The loud clang of swords only made it harder to focus. Eyes darted around, confused on whether they should look at the man in front of him or the weapon right in his face. Ears weren't able to process anything, only hearing loud noises. Heart was beating fast, he dragged his breathing in an attempt to slow it down, but it wasn't helping. Narrowing his eyes, he put all his strength into steadying himself. It was working, until it didn't.

His right foot slipped, causing him to fall to the floor. Techno looked at him with a frown, his arms crossed.

"Focus, Ahmed. You seem distracted." He looked at Zak with a stern expression as his voice stayed low and monotone.

"I know, I know. It's kinda hard to focus when the Queen just announced how you're going to be in an arranged marriage in the day of the ball." Zak vented.

He wished that the Queen didn't set him up for an assigned marriage

~~~

"Zak, dear. How are you? Have you slept well?" The Queen stood up, and opened her arms for a hug, but Zak just stood there, confused and drowsy from sleeping.

"Mother? Why are you here."

"I just want to be with my son." Her arms fell down, knowing her son isn't going to hug her. Despite that, she smiled.

"Then why did you only start now? What about all the countless times you were never there to eat with me." He didn't mean to sound hostile, but he was truly infuriated. Mother dearest was never there for him, at least from his perspective. She was always on one of her 'adventures', but he knew that wasn't the reason reason she was never around. She put her kingdom before her son, which was reasonable, but that didn't mean that it hurt less.

"Zak." His father said, not in a commanding tone, but a surprisingly pleading and apologetic one. This made him sit down at his usual seat, two chairs away from both his parents.

"Ardith."

"Right..." The Queen backed up, sitting down on her chair. The King gestured to his son, who gave a cold glare at his food.

"Zak, I have a surprise for you sweetie." His mother made another attempt at sparking a conversation.

"Okay, what?" He said in a quiet voice, not wanting to talk to anyone right now. It was too early for this. At least the day couldn't go any worse.

"We set up an arranged marriage, and they accepted!" The Queen had her hands together, her expression showing excitement.

Zak, on the other hand, wasn't as ecstatic as the Queen. He closed his eyes, trying to mute out all of the sounds. He took a deep breath.

"Mother, father, I need to go. I have sword practice." He stood up, not listening to the calls of his parents, and not even bothering to look at his parents faces. Soon, he was full on running.

~~~

With his eyebrows furrowed, his eyes stuck to the ground, and his fists closed tightly, he walked to the bench right next to them. Techno calmly followed him, sitting down with his ankle to his knee and his back slouched.

He leaned down to get to Zak's level, as a way of trying to connect with him.

"I need a break." Zak admitted.

"Yeah, no kidding." Techno chuckled quietly. He reached to the bag he brought, a watch coming out.

"45 minutes. Get here before that, but not after." He pointed to his own watch and then gave Zak the one he took out.

"Jeez, why so formal? What are you, my teacher?" Zak said with a smug face, and his arms crossed.

Techno was questioning if teaching really was the right decision.

"Right, right. I'm...gonna go now." Zak pointed at the direction he was heading before, very clumsily, running away.

Zak carelessly ran through the stairs, almost tripping half way. Running around his room, he tried to find his trusty mask.

Finally finding the mask after looking everywhere, a sigh of relief escaped his mouth. He wore it, looking in the mirror. The gems on it were sparkling, it's deep-blue color matching the sky-blue color of the base. He smiled, now reaching for another mask, one that covers his mouth.

Grabbing his cloak, he wore it on, spinning child-ishly. His outfit was finally complete.

It was vastly different from his usual fit. Instead of a colorful blue and white outfit, this only contained black, with small dark blue details.

Running over to his balcony, he grabbed his (surprisingly sturdy) curtain, aiming to the soft patches of grass to break his fall. He lowered himself using the curtain, and then jumped. He did a successful roll, and stood up, brushing off anything on his outfit.

He smiled, excited to visit the village nearby. Not being there for what felt like centuries, of course the prince would miss going there. It was his safe place, because it was the only place he chose.

He walked to the town excitedly. A feeling of giddyness he missed so much coming over him.

He wish that he could do this more often.

7/5/21