A PROMISE OF OLD

FAIR AND SQUARE?

Her insides twisted with anger. It was enough to overpower the joy she felt from finally meeting him again after he left two months after Kevoy left. Those two were her only friends. Although Kevoy was her first friend, she remembered clearly when she met Blaize. She remembered when she told Kevoy about Blaize. When the three became friends.

FLASHBACK

"I have another friend."

Little Zala exclaimed with joy, her cheeks turning pink.

"Oh okay," Blaize whispered, caring about nothing else but the slight blush on the girl's cheeks. He figured Zala would lead her into a pool of slimes and he wouldn't care. And for a boy his age, that was a grown-up thought.

"I'm supposed to go and meet him right now. Do you want to come with me?" Zala smiled, her missing tooth very present. But it made the blonde boy's heart do funny things in his chest. And he could do nothing but nod at the girl's words as he followed her down the road.

The two met a week ago and Zala immediately claimed the boy as her friend. She was overjoyed with having two friends. But as much as she liked Blaize she knew without a question that she liked Kevoy the more. After all, he was her first friend.

"You can be my baby brother since I'm older than you," Zala yelled out of the blue, turning to look at the boy who immediately looked away as if he wasn't starring at her and feeding on her every word.

"No."

He vigorously shook his head with a frown. Strangely enough, the thought of calling Zala his older sister, even though she was just 8 months older than him was disturbing. It made his frown bigger. It made his stomach twist with the urge to puke.

"Hmmm... I thought that would make you happy."

The naive girl c****d her head to the side with a frown. She knew that Blaize had no siblings and that he had no friends too. So, she thought it would make him happy to have an elder sister.

"I don't like it. I like us being friends... A... And... You are only 8 months older than me... Y... You can't be my sister." the boy stuttered, cheeks aflame as he shook his head with all his might.

Zala whispered an okay before continuing her way to the riverside where she would introduce the two. She had been talking about Blaize none stop to Kevoy, just as she has been blowing Blaize's ears away with everything being about Kevoy. So, the two getting to meet made her overly excited. She liked it. She liked it very much.

Kevoy smelled Zala before she snuck up behind him, covering his eyes. He smiled, enjoying how soft the girl's hand felt on his face. Just as soft as her scent.

"I know it's you, Zala."

Kevoy chuckled making the girl groan and remove her hands.

"You always know it's me. How do you do that?" she repeatedly sighed. It was always like that with him. She couldn't sneak up on him without him knowing that it was her. And he was proving to be a worthy nemesis when it came to hide and seek. He was even better than Valerie!

"Your hands are very small and soft." Kevoy shrugged before noticing the foreign scent.

And it went like that. From the day that Zala met Kevoy, they had been friends just like with Blaize. And since the two boys' meeting, the three had been friends. It all came very naturally to them.

END OF FLASHBACK.

"Asshole!!!"

Zala yelled with a halt when she saw the blonde a few feet in front of her. Anne elbowed her sides gently, "People are watching." she whisper-yelled, reprimanding the princess. But Zala was far from listening to her. She was fuming.

The blonde-haired turned around to watch the only princess who would call a man an asshole with a grin on his lips.

Zala was stunned for a second. He had changed; physically that is. He wasn’t skinny and he definitely wasn't a boy anymore. His hair was neatly trimmed by the sides. His eyes, she could recognize those blues anywhere. His lips held a grin that was definitely meant to tick the princess off. And it did exactly that.

"Your highness."

Blaize's deep voice reached the princess's ears before he lightly bowed. His grin only widened when he saw Zala's eyes twitch with annoyance.

She stomped towards him intending to punch him. Anne could clearly see the Princess's intentions. But she didn't listen to anything Anne said. This is no way that a Princess should act, she thought to herself.

Seeing what his friend wanted to do, Blaize caught her hands before her punch reached him. The Princess was fuming; cheeks on fire and eyes burning.

"I missed you." Blaize softly whispered, taming the Princess's fury as she let out a huff.

"You don't just vanish and tell me you missed me when you come back after years." she granted out. Blaize had grown so tall that he was a head taller than her now. And it annoyed Zala to no end considering that she was taller than him.

Blaize chuckled. It felt so good to see her again. With that thought, the young noble pulled her in for a hug. One would have thought that Zala would resist, but she did no such thing. Instead, she hugged him back and whispered, "I missed you too."

Anne looked on as the two hugged tightly with a smile on her lips. Maybe this will do her friend some good, with that thought, she left the two alone.

They hugged for a few minutes before separating. The princess's anger dissipated giving way to a soft sad smile as she wiped a stray tear away.

"When did you come back?" Zala asked him as she led him to the garden. She wanted to know everything that she missed in her friend's life.

"Actually, I just got here," he replied with a smile, masking his nervousness. The princess hadn't changed much. That is aside physically. She was beautiful. And it seemed that even she still didn't see it. With her hair down to her back like it usually was when they were kids.

Everything about her screamed pure femininity. That was until she started cursing and climbing trees.

"And you came right here?" Zala asked with a frown to which he nodded his head.

The two sat under the hut in the garden. They spend hours catching up. And for once Zala felt like she had a bit of her old life back. Blaize thought that after all those years, maybe his feelings were only that of a child. But looking at her smile and laugh and talk with enthusiasm made his heart swell. And he found out that that childish adoration truly grew into something more.

"Are you going back any time soon?" Zala asked him with her bare feet on the soft grass.

"I don't know." He answered. He wasn't going to come back so soon. He was scheduled to come back in a month not now. But he couldn't stay back after the message he heard.

"Why did you go anyway? Where did you go? Why didn’t you tell me anything?" Zala voiced out the words that had been in her throat all this while. And her voice was so soft and troubled that it filled Blaize with immense guilt.

"I didn't even know that I was supposed to go. I just woke up that morning and my dad said that we were moving for a few years. Something about me getting training to be a proper 'noble'" Blaize answered.

Just the word 'proper’ made her roll her eyes.

"I wasn't given time to talk to anyone." He continued.

"'Proper' my foot." Zala rolled her eyes, the disgust in her voice made Blaize smile. She was still Zala. She hadn't changed.

"Have you heard anything from Kevoy?" he asked, and it saddened him to see her smile vanish.

Zala only shook her head. So, it seemed that no one had, he thought to himself.

"Anyway, where are you staying?" Zala asked, trying to keep the conversation away from Kevoy. She didn't want to make her mood any worse.

Blaize dreaded this question. He dreaded telling Zala what he was about to do. His friendship with her meant the world to him but he also wanted more. The least he could do was try instead of sitting back and watching her marry another man.

"The crystal palace," he whispered, surprising Zala for a minute, but she didn't react just yet.

"Why?" she asked.

Blaize turned to her, taking her hand in his.

"I wasn't supposed to come back until next month. But then I heard of you holding a tournament, wanting to choose a husband."

Zala only replied with an oh, but she said nothing instead she continued to watch him.

"I'm going to enter that tournament," he said the words with all that he had. And that indeed shocked the princess.

She looked at her friend with wide dumbfounded eyes and her lips slightly parted.

Blaize chuckled to get rid of some of the tension, "don't look so surprised."

How does he expect her to remain calm when he just told her this!?

"Blaize..." she softly whispered, not knowing what to say to her friend.

"I want to marry you, Zala." he continued, his heart beating louder and harder in his chest, but he could only focus on the princess' soft hand in his. And he was so thankful that she was not disgusted by his words and she didn't take her hands out of his.

"I'm not asking you for any special treatment or anything like that. I'll do it fair and square... And hopefully, win your heart in the process. I just want a chance." he continued, baring his heart to her.

For the first time, Zala was so dumbfounded that she had no words to say.

"B... Blaize, I don't know what to say," she whispered. How does she tell him that she already loved someone else? How does she tell him that she already accepted to marry someone else even though it was years ago? How does she tell him that that person is their friend?

"Don't say anything. I just wanted to tell you that." he continued. He was afraid that Zala might not choose him. But he hoped that he doesn't lose her in the process of trying to gain her love.

"Enough of that." He smiled and let her hand go then leaned on his back.

"Tell me what you have been up to. Surely, you don't stay locked inside all day. That would not be like you." he chuckled at how aghast the princess still looked.