Mercenary Little Death Bringer (2 page)

“You know I will not care what you look like.
You are my best friend and you shall always be so.”

The only problem was that I cared. “Yes, you
shall be king and be friends with an old, grouchy human woman.”

“The only difference from now will be your
age,” he teased me. I ignored the tease and tossed a pebble into
the water. “What is really bothering you?” he asked. “You have been
acting differently since your birthday.”

I turned and looked at his perfectly
proportioned body and the perfectly pointed ears and sighed. “It’s
nothing. Just realizing that my death is approaching ever closer
each year.” It was a lie, but I couldn’t tell him that the real
reason I was upset was because my reactions and feelings towards
him had changed this past year and I didn’t know why or what it
meant.

“You will live a long and happy life,” he
assured me.

“I would be happy if I could live longer than
a human,” I whispered.

“If there were a way to change that for you,
I would. You know that, right?”

I hugged him and then leaned my head against
his shoulder. “You really are my best friend. The only solace I
have is that I will never have to see you die.”

He pushed me away and stared into my eyes.
“Do not talk of such things.”

“It’s the truth,” I whispered.

“You think I like to remember that I will
have to watch you die? Do you think I enjoy knowing that I will
have to watch you get old and feeble and bear witness to your
death?! It is a burden that I must bear and I hate it.”

I knew he wasn’t trying to be mean and yet
his words stung. I stood up and turned away from him. “Then perhaps
we would be better off not being friends. Then neither of us would
have to endure this.”

“You are overreacting yet again,” he said
angrily.

I wasn’t trying to be childish. It truly made
sense. “Or perhaps I am making better sense than ever before. You
are going to be king. You are going to begin courting female elves
within the next year. I am only impeding that process by dragging
you off on adventures. Maybe I should leave,” I said as I started
walking away.

“You are being childish and foolish,” he
called to me as he started following. “Stop this nonsense and let’s
go for a ride.”

“It is not foolishness or childishness. It is
the first smart thing I have ever done. From now on you should
spend more time with your elven friends and not me. I will ride
with you to the Academy and once my training is complete I will
move out of the Elven Kingdom and remove this burden from your
shoulders.”

“I did not mean it like that and you know
it!” he yelled as he caught up to me.

I turned to him and met his eyes with a
slight smile. “I know you didn’t, but it is the truth. You are my
best friend and I must do what is best for you. I will see you
Monday when we leave for the Academy.”

“Pushing me away won’t fix this. You will
only cause yourself and me more pain. Do not do this,” he
whispered.

“Favian!” Jovan called, “The King wants you
at the arena.”

“Marin,” Favian whispered, “Come with
me.”

I straightened my back and continued on my
way to the castle. It pained me to think of life without Favian,
but I wanted what was best for him. I reached to open the door and
Favian opened it for me. “What are you doing?” I asked him in
shock.

“If you won’t come with me then I will come
with you.”

“Favian, Father summoned you.”

“Yes, but you are my partner and wherever you
go, I go.”

“I am trying to save us both,” I
whispered.

“You are being a stubborn, rash girl and
until you realize that it would be far worse for us to stop being
friends then deal with the issues in seventy years I will ignore
your words and stay by your side.”

“You really aren’t going to let me do this,
are you?” I asked with a sigh.

He smiled. “I am your best friend and I will
always be your best friend. Even if you try to do stupid things
that you think are in my best interest.”

“You are so stubborn.”

“You are very rash,” he whispered as he
stepped forward and hugged me.

“I don’t want to be a burden on you,” I
whispered from within his arms.

“You have never been a burden. You have
always just been my friend.”

“You make being angry at you very difficult,”
I said with a laugh.

“It’s part of my charm as Prince. If even my
best friend cannot stay mad at me then the entire kingdom has no
hope.”

I pulled out of his embrace and said, “I’m
sorry.” I hated it when my girly emotions got the better of me.

He punched my shoulder softly. “No worries. I
know that sometimes you have to have some drama or your girl brain
will explode.”

“I was not being dramatic!” I said
angrily.

“Oh, but you were.”

“Weren’t you summoned to go somewhere?” I
asked him with a scowl.

He grabbed my hand and dragged me away from
the castle and back towards the arena. “Yes, we were.”

As much as I hated to admit it, I would have
been miserable had he allowed me to go through with my plan. I
couldn’t imagine life without Favian. He was with me all of the
time and I planned all of my moves according to his presence. I had
really been trying to help us, but I was glad I couldn’t go through
with it.

We arrived at the arena to find Kato and
Father sparring. I watched the two best friends with awe as I
leaned against the fence. They moved almost too fast for me to keep
track of. Their match went on and on and seemed as if it would
never end, but then Kato stepped back and dropped his sword. “I
submit. I will die of dehydration if I do not stop this match.”

Father sighed. “You are such a wimp about the
sun. How did I ever end up with you as a guard?”

Kato picked his sword back up and sheathed
it. “You picked me, remember?”

Father smiled. “Yes, one of my few
mistakes.”

Kato laughed and then Father laughed with
him. Theirs was a five hundred year old friendship, something I
could only dream of. I turned to Favian and he put his arm around
my shoulders and squeezed. “See, friends have spats, but you must
always stay together. I bet if you asked Father he could tell you
of many times where he and Kato argued or didn’t see eye to
eye.”

“Alright, you made your point. I will not try
to separate us again.”

He released me and hopped over the fence.
“You called for me, Father?”

Father nodded his head. “Yes. I’d like you to
take Jovan and some of the others out to check on the Pegasus herd.
They haven’t come up here in a week, which is not like them.”

My cheeriness plummeted and I began to walk
away from the arena. Only elves were allowed to venture out into
the Pegasus’ area of the kingdom. They were a race of flying horses
created by Father and he had made the rule when he created them
that only elves could go to their fields. I would be forced to stay
at the castle and be bored.

Kato walked beside me and said, “Do not look
so sullen. He made that rule one hundred years before they adopted
you.”

“I know, Kato, but it still sucks.”

“You have met the Pegasus before, right?” I
nodded my head. “And you’ve ridden one?” I nodded my head again.
“So then why are you upset? It’s one of only two things you are not
allowed to do here. You should be happy. You are the only human in
existence to have ridden a Pegasus.”

I groaned. “Alright, Kato I get it. I’m being
silly, but I do wish I could go, especially if there is going to be
trouble.”

“Prince Favian can handle whatever it is,”
Kato assured me.

I rolled my eyes. “Duh.”

Kato laughed and put his arm around me. “How
about you and I go raid the kitchen and steal a piece of berry
cake?”

“You raid the kitchen?” I asked in shock.
“You never do anything bad.”

He laughed. “I am known as the berry cake
bandit. Now, if you promise to be good I will show you the best way
to sneak into the kitchen and the best escape route.”

Somehow he always knew what to say or do to
ease my distress and make me smile. I followed him around to the
side of the castle and then let him lead me through a secret
opening even I had not found yet. Ten minutes later we had snuck
into the kitchen, grabbed a piece of cake and were almost out
completely free, when the chef came in and spotted us.

“Cake thieves!” He yelled. “Kato I will get
you for this!”

“Run!” Kato said and then booked it to the
left, out another door I had never noticed. It led into the
ballroom, which would have been great if Mother hadn’t been sitting
there waiting for me to begin our next lessons.

“Kato!” She said in a chastising tone, “I
told you that when you steal cake you must steal an extra piece for
me.”

Kato pulled a hidden piece out and set it on
the table in front of her. “I always do as my Queen asks.”

Mother clapped her hands together with a
bright smile on her face like a child receiving a present and then
took a bite from the cake. “Thank you!”

I stared at the two adult elves, each over
five hundred years old, stealing cake like adolescents and could
not believe I had witnessed it. Favian would never believe me.

“Sit, let’s eat our cake,” Mother said as she
took another bite.

Kato and I took seats at the table and we ate
our cake and they shared stories of other cake heists over the
years. I laughed until I cried. They were starting to share stories
about my first discretions when I was only four years old and had
just arrived at the kingdom when Father walked in and eyed the
crumbs on the table accusingly. “What is going on here?”

“We were just discussing Marin’s first
attempts to steal candy from the kitchen when she was only four
years old and had first come here,” Mother said with a smile. Kato
tried to discreetly wipe the crumbs off of the table without Father
noticing. Apparently Father was not part of the cake heists.

Father sat down and laughed. “Yes, those were
very entertaining, except when the chef caught you the one time and
spanked you. You, being the girl that you are, refused to cry when
he spanked you because you were too happy that you had managed to
get a piece of candy and had eaten it before he had caught
you.”

I laughed and shook my head. “I hadn’t
realized I was so naughty when I was younger.”

“Oh yes, your naughtiness started as soon as
you arrived,” Mother teased.

“Hello,” Favian said as he entered. “What’s
going on?”

“Just reminiscing,” Father said, “How fare
the Pegasus?”

“They are fine, just being lazy in these Fall
months,” Favian said as he sat down beside me at the table.

“I think I’m going to head to bed,” I said as
I stood up. “Tomorrow is my last day to enjoy the delights of home
and I want to be up early to enjoy them.”

“I think I shall do the same. That sparring
match with father has tired me out,” Favian said as he yawned.
“Good night, Mother. Good night, Father. Kato.”

“Good night children,” Mother said.

“Good night everyone,” I said with a wave as
I followed Favian out of the ballroom where we had been.

“So why are you really heading out so early?”
Favian asked accusingly as soon as the ballroom doors closed behind
us.

“I really am exhausted,” I told him. “I’ve
been awake since before the sun rose this morning.”

“So you aren’t going to sneak off somewhere?”
he asked unbelievingly.

“No,” I said seriously. “I really am going to
bed.”

Shock and disbelief were written on his face,
but he knew I wouldn’t lie to him about my plans for sneaking off.
“Well in that case I will see you tomorrow morning bright and
early. Want to go for a ride through the fields tomorrow?”

I shook my head. “No, we will be doing a lot
of riding the next day.”

“I meant on a Pegasus,” he said with a
smirk.

“Really?!” I asked excitedly.

He nodded his head. “One of them is coming to
the castle tomorrow and he agreed to take you and me for a
ride.”

I beamed happily and hugged him. “Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you!”

He laughed and patted my back. “Now get to
bed.”

I did as he said and went to bed and despite
my excitement, I fell asleep dreaming of flying on a Pegasus across
the fields of the Elven Kingdom.

~~~~

CHAPTER TWO

I knew it was late and getting later by the
second, especially since I still had to get changed, but I couldn’t
say anything to Mother since it would only upset her. She was my
foster mother after all and I strived to please her and do my best
since I wasn’t her born daughter and they had given me so much over
the years.

Despite my knowledge of how late it was, I
sat at one of the many tables in the ballroom preparing tea in a
tea pot and then pouring it into cups like a lady would when
serving guests. Personally I believed people could serve themselves
just as well as I could, but I did as Mother asked and practiced
serving.

“Marin!” Favian yelled as he rushed into the
ballroom.

I set the teapot down, stood slowly and
adjusted the dress appropriately as I moved away from the table. I
was still in Mother’s training and had to follow her rules even
though all I wanted to do was run to Favian and then out of the
room. I curtsied to Favian and asked, “How may I assist you Prince
Favian?”

He glanced at Mother who was giving him the
evil stare and sighed in exasperation. He had been trained since he
was born to be a proper prince so this was nothing new to him. He
just hated practicing when it wasn’t necessary. He bowed to me and
then picked my hand up and kissed the back of it softly. The kiss
sent tingles up my arm to my spine, but I kept perfectly still so
that he wouldn’t notice. “It is a pleasure to see you Miss Marin. I
have come seeking your company as it is time to leave the Elven
Kingdom and travel. We are
late
. It is the afternoon of
Sunday and we shall not make it on time to the Academy as it
is.”