The Assassin and The Betrothed

“Well, what are you waiting for?” The beautiful princess-to-be stood impatiently over Justinius’s bed, holding out the bottle to him. Justinius reached out his hand and grabbed the bottle. He swirled it, watching the thick purple liquid spin in the glass. “Good.” She said, “Now drink it.” Justinius sat for a moment, pondering the liquid, before he finally spoke.

“What is this?” Lady Beckinghall looked at him, appalled.

“Stop being an idiot! You know exactly what it is!”

“So, I wouldn’t be wrong in thinking it’s poison then?” He asked coolly.

“No, you wouldn’t be. And I wouldn’t be wrong in thinking you know what you’re supposed to do with it?” Justinius smiled and stood up. He threw the bottle on the floor, shattering it into a million pieces. Lady Beckinghall let out a shriek of surprise.

“What…. What do you think you’re doing?” She asked, trying to stand over him though he was now looking down on her. Justinius reached his hand out, laying it on her throat, and pushed her back until she was against the wall. “Wha… You… You… Scoundrel! Take your hands off me right now!”

“You know,” Justinius began, ignoring her words, “I always thought killing was wrong, but recently I’ve come to especially hate being killed. And now you’re standing here telling me that you’re trying to kill me? And I’m just supposed to go along with it?” Lady Beckinghall looked up at him, frightened.

“Who… Who are you?” She asked.

“Suppose that I open the door right now,” He said, ignoring her once again, “and I tell my guards that you were the one who poisoned me? What then?”

“You… You wouldn’t!”

“I wouldn’t?” Justinius feigned surprise, “Well, let’s just test that theory right now. Oh guards…”

“Please!” She looked up at him, tears welling in her eyes, “Please, don’t.”

“No? You don’t want that? But why should I do any different? Here I am, in my room with a dirty assassin,” She looked down in shame. “what reason would I have to not call my guards in?” She didn’t answer, just looked down, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment and fear.

“You can’t think of a reason either? Then I guess I’ll just call them in. Oh guar…”

“Please!” She finally spoke up. Her eyes were wet with tears and her cheeks were red hot. “I’ll do anything, please.” Justinius smiled.

“Well, maybe if you give me a kiss.”

“Huh!? Why should I do that?”

“Why? I think you know very well why.” Justinius brought his face close to hers, as she squirmed and turned away. “Fine, I guess a life behind bars is better than a kiss.” Justinius brought his hand to his mouth, feigning like he meant to call in his guards, when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned and saw Lady Beckinghall, blushing and looking at the ground.

“I’ll do it.” She said in a whisper.

“What was that?”
“I’ll do it!”

“Good, I love your enthusiasm.” He puckered his lips and stood still. She slowly moved her face towards his, until their lips met, and then she turned away quickly.

“There! I did it.”

“That wasn’t a kiss!” Justinius said.

“Huh!? I may have never kissed before, but I know what a kiss is!”

“No, this is a kiss.” He wrapped his arm around her waist, brought her close to him, then tilted her back, and kissed her deeply. When he let go of her, her entire face was beet red, and she was holding her hand to her mouth. “Now get out. I’m tired.”

“You’re just going to kiss me and then kick me out!?” She yelled angrily.

“Yes, now leave before I call the guards.” She stood there, looking ready to explode for a moment, before she turned towards the door. She grabbed the door handle, turned around and yelled “I hate you!” before finally leaving.

Justinius got into bed and as he began to fall asleep, he thought he just might end up enjoying this new world.

Justinius woke up to a knock at his door, but before he could answer, it opened, and someone stepped inside. When he could finally see through his sleepy eyes he saw the priest that had brought him there.

“What’s up, old man?” He asked, propping himself up casually with his arm.

“What’s… up?” The priest looked up, confused.

“No, don’t… don’t worry about it. Why did you come?”

“I told you last night that I would explain your situation to you.” The priest pulled out the chair by the desk and sat down, prepared for a long talk.

“Yeah, tell you what, I think I’m fine.” Justinius stood up, and began making his way out the door.

“You’re… fine. Hold on, Prince Justinius, wait!” The priest stood up and made his way quickly after the prince.

“Oh, by the way,” he stopped suddenly, and pointed to the purple puddle by his bed, “have someone clean that up. Tell them to be careful though, it’s poison.”

“It’s… poison? What do you mean?” But the prince had already walked away. “Justinius, please wait.” Justinius paused, and looked back at the old priest. “Even if you have accepted your circumstances, there are still things to be discussed.”

“Well make it fast, I want to check out the castle.” The priest was starting to look annoyed.

“This is no time for that!” He said, beginning to toe the line to anger. “You have none of the prince’s memories! No matter how much you look like him, people will grow suspicious when they see you acting… like… like… like a hoodlum!” Justinius stopped, and turned back to the priest with a sharp look in his eyes.

“A what?” The priest coughed awkwardly.

“Regardless, you need to be educated in the manner of a royal. I have set to resume your tutoring lessons. They will be held immediately in the royal lecture room.”

“Lessons, huh? Well, whatever. If I get bored though I’m leaving.”

“You mustn’t!” The priest raised his voice. “You no longer have the life you once had. You are now a prince, and one day you will be king. You must learn how to rule!” Justinius looked back with a smile.

“Oh, I know how to rule. I ran the largest bike gang in America, with all the diplomacy and brutality that entailed.” Suddenly he remembered his final moments. Knives sticking out of him from every angle, and Will standing over him, crying. Crying? Really? Why was he crying? He grit his teeth. “Well, maybe I could stand to learn a thing or two.”

He followed the priest’s directions to find the lecture room, but even with directions, it was hard to find his way through the labyrinth of a castle, and at some point he realized he was walking around in circles. He was about to try the same path again to see if maybe it would be different this time, when he heard a voice behind him.

“Stop! You’ve gone that way 5 times already! It’s not over there! Didn’t you hear the priest? He said to turn left at the entryway to the dining hall!” His betrothed, Lady Beckinghall was stomping towards him.

“Oh, is that what this is?” Justinius asked, looking up at the ornate double door he had been turning right at.

“You don’t know the entrance to the dining hall? What are you, an idiot?”

“Have you been following me?” He asked, ignoring her questions.

“Huh?! Why would I be following you?” She turned away from him, crossing her arms.

“You said I turned here 5 times, and you know the directions the priest gave me. You’d only know that if you were following me.” Her face flushed beet red.

“I… I was only making sure you didn’t tell anybody about what I did! I can’t be worrying all day if I will suddenly be arrested!”

“Well anyways, if you know the way, can you show me. I wanted to see the castle, but walking the same way every time is boring.”

“Ve… Very well. I’ll show you. But remember it! I can’t show you the way every time!” Justinius didn’t reply, only followed her as she walked. He looked at her as she walked ahead of him. Unlike last night, when she had on an elegant, gold laced dress, she was now wearing a less formal dress that stopped above her knees, and showed her outline a bit better.

“I like this dress on you more than the other.” He said. She turned around suddenly, and tried to slap him, but he took a step back and dodged it, causing her to fall over from the swing. He caught her, and as he held her he continued. “But there’s actually this thing I really like called a crop top. It looks really good with jean shorts. I’ll have the tailor make you an outfit.” She pushed away from him angrily.

“There’s no way I’d wear anything you have made for me!”

“Is this the place?” He stepped inside the lecture room. It reminded him of a college lecture hall, only more intimate. He took a seat at one of the chairs that surrounded the lecture stand.

“Stop ignoring me!” She yelled as he sat down. He looked up at her, and patted the seat next to him. “You… want me to sit next to you?”

“Yeah, why not? Busy with something else?”

“Not… really…” She sat, looking down embarrassedly. “You know I… I…” She turned away. “I tried to kill you. You know that, right?”

“Yeah, I do. But you seem pretty docile now.”

“And yet, you still want me beside you?”

“Everything is better when you’ve got a beautiful woman by your side.” She blushed, but instead of yelling at him, she just smiled. Justinius smiled too. After only a moment, the door opened, and a man in slick black robes walked in. He walked quickly to the lecture stand, and tossed his bag on the floor lazily.

“Another day teaching the royal idiot. What a joyous occasion.” He muttered loudly as he began writing on the chalk board. Justinius shot him a death stare that made Lady Beckinghall squeak in fright.