I was getting comfortable, lazy, easy to track. I had developed a routine.

Before sunrise, I adventured into the passages. I tried to become familiar with them. I started to know my way around them. For the past weeks, I had been meeting Dylan in the library. We exchanged books, discussed them, created our little theories as we read them...

It was nice, no one ever bothered us. It was quite surprising that word hadn't gotten around the castle about our morning meetings. I was grateful. In the library it was just us. No pretending, no facades. We weren't the future heirs of a kingdom. We were just a boy and a girl with a passion for books.

Then, I usually headed to the West Wing to have breakfast with Alyssa. It was one of my favourites part of the day. Talking with her was refreshing. She made me laugh so much. I didn't have to pretend with her either. In addition, she was the only person I could talk about Dylan. I knew she would be discreet about it.

The only time of day Austin would approve of, was the time between lunch and sunset. I was unpredictable. I changed the activities I did, the paths I took, where I ate...

I usually sneaked to the woods and trained to make sure I stayed in shape. I don't know how people expected me to maintain my lean figure if they continued to cook such delicious pastries and cakes.

Dylan had noticed my love for those kinds of foods. From time to time, I would find a small piece of cake along with a book in my room. His notes were short, but I didn't care. After all, actions speak louder than words.

At sundown, I would always go back to the gardens. Sometimes I was accompanied by Dylan or Alyssa, on very rare occasions by both of them. When I was alone, I would spend countless minutes looking at my rings.

Today on the other hand was different. Dylan seemed on edge. He was a bit jumpy and was fidgeting with his hands. I couldn't really tell whether he was nervous or just excited.

"How is it possible that you are always here when I arrive?" Dylan's eyes were fixed on my face, waiting for my reaction.

"I don't know, Your Highness," I shrugged, "maybe I'm not as emotionally attached to my bed sheets as you are."

"Fair enough." He opened his mouth as if he was going to add something else. Instead, he turned around and walked towards one of the bookshelves.

I followed him and stood next to him. He didn't look at me. There was something off with him today. I slowly raised my hand and touched his arm. He looked at my arm but his gaze quickly found its way back to the book section.

"Is there something you want to tell me? You've been acting weird"

"No, well yea. I just-"

"You need to stop doing that." I interrupted.

"Doing what?" He raised his voice a little, I let it slide.

"When you are nervous, or afraid of asking something, you refuse to look that person in the eye. One day you'll be king of The Highlands, Dylan. If you want to be a great one, you need to learn how to confront people. That smile of yours may work wonders with the ladies, but I can assure you it's not that effective against power hungry middle age men."

His demeanor changed in the blink of an eye. He straightened his back and turned to face me. He took a step forward, decreasing the distance between us.

"So you think I need to be more confident." His tone was filled with arrogance.

"There's a very fine line between confidence and arrogance. You are crossing it." He took another step forward, a smirk was plastered all over his face. I didn't back down, I didn't take a step back.

"Oh really?" he took one last step forward, our faces inches apart. I didn't back down

"I guess it makes sense, you know what the say, Princess. It takes one to know one."

I could see him struggling to maintain eye contact. His eyes darted to the wall from time to time, but they quickly found their way back.

We were so close. I gently bit my lip. I barely resisted the urge to look at his lips.

Dylan eyes frantically alternated between my lips and my eyes. He slowly leaned closer, allowing me to avoid the kiss if I wanted. I didn't.

Our lips moved slowly moved together. My hands found their way to his hair, while his rested on my hips. Gently, Dylan broke the kiss. His gaze burned like fire, jolts of electricity moved through my body.

His beauty was mesmerizing. As the sun rose the first rays enlightened his messy blond hair. The skin of his narrow face was radiant thanks to the sunlight. His eyes, they were indescribable. I could spend countless hours admiring his beautiful deep blue eyes.

We stood there for what felt like hours with a huge grin on our faces.

"Ryder Foxhill and Kasper Blackmort return to the castle in a few hours. We've been friends since we were children. I want you to meet them. Will you join us for lunch?" His eyes wandered around the room while he waited for my answer.

"Hey, you are doing it again," I whispered, he didn't respond but his eyes found their way back to mine. "And yes, I will join you for lunch."

I felt the tension disappear from his shoulders, his worried look was replaced by a delighted one.

"We should get going it's getting late, and you still need to change, Dylan."

Dylan always appeared in the morning with his bed clothing, usually a white shirt and pants. He wanted to please everyone, to always transmit this perfect image of him as a Prince. I knew he was letting me see the real him, the one that wasn't perfect, the Dylan that messed up.

"I know." He still didn't move.

"The librarians will come soon, they'll see us."

"I know."

"You keep saying that, Dylan. Yet you don't move."

"Well, you make it quite difficult. You look incredibly beautiful and I love having you in my arms. You make me wanna kiss you, not leave you." I felt the heat in my cheeks as he spoke.

I gave him a quick peck and started to playfully push him towards the door. Still he wouldn't leave.

I gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek. "That's the last one you are getting. Now go." I said with fake seriousness.

"You are evil, Princess."

With a smile he opened the door and left. I closed it and leaned into it. What had I gotten myself into.

When I entered Alyssa's room I was welcomed by sight of her and the Prince together. They were sitting in the same couch. Dylan was talking while Alyssa listened closely.

"Am I interrupting?" Both heads snapped in my direction. Dylan jumped out of the couch and cleared his throat.

"No, not at all. I will leave you ladies to your breakfast." He quickly walked towards the door but I stopped him.

"So, you told her," I asked

He nodded slowly, as if he was a child being scolded.

"I know we didn't talk about it, but I want to keep the kiss as private as possible." I requested, "I don't want people watching my every move when I'm with you."

"I know, I feel the same way. I just couldn't avoid telling her. I promise no one else will find out."

"Thank you, Dylan. It really means a lot."

"If you two are done, I would love to enjoy this exquisite breakfast," we all laughed, as Dylan left the room she shouted, "Dylan this conversation is not over, I'm not done with you quite yet." Dylan looked back and laughed at the comment.

Alyssa's attention focused on me and she raised her eyebrow. "What are you waiting for, Aelyn? start talking."

So I did, we spent an hour talking about what happened before I changed the subject.

"Dylan told me Kasper is coming back today," Alyssa didn't respond, "He invited me to lunch. If you feel uncomfortable just say the word. I'll come up with an excuse to get us out of that room. I got you."

"I appreciate that, Aelyn. I really do. Kasper isn't all that bad, it's just that he can be very intense. I just want everything to go back, before all the awkwardness, the tension, the rejections..."

After my conversation with Alyssa I decided to walk around the castle. As I turned a corner I crashed into someone. I pretended like I lost my balanced and used the wall to restore it.

When I looked up I found a tall boy. His dark hair and face was the only thing that wasn't covered by his armor. Judging by the way he smelt it was cleared he had come back recently from a long journey. On his chest he wore a crest. It was a snowflake pierced by a sword.

"Pardon me, I didn't see you," he stopped talking, as if he were expecting me to say something, "Are you not going to apologize?" His tone was angry, like he expected me to bow before him.

"Future queens don't apologize, Duke Blackmort. If you are as fond of manners as you seem, you should bow." He did as instructed but I knew I had pissed him off.

I heard hurried footsteps. Another boy appeared. A fox decorated the crest of his chest. He saw Kasper rising from the bow. His eyes roamed all over me trying to decipher the situation. His eyes widened as he saw my golden ring.

"Pardon my friend's rudeness, Your Highness. We are both exhausted from our travels. Let me introduce myself, I'm Duke Ryder Foxhill, right hand of the Prince. The moody and sometimes sensitive guy next to me is Duke Kasper Blackmort."

"It's a pleasure meeting you, Duke Foxhill

"Ah please don't call me that. Duke Foxhill is my father. I prefer Ryder." I laughed, my encounter with Kasper already forgotten.

"As you wish, Ryder,"

"If you forgive us, Your Highness, we need to get going. We have a lunch to get ready for and I'm sure you are not very fond of our delightful smell."

Once again I laughed. Ryder was very charming, he attracted people, distracted them easily. It was not very surprising that he was Dylan's right hand. I was sure he was a marvelous negotiator and much more likable than Kasper. I found quite interesting how different both friends were.

On the other hand, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something off with Kasper. Maybe I was influenced by his presumptuous manner or maybe because of Alyssa.

I trusted my instincts. Until I figured Kasper out, I would keep my guard up around him. I didn't trust him, and I had the feeling that I never would.

Author's note

I hope you guys liked this chapter. It was difficult to write but I'm really excited. From now on things are gonna be different in The Ice Court, stay tuned to find out why!

What are your thoughts on Aelyn and Dylan's kiss?
What do you think of Aelyn's protectiveness towards Alyssa?
What are your thoughts on Kasper and Ryder?
Do you think Austin will arrive in the next chapter?

AS ALWAYS DON'T FORGET TO: VOTE, COMMENT AND SHARE IF YOU LIKED IT !!!!!