Keith felt his pulse leave him the moment the hall doors crashed open and his eyes met the panicked blue gaze of the guard. The guard from last night.

The very one he'd managed to escape as a rebel. 

For a moment, guard and prince watched each other across the room. The former's cerulean eyes holding a certain panicked urgency. 

Quiznak! Keith cursed internally, He knows... he fucking knows it was me and now he's going to tell everyone and the whole world's going to fucking know...

With trembling hands, the prince raised his piece of toast to his mouth and took a bite, schooling his wild stare into what he hoped was only just slightly startled. Though logically, he knew he probably closer resembled a young James Potter caught in McGonagall's wind-light at 3am in the restricted section of the library. 

So he raised one eyebrow aloofly, hoping his title and status would intimidate the guard into silence, though he knew it was a far cry. 

But strangely, the guard seemed to actually... relax, somewhat when Keith acknowledged his presence. His face slackened, forming a charming grin as he raised a hand into a small wave. "Morning," he greeted, his voice slightly breathless but cheery, nonetheless. 

So perhaps the guard didn't know, after all. 

Too caught up in his own internal debate, Keith neglected to reply, turning away. 

His mind flew into a flurry, wondering; What the quiznak? Why hadn't the guard said anything? Keith decided the most probable solution was that the guard didn't know. But if the guard didn't know that it was him who he had fought last night, then why did he burst in here like that?

Holy shit. Keith hadn't allowed himself to really think about what had happened before, but now the realisation of his actions hit him like a speeding pod; he had fought against one of his own guards. 

Well, fought was a strong word. Sure, he'd drawn his knife, but all he'd really done was a few evasive manoeuvres, including that bad-ass moment where he'd pushed the guy off balance and leaped over him. The prince would be a damn liar if he said he wasn't proud of that. And yeah, their sword and dagger had clashed once or twice, but nobody was injured. Keith had made sure of that.

But anyway, his point still stood; he had fought one of his own guards. 

Liar. 

Traitor.

Two-faced. 

The words felt like ice in his mind. 

Breakfast was nearly finished by the time a soft knock against the doors stole the prince's attention from his own thoughts. 

When he glanced up, he found a servant waiting politely by the entrance with his hands tucked neatly into his apron. 

"Yes?" Keith prompted, catching the attention of all his guards from where they were sat around the table. 

"There is a meeting, Your Highness. Lady Heinford has sent for you," the servant explained simply.

Keith felt a phantom ice fill his veins. He hadn't heard about a meeting. As far as he knew, he had nothing scheduled until later that afternoon when he was to ride into the city to meet with the local nobility. 

Willing his face to remain blank and not betray his confusion, the prince rose from his seat, excusing himself. He squared his shoulders and straightened his posture as he exited the room, despite the pang of nerves stabbing at his stomach. 

The walk down the halls to the meeting room was pure torture, Keith's mind doing him no favours in settling his anxiety. All the scenarios that kept playing over in his head of what the meeting could be about certainly weren't helping. 

But at last they came to a stop before another set of grand double doors, the servant stepping aside as they opened and gesturing Keith through. He took a moment to compose himself, then stepped into the room, the blinding light from the floor-length windows nearly blinding him. 

Inside, the first thing Keith noticed was that despite the warm lighting, the room held an ominous chill. The walls were a dull stone gray, hung with portraits of stuffy-looking nobility, presumably Lady Heinford's ancestors. The devil herself was seated at a table in the middle of the room, lesser nobles spaced around her, but they all rose to their feet at Keith's entrance. 

Every one of them was looking at the prince. 

"Good morning," he greeted, mentally patting himself on the back for not cracking under their collective gaze. 

"Your Highness," they all returned in sync, bowing their heads. 

Keith strode to the only remaining empty seat in the room, at the head of the table. As he sat, the others all followed suit. Lady Heinford was seated to his left, a young man he recognised - Lord Aurum - seated to his right. Glancing around briefly at the others' faces, the prince was relieved to note that he recognised all of them. Silently, he thanked his tutor. 

"Right," Lady Heinford started. "Now that we are all here, we may begin. I thank you all for coming today, and apologise for the change in plans." 

Keith could have sworn he heard an irritated huff from his right. 

Seemingly oblivious, Lady Heinford pushed on. "As you all know, we are here this morning to strengthen relations between the nobility and the Crown, and to update Prince Keaton on the status of Zlarc, our beloved city."

Ah, so she rescheduled our plans, then, Keith noted bitterly. Probably to throw me off-guard. The sneaky quiznaker.

As he tuned back into Lady Heinford's words, he felt his blood beginning to simmer. And thus began the longest three hours of his life...

By the time everyone had said their piece, Keith was fucking exhausted. Maintaining his composure throughout all of their little speeches had been far more draining than he had anticipated. Particularly when Lord Bellemy had spent the vast majority of forty minutes explaining how his estate's gardens had been completely ruined when a herd of cattle from a nearby dairy farm had escaped onto his land. Thankfully, Lady Rosemary had eventually cut him off, launching into an update on the state of the economy and business growth within Zlarc. 

Needless to say, as soon as everyone had aired their grievances and the meeting met its end, Keith was desperate to leave. Though he knew that it was expected that the Prince of Marmora bid farewell to his guests personally. 

So, albeit begrudgingly, he left the room to stand by the door as all the nobility filed out of the room. Lady Heinford left first, as she was the host, and stood opposite Keith in order to farewell the nobles as well. 

As everyone filed out, Keith shook their hands and exchanged a few brief words. Most were congratulating the prince on his forwardness in meeting with the Marmoran nobility, others simply thanking him for his time.

Last to leave was Lord Aurum, rising from his seat and striding towards Keith purposefully. He completely ignored Lady Heinford, who didn't seem to mind as she followed the procession to the door. As the lord reached him, he took the prince's hand in a firm grip. 

"Awfully full of herself, isn't she?" Lord Aurum muttered, watching Lady Heinford leave over Keith's shoulder. "Thinks she can do whatever she pleases, play around with nobles and royals like they're pawns." Suddenly, his eyes snapped back to Keith, holding his gaze steadily. "She didn't notify you of the change in plans, did she, Your Highness?"

His bluntness surprised Keith. Though in a way he was grateful for it. The prince was tired of having to decipher every word spoken to him. 

So he found himself returning the favour. "No, she didn't. I get the feeling she mistrusts me."

Lord Aurum smirked at that. "Mistrusts? No, I don't think so, Your Highness. If I know Lady Heinford half as well as I believe I do, then she was simply testing you."

"Testing me?" Keith repeated questioningly. "Why would she do that?"

"Because,Your Highness, while she doesn't mistrust you, she still doesn't know whether you are worthy of her trust," Lord Aurum offered the prince a cheshire grin, finally releasing his hand and stepping away down.

"Wha-" Keith began, but was interrupted. 

"You'll do well to remember," The lord spoke pointedly, thrusting his hands into his pockets as he walked backwards. "That not everyone is your enemy, Your Highness." And with that, he turned on his heel and disappeared down the hall. 

Keith stood still for a moment, discombobulated beyond belief. 

For the rest of the afternoon, Keith hid in the guest's library. It was quiet in there, and gave him a private moment to process the meeting, and his strange conversation with Lord Aurum; though he still couldn't make heads nor tails of the whole encounter. 

Even by the time dinner rolled around, Keith wasn't sure he was prepared to sit across the table from Lady Heinford once more. As he took his place at the table, he could hear a rumble of thunder outside. Keith pointedly avoided Lady Heinford's eyes, feeling them glaring into his skin.  Silently, Keith thanked the stars that he would be leaving in the morning. 

Suddenly, Shiro spoke up. "Your Highness, there is something you should know." His careful tone set Keith on edge. 

As calm as he could manage, he lifted his eyes from his fork to face the older man. "What is it, Sir Shirogane?" It felt strange to use such formalities, but Keith was all-too aware of Lady Heinford's attention on the pair. 

"You see, the storm outside has worsened considerably. There are concerns that the lightning will interfere with the magnetism, and the Pods won't be able to operate."

Keith's heart plummeted. 

"But Lady Heinford has graciously allowed us to stay another night, until the storm blows over."

No. No no no no!

Praying his distress wasn't visible, Keith replied simply, "I see."

"However," Lady Heinford's cold tone cut through the tense silence. "Since I didn't expect you to stay another night, I have pre-arranged plans which require me to stay in on of my apartments in the city for the next few days. A car will collect me at 3pm tomorrow, and I will be away for three days." Keith didn't miss the reluctance in her voice. "So the house is yours for as long as you need, Your Highness."

Keith felt an odd swirl of emotion inside him. On the one hand, he had to spend several more hours with Lady Heinford. But on the other, he would have the house to himself for a day or two at least. He had never been without some higher authority to order him around before. This would be his first taste of freedom. 

Thank the stars that cars still travel along the ground... And can still operate in thunderstorms. 

~~~~~~

Heyo! Lucidame here!

Yay! They finally interacted! Well, I suppose that was last chapter but anyways...

This chapter was fairly tense and serious (can you tell I dislike Lady Heinford?), so next chapter will be a lot more fun ;)

I sincerely hope y'all are enjoying this story, and thank you for reading it! Comments and votes are welcome and appreciated!

Until next time!
-underappreciatedtree <3 🌲