Chapter 5: Truth Among Lies

Jake was trying his best not to start laughing out loud. It was obvious by the look on his face that he found the current situation hilarious. Finn, however, failed to find anything funny no matter how hard he looked into it. Aside from his eyes widening a small amount, the human's expression remained mostly unchanged after Flame Princess had given him the news about her new suitor. But inside, he was screaming in utter rage. 'A suitor?! Blayze?! Who does this guy even think he is?! How is he any better than me?!'

These were all questions he wanted to ask right then and there, but he knew it would only make him seem selfish. Or maybe he was selfish but he just did not want to believe it. He cared about Flame princess, and wanted her to be happy, but seeing her with someone else made him absolutely angry, frustrated, and was filled with absolute hate for Blayze; an elemental that he barely even knew for more than an hour.

Flame princess herself was waiting for any kind of response from Finn, but none ever came from either him or the yellow dog. They both stood silently, but both of them were no doubt going through different mindsets. She cleared her throat, and Finn finally blinked after what felt like a long while.

"Finn?" she asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"A suitor, huh?" the human said. "That's… so great. How did… you two meet, exactly?"

"Well… like any princess meets a suitor, I guess," she replied. "He was the best choice among a very long list."

"Heh, I wouldn't say I was the best," Blayze added. "But Flame Princess chose me in the end and I never argued. I was honestly shocked at first."

'Oh, a modest one are we?!' Finn shouted in his mind. 'I bet you get some sort of sick kick out of this!'

"You're just being modest, Blayze," Flame Princess said, as if reading the human's mind. "But yeah. It was decided that it was high time I found someone to be with and who could maybe one day… rule by my side."

She pulled Blayze closer to her by his arm at the end of her sentence. Finn's cheeks would have been red with rage if it was not for the flame shield, but he managed to keep his actual feelings from appearing on his facial expressions and voice. The only other time he had felt like this was during the entire Ricardio incident with Princess Bubblegum, but even back then it was nothing compared to now.

'Maybe that's what this is,' he wondered. 'Maybe this guy is just trying to manipulate the princess in some way.'

"I, for one, think this is great," Jake said, finally deciding to speak. "Isn't that right, Finn?"

"Yeah," Finn forced out. "I think it's very great as well."

It was a lie, of course. But even if he was breaking the law of the Fire Kingdom, it was a lot better than actually speaking his mind in front of everyone. Especially Flame princess, since his comment seemed to make her brighten up even more.

"Really?" she asked. "It's such a relief to hear that from you."

"I mean, If you're happy, I'm happy," Finn said, which was sort of the truth if not really the case at the moment.

Blayze gently released himself from Flame Princess' grip and raised his hand towards Finn. "You know, if everything Phoebe has told about you is true, I think the two of us can be good friends."

'He calls her by her name?! Oh, I can assure you we will be very good friends, Blayze. I like to keep my enemies close.'

Finn eventually raised his own hand to shake Blayze's, and the elemental grunted a bit. "Whoa, that's a strong grip you have there."

"Yeah," Finn replied, tightening it even more. "It is."

Blayze chuckled nervously as the handshake ended and rubbed his sore hand. Flame Princess placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Blayze, would you be so kind as to go and fetch Cinnamon Bun for me?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure," he replied while continuing to rub his hand.

He walked off and was gone before long, leaving Finn, Jake, and Flame Princess alone. There were still several other elementals around, but all of them were minding their own business rather than pay attention to the group.

Before either Finn or Jake could make a comment, both were stopped when for some reason Flame Princess' expression suddenly changed, and she stared at the human with a look of disdain.

"Flame Princess?" Finn asked nervously.

"What is your problem?!" she asked angrily, causing both Finn and Jake to slightly jump.

"Wha… My problem?" Finn asked.

"Yes! Not only are you acting childish but you also dared to lie to my very face. Again!"

Finn was taken back. "How am I acting childish?!"

"Your obvious jealousy towards Blayze. Other might not notice it, but I do. I thought you would really be happy for me, Finn. I thought you really had changed."

"But… but I am happy for you. And I have changed. It's just… how do you know this guy is actually trustworthy?"

"Uh, guys…" Jake tried to interrupt but to no avail.

"Blayze and I have been going out for months, Finn. I know him and he's a good guy."

"But how can you be so sure?"

"Finn, this is my decision. All of this right here is precisely the reason why I decided to move on. And honestly, you should move on too. Besides… you know fully well it's impossible for us to be together."

"I did move on," he said, but he knew perfectly well it was just lies after lies. "And I'm well aware of that. I just want to be sure that Blayze is actually legit and won't try anything funny."

Flame princess crossed her arms. "Why can't you just accept my life choices? I'm sorry, but… If you can't learn to let go… then don't bother coming back."

Finn lightly gasped. No one else dared say anything, not even Jake. It went on like that for the longest time before eventually Cinnamon Bun appeared flying in with Jake Two, breaking the silence as he landed and saluted the princess.

"Princess, you called for me?" he asked.

"Yes, CB," she replied. "Would you kindly escort Finn and Jake out? Their visit here is over."

She kept her gaze away from Finn during the entire process, not even taking a split second glare at him. Any anger he had was gone, now replaced with sadness and regret as he got on Jake Two behind CB, with Jake sitting behind him as well.

As the fire hound began to fly off, Flame Princess still averted her eyes and refused to give one last look.

It was one of the hardest things Flame Princess had ever done during her time ruling, but it was for the better, even if she made Finn feel bad. She either had to make him leave or arrest him for breaking the law of total honesty. With anyone else, she would have picked the second option, but not with Finn. She would never want to see him locked away in a cell. For most of her life, she knew what the experience was like.

She sighed as Jake Two finally flew out of sight. Finn was acting immature, of course, but she could not shake the feeling that she had somehow made a mistake as well. She and Blayze had been together for months now, and she only decided to tell the human about it when he came to her rather than the other way around. Was she angry at Finn for the way he was acting? No, only disappointed. And did she really mean everything she told him? She did not think so, yet she said it anyway. Maybe it was all in the heat of the moment.

No one around the courtyard had fully noticed the display between them, but she could tell by the looks on their faces that they knew something was off. Maybe it was because any semblance of happiness she had only minutes prior was gone. Whatever the case was, she paid none of them any mind and walked back into the palace.

These halls of coal had been Flame Princess' home for as long as she could remember. She walked through them every single day, and they had finally grown rather dull. Although, it did not mean she was starting to hate ruling the kingdom. This was her home, and the citizen's as well. She could not possibly abandon them. And that was something else that she wished Finn would understand. She could not deny she still deeply cared about him, but he is not king material. And so much was keeping them apart.

She made it to the throne room, not noticing how long the trip had been as she got lost in thought. Her flame guards straightened up when she entered, holding their spears in hand. It was a good sight to know she was well guarded, but sometimes she wondered if so much protection was necessary when she could fight well enough.

As she stopped before her throne, she shook off all other thoughts clouding her mind. 'He can do better than me. I know he can. I mean, he's Finn the Human. Almost every girl in Ooo wants to be with him.'

After silently staring at her throne for a few moments, Flame Princess looked around the rest of room to see if she could find Blayze. He never came back after she had sent him to fetch Cinnamon Bun. The only people in the room were the two guards posted at the palace's main entrance, the sides of the throne, and the doorway leading further inside. She walked to the nearest guard, one that was guarding the throne.

"Have you seen my suitor pass through here?" she asked.

The guard straightened his posture. "He came through here to fetch the cinnamon knight, my lady. After that I believe I heard him say something about the training grounds."

Flame Princess hated when people acted with so much courtesy around her. She always felt like she should be treated as equally as any other person. But she knew perfectly well that her guards and citizens would continue to act like that no matter what she said. Sometimes she wondered if it was because they had so much respect for her or if they were afraid. She hoped it was the first.

Once she thanked the guard for the information, he saluted and resumed his post after she had walked off. And once again, no matter how hard she tried to forget, she could get Finn out of her mind. It was not the first time he had come to visit her, so why was she feeling like this all of a sudden? She may have kicked him from the kingdom, but it was not forever. Maybe it was because, in her mind, she may have been too harsh on him.

'No,' she told herself. 'Some time to adjust is exactly what both of us need. I'm with Blayze now. I need to remember that. And so does Finn.'

However, another thought came back to her about Finn. And that was the question he had asked her when they began their walk together. The words, "Find me where skin burns but there is no fire", made her scratch her head. Why would Finn ask her such a thing? No matter from what perspective she looked at it, the sentence made no sense. At least not to her. Her entire life revolved around the fact that nothing could burn without fire. Maybe that was not true, but it was true to the fire people, and therefore true to her.

'He wouldn't have come here if it wasn't of some importance,' she thought. 'Then again, he did brush it off like it was nothing after I gave him my answer. Maybe it really was nothing…'

Once again, Flame Princess had been so lost in thought that she did not notice she had reached her destination. The Fire Kingdom's training grounds for the fire soldiers.

It was a walled off courtyard built to the side of the palace where the soldiers could train with all manner of weaponry. Most of them preferred the spears, and most of them were practicing with each other in attacking and parrying with the long weapons. Others had swords, and they were also very good with those as well as the slashed and dashed with a shield also in hand. But still, she did not see Blayze anywhere.

When she walked further into the courtyard, she found him where she expected to; the archery section. If there was anything Flame Princess had learned about Blayze during their time dating, it was that there was no better marksman in the entire Fire Kingdom.

He himself was not shooting, but was instead giving instructions to the four flame soldiers practicing with the bows. "And also be mindful of the wind's direction," he said. "If you think just aiming straight at the target during a large gust of wind is still gonna land a hit, you are very wrong. Knowing that, see if you can at least hit the area around the center."

The four soldiers nodded and pulled on the strings. All of them fired at once, and all of them at least managed to make the arrow stick to the target. He rubbed his chin, analyzing the results. "Hmm, not bad. Though there is still plenty of room for improvement."

"Why even bother with this archery training?" one of the soldiers asked. "We can just shoot fire from our own hands."

Blayze rubbed his fingers together and started pacing from side to side. "Say that one day the Fire Kingdom suffers another event where the fire starts to fade and we can't use our abilities properly. And on that day, the enemy can use that advantage to attack us from away. You'll be very glad you have knowledge on using a bow then."

Flame Princess smiled as she watched the soldiers try to come up with another excuse. She remembered she had once asked the same question when they went on their first date together; and he had given her the same response. It felt like yesterday.

The two were having a walk through these very training grounds, just taking a moment to walk and chat after dining together. When he had told her about his abilities as an archer, Flame Princess had a very hard time believing them. Until he actually showed her by grabbing a bow and continuously shooting the targets, each hitting its mark dead center no matter what position he used to aim or hold the bow. It was some of the most expert shooting she had ever seen, and the skill greatly complemented his lack of overall strength, despite also having a bit of swordsmanship training. But Finn was still the best one on that front to Flame Princess' knowledge.

The soldiers continued to train with their bows as Blayze took notice of he watching him from a distance. He excused himself and walked towards the fiery ruler, forcing her to look slightly up at the tall elemental. While Finn was also a bit taller than her, Blayze surpassed her by an entire foot. But that was not counting the length of her hair stretching upwards.

"My lady, nice to see you here," he greeted.

Flame Princess blushed. "Blayze, you don't have to call me 'lady'."

"Sorry. Still getting used to it… Phoebe. So what brings you to the training grounds?"

"Looking for you, actually. Finn and Jake departed a short time ago."

"Ah, yes. I figured that was them flying off on Jake Two. I was afraid he was gonna punch me."

Flame Princess raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I'm fully aware that Finn doesn't really take a liking to me. And I don't honestly blame him. I mean, anyone would act the same if they found out someone as beautiful as you found another person to be with."

Flame Princess blushed even more. "Finn… is a good guy. He just needs some time to accept our relationship. And by the time he does, I guarantee that the two of you can really become good friends. I really want you to."

"I'll try my best to get on his good side, then."

"Thanks. I know he'll come around when he sees how much you two have in common."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

She thought for a moment. "Well, your love of exploring, for one. And since Finn is good with a sword and you're good with a bow, I'd say you complement each other well."

Blayze slightly chuckled. "You really have high hopes for this, don't you?"

"It's not high hopes. I know it's possible. Finn and I go a long way. And yes, he has made several mistakes in the past, but he means well for everyone. Including us here in Fire Kingdom."

"Let's just hope he sees it that way eventually. In the meantime…" Blayze leaned in to kiss Flame Princess on her forehead, "I stall you from your duties any longer. I have some work to do here as well, as you can see. I may only be your suitor as of now, but that doesn't mean I can't start getting to know the ins and outs of the palace and its workers."

Flame Princess smiled warmly at him as he turned back towards the practicing archers. She remained standing still for a while longer. Her fingers were entwined with one another, and she looked down at her hands as the clanking of metal and wood continued all around her.

'Finn… whatever you've gotten involved in this time, please stay safe.'

-Fiery Crusader: If only.

-DRAGONNINJAMAN: Glad you liked it.

-WaffleTron9000: Wow. That great? Thanks.

Next Chapter: City of Secrets