22. Oh, to be drunk

Song: Before you go by Lewis Capaldi

Sweet Boy Anthony

What am I doing?

"I love you."

"IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY TO ME??"

God, she can be horrifying when she's angry. My eyes widen slightly at the scene in front of me as I sip from the bottle of wine I stole from one of the ice buckets down in the kitchens. I took another sip as I looked down onto the city below. The lights from the streets and houses below collaborated to make a painting-like landscape of hazy yellows and light oranges with a backdrop of the dark and ominous ocean and valley surrounding the city.

You might be wondering why I'm here, eavesdropping on the princess and her lover's conversation when I could be enjoying myself in a pool of drunk people back at the palace.

Simple. Because I would rather be drunk alone than in a crowd of sweaty bodies. Please and thank you.

So here I am.

"AFTER ALL THIS!! AFTER USING ME LIKE THIS THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY???"

I grimace. That poor man is probably going to die in her arms tonight.

That poor, poor man.

Beside me, Satan shrugs. "He deserved it."

'Did he?' I look over at him. He's wearing his regular black suit with a red undershirt. His face is pale in the dark light and his eyes shine a bloody, dark red. Unlike the Queen's shallow, apple eyes.

He scoffs. "You're drunk."

'I know.' {1}

** Our sweet boy, unfortunately only has the ability to see his demon companion when he is drunk. Or in a child-like state. Which he can only experience when he's drunk at this point in his life.**

He pauses as he looks down at the princess and her lover. It's convenient how the canopy of the gazebo opens up to the sky. It's also convenient how the tree branch above it is sturdy enough to support me and my demon.

"I am not yours."

'Aren't you darling?'

".....I will clobber you over the head you drunk piece of shit." He glares at me and I have to make an effort to not laugh.

"I love you. I've loved you since we were children, but my father never thought I stood a chance with you. So when you came back to the palace nine months ago, we struck a deal. If I could win you over in time for the season, I could marry you. If I didn't, I'd be forced-"

'He's talking bullshit.'

"Complete. Bullshit."

'I wonder if she'll believe him.' I'd seen the way she'd looked at him when I was sneaking out here with my newly stolen bottle of whiskey from the kitchens. Purely, utterly, heartbroken. It was no lie that she was in love with him.

"But at the same time. She seems rather cold to him at the moment."

'True.' She'd sobbed her eyes out when she got here. A full half-an-hour of agonized sobs. In that half-an-hour, I had contemplated jumping down to her exactly seven times. I had almost done it too. Only her bastard of a lover had appeared in that exact moment and ruined my chance.

As I stared down at her now, I knew. There was no love for the man in front of her now. That love was gone. Replaced with it was cold, remorseless hate. I shivered at how beautifully cold she could be. A true killer. Though I doubt she and her pampered self could ever have actually killed a man before.

"She seemed quite experienced when she almost minced you to pieces the other night."

Now it was my turn to glare. 'Shut up.'

At that exact moment, silence drifted up from the gazebo. Her sweet bastard lover had finished talking.

"Two rifles that she punches him." {2}

**Rifles: Dollars in Hell.**

'Five that she does worse.'

"Deal."

".....Is that it?"

"What-"

Thump.

"Two for me."

'Wait...'

"She's not doing anything."

I point a finger, 'wait.'

Whack.

"Grrn-"

I lay back on the trunk of the tree and let my feet dangle off the branch. 'Five for me.'

"Fuck you."

'Gladly.'

I see Satan's mouth open to retort but my mind is elsewhere. The trees, for example, were rustling majestically and some of the leaves even fell off as the rustling intensified. In the wind the sound might have been peaceful, calming even.

Only there was no wind.

A knife was placed on my throat.

"Ah ah ah. I wouldn't move if I were you."

Fuck.

Assasins.

They were everywhere. On the canopies of all the trees. All armed with crossbows aimed at the princess.

I opened my mouth to warn the princess but the knife sank deeper into my neck and I knew that if I moved I'd be dead.

Goddamit.

Wait. I have an idea.

Breathing deeply I harnessed my power from the depths of my soul. The shadows of the night brewed and swirled and when I opened my eyes again, I became the shadow lord.

Slowly. Carefully, I maneuvered the lordling's shadow and let it take a solid form for just a second, as to not alert the assassins. The shadow shoved his head upwards hard, his face contorted when his eyes met that of the men on robes.

They shot. But the lordling had already moved to cover the princess. A muffled scream shot out as the princess and lordling tumbled to the floor as I wrestled the knife out of the assassin's hand and snapped his and the rest of his platoon's necks with the clap of my hands. When I turned again several arrows were buried in the lordling's back, blood pooling on the ground.

"AMELIA!!"

Before I could even get down the tree, light burst from the ground. From under the probably dead lordling. The light was accompanied by an agonized scream. Not the types of screams from physical pain though. No, I'd heard enough of those screams in my life to know. Not these screams though. No, these were the screams of a wounded animal. The sobs of a completely broken person. Someone who would never recover from their loss.

"Liam..." Tears spilled out of the princess's glowing eyes as she sobbed. Her hair and nails gleamed like the stars in the sky and glittered like tiny diamonds in her dress. "Liam no......"

Another scream ripped through the trees. The next thing I knew, I was surrounded by men with swords. Isaiah's pristine suit was covered in blood and dirt, implying the presence of more assassins. His snow-white hair had leaves in it, and when he looked at me with his sword in his hand, his eyes almost sent tremors through me.

"What happened?"

****

Me: Giggling evilly