Chapter 5

"Sounds like you really like Cole."

"Yeah, there’s just something about him. Although Khira knows what AJ has done to him by now," sighed Nick.

They had left the gardens and were right now heading towards the north side of the palace grounds.

"So what is it that you want to show me?"

"It’s a surprise."

Kevin smiled when he noticed the small pout Nick gave at his answer.

"How about just a hint?"

"No."

"Just a clue?"

"No."

"A hint and a clue?"

"No and no."

Kevin’s smile became wider when he heard Nick grumbling under his breath. Only alone with each other were they ever this relaxed. Together, they could forget the wars, the problems and the politics in their life and just be the best of friends that they were.

"Hello, Samuel," greeted Kevin as they entered the stables.

Due to the King’s considerable number of horses, the stables had a huge chunk of grasslands connected to it where the horses could graze freely.

"General, Your Highness."

"Hi, Sam."

"Anyone else back there?"

"No, sir."

"Good. If possible, could you please see that no one disturbs us, Sam?"

"Of course, sir."

Together, Kevin and Nick made their way deeper into the stable grounds. Nick was starting to get excited as he realized just what his surprise was. Kevin, picking up on this, took hold of Nick’s hand once again, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Finally, they reached the open courtyard where a mare and her foal, which couldn’t have been more than a few hours old, stood in the center.

Nick couldn’t believe his eyes.

"When?"

"This morning, just after we left for the morning patrol."

The mare in question was special to both Nick and Kevin in more ways than one. About 4 years back, Kevin and Nick had been on a scouting mission. They had been separated when a group of trolls had taken them by surprise. It was this white mare that had led Nick to where Kevin was, alive but severely injured. Once Nick had taken care of him, they went in search of the mare’s owner only to find him butchered by the trolls. The mare had been severely malnourished and had quite a few injuries herself, but Nick and Kevin had nursed her back to health and brought her back with them. Together, they arranged for her to stay at the palace stables and for the past few days they had been waiting for her to deliver her foal.

Hand in hand, Kevin and Nick approached the new family.

"Hello there, little one," said Nick as he knelt by the foal who had gone to stand by its mother’s side. Nick reached out with his senses and surrounded the foal and its mother with a cocoon of warmth and love. In response, the foal slowly approached Nick’s hand that was held out and gave it a gentle lick.

"Oh, he’s lovely, Snow."

Kevin, kneeling by Nick’s side, added.

"You know he’s going to be quite the handful, Snow."

As if in response, the foal took a playful nip of his mother’s ear as she bent her head down to lick at Nick’s hand too. Kevin, who was busy watching the foal as it ran off to play, found his heart skipping a beat when he felt Nick give him a tentative kiss to the cheek. He turned to see a furiously blushing and hopelessly beautiful Nick staring at the ground.

"I-I hope you don’t mind, but I just wanted to say thank you," said Nick softly.

Kevin, gently forcing Nick’s gaze back on him, whispered.

"You’re welcome."

-Dining Hall-

"Who’s that with Nick?" asked Cole as he spotted his new friend coming towards them.

"That’s General Richardson."

"Wow."

"Heard of him, huh?" asked AJ, amused.

"Yeah. Mr. Seth talked about him all the time. Said he could single-handedly take down 20 trolls all by himself."

"Well, maybe not exactly," said Howie wryly.

"Hey guys," greeted Nick as he took a seat next to Brian, with Kevin sitting next to Howie. Wesley, Allyne and Mat made to stand to greet their Captain and General but were waved down by Kevin. Cole was caught between his happiness at seeing Nick again and his awe at meeting the legendary General Richardson sitting right in front of him.

"Cole," Nick called to him.

"You doing alright?"

"Uh-huh."

"I’d like you to meet a good friend of mine. This is Kevin."

"Hello, Cole."

"Hi."

Nick smiled as he saw the obvious hero worship grow in Cole’s eyes as Kevin easily engaged the boy in conversation. The rest of the meal went along smoothly with Cole asking all sorts of questions about anything he could think off. It was Howie who first noticed Cole’s eyelids start to droop as the excitement of the day finally caught up with him. He exchanged a glance with Nick who smiled in response.

"Come on, Cole. Walk with me."

"I’ll join you," said Brian as he stood along with Nick and Cole.

"See you around, Cole," said AJ as they left the hall.

Together, they walked side by side with Cole in the middle. The boy excitedly stole glances left and right as they walked along the beautiful hallways of the palace, his tiredness temporarily forgotten. They entered the living area of the palace and finally came to a stop at the end of a particular hallway in front of a simple yet beautifully carved door. Nick led them in.

"Welcome to my room, Cole."

Cole taking look around could only gasp in wonder.

"It’s huge!"

Only when he heard Nick and Brian chuckle did he realize he had spoken aloud. He blushed, embarrassed but felt better when Nick squeezed his shoulder. Now that he had recovered, he took a better look around and noticed that the room was actually quite cozy, space being the only indulgence. It was simply furnished and there was actually a partition separating the room into 2 different parts.

"So, how do you like it?" asked Nick, kneeling by Cole. Brian had moved to the balcony to give the two some privacy.

"It’s very nice," Cole answered sincerely.

"Cole, do you have anywhere to go?"

Cole looked down, his voice growing soft as he answered.

"No. My parents died a long time ago. Don’t have anyone else."

Nick had guessed as much and had decided a while back to take the boy in. There was just something about him and Nick trusted his instincts. The other option would have been to surrender the boy to the Town-watch. Cole would have just ended up in an orphanage. No, Nick had made up his mind that the boy would stay with him At least until he was old enough to care for himself, then he could decide what he wanted to do. Although from the looks of things, the King’s Guard may have just acquired a future recruit. Now, all that Nick had to do was convince Cole.

"Cole, would you like to stay with me?" asked Nick, praying the boy would accept his offer, so it was with a bit of shock that he found himself with a handful of Cole as the boy hugged him.

Cole had in actual fact been nervous the whole day as he was unsure of where he would end up. He knew he stood a big chance of ending up in one of the orphanages run by the Town-watch and the horror stories he had heard on the streets only fueled his trepidation. When he heard Nick’s offer, he just couldn’t believe it.

There were as many stories about Nick, the half-drake prince as there were of the General, although Nick’s were filled more often than not with mystery and fear. But Cole, having spent time with Nick, knew he was nothing but gentle and caring.

"Yes, please."

Nick laughed, hugging the boy back just as hard before releasing him.

"I have to go with Brian now, and I want you get some rest while I’m gone, alright?"

When Cole nodded, Nick continued.

"My bed’s beyond the partition. You’ll sleep here for now until we can get you something more permanent," said Nick leading him to a large, cozy pallet. On the pallet were some clothes in Cole’s size and his eyes widened.

"These are for you. Try them out and we’ll get you more later."

Cole was speechless, but as Nick kneeled before him again, he saw a serious light enter Nick’s eyes.

"You know who I am, don’t you, Cole? About me being half-drake?"

"Yes."

"There are those in the palace who don’t trust me." Nick seemed to struggle to find the words before continuing.

"I just want you to be careful, alright? You can trust everyone who sat at the table with us and if you’re ever unsure about anything or anyone, don’t hesitate to ask any of us."

Nick’s gaze seemed to bore into Cole and Cole realized that Nick was afraid for him. He felt warmth spread through him at that, knowing he had found someone who truly cared for him. With a confidence belying his years, Cole hugged Nick once again, making a promise to himself to never lose this precious friend he had found even as he whispered.

"Thank you."

-Moments later-

"Alright. Out with it," said Brian once they had left Cole.

"What are you talking about, Brian?" asked Nick, a picture of guileless innocence on his face.

Brian couldn’t help his laugh.

"That look hasn’t worked on me since you were 5. Now, stop playing and spill."

"I still don’t know what you’re talking about."

"Oh, then how about I help jog that apparently awful memory of yours. Let me see, you, Kevin, entering the dining hall like you were on cloud nine, remember anything yet?"

Nick’s color had steadily risen with every word. He was dying to tell Brian, but was worried how he would react. As if reading his thoughts, Brian said.

"You can tell me anything, little brother. You know that."

At that Nick stopped, turning to face Brian. Checking to see no one was about, he hesitantly whispered.

"I kissed Kevin."

At Brian’s surprised look, Nick hurriedly added.

"Just on the cheek, but still…." And a dreamy look entered his eyes as a smile played on his lips.

"Nick!" he heard Brian calling him suddenly realizing Brian was shaking him.

"By Khira, if a kiss on the cheek does that to you, what the hell am I gonna do when you discover he has lips."

"Brian!"

"What?"

Brian saw the shocked look on Nick’s face and realized that his brother expected him to be angry.

"Nicky, the only thing I’ve got to say about this is, it’s about time."

Nick was so happy, Brian found himself enveloped in a loving hug but was surprised when he heard Nick whisper.

"Nothing will ever come from this though. You know that right, Brian?"

Before Brian could ask what he meant, they heard the sound of running feet before turning to see a royal page, Ben, hurrying past. Noticing them, Ben breathlessly blurted out his news before continuing on towards the healer’s quarters leaving a shocked Brian and Nick, his words still ringing in their ears.

"The King’s been poisoned!"