Masked Emotions // Dream6d

Chapter 14

Warning: Strong language, mention of death, illness

" Let me get this straight," Zak started, still not fully wrapping his head around it. " You're the former queen of Trimid, and Darryl's your second son."

" That is what I just said, yes," the old woman confirmed. " Are you alright, do you need to sleep on this information? It can be a lot to take in.

Zak shook his head, lowering himself into a chair. He held his head in his hands as he tried to process everything he'd just learned. The man he'd known for years had just revealed himself to be the second prince of Trimid. How were you supposed to handle news like that?

     " Actually, I think I might need to sleep on it," the apprentice sighed, running his hands through his hair. The old queen gave him directions to one of the spare bedrooms and he walked out. As he left, though, he saw Darryl watching him, a sad smile on his face.

The dark-haired man shut the door to the room and flopped down onto the bed, pleasantly surprised to find it very comfortable. Unfortunately, the silence provided him alone time with his thoughts, and they were not all positive. He tried his best to just focus, and get his mind under control, but he couldn't ignore it. Darryl had hidden something from him. A secret so large it felt like it would drive the young man crazy. He wasn't the only one who was surprised, he had to keep in mind that Vincent also had never known of this.

Zak thought back to when he'd first met Darryl in the market place in the capital city of Trimid. The young man had been a few coins short, and Darryl had covered the cost. They'd became quick friends, often meeting on the outskirts of town to mess around with some wooden swords Zak had made. Though, one day, Darryl told the young man that he wouldn't be able to meet as much, since he'd gotten a job in the castle, working under one of the main chefs.

Looking back, that hadn't been a lie. Darryl worked his way from the bottom and became the main chef for the King. A very big honor, he made sure to brag. It was a little weird to think that the former King was Darryl's older brother. Every now and then, when they could meet, they would spar with each other. Zak always joked that Darryl was fit to lead an army with his fighting prowess. He remembered that Darryl had looked very uncomfortable after he'd said that.

At the time, Zak didn't understand why. It was just a compliment, why was he so upset about it? The dark-haired male would find out about the secret jobs his brother had given him later on. The two were sitting under a tree when Darryl had broken down, scarred from the latest assassination he'd had to go through with for his brother's sake. He broke down and told Zak that he was a hitman on the side, just to get extra money for his family.

The apprentice felt a pang in his heart at the memory. Darryl may have lied then, but his feelings that day were still true, even if his story wasn't. A small knock came at the door and Zak mumbled a quiet, " Come in."

" Hey," Darryl greeted softly, closing the door behind him as he entered. " How's it going?"

Zak couldn't help the snappy remark he gave back, " I don't know, I just found out my best friend was the prince of the kingdom I grew up in. Not just an esteemed chef with a dirty little side job. I'm fine."

Darryl sighed, a pained look crossing his face and the young man instantly regretted his words. " I'm sorry for keeping it from you."

" I'm sorry you couldn't trust me enough to tell me," Zak retorted, wincing as soon as the words left his mouth. Every sentence seemed to hit Darryl harder, and his apprentice hated himself more and more.

" It's not that, Zak," Darryl choked out. He seemed to look for the right words to say. " You were the only person, still are, the only person I feel I can trust 100%!"

" Then, why would you hide this from me," Zak snapped back, once again unable to control himself. " We told each other everything!"

" It was to protect our friendship, Zak!" Darryl responded with the same commanding tone as he had in the kitchen. He softened up a bit and took Zak's hand in his, making the young man's heart skip a beat. " If you knew I was royalty, you would've treated me differently. We never would've made it to where we are now."

Zak's voice lowered into almost a whisper, " Where are we now..."

The prince's green eyes sparked. He sat on the bed next to his apprentice, still holding his hand. " We're best friends, Zak. I promise I will never keep anything from you ever again."

" Never again?" Darryl nodded in confirmation. Zak bit his lip, his face heating up at the thought of his next question, " Then... don't you have something you want to tell me?"

The prince raised an eyebrow, confused. " What do you mean?"

" Oh my god, and you think I'm the clueless one," the apprentice groaned. Darryl's eyes widened and he became extremely flustered.

" You heard that?!"

Zak rolled his eyes, squeezing the older man's hand lightly. " Just because I'm a little sickly doesn't mean I'm passed out, stupid."

Something flashed through his green eyes and he smirked. " Hey, you're calling the Prince of Trimid stupid, I'm pretty sure that's a punishable offense!"

" Oh? And how are you going to punish me?" Zak giggled. " Gonna cut off my head? Lock me in jail and throw away the key?"

Darryl leaned closer and the smile fell from the dark-haired man's face. Zak backed up until his back was against the mattress and the prince was hovering over him. " Maybe not that extreme, I was thinking of something a little softer."

" Oh yeah?" Zak gulped, a little intimidated by the hint of mischief in Darryl's tone. " And what did you have in mind?"

" This." Darryl crashed his lips onto Zak's, surprising the smaller male, who's eyes widened in shock. The apprentice was suddenly worrying over every little detail. Was his breath bad? What was he supposed to do with his hands? Why was Darryl such a good kisser?!

Before he could stop panicking enough to kiss back, the prince pulled away, a frown on his face. " I'm sorry, that was a little sudden wasn't it. I realize now that you and I might not have been on the same page."

Darryl sat up, leaving a shocked Zak on the bed. " Oh geez, I should've probably asked you before I did that. If you hate me now, I understand."

Suddenly, the apprentice grabbed Darryl by the collar and pulled him back down, kissing him with a passion. The prince was surprised for a second before he slowly melted into it, snaking his arms around Zak's waist. They pulled away after a sweet minute and both of them were smiling like idiots. The prince put a hand on Zak's cheek.

" That was my last secret," he joked. His apprentice snorted.

" You did a really bad job of hiding that from me," Zak laughed. Darryl rolled his eyes, maneuvering so that he was settled on the bed next to the younger man. " I guess a few years of hanging out make you pretty easy to read, huh?"

" So... you're really okay with being with a prince," Darryl asked. His apprentice planted a small kiss on his cheek. " You do know that's going to be really stressful, right?"

" You're a prince, if someone get angry, you can kick them out of the kingdom." Darryl laughed and shook his head.

" No, I mean..." The prince trailed off, turning a little red. " If we were to..."

Zak nodded, understanding what he was getting at. " If we were to get married," he finished. " We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

Content with that answer, Darryl kissed the man's forehead and closed his eyes to sleep. Zak's ears burned when he realized the prince was not leaving, but staying with him for the night. After all their years of traveling together for jobs, even just hanging together as friends, they had never slept this close together. Zak would be lying to say he wasn't wide awake because of it. But it was fine. He had Darryl, and there was nothing keeping them apart anymore.

His Prince Charming.