Bad Guy (CARZIGER ROYALTY AU)

♚ chapter two: the peasant who had everything ♚

While going rouge and living your life on the streets stealing from street vendors was heavily frowned upon, that was how Cody Carson, the rooftop boy, had spent the younger years of his life. The only people who knew of this were the ones who had recruited him on his secret mission as an assassin to kill the prince.

Of course, Cody hadn't even known their enemy kingdom had a prince. All he had seen was the princess who stood by her mother's right side in all the meetings and paintings he had seen. Who was he to doubt these people, though? They were part of the government and had promised him a high reward of money, but they had also blackmailed him into going along with their plan, threatening to turn him in for stealing, which was punishable by death.

They knew the blue-eyed male had determination and a stone cold heart, so that might've been why they chose him out of all the thieves in the kingdom. They also had figured out he had a soft side, to befriend the prince and gain his trust so he could grow close to him and inevitably kill him. While the idea didn't sound so appealing the more he ran through it in his head, he pushed his feelings aside.

Another thing worried him, though. Being deeply in the closet, he was afraid he would fall in love with this prince and be unable to kill him. The plan was supposed to last two months, give or take a few weeks, a year at the most. After that, if he could not follow through with the mission, the government would take Cody away and do whatever they saw fit with him.

The reason they were doing this was unclear, but it had something to do with the war that was starting between the two kingdoms. Perhaps this was revenge for whatever the other kingdom had done to the one Cody was born in. His government seemed to be confident this would surely get the king and queen fired up, or have them break down at the loss of their son. The outcome was the one thing they were most afraid and unsure of.

So far, Cody had been in the castle three days and had gone those three days without knowing who the prince was, or what he looked like. The one thing the people had failed to tell him was what the prince looked like, and it seemed they did not know. Of course, with such a major fault in their plan, there was a chance Cody might not even find the prince.

This deeply upset him for two reasons, the first being he didn't want to find out what the government did to thieves who did not follow their instructions and bend down to their will. Death would most likely be too generous for them, and he didn't want to imagine what kind of torture and pain they would inflict on a boy so young and emotionally fragile as himself. The second was that he merely wanted to meet the prince and see what all the hype was about. He deserved an explanation of why this boy was so sought after, and maybe he'd even end up desiring the prince, too. Alas, he had no idea what the most likely gorgeous male looked like, which threw him off completely. How had their government failed to have seen this? He had no idea.

While he spent the day serving the royal family and cleaning the massive castle with the help of the other peasants and slaves, he changed into more casual clothes he had taken with him from his home and climbed up onto the roof to gaze at the stars. Sleeping at a reasonable time of night seemed impossible, since he was used to sneaking around in the dead of night and breaking into stores, stealing items that were left unattended.

Space brought him some comfort, as it seemed the longer he stared up into the murky, midnight blue sky, the more things he noticed about the world around him. The faint rustling of the tree branches and leaves in the pleasant and serene breeze, the faint plinking noise of water falling off the rain catchers and into the metal basins below, and the quiet but noticeable noise of footsteps marching across the grounds every few minutes. Luckily, the soldiers had yet to notice him, which he was thankful for. His dark clothing and hair helped to conceal him in the shadows well enough so he could sit in the moonlight without being spotted. He was also convinced the soldiers could not see up to where he was, which relieved him some.

The graceful twittering of a bird which was perched on a tree branch nearby drew him from his thoughts, and he smiled peacefully at the tiny, winged creature. Animals helped to remind him of how simple things were when he was a child, reading stories and laughing with his sister. He hadn't seen his family in five years, and had lost track of the last time he had seen his dad. He missed his family and friends deeply, but knew deep down in his heart that reaching out to contact them was extremely dangerous, especially because of the situation he was in. The last thing he wanted was to drag the people he loved most into this mess, and risk having them slaughtered, too.

The word stuck in his mind, a constant reminder that at one point, he would have to go through with his mission and kill the prince, who had done nothing wrong to him or the kingdom he was ashamed to say he was from. The divide between the two empires had become more and more blurred as the time went on. At this point, they were fighting for even one more speck of land, just to say, "Hey! We're better and more powerful!" It was as if this was a joke to them, or some popularity contest they found joy in partaking in.

The bird called out its melody again and hopped away, then took off from the tree, making the nimble branch where it had once sat and balanced shudder and shake violently. Looking back to the stars made him aware of the scuffle of feet somewhere on the shingles of the palace roof. The soldiers marching by told him nobody had come to get him, so he slowly and carefully turned his head, casting a sideways look at where the noise had come from.

There sat a boy with gorgeous blond hair like sandy beaches along the coast of his home town, and green-hazel eyes which held a curiosity he could not explain as they gazed at one another in a silence which was oddly comforting. He played with his necklace, rolling the chain between his fingers as he waved at the other male sitting next to him, finding his presence oddly relaxing.

They both sported casual clothes, and looked at each other in an unspoken staring contest. Cody opened his mouth to speak, then closed it, like a fish. He simply blinked, which caused the blond boy, as Cody had decided to call him, to break out into a wide grin.

"I win. You blinked." The blond boy's voice was soft, yet cheery at the same time. It flowed from his lips and into Cody's ears like honey, sweet and innocent. A chuckle fell from the brown-haired boy's lips, happiness coursing through his veins at those four simple words. The effect the other had on him was strong and powerful, which unnerved, yet also heartened him.

They both laughed and shared small fractures of conversations, chitchatting back and forth to fill the void which was the silence the air held between them, which hung in the night sky. After their talking ceased and died off, the two boys stared up at the night sky as the ghostly light of the moon illuminated the shady trees and rocks down below.

Turning his head so the two of them were once again facing each other, he spoke once again and held out his hand, flashing him an affectionate and welcoming smile. "I'm Cody, and you're really nice to talk to."

The other laughed some and shook his head, then grabbed his wrist and pulled him closer so he could faintly whisper in his ear.

"Actually, I'm Maxx."