The Prince's Shield- An Aarmau prince x guard AU [COMPLETED]

The Note

Melissa walked into Aaron's room without knocking, Lucinda behind her. As rude as it was, it didn't really matter given that he was asleep.

They wanted to visit just to check up on him. After that terrible news, he couldn't have been well. The first thing they laid their eyes on was Aaron himself. His head was down on his desk, his face over his paper work. They approached quietly so to not immediately wake him up. Scrunched up in his hand was a small piece of paper. The princess took a chance and plucked the paper from his eased up hands, unwrapping it carefully. The note read:

"To Princey,

I was dumb and forgot I had my notebook and pencil on me so I didn't write to you, sorry it took me this long to realize. Now that I have this, I have to tell you a few things. Less tell and rather order you to do a few things. 1: You still have to do paperwork while I'm here. Don't fall too far behind just because I've not been there to remind you. 2: you already know what I told you last about keeping yourself healthy. 3: Stay safe for me.

I know this execution news is hard, but I've had a lot of time to think about it and I'll be fine. You'll be fine too. I only have a limited amount of time to write before someone comes down to check on me so I'll make this goodbye quick.

Every minute of every hour, I miss you more. All the love from me- Aphmau" Her signature was wavy with a small heart written next to it. The two women didn't know how he had gotten it because as far as they knew, Storm wasn't able to get into the dungeon.

Aside from that, the letter broke Melissa's heart. She couldn't stop thinking about the news of her friend's soon to be execution. She couldn't do anything to defy her father's orders when it came to staying put. She was disgusted with how cruel he had become.

Then she looked back down to her brother. Aphmau was his guard, and his friend. One of his first REAL friends. He always had an eye for justice and the absolute lack of justice that Aphmau was given was unreal to him. There was no doubt that their father was insane. The power had driven him mad to the point that nobody was safe around him. Not even his own family or those they care the most about.

Melissa slipped her curious girlfriend the note, watching as the witch read over it. "How can she just...be okay with this?"

"She's probably feeling more emotions than she wants to let on right now. If she's coping, then she needs to do it her way."

"The one letter she sent wasn't to us, but this prince. I never quite understood what she saw in him." Lucinda was mad. She didn't really know what to do with all of the built up stress and sadness she held. The two women had taken a seat on Aaron's bed.

"There's more to him than what meets the eye. He has a soft spot, it's just hard to find with all of the pressure he's been facing his whole life." The sleeping prince shifted, turning his head so that he was resting his other cheek on his arm. A beam of sunlight hit his face, illuminating it. His facial expression was so relaxed when he was sleeping. Lucinda's eyes trace over his smooth, tan skin. He certainly was beautiful, but Aphmau wouldn't just fall for someone because they're beautiful. So what was it about him?

During the royal ball when he made his entrance, he had this perfect charming smile. The witch wondered if he often sent Aphmau that look. That could be a selling point.

"Wait, some letters are bolded!" Melissa noticed. They placed the note down and snagged a blank piece of paper from Aaron's desk, reading over the note and marking down all of the bold letters. Lucinda, who was holding the deciphered sheet whipsered the sentence that they had found.

"I'm sorry... I have to leave you so soon. Why did she write this of all things secretly?"

"Beats me."

The two women sat examining the prince until he stirred because of the sun hitting his eyelids. He sat up slowly, yawning and rubbing away the prickling tears he woke up with. "Hi...Baby Brother." Melissa spoke from behind him. He flinched, spinning around to see his sister and her guard staring back at him.

"Watching people while they sleep is creepy, you know?" He turned back around to sort the paperwork he had unconsciously used as a pillow.

"Sorry, I was just gonna come in to talk to you but when we got here, you were asleep."

"You could of just woken me up, Mel." Aaron sighed, raking his hands through his hair. That was when he noticed.

"Well, you looks so peaceful so I di-"

"Where's my note? Did you take my note?" The women shared a sidewards glance. Lucinda was the last one holding it, so she handed it to Melissa, who returned it to Aaron. "You didn't happen to read that, did you..?" He scanned over the paper with his dark eyes before folding and pocketing it.

"Aaron...it's okay to miss her." Melissa spoke softly. Aaron bit his lip. He couldn't sleep through any nights easily since he got the news first hand. Every time he thought back to Aphmau's inconsolable wails, he felt sick to his stomach. It felt as though someone had tied a knot in his throat, restricting him from speaking without shedding tears.

"I..." he wanted nothing more than to tell ANYONE about how he felt. The only thing that held his feelings was a concealed notebook that he made sure to write thoughts in every once in a while. He had been writing in it significantly more than usual, just trying to process his thoughts even the slightest bit. "I have to...I have to drop my paperwork for the bay with Father, sorry." With that, he held his internally twisting stomach and quickly left his own work, paperwork in hand.

"I'll talk to him later." The two ladies left his room at last.