Alber

Henri had to leave the room immediately. A heat started to build in his body that he normally could keep cold. He knew that if he stayed any longer that the valve would have opened. That was not something that he could allow. Presentation, control, absolute restraint was required.

He would not subject Miss Sophia to that.

No one deserved that.

The bedroom was dark with only a little moonlight falling on the bed. He could barely see around the room, but that didn’t matter. He had no desire to move. Henri stood there with the door at his back, a hand pushing him and chains tying him down. The book in his hand dropped.

It wasn’t leaving. Warm pulses threatened to break through the cracks. He rubbed a hand over his face in the dampness coming through his skin. “Damn…” Henri tried to take a breath for anything that would cool him down.

He never imagined that it would be Miss Sophia of everyone that he spoke with to have cracked him. And it only was made worse that he knew she wasn’t trying. She was innocent in the exchange, as she always was. More targeted people had tried and failed. That it was a woman that knew nothing and lacked any motive to succeed felt like a cruel fate.

Flashes of a young boy with wild red hair entered his mind. Henri ground his teeth. “Damnit…Alber…” There was no escaping it. It had been locked away for so many years, his mind had ejected it out. Henri dropped to the floor leaving the book next to him.

A white haired seven year old boy ran through the gardens of the Eulire Castle frequently looking back as he heard the shouting of his attendants looking for him. The flowering bushes easily hid the young Prince escaping from another lesson. He grinned wide once he saw that his flight successfully managed to evade the pursuers.

It was just another day like any other for Henri. They were getting better at watching him more closely. But that only made it more exciting when he could still escape from their careful eyes. It was certainly a far more interesting game than learning about the history of Eulire or having to practice sitting straight. Neither was exciting or even tolerable.

Henri could safely start walking with the voices almost gone now. He had been all over the castle several times as far as he could remember. Though the garden was one of the few places that felt like it was rearranged every time that he went there. It could still feel like an adventure exploring even after the twentieth time for him.

Wandering around from red flowers to purple ones, he searched out for an interesting place to stop. Most of the gardens were just plants everywhere making it rather boring unless he wanted to pick flowers to be yelled at by the Head Maid, that just wasn’t appealing for him.

But far into tall hedges that tried to reach for the sky, he stopped, finding the garden ended in a large lake with a platform covered in a roof overlooking it. “I didn’t know this was here!” He rushed up to the edge of the lake staring down at it. It reflected him back, but ran deep enough that he couldn’t see the bottom.

As he stared longer suddenly the water started to bubble and part sharply. Out of the lake came a red haired boy about his age. Water streamed down his face and hair as he looked up at Henri. “Eh, who are you?”

“I’m Henri. Who are you and why are you in the lake?” He would have thought that someone as bright as the boy would have been someone that he found sooner. There were a few other kids in the castle that were families of the servants, but he hadn’t seen them before. The only other children he met were when people visited, but they introduced themselves immediately.

The boy grabbed the edge of the platform and effortlessly pulled himself out. He shook off throwing water everywhere as he stood in just his pants. “I’m Alber. I found this and I was testing its worth!” Brushing back his hair with his hands, the slicked back hair dripped more on the ground as Alber fully turned to face Henri. The red haired boy stood wide with pride and presence like Henri had never seen before.

“Worth? It’s a bunch of water.”

“No, this lake isn’t just water, but far more. It's the home of the magical fairies that sleep at the bottom. It hides it from the eyes of all the adults so that they can live in peace. And they need a brave knight to protect that secret!”

“But you just told me.”

The boy tinted his head seeing the mistake. “Then you must swear to the fairies that you keep the secret to your grave!”

“Huh?” Before Henri even knew what happened he fell backwards into the lake. His clothes were completely ruined and clinging to him. As he rose to the surface, he saw Alber leaping in with a large splash. “What are you doing?”

“Follow me, Henri! To the land of the fairies!” Without even waiting for a reply, the red haired boy was swimming off.

Henri reached for him, but it was pointless. “Wait!” He pulled off the vest that was clinging to him and threw off his boots. Then he started to swim after him. He was fairly good at swimming, but there was no catching up to Alber. The head start only widened until he disappeared.

Once he arrived at the place Alber vanished he hovered looking around him. But then a hand pulled on his leg dragging him down a little. Yelping, he fought to get back to the surface. It didn’t hold and then in front of him Alber bounced back to the surface. “I told the fairies! They want to speak with you!” And just as fast, he was gone.

There were so many questions, but Henri just followed after him. The lake grew deeper and darker that he couldn’t see much of anything beneath the water. Alber popped up in front of him nearly making him cough up his air. But he managed to keep it down as he followed after him.

At the lake bed, Alber gestured roughly at the gathered plants attached to the bottom. None of them were anything that he knew, but there didn’t seem to be any fairies like he had heard about in stories or history books. There were some pictures that he had seen, but nothing matched what Henri believed to be fairies. And all of his teachers had clearly stated the kingdom was entirely made up of humans. But Alber eager bold energy was hard to deny.

After what seemed like his air was going to burst and drown, they could return to the surface. Letting out a loud gasp, he could finally breathe normally again. “They seem to be a little scared of you, Henri, but as long as you promise it’ll be fine!”

“But…” Alber stared at him so confident in everything he said that it nearly made Henri believe he heard something too. What harm would it do? It could be fun. “I promise! I outrun everyone besides, so no one will know but us!”

“Then we’re the Fairy Knights!”

The naming ceremony completed, they swam around the lake longer until getting out. Henri retrieved his scattered clothes. Most of his things were completely drenched and would take a long time to dry out. He could only imagine how much Miss Ophelia would be upset. He just had to stay hidden.

For the rest of the afternoon Alber showed him what it took to be a Fairy Knight. And while some of it seemed a little strange, Henri noticed there was a lot that he saw the royal knights doing. Alber was very athletic. He was stronger, faster and smarter in his actions. And yet he didn’t seem older than him, or at least by much.

Once the sun started to disappear behind the stone castle, they had to part ways. Alber bolted off with speed disappearing almost immediately leaving him alone in the gardens. Henri was so used to running around alone on the castle grounds that finding someone to play with was welcome. Now that he realized Alber was gone and he had to return there was a little sadness. But he knew that he too had to find his attendants. They were probably still searching for him.

He was largely dry, though the mess was plain enough for the attendants to see. Though it was hardly a surprise for him to return having gotten dirty in some manner. Not that routine didn’t stop any of them from reminding him of the numerous mistakes he made.

But that all fell away the next day and he searched out Alber. He was out by the lake again and they continued their knights training as Alber called it. They climbed the trees in the area and swam to the darkest parts of the lake. Protected the fairy’s precious flowers from rabbits. All in the name of duty and honor of being Fairy Knights.

Each day sped by in a blink for Henri. He laughed and smiled, enjoying his time with Alber more than anything the teachers could give him. In ways there were things that he learned and grew more confident following Alber around. Not that it was apparent from his time as a kid.

Three years passed and the attendants were better at finding him. At some point Henri didn’t realize they had figured out the two of them were playing together. But they still allowed some time for him to play with his only friend. Even as he had to learn, Alber was in his thoughts. Distracting as it was, he pushed through the work to get to those times faster.

While they were practicing swordsmanship that was part of the Fairy Knights duties, Alber gave him pointers. It wasn’t until Henri was older that he learned Alber was a child of one of the royal knights. He practiced everyday with them looking up to his father. It made their days playing make sense. But in the moment, Henri just could laugh and push himself to meet Alber's ever tall goal.

The bout of practice ended with Henri out of breath. He never seemed to push Alber hard enough. Just once he wished he could make him work for it. But it was still exciting each day trying. “Your form’s getting better Henri! You’ll be a true Fairy Knight soon!”

“We’ll protect the lake together, forever!”

“That’s right! The fairies have a celebration coming up. We’ll need to be in shape for their honored guard!”

“They’re always favoring you. Don’t make me look bad,” he teased.

“They see your promise! Just have to keep practicing, too many of those books.”

“It’s part of a balanced day,” he recited from his teachers. They laughed together as it was a familiar phrase, for both.

But as Henri was still laughing, Alber’s expression suddenly changed. He jumped out at Henri. “Look out!” The weight of Alber threw him back against the dirt where his friend dropped on his legs.

Henri was a little confused, breaking from his smile. Something was wrong. The air was heavy and ill. Then he saw Alber struggling to move, his face lifted up and blood for some reason coming out of his mouth. “Are you hurt, Henri?”

Immediately, Henri pulled up trying to get to Alber to see what happened, but a metal bolt ran past his face. If he hadn’t moved for Alber it would have hit him. It only got a scratch. Someone was attacking. “Alber! Someone help!” Henri screamed knowing that if someone came, it might save Alber and stop the attack. He pulled Alber up seeing a bolt in his back embedded deeply. “Alber, it’s gonna be okay! Alber!”

“Henri, you’re not hurt, right?”

“Why? Alber?”

“I just moved. I wanted to protect you, Henri.”

“Don’t worry about me! Think about yourself right now! Alber!”

Knights and servants ran to them in moments from his screaming. The attack stopped, but it was already too late. The damage had been done. They took Alber away to get help, but Henri never saw his friend again.

Alber was buried with honor for protecting the Prince within the castle. Everyone praised him and his father. But Henri could only stare out at the lake and the fairy kingdom beneath the waves. They had lost their greatest knight.

He cried.

It was the last time that he remembered crying. He parted the lake that day frozen. Henri threw himself into his studies and work as the Prince. He had to be better. He had to be stronger. Everything closed off. There was nothing but the title left to him. He was the Prince.

The assassin from the attack was eventually hunted down. His father never told him what happened. It wasn’t until he became an adult and looked into the records that he learned the fate of those that killed Alber. Even severe and punished as they were, it never felt like it was enough. But his frozen heart couldn’t be allowed anymore temptation.

He would have to accept it.

Henri pulled his back in the darkened room. Alber remained locked away within his heart for so long, never forgotten, but never remembered either. He had forgotten what it felt like reliving those memories. Buried for so long, he wished he could have locked it away immediately.

It was all waste.

They were not needed for him to be the Prince.