A PROMISE OF OLD

TOOTHLESS

FLASHBACK

It was late in the afternoon that Zala managed to sneak out without anyone’s notice. They knew that she liked to lock herself in the library at that time of the day so they didn’t bother her. But Zala took on the habit of sneaking out at those times to meet her friends by the lake. She could easily tell Valerie and her parents that she had friends and have them come to play with her at the palace. But Zala didn’t want that. She wanted to keep her friends all to herself. And although Blaize and Kevoy knew that she was a princess. She didn’t want to make them act any different towards her if they went home with her and her being a princess became all too real for them.

The young princess skipped in her steps, barely holding herself back from running towards them as soon as she saw Blaize laying on her back with a book in hand and Kevoy holding what looked to be a bow.

“I’m here!” She exclaimed, making her presence known to the two boys who looked to be doing their own thing. 

Their heads snap to the Princess, smiles blooming on them. Blaize and Kevoy were used to each other and weren’t bothered by each other’s presence. But they weren’t as close to each other as they were to Zala. However, it was all better when she was with them.

“Yh. We noticed.” Blaize chuckled, pulling himself up.

Zala threw herself into Blaize’s arms with a laugh, nearly sending the boy into the water. Her arms tightly held the boy to her as her laughter settled into giggles.

“Not that I’m not glad that you’re happy. But what’s the occasion?” Blaize chuckled, pulling the princess off of him so that he could breathe. Zala leaned back, beaming at him, her teeth on full display.

Looking at her, Blaize nearly toppled over in laughter, but he knew not to do that.

“I see.” He whispered, pointing to the missing tooth in her mouth.

“Do you know how annoying it was?” Zala let him go with a pleased sigh.

“I figured it was unbearable for you since you couldn’t stop talking about it,” Blaize replied, urging her on.

“Exactly!” She exclaimed. That tooth had been loose and wiggling in her gums for weeks and she desperately wanted to get rid of it. It made it difficult for her to eat and the thing was so annoying.

“As happy as I am with it,” Kevoy said, making the Princess turn to look at him, and she found herself nervously chuckling at the pointed look on his face. Nothing could escape him, could it?

Kevoy and Blaize were similar in some ways. Which included how proper they spoke as if it had been drilled into them. But Zala could really care less about being proper. Not in front of her friends and definitely not at the palace. She had pulled so many stunts on the maids and her parents that she had lost count.

“Do you want to share how you lost that tooth with us?” Kevoy inquired with a raised brow, making the Princess’s cheeks flush. For one, he knew that Zala’s tooth was in no way loose enough to come off on its own so soon. He lightly shivered at the thought of what she did to uproot it.

“I... I did nothing.” Zala shrugged with a pout, trying to get Kevoy to let it go, knowing very well how effective her pout was when it came to him.

“Uh uh,” Kevoy shook his head with a chuckle, “That won’t work this time. Tell me what you did… then I’ll teach you how to shoot this?” Kevoy proposed, lifting the arrow in his hands. Zala had been pestering him to teach her how to shoot an arrow, but he never agreed to do it. He was planning on teaching her nevertheless, so what better profit to make from it than for her to tell him how she hurt herself to get her tooth out because he knew that she did hurt herself.

“That’s mean.” She whispered, unable to hide the excitement in her voice, “I didn’t do anything.” She added, pulling on her fingers with her feet rubbing the other.

Kevoy simply raised a disbelieving brow at her causing her to sigh and dip her head with the pout still on her lips.

“Zala..” Kevoy whispered, drawing out her name. Zala knew that he wasn't going to let it go. So she groaned and looked up at him.

“I... I tied a thread to my tooth..” She started making the boys recoil knowing very well that what she would add next wasn’t pleasant.

“Go on..” Blaize prompted her when she didn’t continue.

The princess shut her eyes very tight then continued, “Then tied the other end to the door of my room and… slammed it shut.”

The boys winced at her words, almost as if they were the ones in her shoes.

“Is it hurting?” Blaize worriedly asked, making her shake her head. 

“Not anymore.” She answered.

Kevoy wanted to reprimand her. Scold her. But he knew that even if he did, Zala would do the same thing again if given the chance. So he palmed her cheeks, causing her eyes to meet his and a blush coat her cheeks. Kevoy’s frown was absolute as he pulled her lips back to have a look at the empty gum. It looked a little sour, but that was it. He hated when she hurt herself, but she tended to do it anyway; both consciously and unconsciously.

“Don’t do it again,” Kevoy said, looking into her eyes as she vigorously nodded her head. He knew that she would do it again so he let out a sigh and pressed his lips to her forehead like he always did, making the Princess’s blush intensify. He hated when she hurt herself. But she hated it more when something annoyed her. And it went without a say that the loose tooth annoyed her immensely.

“Are you going to teach me now?” She asked with a giddiness that made the boys smile. Zala was unlike the girls they knew. And she acted nothing like a princess. It was clear from the pants and shirt she was wearing that she didn’t care that she was royalty. She did what pleased her. And the boys loved that about her.

“I did say that I would.” Kevoy smiled at her smile, her missing tooth making her look all the cuter. She had her hair in a ponytail and her feet dirty from walking barefoot on the grass, but she looked too adorable.

“What about my hug? You hugged Blaize. What about me?” Kevoy asked with puckered lips that made her chuckle before wrapping her arms around his waist, hugging him the same way she hugged Blaize.

“Do you want to learn too?” Kevoy asked Blaize, laughing at how pale the boy turned and how wide his eyes grew as he eagerly shook his head. The three knew just how much Blaize disliked violence of any kind.

Kevoy spent the day teaching Zala how to hold the bow, how to arm it and he taught her the posture to take. Zala watched him in wonder as he caressed the arch of the bow with a smile then slip in an arrow, caressing the arrowhead in a similar manner.

“Why do you do that?” She asked him.

“Oh. No particular reason. I just like how it feels.” He answered with a shrug and continued to demonstrate to her by shooting his. Zala was so giddy that her smile was infectious as she tried to copy him. But instead of pointing to the bullseye, she pointed to the blue flowers.

“What are you doing?” Blaize laughed at her.

“Aiming.” She responded with all seriousness.

“At the flower?” Kevoy questioned with a laugh.

“Yes.” Her lips pulled in a tight line that matched her determination.

“Mitsuma will be mad at you if you accidentally shoot one of her children,” Blaize said, causing her eyes to grow wide as she immediately aimed at the bullseye again. The boys laughed at her, heartily.

“She loves me. She’ll forgive me.” Zala replied, sticking her tongue out at them

“Not if you do it intentionally.” Kevoy provided. Zala was as impulsive as they came. And it made her all the more endearing.

Mitsuma was the mother of the forest. A greater tree spirit. And Zala was right, she did love her.

END OF FLASHBACK

The Princess shook herself from her memories, when Prince Orpheus, bowed lightly at her. His eyes locked with hers longer than necessary and her heart drummed in her chest as she wondered just who the Prince was. 

She didn’t notice that she was moving until she found herself face to face with him, their eyes never leaving each other.

“What was that?” She gritted out, unable to explain her sudden annoyance. Prince Orpheus offered a soft smile and replied. “A perfect shot.”

“Do you take me for a fool?” She growled. “You were caressing your weapon.” She stated.

The Prince said nothing in reply and instead took in her flushed cheeks and heated eyes with a grin that seemed to piss her off all the more.

“You’re making a scene Princess.” He whispered, drawing her attention to the many eyes trained on them. Zala clenched her fist and glared at him with everything she had. She tried to focus on the rest of the tournament choosing not to say a word and to deal with that Prince later. One way or another, she was going to understand what was going on.