-Rob's POV-
My crowning will occur in a few hours, but I don't want it. Either way, I'll be forced to do it, simply because I'm the sole heir. I'm an only child, so I have to. The crown I have is just what I've been told is the crown prince's, and that the real King's crown is much the same, but looser. I really don't want anything to do with this, and I'd left Preston at the Solace mansion.
I'm sitting in my bedroom, dressed in my suit I'd been handed by a maid. It's a black suit with gold lining. Then a black cloak, with a gold silk inside and lining. I dislike this, and I dislike the plan that's set. It involves me staying longer than I'd wanted, and it also includes me staying for a family 'banquet'... whatever it means.
A knock on my door startles me, and I jump. "Hello? Crown Prince? You have been called upon by the Flower Queen." "Okay! Thank you." I grumble under my breath, "I still hate that name." I stumble out of my room to find my mom.
"Mom? Where are you?" "I'm down here, Robert. You come to me. Remember?" "Always."
I've grown, so I'm actually taller than my mom now. She's super short, about 4 foot 1. She's got something called dwarfism. I may only be ten, but with my shortened mother and super tall dad, I'm already 4 foot 6. She's sitting on her chair, feet dangling slightly.
"Robert, you took too many detours in the last few years. You will still be crowned, but it will be limited until you are at least 15. You also need to find a queen. If not, then you will stay limited until you do. I wish your father was here to tell you this instead of me, but I'm all that's left. Kapeesh?"
"Got it." A queen? Like, find a girl? I don't know girls. I'm used to guys. What?! Come on!
My mom is gonna press me for it. I know she will. But I don't know what to do! It seems useless to me. Why a girl? And why a queen? Can't it just be a bro, or bestest friend ever?
I stand there quietly for a moment, then swiftly carry myself up the stairs and back to my room to think. My silent boots make me like a ghost, because you can't hear me walk. I end up scaring the socks off the poor maid cleaning my room. She jumps, nods, curtsies, and leaves me to my thoughts. I drop to my bed, positive what I'd done to my hair will make my mom mad.
When she'd finished doing my hair, she told me not to mess it up, meaning- don't lay down on the bed. Which is exactly what I'd done. A knock on my door makes me sit up, bored. "Yes?" "Robert! Downstairs in 5 minutes. Don't mess with your hair. We're about to start."
Yah... About that... I leave the topic alone, and quick check my hair in the mirror. It still looks fine. I open my door and head downstairs like I'd been told. I go down to find a lot of people.
As I get to the last step and freeze up, my cloak falls around me, and wraps slightly around my left leg. I'm hit with the sheer amount of people in front of me. A lot of them are family, and I recognize them, but most are randoms I don't know. My mother sits up front in her chair, watching my approach. She sees some kind of flaw, and frowns at me.
While everyone is turned to me, she raises her hand and flourishes it towards her face, meaning- stand straighter, and walk proudly. I do so as I make my way to her, casting glances left and right, slightly unnerved by all the people. My cousins are in the back, smartly being quiet. The silence bothers me though, and I need a way to break it. It's unusual to hear silence after being with Sky and the others for so long.
The ceremony commences as I step into the velvet stage with my parents' chairs on it. I kneel in front of my mother, and everyone stands. She takes my crown off, and sets it aside. She then grabs my dad's crown, and settles it neatly in my hair. My mother half- shouts, "All hail the Flower King!"
The people repeat the chant as I stand up and face them. My mother then pulls the staff my dad always walked around with, and hands it to me. The once green orb on top turns a violent shade of cobalt. My favorite color. And green was always my dad's.
She releases me from the stage, and I walk as quickly and proudly as I can, wanting to go back to Preston ASAP. The people all get up, and follow me out of the room. Out in the hall, it seems the amount of people has multiplied. There are more people milling the halls, until they see me. They all stop, bow or curtsy, and start clapping. But I don't know why.
My mind is occupied by one question. Where did they all come from?! I feel a hand on my arm, and I look around to find my mom. She looks up at me, slightly concerned. "What's the matter, Robert?" "I- I just want to see Preston. I don't like being in crowds. Mom, please. I can't do this, I can't be here with all these people around. Okay?"
She looks slightly disappointed, by releases me to go back. But, she stops me seconds before I flee the crowd. She whispers to me, "I have a present for you waiting out by the gate. Follow me." She slips through the crowd as they part for her. I walk through as well, and make my way to the front gate outside.
She leads me out, and as we approach the gate, I see a black- something standing there. I get closer, and find it's a black horse. She's beautiful, with a glossy coat and sparkly green eyes. I fall in love with her the second I see her.
She trots over before I can walk to her, and nuzzles me. "Robert. This is your horse. You can name her whatever you'd like, as long as you take care of her." I rub her nose, and she leans her head into my chest. "I'm going to name you... Bianca." And she whinnies at me happily.
"Robert, she also has a black tack set in the stables. If you want to take her, then you have to get that." I lead Bianca to the stables, and grab the stuff. I carefully fit it to her, and when it's on, I give her a treat for being good about it. I get on, and we take a steady walk to the gate.
Once out, I take her up to a canter, and finally, we gallop through trees. Straight to the open plain between the castle and the the Solace mansion. We ride for a while, maybe an hour and a half, before I see the walls. Entering the gate, I find Brice leaned against the west wall, blood spattered around his head on the wall. Sky is next to him in the grass, motionless.
Bianca trips up, and starts to spook at the sight of the dragon, who stands a meter away. I dismount, and run to Sky and Brice. Bianca thankfully stands still. I go to Sky first, and try to wake him. He stirs, and gets up.
He notices Brice's condition, and runs over. "Brice? You okay buddy?" He rasps, "Eh. No." He tries to move his head, hisses in pain, and stops trying to move. I can see the blood is thickest where his head is laying currently, meaning he's been bleeding for a while.
He's lost a lot of blood by the looks of it, and his skin is very pale. A flash of yellow light in a nearby tower catches my attention. "What was that?!" Brice chokes out, "My mom- she... She's hurting Seto. Preston-" My heart sinks.
"What about Preston? Is he alright?" Brice shrugs a little, and points to the mansion doors. "She blasted him into there. I heard no voices afterwards." My heart races as it slowly sinks. My mind races at a million miles an hour. I let Sky help Brice while I go find Preston.
I run to the door to find him laying in a blood pool in the center of the marble floor. But my hopes rise when I see his chest slowly rise and fall as he breathes. He's alive. I run to his side, and help him to sit up in front of me. He screams in pain and his small lava mitts are pressed to his chest as he gasps for air.
Tears fall down his face, but they steam agains this lava skin. I can tell his ribs are broken, because his chest caves slightly, and there are sharp pieces I can see pressing against his skin, shirt, and jacket. In his dark eyes, all I see is pain. But deep inside, I see something else- love. This throws me off, and I back up for a half second.
I carefully pick Preston up, and carry him outside to where Sky and Brice are. Sky has mounted a beautiful white horse, with glowing gold armor. Brice is hanging on to Sky's waist, as to not fall off. I set Preston on Bianca, and climb on myself. I actually keep Preston in front of me, because I don't want to make him strain himself to hold onto me.
I lead Sky out the front gate, and together, we spur our horses to full gallop in the direction of the castle. The gates are raised immediately at the sight of me, and I speed in with Sky close to me. My mom rushes out, and I rein Bianca in. The horses are out of breath, but they're fine. Sky slips off his horse, and gently pulls Brice off the horse's back.
My mother has a soldier bring Preston down, and I lead the horses to the stables to relax and recuperate. I enter the castle, and the people have all left. The family is still here, but the main group of randoms had left. I found Sky and the others in the medic's room. The medic had been here for years, and she really is nice.
She has Brice's head wrapped up already, but the bandage isn't enough. I can see blood already seeping through the cloth. She's trying desperately to set Preston's ribs so they heal correctly. I feel bad for putting her through so much at once. But she finds the solutions quickly.
She finds a bendable piece of sheet metal, and bends it to form to the correct shape to help rim a human rib cage. She pulls up Preston's shirt to set it down, and cries out when she finds scars. She assesses them, then dismisses them as super old and not any risk of injury. She lays the metal down, and as the cool metal is laid down, I hear a hiss, as the heated lava touches the cool metal. Preston relaxes when she sits him up and pulls his shirt back down.
She goes back to Brice, who's stirring in pain. His eyes open, and I see anguish. He's completely stressed over Seto. He sits up in a panic, and the medic tries to press him back down gently. She takes a stress cube (square stress ball) from her nightstand, and hands it to him to help.
He lays back down, still in emotional stress. And we wait while the medic does her thing.