Part Fifteen

Ferris

Zaelyn was right. Fraener hadn't come back since he got up but I tried to take my mind off it.

"So you're Ferris, huh?" She hummed, placing down her fork. I suddenly sat up, straightening my back causing her to laugh. "Yes, that's me," I managed to blurt out. She nodded before taking a sip of wine. "I'm Deirdre. The 'Eleventh Sister'." She introduced while waving her hands in a dramatic fashion.

She looked exactly like Fraener and her mother. The only difference being all thirteen sisters had different eye colours. She sighed, her deep scarlet eyes lingering on her glass of wine. "You don't seem that special. I have no idea why Fraener talks about you as much as he does,"

I stared at her wide-eyed, sinking back into my chair. He talked about me? The idea of it made my stomach flip. Apparently my reaction was funny, as Deidre laughed. "Is it good? Or bad?" I asked without a second thought. I sounded nothing like a future king. "Honestly? I zone out most of what he has to say and get my sisters solve his problem for him." She sighed, sinking back into her chair. "However from what I can't help but hear, It's a tidal wave of both."

This totally helps calm my nerves. What did was the reassuring squeeze Zaelyn gave my hand. "Don't take Deirdre too seriously. She enjoys seeing others become nervous wrecks," He mused, adding a small chuckle. I straightened up and slipped my fingers through his while Deirdre and Zaelyn chatted.

Was this wrong? Fraener isn't even present and I'm here holding Zaelyn's hand. Then again I'm only holding his hand, right? "The only person I enjoy watching become a nervous wreck is my brother." She corrected earning a laugh from Zaelyn. His laugh was a sweet as honey and it made me melt into puddy. How had I never swooned over it before?

Suddenly there was a loud crash and all three of us turned our heads in search for the origin. From what I could gather Zuda had somehow flipped his plate, alongside the mountain of food still on it onto Geno and now they were fighting. Zaelyn gave out a frustrated groan making it clear he wasn't amused.

He leaned in closer making my skin tingle, bracing myself for his touch. Maybe 'bracing myself' was a bit much but how else could I explain this weird sensation? "How about we have our chat somewhere less..rowdy. Hm?" He whispered, his cheek lightly grazing mine. "I thought you'd never ask." I replied earning a small chuckle.

He got up and lead me by the hand while I admired the fish twirling about only visible by the candles on the table. The evening air was chilly and the clothes did little to help warm me. Zaelyn stopped at a small clearing not too far from the dining table and sat me down on a small marble bench. He seemed puzzled as he looked down at me unsure of what to say next.

"So, err, the reason we've been acting so... weird is because- well first off I just want to make sure that you know it isn't your fault," he rambled as he began to pace infront of me. He then launched into this long monologue of incoherent things that didn't add up. "You're not the one to blame, okay? That's- that's us."

"Zaelyn could you please get to the point?"

He sighed before biting down on his bottom lip. "Well, it's you."

"Come again?"

"Fuck!"

This 'talk' was meant to clear things up, instead it's only made me more puzzled. I got up and took his hands in mine. I had no idea what I was doing but this sort of natural instinct to comfort him kicked in. "Whatever it is, I can handle it," I spoke softly. He gave a small smile before looking deep into my eyes. I couldn't tell if it was him or something else but I suddenly felt a wave of heat.

Then he just stood there, staring at me. I waited for a bit expecting something but there was only silence. The only thing that had changed was the fact that he was no longer looking into my eyes. "Your lips seem so soft.." he mumbled while using the pad of his thumb to brush my lips. As he leaned in closer I registered that this was just another one of his moments and the fact that I felt like I was on fire.

Just before our lips met I felt a faint headache then a gush of warm liquid come out of my nose. Some even managed to splatter a bit onto Zaelyn.

Great.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" I quickly blurted out as more blood escaped my nose. Zaelyn seemed to snap out of his weird trance as worry was all over his face. "No, no! This isn't your fault it's entirely mine! I was supposed to explain everything not make things worse!" He quickly butted in, his hands on my shoulders as he broke out into a dramatic panic. He told me to stay right here then booked it back to the table to try and get me a few tissues.

I sat back on the marble bench and pinched my nose. As I tilted my head back I realized that my temperature was going down. Strange.

Once he came back he had stacks of napkins tucked in all sorts of places as he shoved as many as he could into my hands. I thanked him before bringing it to my nose. "Sorry about the shirt," I said, handing him one of the many napkins. He chuckled before wiping most of my blood off. "Don't worry about it. This things ugly anyway."

I smiled, though he probably couldn't see it because of the napkins stuck in my nose.

"Looks like you're the centre of everyone's attention," He mused, nodding towards the table. At first I thought this was a cheesy joke to distract me from what just happened but as I looked over I was indeed the centre of attention. Both, Zaelyn's friends and Fraener's sisters were staring at me with curious glances and quick looks. They all stuck their heads down into their plates when they noticed I caught them staring.

"Huh, I've never liked attention.." I remarked. Zaelyn shot me a curious glance. "But you're a Prince? A soon-to-be King!" He exclaimed causing me to groan. "Yes, I know, but what if I wasn't?"

He still held his questioning eyes on me. "So you don't want to be king?"

I let the question linger. "Having the weight of an entire kingdom on your shoulders seems daunting, to say the least so yeah of course I'm questioning if I'm going to take the crown," I curtly answered, an unwanted angry tone taking place. "Ferris.." he sighed, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"Being a King of an ever-expanding population is scary, there's no doubt about it and having all that responsibility? Liability? Pfft, If I could, I'd say fuck. No." He continued, his last statement making me laugh a bit. "But that's why there's three of us. You, Fraener and me. We'd be able to share 'the weight of an entire kingdom' together! No matter what, we gotta be there for eachother. My Father isn't one for making friends but he had always told me that if one falls, we all fall with him!"

For the first time in forever I was looking at my future in a different light. Zaelyn had just opened up my mind more than the entirety of a library could! More than countless lessons could! Hell, more than my own Father could! "Now you see why being King is so important? Our Kingdom needs you, we need you," He stopped, then took a breath. "Why I need you?"

My heart fluttered in my chest. I nodded. "Wow, I didn't realize how passionate you were about this," I acknowledged. He laughed before stretching. "I try."

We then headed back to the table and helped clean up before we all started to head back. Zaelyn and I walked side by side, just chatting about 'stuff' though by 'chatting' I mean letting him do all the talking as I had little to contribute. He talked about his home, his training and even his two adorable dogs he had. Once we made it out of the maze and back into the castle we made a sudden stop in the middle of one of the many large hallways.

"Listen Ferris, I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I didn't get to explain anything and I only made it worse," he sighed while tucking hid hands in his jean pockets. "Don't worry about it! There's always tomorrow, right?" I reassured.

"Right."

I was going about to leave when he stopped me, again. "Actually, Ferris, me and my friends are gonna stay up and have a few drinks and I'd love to have you there. What do you say?"

I don't drink, I'm tired and I wouldn't want to risk experiencing another one of his 'moments' so the best desicion would be to politely declined. "I'd love to join you guys,"

Fuck!

"Great! We're gonna have it up in Fraener's room so.." he trailed off, gesturing me to follow. I smiled and gladly walked beside him. Maybe it won't be so bad.

Once we arrived to the entrance of the corridor of the rooms I noticed that everyone was standing around, instead of inside the room. "Glad you decided to join us!" Zuda cheered, earning an approving nod from his mate. Everyone else waved with cheery smiles. "I thought we'd meet in Frae's room?" Zaelyn intervened as they all looked up at him. "Can't you hear?" Geno said with a comical dumb look on his face.

We both listened in and the faint sound of erotic moans could be heard echoing through the corridor. "He's clearly boning someone.." Xan stated causing everyone to either roll their eyes or just look at him like he had just said something so stupid. Well, I guess he did.

Zaelyn made an angry groan before storming off down the corridor. The next thing we all heard was the sound of doors bursting open and some angry yelling. "So what do we do now?" Lucian asked. Everyone just looked at one another looking for any answers. "Well the wine is in the room but so is a raging Incubus so.." Ryker sighed.

Well this was off to a great start..

A/N

I'm so sorry for my absence and the lack of updates! I've just had to deal with some real life stuff first but I'm back and I've tried to make this chapter longer than my usual ones! Once again, sorry!

-bay