Pick Your Poison

Epilogue

Months had passed.

Good months as well as bad months; months where prince Kaine slowly but surely started healing from the pain and suffering he'd gone though. He seemed to have acknowledged that maybe he complained a little too much, which was also a good thing, since it made prince Kaine less annoying.

They were also months where prince Kenyon had been arrested for his deeds, even though he was a member of the royal family; he wouldn't be sentenced to death, like citizens would when trying to murder their future king, but he would be getting a long penalty to make him pay for what he'd done.

And they were the months, especially last month, working slowly towards prince Kaine being so healthy he wouldn't need Fychon's help anymore.

This was, strange as it may sound, something bad. Knowing he'd have to leave soon left a bitter aftertaste in Fychon's mouth.

It wasn't like he didn't want to go back home, because he did; he missed the forest, the plants and animals he took care of back there, and he missed his own bed so terribly that he'd barely even slept at the royal castle. But something about this journey, the first time he felt actually important, coming to an end made him at least a little bit sad.

At least there was something to ease his pain on his last morning at the castle; his reward. Of course, he could've just taken gold as a reward, but the royal family owned things much more valuable to Fychon. They had an entire library filled with all sorts of books, going from historical books to herbal books.

That's why, an hour or two before Fychon would be leaving, prince Kaine walked him down to the library.

It was all the way in their basement, and Fychon had never even been there, because whenever he needed books for research he'd just ask Aurus.

So, walking down the raggedy steps that led there, made his heart race like never before. Entering the room with the massive shelves made from the finest wood and filled with the most sacred books, felt like falling in love; it made butterflies erupt in Fychon's stomach and send shivers down his spine.

"Whoa," he silently whispered when stroking with his finger past the spines of the books. They weren't even covered in the slightest bit of dust, and Fychon was well aware that books were great at collecting dust in no time, so someone must've been hired to clean them off every day.

"Do you like it?" prince Kaine asked once he'd also managed to make it down the steep, wooden stairs.

Fychon smiled at all the books, nodding happily. "I do!"

Fychon turned around to see prince Kaine's slender body leaning on a cane. It seemed as if it was the only thing keeping the healing prince upright, but Fychon had helped him walk without a cane many times in the past week.

The cane made it easier though, since he was still healing physically. Being bedridden for so long had taken a toll on the prince's body. Although the way prince Kaine already seemed accustomed to walking with a cane made Fychon believe that he already limped long before they met; maybe he had some cool battle scar from a sword fight Fychon didn't know of.

He would never find that out, though, because after he'd leave later today he probably wouldn't return to the castle anymore.

When Fychon turned around once more and danced around between the many bookshelves, prince Kaine snickered; it must've looked very ridiculous, because prince Kaine had been laughing at Fychon less over the past weeks. It was almost as if, after having saved his life, the young prince was getting some respect for Fychon. If he did, that was gone now, because Fychon was like a little kid in a candy store here.