing at his words.
"I am worried though." Kyle stated, shifting the conversation to a much more serious tone. "I don't trust him, Stan. The Grand Wizard." He sighed, "I can feel it. He's going to bring nothing by darkness to Kupa Keep and the Elven Kingdom. It's only a matter of time." he said, both standing silent and still, hands still intertwined for a few minutes more before stepping into the parlor to meet the guests.
Prince Kyle normally loved being right. He had to admit he was competitive and a bit of a know it all. That meant being right about something usually brought him great pleasure, except this, anything but this. He knew it. He knew it from the depth of his heart that the Grand Wizard was to bring corruption and despair. The attack was sudden but not completely unexpected; the soldiers of Kupa Keep marching into the Elven Kingdom, through the Elven Forest, having no regard to its people or its foliage. The king and queen along with their knights wasted no time rushing to the battlefield but not before ordering him and his brother to seek shelter. The younger prince was quickly ushered away and hid by palace staff. Kyle however, stayed. Remained looking out the garden doors, watching his knight run off into battle after a quick goodbye.
Flinching from the ripples of earth and the loud bangs in the distance, Kyle at last knew what he had to do. Racing to his quarters as fast as his booted legs could carry, his red robes bellowing behind him. He crashed inside the room, knocking down his nightstand, losing his footing in the process. He promptly grasped his wooden staff and made his way back out. He knew he had to move fast if he were to catch up to his knight. He hoped he hadn't wasted too much time as he made it around the maze of a garden. At least, catching sight of a familiar brown tunic and raven dark hair, he knew he made it. "Stan!" he shouted, hoping to not be drowned out by the bangs.
"Your Highness, what are you doing?" Stan said in a frantic panic. Holding on to the prince's forearms as his support as he fought to catch his breath. "You have to go back inside. It's dangerous."He said, ducking as he spoke, the sounds of firing overhead.
"I know. That's why I have to come. I can't let you go alone." He shook, grasping at the knight's own arm with his free hand. "If anything happened to you and I wasn't there. I'd never forgive myself." Stan stood still for a split second before rejecting the idea, his head shaking and his whispered "no"s leaving his mouth.
"Kyle, don't be ridiculous. I'm a knight. It's my duty to defend this kingdom." he paused, bringing up an arm, cupping the prince's cheek with his warm callous hand. "It's my duty to defend you. It's my privilege to keep you safe. So please, go back inside." he begged, expecting his words to be taken seriously when the prince leaned into his touch, closing his eyes only for his expectations to be shattered when his green eyes opened into a glare.
"No." Kyle said direct and precise. He had always been one to stick to his convictions after all. "I can't. I don't care if it's not my place, I don't care if it's forbidden, I don't care if it's dangerous, I'm coming with you." He said, standing straight as he slammed his staff onto the ground, the staff immediately releasing a magically blast of power. The glow emitted a mixture of red, green and gold with a center of vine like swirls. "Don't you remember?" He asked desperately. "With your swordsman skills and my magic, we'll be unstoppable." he smiled stubbornly.
Having no other choice but to laugh, Stan took a step forward cradling either side of the prince's face. Leaning forward, he pressed their foreheads together. And, for a second ignored the sound of destruction and the trembles of disaster, deciding to just this once to breathe in the rosemary scent the prince always seemed to hold, for it could be the last time he could. Then with one last inhale he released a defeated, "Okay." He knew very well that there was no way around changing the prince's mind once it was done. He was stubborn and passionate to a fault and he wouldn't have it any other way. "But always stay behind me." he said, at least giving the prince a condition. Satisfied with the compromise, Kyle nodded his head a single time prior to reluctantly pulling away and with one last longing smile, they both turned to face the unknown together.