Dream smiled. "Yeah, sure," he said. "Be prepared, though. For all you know I might bring an army."

George shrugged. "I don't think so."

__________

     Pain burned along his back, making him take a small gasp of breath in.

"Oh- sorry, sorry Prince," the maid said hurriedly, fear outlining her voice. "I need to clean the wounds. I'm so, so, sorry," she repeated.

His father had someone beat him bad. It was one of the worst ones he had. "Don't worry," he assured the maid. "It's your job."

The maid seemed slightly taken aback. Normally Dream snapped at her, so he could see why.

He felt the warm cloth sear into his long deep wounds, making him want to arch his back in pain. "Agh.." he hissed.

He had scars that littered his body out of sight. It was fine. He was the prince- his father was right to discipline him, even if it hurt.

Dream thought about George and his face unintentionally warmed. He didn't like the Prince. He felt like this because he was excited to get revenge.

He hoped.

He thought about his eyes, his fluffy hair. When he rolled his eyes at Dream.

Dream felt a smile pull at his lips. What were the chances he had been in the woods when Dream was in the woods? What had he been doing? Dream would ask him next time he saw him.

He saw the maid watching him with slight interest on her face. Dream straightened his features, forcing his face neutral.

Also, there was news. His father had found his idea good- they had sent three messengers to the Spring Kingdom.

Dream felt something sour in his stomach. He was going to go to war with George.

That was good. Great. This was good.

Dream swallowed, brushing his hand through his fluffy straight hair. "Are you done?" He asked the maid.

She jumped. "Y-yes, your Majesty," she bowed low for a second before getting up. "I suggest you take it careful for the next few days and try to stay on the King's good side."

Dream nodded, flicking his hand and dismissing her without words.

He watched her leave, his mind on other things. Suddenly his sister walked in- she had the same colored hair as Dream but her eyes were light blue.

"You seem in a good mood," his sister swooned, smiling at him. "You're actually smiling."

They were in Dream's room- the princess had come in uninvited. "I'm not smiling," Dream corrected his face, making it look annoyed. "Can you get out?"

She shrugged, going over to Dream and standing next to him. He let his shirt fall down, ignoring the pain that bit at his back when his clothes brushed against his wounds.

He straightened. "Why are you in here?" He asked. He watched as a frown hinted at her lips. "We used to be so close," she said.

Dream shrugged.

His sister sighed, blinking at him.

"Drista!" Someone ran into the room, and Dream recognized his childish voice immediately.

Tubbo was Dream's Aunts son. If his father hadn't had a boy then Tubbo would be next in line for the throne. He was seven.

Tubbo ran over to Drista, throwing his arms around her. Dream watched as Drista took a step back in slight surprise before smiling.

"I wanna go outside," Tubbo said, his brown hair falling over his eyes. He brushed it out of his face as he let go of Drista, turning to the door. "I saw a horsey! A small white one!"

Drista laughed. "Okay, let's go," she hummed, giving one more glance at Dream before she left.

Dream watched them leave, feeling empty. He knew he didn't have friends because he bristled at everyone, but sometimes he wished he were nicer.

He thought of George, warmth spreading through him. He would get to see him again tomorrow-

Whoa. Shut up.

He had a mission with Prince George- get information out of him and nothing else. He wouldn't do anything else. He couldn't do anything else.

His back stung with the wounds the soldier had bore into him with the whip. Dream felt a sigh rise in his throat and let it escape in a huff of breath.

__________

     Dream padded through the forest, trying to ignore the excitement that attempted to get loose in his chest.

He could feel the wind on his skin, the mask on his face blocking it from his eyes. Today he wore a simple jacket- it was surprisingly comfortable. Dream didn't get to wear hoodies a lot.

It was heavy cloth that was green. His pants were adverage and black, nothing special.

He still carried two daggers. The forest was dangerous- anyone could pop out.

Yesterday had passed slowly- Prince George had tainted his thoughts all day. Now Dream left the castle with expectations, telling himself he did not have anything else but hate for the prince.

This was a mission. Not a want.

The prince had helped kill his mother.

Today was colder in weather, but the trees helped block it. He padded through the undergrowth, soon approaching where he and George stood the day before.

He heard the crinkle of leaves and heard a twig snap from somewhere beside him. Dream smiled.

"I know you're here, George," he mocked. "You'll never be able to sneak up on me."

He heard an exaggerated sigh then much more racket as George came into sight, battling a bush aside. He looked at Dream, his eyes light with amusement.

"Are you smiling?" George asked.

"Yeah, I'm smiling," Dream assured, aware of the way George was trying to take in details of Dream.

"Can you take off the mask?" He asked. "It ruins the effect."

"Nah, you would die. I'm too hot for your little smooth brain to comprehend."

"My- my what?" George giggled, making Dream's heart flutter in his chest.

Agh. Stop. There was no fluttering of the heart.

"Nothing," Dream said, suddenly aware he may or may not be flirting. He felt warmth climb his face, spreading onto his cheeks.

George padded up to him, asking, "What do you do for a living?"

"I used to be a guard," Dream replied. He wouldn't know how to describe another job- this was the closest one he could pretend to be. "I'm on a break right now."

"A break? I didn't know guards had breaks," George inclined his head to the side a little, making Dream smile a bit at his adorableness.

Fuck. Shut up! He didn't like George.

"I mean, it's only for a month. Usually we don't but I got special permission. What's it like being a prince?"

He watched as George sat down on the ground, leaning against a tree. "I don't know," he hummed. "Are you going to sit down?"

Dream reluctantly sat down, facing George as he leaned against a different tree.

"It's boring. I do nothing. I don't think I would be a good king- I wish my brother Wilbur had been born before me. He's way better of a fit."

"I think you would be a good king," Dream replied immediately. "Plus, I don- I mean- I've seen our Prince walk around the castle hallways. All he really does is help make decisions sometimes." That was close. Dream watched George's expression, relaxing when he didn't look suspicious.

George shrugged sheepishly. "I don't know. That Prince- I mean, your Prince- Prince Clay-"

Dream stiffened when he said his real name.

"He seems to know what he's doing," George finished. "I have no idea. My dad gets mad at me sometimes."

Ha! Dream had no fucking idea what he was doing ever. He smiled at the irony. "Don't worry," he said. "It'll be alright. I mean, worst case scenario you don't become king but still get to stay in the castle."

He wanted to say something about 'Prince Clay' but kept his mouth shut. If he said too much about himself George might think it was weird.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," George said, "but I would still be a disappointment."

Dream watched him, wanting to say, you could never be a disappointment to me. How romantic.

"I would still talk to you," Dream said with a small smile. "Well, if you still wanted to meet me out in the woods."

George met his eye, or where he thought his eyes were on the mask, smiling. "I remember when you threw a knife at my head yesterday," he said.

Dream laughed loudly. "Where did that come from?" He asked. "I still have the daggers." He pulled one from his ankle, spinning it around in his hand.

"How good of a fighter are you?" George asked.

"The best in the kingdom."

George rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right," a smile hinted at his lips, "You're not the best in the kingdom. You would have a better rank."

Dream shuffled a bit, sitting straighter. "You're so oblivious."

What was he doing? He was going to give himself up.

"I'm not oblivious," George protested. "I just trust you."

Ow. That stung more than it should have. Dream watched him silently, making George look more uncertain the longer the silence went on.

"That's dumb," Dream decided to say. "I'm a guard of the opposing kingdom that's going to war with you and you trust me?"

George looked down, fiddling with his sleeve. "You're going to war with us?"

Fuck. Dream messed up. He let something slip. It was supposed to be the other way around! How could he be so dumb?

He needed to make sure George didn't tell his dad. "Yeah, though I'm sure your king already knows that. He would have to be an idiot to think otherwise, right?" Dream put on a joking tone to his voice. "You- killed our queen-" suddenly his demeanor fell as he thought about what he was doing.

He was sitting here, talking, flirting, with the Prince who helped murder his mother.

He missed his mom. George did nothing to stop it. His mom was dead.

Fresh grief rushed through him. He remembered when his mother had cradled him to her stomach after his father had beat him, singing lightly to him.

How she read bedtime stories every night to him.

When she yelled at the king just because he had been getting onto Dream and his dad had hit her for it.

"Dream!" George yelled, snapping Dream's attention to him.

"Did I zone out?" He asked, his voice rough. He could feel his wet cheeks. What? Dream didn't cry. Dream never cried. Why was he crying?

Thank goodness he had his mask. George wouldn't be able to tell.

"Are you okay? Did you know her?" He asked.

He was next to Dream- Dream hadn't realized it. George was sitting next to him, his arm over his shoulder. He gazed at him with care guiding his eyes.

Dream blinked away, the mask blocking his face. "Yeah, I'm alright," he said. "I probably have to go," he pushed himself up, still feeling the places George had rubbed against him vividly. "See you tomorrow."

"Okay, Dream. I hope everything is alright."

__________