Trigger warnings- Panic attack (shown) and swearing.

"Traitor!"

"You shouldn't be a Champion!"

"Go die in a ditch!"

Shouts and insults, which were mostly directed towards Kaiden, echoed from everywhere.

The five of them had to pretty much run down the main street to get away from them. As they got closer to the town square there were fewer and fewer shouts as there were more Cadets patrolling the streets.

"This is the main town square," Raven explained.

The town square was in the direct centre of Kyrah, there were a lot of people all over. Both sides of the road were lined with shops selling anything and everything. In the middle of the town square was a set of gallows.

Finley noticed that Kaiden shivered a little as they listened to Raven explaining its purpose to the girls.

As they continued through Kyrah, the cobblestone paths turned into dirt tracks as they reached the less privileged part of the kingdom.

"Where's your house, Finley?" Reina asked.

"You don't want to see that," Finley replied. He turned to Kaiden and Raven, "why don't we go to your house instead. The girls would be much better off staying with you."

"You're going to be in for a bit of a shock," Kaiden explained.

"Why do you say that?" Adrielle questioned.

"Our dad is...." Raven tried to explain.

Kaiden cut him off, "let them find out, Bird. Don't ruin the surprise."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Adri asked.

"You'll see," Raven replied suspiciously. He started leading them towards the richer part of the kingdom.

—-----

After about an hour, they'd been walking for quite a distance.

Raven stopped and pressed a button on the side of a gate.

"You really think this is a good time to ring someone's bell and run off?" Adri asked.

"No, he isn't," Kaiden replied, "although that is still very entertaining."

"Please don't tell me you still do that," Adri said.

"No, of course not."

"Yes," a voice said, "this is the Lynch residence. Who is speaking?"

"Milligan, it's Raven," Raven replied.

"Welcome home, sir! Do come in. The gate should open momentarily."

The gate made a strange buzzing sound and Kaiden pushed it open.

Adrielle, Reina and Finley looked up. The house they were approaching was huge. It had a large front lawn, with a long driveway. Decorative bushes lined the grass on both sides, and the house itself was unlike anything they'd ever seen.

The house had floor to ceiling windows in the front. A large balcony on the first floor, and steps leading up to a large front door, as well as a large garage which looked big enough for more than one car.

"Your family's rich?" Adri asked.

"Our dad is," Kaiden explained, "he owns a housing development business."

"What about your mother?" Reina asked.

Both brothers went quiet, but eventually Raven replied, "we don't talk about her."

"Oh, sorry."

As the five of them approached the door, it opened to reveal a bald man in a suit. He looked to be in his late fifties and bowed as Kaiden and Raven walked inside.

"Welcome home, sirs," he said. "Should I ask the kitchen to prepare some refreshments?"

"Yes, please," Kaiden replied.

"Certainly, sir. Can I ask if your friends will be staying for refreshments also?"

Raven looked at the others. Adrielle and Reina nodded, but Finley didn't want to seem greedy, so he shook his head.

Kaiden answered instead, "yes, they all are."

"Adrielle and Reina need to stay with us for a while," Raven added. "Could Edna set up two of the spare rooms."

"Of course, sir," Milligan replied. He bowed and rushed off down one of the hallways.

"You...live...in...a mansion! Why didn't you tell us?" Reina asked.

"We never tell anyone," Raven replied, "otherwise, people make assumptions. We're not stuck up, we're down to earth."

"How many people do you have working for you?" Adri questioned.

Just then, two men appeared from the hallway Milligan had just walked down. One approached Kaiden, the other, Raven.

"Kaiden, you're back!" The man who had approached Kaiden exclaimed. He hugged him before he noticed the others, "oh sorry, I didn't realise we had guests."

"It's ok," Kaiden replied with a laugh, "Adri, Reina, Castel, this is Thomas. Thomas, these are three of the other four Champions, Adrielle and Reina Madriga and Finley Castel."

"A pleasure to meet you," Thomas replied. He began talking to Kaiden again when he noticed something. "Kaiden, is your friend ok?"

They all turned and saw Finley.

Finley grabbed his chest. He couldn't breathe. It was happening again. The whole world started to spin, he felt like he might faint.

"Thomas," the boy replied. "Ronera."

"So you and Josh are from Ronera?"

"Yes," Thomas replied, quickly. He was clearly starting to panic. "Who are you in an alliance with?"

"I don't think that matters considering you'll be dead in a second."

He felt his heart race increasing. His thoughts were clouded and everything seemed distant and distorted.

"Finley!"

Finley opened his eyes, which he hadn't even realised had closed. Thomas and the other man were crouched beside him. He must've collapsed.

"Can you count down slowly from ten to one?" Thomas asked.

Finley closed his eyes and started counting. When he did open them again, the world had gone back to normal.

He saw Kaiden staring at him, looking scared. Raven had an arm around him, comforting him.

"Are you ok? Do I need to fetch Lindsey?" The man who wasn't Thomas asked.

"No thank you, Noah," Raven replied.

"What happened?" Noah asked.

"He had another panic attack," Kaiden explained, " he had one during the Ceremony too."

"Was there any specific reasoning behind it?" Thomas asked.

"Thomas was the name of someone...I killed," Finley explained.

"I'm so sorry," Thomas apologised, "maybe you should introduce us, Raven."

"Sure," Raven replied, "this is Thomas, Kaiden's personal servant, and Noah is mine. They've been working here for about four years now."

"Kaiden, are you ok?" Adri asked, "you're oddly quiet?"

"Sorry," Kaiden muttered, "I'm just disappointed in myself. I've seen Finley have a panic attack before, I should've known what to do this time."

Finley smiled, "it's ok."

"No, it's not. I've seen you have one before, I could've done more than just stand here like a useless idiot. I'm so fucking stupid."

Finley reached for Kaiden's hand, "listen to me, Kaiden. You are not stupid or useless, so don't let me hear you call yourself that. Understand?"

Kaiden nodded. Then, he bent over and picked Finley up before giving him a kiss.

He seemed to have forgotten that the others were there.

"Wait, you're dating?" Thomas asked.

"Well, not for sure, but I asked him on a date," Kaiden explained.

Thomas laughed, "ha, I told you he was gay! I knew I'd win the bet!"

"He had a crush on Lydia though," Noah replied. Then he paused, "oh, I'm so sorry! We're not supposed to mention that, are we?"

"It's fine, Noah," Kaiden said, "I don't need to think about her anymore. 'Cause I've found someone who's so much better."

"Thanks, Kaiden," Finley smiled.

"They're really cute together," Raven said, "they hold hands under tables and everything. It's adorable."

Finley blushed a little. He didn't know that Raven had even noticed, then again, he knew Kaiden better than anyone else.

They started walking towards the drawing room.

"I don't need you to carry me," Finley whispered.

Kaiden smiled and kissed him again, "I know, but I don't want to see you faint like that again. From now on, I'm here for you, always."

—-----

When they arrived in the drawing room, they found several plates of cakes and sandwiches already waiting for them. In the centre of the room were two sofas and an armchair. There was a fireplace, which was already lit, and three windows looking out onto a magnificent garden.

Kaiden put Finley down, gently, on one of the sofas, before sitting next to him.

Finley rested his head on Kaiden's shoulder. After a couple of seconds, he pulled away.

"Sorry, is this ok?" He asked.

"You can rest your head on me if you want to."

So, he did.

Thomas and Noah began collating plates of food for them and pouring out drinks.

"Normally I'm doing this for Donald Brooks," Finley explained.

"Well, now it's your turn to be waited on," Kaiden replied, kissing Finley's head.

They began chatting and telling stories. Adrielle, Reina and Raven were very talkative. Finley noticed once again, Kaiden was very agitated. He was looking over to the door every few minutes. As if he was afraid of someone coming in.

"Are you ok, K?" Raven asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Kaiden replied, though he looked anything but.

Finley sat up, he turned to look at Kaiden.

"I've been thinking," he said.

Kaiden laughed, "that can be dangerous."

Finley laughed too. This was much harder than he'd anticipated.

"It's ok, it can wait."

"Ok, if you're sure."

"Yeah. I'll tell you later."

"So," Adrielle said, changing the subject. "Tell us about another thing you did at school."

"I've told you the worst thing," Kaiden replied.

"Putting a firework in Mrs Dodds' car was not the worst thing you've done," Raven interrupted.

"A firework?" Adri questioned, "I thought it was a stink bomb?"

"I kind of lied," Kaiden muttered.

"You only got a week's detention for that?" Adrielle asked, unsure if that too was a lie.

"He wishes that's all it was," Raven replied, "in reality..."

"Bird, leave it, they don't need to know," Kaiden interrupted.

"But, we're your friends, aren't we?" Reina asked.

"Yeah, but that's private."

"He almost got expelled," Raven said quickly, "and he has detention every day after school for the rest of the year."

"Alright, that's enough," Kaiden said, sternly.

"That's not it?" Adri said.

"No, that's not it," Raven replied, "he..."

"Raven, please, don't tell them." Kaiden was practically begging at this point.

"They'll find out one day."

"They'll be back in Astra."

"And it'll be broadcasted all over the six kingdoms like it is every time. You know that."

"I don't want them to know," Kaiden said bluntly.

Raven ignored his protests, "you remember the gallows we saw in the square?"

"Surely not," Adri said, her eyes going wide.

Raven nodded.

"He's only seventeen!" Reina said indignantly.

"As soon as we turn eighteen, that's when it happens."

"Actually on your birthday?"

"Most likely, yeah," Kaiden replied.

Nothing more was said on the subject. They sat in silence for a while, eating and drinking. It was a long time before they started talking again.

"So what else have you done?" Adrielle asked, looking at Kaiden.

"Well, Raven's right, the firework incident wasn't the worst thing I've done. It's just the worst thing that someone found out about." Kaiden explained.

"Indeed," Raven added, "he's stolen from the principal."

"Skipped school multiple times," Kaiden said.

"Slashed the tires on several teacher's cars."

"Hacked into the school system to change my grades."

"Set the fire alarm off twenty seven times in the last year."

"Not to mention the time I let a mouse out in maths class once," Kaiden finished.

"You are such a rebel," Reina exclaimed.

"Exactly Finley's type apparently," Adrielle teased.

Kaiden turned to Finley, "you do still like me, right?"

"Of course," Finley replied, "I'll always like you."

The two boys started kissing.

"Ugh, they're off again," Raven complained. "While they're doing...that, I'll give you girls a tour of the house."

Once they'd left, Finley pulled away.

"Something wrong?" Kaiden asked.

"No, it's just. Now we're alone, I can say what I wanted to say earlier."

"Sure, you can talk to me about anything."

Finley blushed at Kaiden's compassion. This was much harder than he'd anticipated.

"Ugh, why is this so hard?" He groaned.

"Hey, take as long as you need to," Kaiden said, taking his hands, "there's no rush."

"I-I-don't want to go on that date!"

Kaiden let go. "What?"

"I mean, I don't need to go on that date to know...I want....ugh this is so hard." Finley paused for a second and took a breath, "Kaiden, I'd like you to be my boyfriend. For real."

Kaiden stood up, "I can't."

"Can't do what?"

"This. String you along."

"What do you mean, string me along?" FInley questioned. "So, you are lying to me?"

"No, it's just..."

"Just what, Kaiden. Am I suddenly not good enough for you?"

"No," Kaiden shouted, "you will never not be good enough for me. If anything I'm not good enough for you."

"Then, do you not like me anymore?"

"No. It's just...it's my dad."

"So he doesn't like me, so you're giving up on me?"

"Castel, it's not like that."

"Call me by my real name."

"Finley, it's not like that. He doesn't agree with me dating you. I explained my feelings for you to him and he's forbidden me from being with you." Kaiden explained. He took a breath and continued, "I don't know what he thinks of you, but he won't let me date you. He threatened to throw me out if he caught me alone with you."

"So you lead me into believing that we could be together?"

"Fin, I'm sorry. I didn't know how to tell you."

"You could've just explained what your dad said. Instead of pretending everything was fine, then doing this and making me feel like I'm a shit friend."

"You know what? Maybe you are a shit friend, 'cause you don't understand how much I care about you. How much I want you to be happy. You think I'm just going to leave you at any second. Why can't you just trust that I'm in love with you?"

"So where do we go from here?" Finley asked.

Kaiden was quiet for a while. At last, he spoke, "ok, I've made up my mind. I'm not going to listen to my dad. So, the answer to your question, Fin, is yes, I would love nothing more than to be your boyfriend. But, we'll have to make sure one of the others is with us at all times. If you don't want that, I understand."

"No, I don't mind. I would do anything to be with you."

They were interrupted by a knock at the door. It was Raven and the girls.

"K, dad wants to see us in the dining room," Raven explained.

"Ok," Kaiden replied, nervously. "Any idea why?"

"No."

Kaiden offered a hand to Finley. He took it and together, they walked down the hallway to the dining room.

—-----

Kaiden knocked on the door. Then, he let go of Finley's hand.

Raven pushed it open and the five of them went in.

Their dad was sitting at a table with a woman in her forties and a girl who didn't look much older than Kaiden and Raven. The woman had long black hair and glasses. The girl had her hair in a braid over her right shoulder. She had bright blue eyes which sparkled in the light.

"Raven, Kaiden," their dad said, "I'm so glad you're home. Allow me to introduce an old friend of mine. Eva, and her daughter, Isobel. Eva is the owner of Kyrah Manufacturing Limited. We've just been discussing a possible partnership, as well as Isobel's wedding in a month's time."

"You're engaged?" Raven asked. "Congratulations."

Kaiden noticed the lack of an engagement ring.

"Well, she isn't engaged yet, but she is about to be," Eva replied. She turned to Kaiden and Raven's dad, "why don't you explain?"

Their dad stood up, "allow me to introduce my two sons, Raven, who I expect will become a lawyer or something equally important. And Kaiden, my oldest son and the heir to Kyrah Developers and Isobel's soon to be husband." 

Dun dun DUN! Oh no, it seems our bad boy and his cinnamon roll can't be together now. What do you guys think of Kaiden and Raven's dad? How do you think Isobel will feel about this situation? Will the marriage go ahead?

Find out in Chapter 15!