Patreon LogoYour support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)

The Prince's Gift (Perfection and NaoChan)

Eria was not thoroughly impressed with the gardens, they were much prettier at home. Probably because of his mother. It was a little depressing as he walked along a cobbled path taking a seat beside a fountain that held some fish. His heart started to beat a little faster when he neared the water, despite there being very little. But it helped to keep him alert and distracted. The sun was warm and calming, though making the day a little more bearable.

At home he'd just not be getting up with great protests against his younger servant. Felix, a boy only about 13, who saw to all the young prince's personal needs. They were close and he missed him terribly now. His older servant, one that had reared two generations of royal children now, was grouchy and demanding. He did not stand for any whining as he would be rushing him off to his lessons with an apple in hand. Eira smiled lightly, even he was missed now!

A light sneeze over took the prince, causing Eira to glance up at the palace with a light frown. What was that saying when you sneezed...somebody was talking about you?
 
The rest of the breakfast was quiet while the two ate. When Jaedan was finished, he nodded at his father before standing up. He walked out of the dining room and up to his bedroom to change out of these clothes. He changed into something he could ride in and grabbed some clothes for Eira.

They were older clothes, from when he was younger, so Jaedan figured they would fit him too. He planned on going as far as he could inside the grounds and see if he could take the boy. He doubted he would out in broad daylight. But it was fun to try.

He wondered around the castle until a few of the male servants told him where to go. The female servants...well..they were far too giggly to talk too. He went outside to the gardens and found the boy at the fountain. "Pet!"
 
Eiravan's arrival had caused quite a little stir in the maids quarters, each eager to get a peek at the foreign prince. Already he had a little fan-club going. The boy bit his lip softly as he reached into the water dragging his finger along the surface, causing the fish to scatter. Fish were such peaceful creatures, it was a shame they had to live in water.

Despite the peacefulness of the garden Eira was bored, which made his depression only that much worse. If only he'd knew what was coming his way, he wouldn't have been so inclined to mope about his solitude.

Jaedan's arrival was not noticed until his voice broke the younger's silent world. He greeted his master with a light glare, nothing too harsh as his eyes were still a crystal color. It was obvious that he did not approve of being call 'pet.' "People are given names for a reason," he muttered in reply before turning his attention back to the fish and purposely away from the older prince.
 
"I know, but people are also given nicknames for a reason as well. If you want, you can call me master," Jaedan said with a small chuckle and shook his head. He watched Eira for a moment, having an urge to just push him into the fountain. But that was childish, so he didn't.

"Have you ever been on a horse?" he asked curiously, cocking his head to the side a little bit. "I was planning on riding today. I can show you the boundaries of castle grounds faster if we ride horses. If you don't, we can always ride one horse, you in front of me."
 
Eiravan made no move to look back at the other while he talked. The only clue he gave that he heard the other was the tightening of his fits in frustration. "No thank you," he answered with a hint of darkness in his voice. Pushing the teen in the water was a very-very bad idea. He would have been beside himself with grief and would surly throw a very huge fit.

Riding, now this peeked his attention. Eira loved riding! He sat up a little and turned around almost shyly. The question of if he could ride or not was insulting. He WAS a prince after all, privileged beyond most peoples dreams. "I can ride well enough," he informed the other. 'Well enough' was an understatement, a show of modesty that his mother had taught him. Eiravan was actually a very good rider.
 
"Well, I don't suppose you can ride in robes, so these are from a few years back, when I was about your size," Jaedan said, handing over the leggings and the light cotton shirt. "Just change right here. There's no one about at this time of morning." He then winked at Eira a little bit. "I promise I won't touch." Right not at least. "But I can't promise I won't look at you." He said with a light chuckle.
 
Eiravan again narrowed his eyes at the other, he found no humor in his words. Taking the garments he started passed Jaedan. "I think I'll change indoors," he muttered. Eira had changed in front of other males before, but friends or family (male cousins, his brother) without any problems. But Jaedan was different, he was already turning pink by his words alone. No way was he stripping out in the open for him to watch. Eira would never be able to get the blush off his cheeks!

The clothing he'd offered was still a little too big on him, and it felt very weird. The style was all wrong, hardly flattering the boy's frame. Not that he didn't look cute still, Eira was one that could wear anything and get away with it. It was just...not the style the boy was use to was all. He could ride in robes easily but he hadn't changed that day and the need was overwhelming enough to deal with the alien clothing.

"I should have a trunk that was left behind with me..." he informed the prince as he emerged from an empty room not far from the terrace he'd come in from. "I would apperciate it if you located that for me...I do not think I can stand wearing these things much longer," he whined pulling here and there at his attire.
 
Jaedan glanced over at Eira when he came back outside and blinked. His clothes were still a little too big on him...but that just made him all the more cute, all the more attractive in his old clothes. Ah, he would take him right here if he could, but he could wait. "I don't think so. You look absolutely adorable in my clothes. You look good enough to eat," he said, with a soft chuckle.

"But I guess I'll inform one of the servants to find that for you and have it sent up to my room later. Right now, though, we are going to ride so I can show you where you can and cannot go." The castle grounds were pretty big, surrounded by large walls on all four sides. It would be a little hard to get out of the grounds, but just in case.

"The stables are this way," Jaedan said and started to walk away from the gardens and rounded the corner to the other side of the castle. It was kind of a walk, but Jaedan was used to it. He opened the door to the stables and walked inside. "The black horse is mine. Coal is his name," he said, walking over to the large black animal and started to pet down his nose. "The white one was my mothers. Her name is Quartz. The big beastly brown one over there is my fathers, Criate. You can't ride him."
 
Eira glared at the other, 'no' was still not something he was taking very easily. Nobody had dared tell him no before. "It is my body and my clothing, I have a right to wear what I wish," he growled. He did not mind humoring Jaedan on occasion, compromising by wearing these clothing like he was now. But all the time, hardly not! Getting what he wanted in the end the prince nodded slightly and even muttered a thank you.

If the grounds were surrounded by walls it was pretty obvious where he could and couldn't go...but he did not point the out verbally. He was looking forward to the ride. The walk around the castle was nice, the length of the walk was a perfect way to pass the time. However, Eira was growing more and more excited as they reached the stables.

It was nice to smell something...normal. It was like every other stables; horses, stalls, hay, manure. "Since I'm not riding with you...so who can I ride," he asked walking up an aisle looking at each horse in turn.
 
Jaedan glanced around the stall as he opened up Coal's gate. "Well, you can ride Quartz, if you want. You can ride any but Criate. Only father rides that one. All the others are ridden daily by the stable boys, so they are all in shape and used to riders on their bad, with or without saddle. I like bareback," he said, laughing again and winking over at Eira. "As you will experience sooner or later."

"They are all pretty tame. So go ahead and ride Skite. The one at the end on the right had side, the white one with black specks," Jaedan said, pulling out his horse. He put the reins on the animal and waited for Eira to get Skite.
 
Eria was certainly not going to ride the horse that was supposed to have been Jaedan's mother's. It just...didn't feel very right. But the others, they were all very beautiful in their own ways. Although not as perfect as the first three, but still very well bred and top of the line horsed, that much he could see. The comment from Jaedan earned him a quick glare, obviously Eira wasn't amused. "Your arrogance is going to come back and bit you hard one day," he warned trying to not let the other's words bother him so much. For deep down, willing or not, he knew them to be true.

Skite...it did not take the prince long to locate the white and black horse. Eira smiled a little, a real smile that he had not broken in almost a week now. Softly he reached out his hand and stroked the nose of the beast, muttering softly to him before taking the reins. He walked the horse out of the stables before easily pulling himself up onto the large animals back. Eira was very well gifted, he was quite the natural and certainly looked the part sitting up on the beasts blanketed back. "Well?" he asked with a hint of impatience to Jaedan.
 
Jaedan rolled his eyes a little bit as he rode his horse out of the stable. "Come on, I'll show you the borders. There's even a dense forest along the backside. All natural. Whoever built the walls purposely went around the forest. They didn't want to go through it. It's quiet nice."

"The garden you were in is one of the smaller ones. The bigger, nicer looking garden's are in the front of the castle. The natural gardens are on the sides and the forest in the back. The practice grounds are there too. Are you skilled with the bow or sword?" Jaedan asked, glancing over at him as he started to ride.
 
There was not very many forests in his part of the continent, and even those that did stand were off limits to the royal children. So this was certainly interesting news. "A wood...good place to get oneself lost," he smirk, commenting his thoughts aloud. Eiravan urged his mount forward, closing his eyes a moment and taking a deep breath. In those moments his eyes were closed he could almost smell the salty air of the sea...of home. But all that vanished with Jaedan's continued words.

"Bow..." automatically, Eiravan answered. Although he'd been trained in swordplay he was certainly no match for any skilled fighter. He knew enough to hold his own defense for a short amount of time, but anything more and he was useless. His body just wasn't meant to hold something to heavy. It was moments later that he registered the question frowning slightly in thought. "Why?" he asked, no demand in his voice, just pure curiosity.
 
"There's practice ranges back here," Jaedan repeated, shaking his head a little bit. Personally, he was skilled in both the bow and the sword, but he was much better at swordplay than he was at the bow. He would much rather be up close and personally in a fight than shooting from above.

"Maybe you can practice your skills when I have things to do. Unless someone tells you you need to do other things. I think father is thinking about firing a stable boy or a gardener. Maybe you can take over their jobs." Without pay of course. No need to pay a slave.
 
Again he was surprised and said nothing. Putting a weapon into the enemy's hand. Where these people really so arrogant in their confidence? Eira wasn't likely to take up the offer of practicing. He didn't like the idea of them knowing just how good he was. Accept, maybe a little match between he and his master once, that might be interesting. He wouldn't mind besting the other at at least one thing.

"I'm more than capable of keeping myself entertained with or without you busy," he said shortly. Working was not something he planned to do at all. As if he'd last an hour in either. The masters of the stables and gardens would be running him out for his too soft hands hand lack of mussel. Every flower in the gardens would be dead by noon.
 
"Typical spoiled prince. Of course, not a lot is expected of the second born," Jaedan said, shrugging his shoulders a little bit. "With not many responsibilities on your shoulders, discipline is limited. Am I right?" he asked, glancing over at Eiravan for a moment before smirking a little bit. "So, because you don't have and future king duties to attend to, I bet mommy spoiled you senseless so you wouldn't feel like you were left out. Am I wrong?"

Jaedan couldn't help the small smirk on his face as they past the practice grounds and neared the forest. He liked it when Eiravan tried to fight a battle he was probably not going to win. He was cute to watch the boy get all heated up, whether from anger or embarrassment.
 
"As if you have any room to point fingers at spoiledness," he retorted in a clam manner. "As if you know anything about the obligations of a second born," he was certainly a little offended but tried hard not to get upset by it. Knowing it would only feed into the other.

Typically in their culture the second born was to be his brother's high commander, ambassador in foreign affairs and all around right-hand advisory. The seconds were usually sent to sea on his 17th year to put the teachings of command into use, to get his ass kicked around, to learn that respect is something earned whether you are royal or not. But none of that would happen as tradition because he was sent here...only having just turned sixteen.

He might have educated the other prince about this but figured he'd find the information dull so he said nothing. Besides, if he had half the education Damajanti and he had Jaedan would have already known about his people's traditions. "Your childish attempt to upset me won't work, for I'm not without some discipline," he said showing this by keeping his face plant of emotion and urged his mount on ahead of the prince's.

 
The older prince smirked a little bit as he watched Eiravan ride ahead of him. "There's a little sparkling pond in the middle of this forest. I think it was purified at some point long ago, because it doesn't ever get dirty," he called out to him, hitching his horse forward so he was neck to neck with Skite and Eira. "It's always a sparkling clear blue color."

His mother used to take him to it all the time when he was little. He had stopped going for a couple years after she was kidnapped and murmured. His father had found the man who had done it and hung him, setting a large fire underneath. Jaedan had watched the whole thing. He started to come back to the pond only two years back.
 
Eira slowed a little at the mention of a pond. Although it sounded beautiful he had no desire to continue in that direction. Oceans were bad enough but ponds held their own danger, especially when one considered his current escort. "I'm sure it is," he muttered bringing his mount to a sudden halt. "I'm sorry that water does not impress me in the least, perhaps another direction," he suggested looking to turn around.,
 
Jaedan blinked and their raised his eyebrows a little bit at the prince. "Don't tell me the prince from the Cain, the country that is basically surrounded by water, is afraid of it?" he asked curiously, cocking his head to the side a little bit. "It's not deep at all. There is no way you can drown unless I decided to be really sadistic and hold your head down."

"And since I have no desire to do so, there is nothing to worry about. You had no problem sitting next to the fountain at the garden," Jaedan pointed out. He resisted the urge to laugh at the prince. Being afraid of water...that was just so very funny.
 
Eiravan couldn't hold back a light blush when he saw the other look at him with raised brows. He knew what was coming and braced himself. It wasn't like he had never heard it before...Dama teased him constantly. No one else did as it was pretty common knowledge by the time Eira turned 6. He even insisted on a new room one that didn't face the oceans.

The teen's hands tightened around the reins, causing his stable mount to shack his head slightly in annoyance. The beast shifted feeling Eira's tension. His current ride had not been a bother up until this very moment.

"Of course I am not," he lied, with more evenness in his voice that there should have been. Royals were trained to be liers. Eiravan's only flaw was his blushes and his eyes. But for one to look at these they would have to know him well enough. His eyes shifted ever so slightly with his lies, unable to keep a straight look as he normally did with anyone. "I just don't trust you, regardless to what you say," he added quickly hoping to save any slips he might have given way.
 
"Calm down. Skite doesn't like it when his rider tenses up like that," Jaedan murmured softly, moving so he was in front of Eira and Skite and reached over to run his hand slowly down his nose. "There, there, boy. It's okay," he whispered softly, smiling a little bit at the younger horse. "He's okay," he whispered, rubbing a soothing hand up and down his nose until he was calmer than before.

"Are you better?" he asked, raising his eyebrows up at Eira. "Calm down. It's just a little pond. No need to throw a little fit over it," he said, rolling his eyes a little bit at the prince. "Come on then. There's a nice grassy clearing up this way."
 
Eiravan was never usually easily worked up, he'd been known to be very gentle and calm back home. It was just when he was around Jaedan that he couldn't help but get ruffled. Realizing the effect he was having on the horse drew his attention to the present. He stroked the beasts neck in apology, having no idea how to comfort the poor thing in this language.

Eyes narrowed up at the other, "I told you I haven't anything against the damn pond," the light flush still present in his continued lie. "It is you..." he added with a mutter. Skite didn't wait for Eira's command to move, he followed Jaedan and Coal, obviously knowing where he was and knowing the direction they were headed. Grassy area, yummy!
 
"But you do have something against the pond," Jaedan said and changed the direction so that they were going to the pond instead. If Eira wanted to prove he had no problem with the pond, then Jaedan didn't mind watched the flustered boy get scared over a little bit of water.

"We'll go to the pond and you can show me you aren't afraid of the big bad water," Jaedan said, rolling his eyes a little bit. "And I do have that affect on most people anyway. I press buttons and they get angry. It's all fun to watch. When they grow bored of my antics, I go on to the next."
 
Eiravan clenched his teeth, this time trying hard to keep his body relaxed for the sake of the horse. He was going to go alone with Jaedan just to prove the other wrong. Or rather make it appear this way. But the older prince gave him another option, perhaps an outing after all. He once more forced Skite to come to a stop and dismounted. "Well, I'm thoroughly bored with your antics so perhaps it is time for you to move on," he suggested smugly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom