The Boy

Chapter 3 (Alice) [March 3037]

"Hello? Who is there?” I asked, as I stood still in the darkness of the trees.

It was almost sunset, and I was getting ready to go home, but then I heard a ‘thud’ sound. Like someone falling down, and that does not happen a lot. We are deep inside the Dark forest, and if someone had come here they would have already been stopped by the guards.

You see, the Dark Forest is off limits to anyone but the royal families of the two neighboring countries and someone they might personally allow. So it's not every day you see someone in the forest.

"Hello?" I asked again, but got answered with silence.

Then I heard a sound. It sounded like heavy breathing. Like a wounded animal. I slowly stepped towards the sound, only to find a beautiful boy on the ground covered in blood. Then suddenly something got caught in my trap. It was the sound of a person. I could not figure out if it was a friend or foe. So I picked up the boy princess style and started running towards my treehouse.

I had laid multiple barriers around the house so it wouldn’t be easy to find. I quickly laid the boy on my bed, then I looked more closely at the boy. He had silver hair that glistened under the small light, and rose-colored lips. His hair was somewhat long and curly, it reminded me of a bird's nest. I wondered what his eye color would be. They had to be a beautiful color.

For the next few days, I kept nursing him. Every few hours he would go into a fit and start throwing up blood. He looked like he was 12 or 13 years old. Well, I was 213 years old, so it was like I was treating a baby. The next thought that came into my head was why he was being chased by people and how he had gotten injured.

I knew that he could never be any normal child as he was in the forest. Maybe he was the child of a Duke or a Grand Duke? Or just maybe he might be the child of a King? Right now we are on the borders of the Mc. Lain kingdom, we are a kingdom made up of Unicorns. We unicorns are rare and if we band together, even in small numbers, we could at least fight off a kingdom like Clarines. Which, by the way, was right next door.

Let's say he was the Prince of Clarines, then if I remember right his name should be Zen Wistalia Clarines. I remember my mother mentioning him when we were studying about our neighboring kingdoms. Well, we will find out the truth when this little one wakes up.

Little Silver slept for a week. I think it was around evening when he opened his eyes. Just like I had guessed, he had beautiful silver eyes, just like a dragon. It sent shivers down my spine. I could not believe he was a human.

"Little Silver, I see you are awake” as I said those words I realized that I was not in my human form, but in my unicorn form.

My unicorn form is way more comfortable than my human form, because the human form is something I recently gained. In our kingdom, only those who inherit pureblood can transform on their 200th birthday, and we unicorns tend to live up to 1000 years old. So, in reality, I am still the baby of the family. By family I mean my elder brother, father, and step-mother.

"Ah... a… Unicorn.” he replied in a weak voice.

"Oh, yes. I am… um… Alice, I found you in the Dark Forest all wounded about a week ago and brought you to my house.”

"ONE WEEK!? *cough* I slept for that long?” he asked in between his coughing.

"Yeah and, I think that you should rest a little more.” I told him as I grabbed a glass of water with magic and gently pushed it against his lips.

He slowly drank the water and laid down again. Looking towards me, he started to say something but then he stopped. He closed his eyes and then sighed.

"I am sorry for being irrational, and thank you for saving me, Sir Alice. My name is Zen Wistalia Clarines and I am the prince of Wistalia kingdom. I owe you my life. You see, I was attacked by assassins after my magic practice, so I was completely helpless. I ran into the forest but because of my wounds I fainted. Once again, Thank you so much, you really saved my life.” as he explained to me what had happened his eyes started to get red like he was on the verge of crying.

We both talked for hours before sleep hit him and he was too tired to talk anymore. I told him that tomorrow I would perform a high level healing spell, which needed us both to be focused, and then he could head back to the castle as there might be many people looking for him. I remembered that I had not been home for more than a week and my parents and the kingdom might be worried. There are already fewer of us Unicorns in the world, and they don't need me as a prince dying off somewhere.

Yes, Alice is my name. The only thing is that it’s not my full name. My full name is Aliceter Mc. Lain, and I am the second prince of the Mc. Lain Kingdom. In the week I spent with Zen, I know as a fact that I don't want him knowing about my true identity. I am afraid he might treat me differently.

I transformed into my human form, brought a chair from the side room to us and sat down. Looking at the boy, I kept thinking about unnecessary thoughts. Something like what if he was half angel or half dragon. I have never seen a human that had silver eyes and hair. My mother had told me that long ago the most powerful silver dragon had blessed a human family, and that family rose to fame. They became a duke or something and, after struggling with the royal family (which at that time was horrible), they became the new imperial family. But mother being mother, might just be making up this old folk tale.

The next day, I healed Zen and he was as good as new. Then I proceeded to contact the Royal family of Wistalia. I was thinking about how I should contact his family. I could use telepathy or a telegram. Telepathy might sound like a threat if I did not speak properly, but a telegram could have the same effect. In the end, I chose telepathy and directly connected to the king, Zen’s father.

"Hello, Is this King Kain of Wistalia?” I spoke slowly and carefully and I could feel my nervousness.

"Yes, and who might I be speaking to?” he replied curtly.

"It is an honor talking to you, my name is Aliceter Mc. Lain, Crown Prince of the Unicorn Kingdom.” I felt cold sweat roll down my cheek and my throat started to feel very dry.

"May I ask why you might be communicating with me? Now is not the best time to chat.”

You know that feeling when you do something wrong and you hide it from your parents only for them to find out about it later and they are way more angrier than before? Well, that's how I felt while talking to the king. I understand where he is coming from, but still. There are so many ways this conversation could go. This might lead to war, or they might break the peace treaty with us. We might have amazing magic power and strength, but economically we are s**t. When I say “s**t” I mean that we don't even have proper houses where we could welcome guests or even house ourselves.

"Um, about a week ago, while I was in the Dark Forest, a few assassins came my way and I killed them because it was nothing new for me, but I happened to come upon a boy with silver-”

"WHAT!? SO YOU HAVE MY SON? IS HE OK? WHERE ARE YOU? ARE YOU TRYING TO BLACKMAIL ME!? WERE YOU THE ONE WHO PLANNED THE ASSASINATION ATTEMPT?”

He cut me mid-sentence just to scream at me and blame me for everything? I mean, I understand that he was just being protective, but still he should at least listen to me.

"Sir, please. Like I was saying, I came upon the boy in the forest all wounded, so thinking nothing of it, I took him back to my private home and fixed him up. He woke up last night and he told me who he was. I told him that I was just a unicorn, and not a Royal. I will come by in a few hours with the prince. And to answer your last question, No I have no reason to kill either you or Little Silver over here,” then I heard soft coughing from the room and I got some water from the kitchen and started heading towards the bed. “Well, I have to go and take care of Little Silver. See you in a few hours Your Highness”

"Wait-"

I cut off the telepathic connection as I had had enough of him, and I started to shake Zen so that he would wake up, but to no avail. I had to wake him up so that he could drink water, or he would dehydrate. This is one of my smaller private houses that I don’t usually go to, so there were no special tools there that could help in the healing process. So my stupid self came up with a horrible idea, but what can I do?

I took a sip of water in my mouth and kissed him. I have seen my mother do this with father a few times, and it helped him a lot when he was sick. Little Silver’s lips felt very soft and cold. I could also taste a little blood from the cut on his lips. My brain started to wonder how it would feel if we kissed after he was awake, with his beautiful red lips warm to the touch, and that sweet smell that made me a little dizzy.

After a few minutes, I came back to reality and my checks started to heat up. I could feel the blood rushing to my head while I started to clean up. I carried a bag full of medicine and put Zen on my back. We started heading towards the castle about an hour after my talk with the King.

Remember the folk tale about the dragon I rambled about before? Let me tell you how the whole story goes:

“Once upon a time there lived a farmer,

He had a son with bright blue eyes and black hair.

The farmer and the son were very happy together.

One day a stranger came to the village,

The stranger was hidden under a black cloak.

No one in the village was willing to house him,

But the farmer, out of kindness, helped the stranger.

The stranger claimed that he was a powerful nobel,

But none of the villagers believed him, except the farmer.

The stranger claimed that he was richer than the king,

But none of the villagers believed him, except the farmer.

The stranger claimed that he was more powerful than a king,

But none of the villagers believed him, except the farmer.

The stranger, moved by the kindness of the farmer said,

“Farmer, come with me and you will get fortune.”

But the farmer who was already happy replied,

“Dear stranger, I am already happy with my son,

I don’t need riches and power as long as I have my boy”

The stranger became even more happy with his answer,

The stranger took off his cloak and revealed his face.

“Oh farmer, I am the all powerful Silver Dragon.

I have been on a long journey in search of a King.

And I believe I have found him,

Would you become my King and rule this country?”

The farmer, who had been blessed, agreed to this condition.

And the farmer became King, and the son became a Prince.

The kingdom was prophesied to prosper for years to come."

It is a very moving tale with the lesson that you should always be kind and humble, but I thought it was just a folk tale. That is until I met little silver. Well, I can always ask my mother, and if she does not tell me anything, I can just go look for the Dragon King.

*~*

Walking through the Death Forest with baggage and not running into a few wild animals here and there was impossible. Though we did not run into anything dangerous, just a few squirrels, slimes, wolves and birds. I looked ahead and estimated that we would reach the castle in about 30 minutes or so.

I don’t know how time went by, but soon we were just a few feet away from the huge castle walls. I flew us inside and started heading towards the healers section. I had turned myself and the sleeping prince invisible so as to not create much trouble and telepathically I told the king that we were heading towards the healer’s room.

As soon I reached in front of the doors and knocked, the doors burst open and the king, now in tears, grabbed the prince and gave him a big hug. This left me wondering just how powerful the king was to have seen through my invisibility.

"So I’m guessing this is my queue to leave?” I spoke in a soft voice so as to not ruin the father and son moment and started to walk away when I was stopped by the King.

"Wait, I have yet to thank you. Would you mind waiting in my office for a few minutes?” his voice sounded raspy and dry, and overall he looked like he would just collapse any minute.