Cinder-knight (bxb)

he has her

Eric kept on looking at the sky, as he remembered some events in the past while his eyes fought hard not to shed tears.

He could remember when he was young, specifically when he was first brought to the castle and was thrown into an arena to train as a Knight, he was crying hard like a toddler. He screamed out loud that he didn't want to be a knight, he just wanted to go back to his home.

Yet as time passed by, Eric remembered, he got used to it. He got used to waking up early, training endlessly, and then eating what was given to him. Even though everything seemed dark and colorless at first, during those days he was happy with whatever he had, even if it wasn't much.

And when Eric was twelve, he remembered how he had first seen prince Henry who was eight by the time.

The prince used to be such a crybaby and a person who didn't tolerate failure at all. So when Eric was put in the ring to battle against him, the ginger had to fake losing just so he could feed Charming's ego and also save himself from the pure t*****e he would be put through by the older knights for making the prince of their kingdom cry.

He faintly remembered how the king stared at him apologetically after every fight, and maybe that's why he got so attached to the ruler, just because the man had wasted a great second to pity someone like Eric.

But as years went by, and Prince Henry had matured into a chivalrous young man who may or may not have an immature habit of questing that never died down, Eric found himself looking at the prince in a new light; in a way he wasn't supposed to.

When prince Henry stepped into his teen years, he got the nickname Prince Charming, as he had a charm that seized people's hearts in an iron grip. Eric thought he was just another victim among thousands of others. He was just another person out of thousands who were blinded by Henry's charm.

But that wasn't the point here. The king was announced dead only few hours ago, and the whole kingdom had fallen into pure caos. The catastrophic news washed over the whole castle in a fast wave, and now everyone was panicking, mourning or flat-on ignoring.

As Eric kept a hand over his forehead, he relished the way a second wave had come only few minutes ago, that the prince was going to be married on the next day.

He didn't know what Charming was thinking by planning to get married only a day after his own father's death. But he knew for sure that the other wasn't thinking straight while making that decision, he probably must've been too overwhelmed. Henry was still a teenager after all.

"Oh god, please help him.." Eric sighed, looking up and wincing at how the once bubbly sun had turned atrocious in a span of several hours. The heat was so dire to the point where some knights had to keep their swords down and sit for a few minutes before going back to back to patrol again.

And Eric felt his heart squeeze tight. He wanted to make sure his prince was alright. He kept on wondering if Cinderella would give the support Charming needed at the moment, she would, surely. Yet another thought told Eric that maybe the Prince would shut her down, or maybe the Prince would act like he was strong for the sake of the kingdom and bottle everything inside his head.

But whatever it is, the Knight was more than worried. He kept on biting his lips as frustration smeared through his expression. If only he could meet the prince and see for himself whether the younger was handling it well or not...

"Hey Sebastian," Eric suddenly called, making Sebastian turn towards him, "I'm going to use the chamberpot for a bit."

The white haired knight cracked a smile and waved at his friend in dismissal, "Well, happy defecation I guess. I'll get Callah to fill in, I heard she's off."

"I see someone's in love~" the red haired knight whistled before trudging away, smiling to himself once he heard the way Sebastian piped out disagreements behind him. But he didn't look back, and continued to jaunt past the portcullis of the dimmed castle with weary steps.

As the slackening low rumbles seared and jabbed into the knight's ears, reminding him again and again about how wrong everything was, Eric found his walk becoming more and more clumped. The atmosphere was tainted with trouble, some people were getting ready for a funeral while some were getting ready for a wedding.

Nothing made sense anymore.

Nothing except the fact that Charming needed help, of any sort.

Eric passed guards, maids, seniors who ignored him completely. Well, it was mutual. Eric didn't spare any of them a glance either, as he continued walking around the sky-high towers, wondering if he might be able to get a glance of the prince through his royal chamber's window.

As creepy as it sounds.

Yet as he clambered up the building with the help of a rope, like how Charming had done few days ago to see him, every ascend felt wrong. He felt out of place, as if his concern wasn't needed. The lift had him confined in a train of lying thoughts about how he was going be okay, because his gut just knew something bad would happen.

However, for his prince, there was no limit the knight wouldn't push through. And once the sachet of tissues hanging in the belt of his attire, which he brought just so he could wipe away the prince's tears, hailed in the rumbling wind of the upper sky, he breathed in an obvious gasp.

He was going to tell Henry that everything would be okay, when he himself wasn't sure of it.

He was going to tell Henry that it was okay to cry, when he himself feared to cry. But that was because he was a knight.

knights don't cry.

But when Eric heard faint sounds of sobs coming from the prince's room, his heart shattered. For a second he found it hard to breath, a small strangled whimper left him as he peered above, trying to spot his prince, whom he was ready to lull.

"My pri-"

The words died down in Eric's throat, as he saw the sight in front of him.

Charming was crying, his shoulders were shaking and heart wrenching sobs proceeded to leave his mouth while the beautiful girl who was yet to be his wife, hugged him tight. For a moment, Eric remained frozen, until he was not, and finally got the ability to climb down, not wanting to invade the royals' privacy any more than he already had.

The knight's arms were shaking while he writhed down. The rope felt more rugged to the touch by then, and he felt his chest soaring in pain.

It hurt.

It hurt to love.

But it hurt more to be never loved back.

-----

Eric didn't cry of course. He wasn't in the place to do so.

He just stared passively at the way everyone around him moved. He didn't feel anything, anything except the numbness that ripened in his belly.

"Uhm.. Dude? Are you okay?" Callah's voice was fading near his ear, Eric, as response, looked at her and gave her a smile.

"Weird, coming from you."

The knight in question rolled her eyes, while Sebastian's gaze retrogressed towards them lazily.

"Look, I know I joke out of context at times. But I'm sure you're aware of how I do care about you like any other friend would," she emphasised on the 'friend' part, "And right now you look too pale. You should probably go rest."

"I'm fine," said the red head without a single thought, "It's just, everything is so messed up right now. Today's a funeral, tomorrow's a wedding. Which means, no sleep for a week straight."

"It'll be fine," Sebastian said and draped his hand over Eric's shoulders. While the trio continued their vinyl a little bitterly, the moon flared up in the dainty black with a derisive glint. No stars beleaguered around it, making it seem like a tyrant who got abandoned by his subjects.

Eric sighed as he calmed down at the pleasant minute that came in the middle of a stampede. It was the water to the fire in his body, and so on, another night went by.

Slowly.