#ishai

How does a blacksmith's son become a king? It is a question he asks himself almost daily. He loves a princess disguising herself as a boy.

It was silly from the start. Her face was too pretty. Too perfect. Too feminine. But no one said anything until Maorin piped up one day.

'Running from the castle guards, Princess?' he had asked. Questions sprang up all around her but he did not care. With her well-placed smiles and quick thinking, she stole his heart.

He witnessed the death of his best friend as his love for her flourished and some nights he wondered if there was a connection. If he never met her, would Maorin have still died? Would his son still have been-?

He regrets those thoughts, seated upon a throne he was not born for. He watches her and how she reacts with practiced ease. She was born for this. He was born to walk among the common man.

He misses those well-placed smiles.

He misses his best friend's laughter.

In the public eye, she wore grace with a smile. A mask that hid the truth of a father who hated her for being a woman, and a mother who did what she could to usher her away to a husband who would only care about the sons she bore. The public bought the lie they loved each other like family.

None of them saw the true princess.

Fireworks littered the skies, exploding into tiny imitation stars that cascaded and faded out. The rooftop of his father's shop was a nice place to see the festivities. Ishai sat there with a jug of mead and his dearest friend next to him.

It was nice when Aeria was with him, but tonight, her parents had her on a short leash.

"One'uh these days... We're gonna build castles up there, Ishai. And we're gonna own the sky. Fuck the ground. We got wings, right? We belong up there." His companion gestured as he grunted, nearly spilling his own drink in the process. Ishai merely laughed. "And then, you... You 'n' Aeria can 'ave a gaggle'uh kids up there without her momsie and daddy knowin'."

"I think she and I will be fine, Maoren. But I appreciate the sentiment." He laid back against the roof and took another drink of mead. "The skies should be the last freedom in this world should we fall back to slavery."

"Aw, Ish. You think too much about that shit!" Maoren protested as he gulped down more alcohol. Before the night's end, they both would be back on the ground, retching and laughing from the tainted liquor.