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

An Unexpected Meeting

A familiar wyvern landed on the edge of the lunch table, where the Big 8 sat. Nobody reached for it, not after the last letter. That was until Storm dropped the letter face down, revealing the wax stamp on the letter.

The prince had a specially made design for his wax stamps. It was two wolves back to back, you could only tell if you paid enough attention but one was angry and the other was crying. He always dusted over the lines in the design with golden micro glitter.

Dante picked the letter up, unfolding it carefully. Everyone at the small table crowded behind him to read silently as he quietly read the words out loud.

"I've cleared all of your schedules for 2:50pm to 3:30pm. Please meet me in the room across from mine at 3. I've given you 10 extra minutes to wrap up whatever you must and make your way to that room. I won't be upset if you can't be there at 3 on the dot or even show at all but do try."

"I wasn't scared for a moment but once I finished reading, I realized that he never told us why he wants us to go there." Lucinda muttered.

"It has to be about Aphmau." Blaze sighed.

"I agree." Kawaii~Chan mumbled. She was lost for what to do.

"Well, I'm going." Vlyad stated. "Are you all as well?"

"We'd be dumb not to. He's the Prince after all." Dante shrugged.

"Then see you all there." Travis hummed, holding his arm out for Storm to land on. He walked out of the room with haste.

-

2:50 pm had rolled around quickly for the group of guards. They met up outside of the office door at 2:58, readying theirselves for the conversation ahead of them. They all entered the room together. Prince Aaron was sitting at the head of the table, staring out of the window to his left. He turned and greeted them all with a warm smile.

"Hi everyone, please sit." All of the guards hesitantly took their seats at the table.

"Is there something you needed, Princey?" Travis took a second to realize what he had called the prince. It was a name nobody besides Aphmau called him. He knew that her friends knew of the name, hell, the whole staff did, but she was the only one with the guts to call him that to his face. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, it just slipped I didn't mean t-"

The prince responded with a sheepish chuckle.  "Don't worry at all, I'm not offended, it's just..been awhile since I've heard that name." He reasurred. "In any case, I did call you all her for a reason."

"The reason being?"

"I...wanted to check up on you all." The guards were taken aback by his statement. This prince never in any of their castle careers wanted to talk to them, let alone talk to them about their feelings. The silence was piercing. "Of course, you don't have to tell me about how you're feeling in depth, or- or even at all if you're not comfortable with it, but I know if anyone has had a hard time taking the news of Aphmau's execution, it would be you all." Lucinda sighed in response to his proposal.

"Your Highness. With all due respect though, why would you of all people want to know how we feel about this topic?"

"Luci! Mind your words!" Dante seethed. He was worried about her safety. Especially with an attitude like hers. If the king could take out Aphmau, he could take out Lucinda.

"Dante, don't worry. I'm nothing like my father on any realm beside looks and last name. Lucinda had a valid question and it's only fair for me to answer." He directed his attention to the ginger witch. "While I would be absolutely open to hear your thoughts on this whole situation, my initial question was just to check on your mental states. There's no way you can hear the news of your friend getting publicly executed and not feel anything. I just want to make sure none of you are feeling guilt or trying to do anything to yourselves physically because of this." The gaurds shared a look. It was unreadable.

"I'm upset. I don't want her to die. I keep convincing myself that she has a plan but I just don't know now." Kawaii~Chan spoke. She was the first guard to announce her anxiety. Slowly, they all went in a circle around the table, explaining their overwhelming thoughts about everything going on. Everyone shared to same sadness, fear, and anger. All of the guards had shared, now there was only one person left.

"How do YOU feel about this, Your Highness?" Blaze questioned. He peered down at the table, where his hands slowly balled into fists. He didn't miss a beat when it came to answering the question at hand.

"I feel frustrated and helpless. I have never in my life felt so useless. I can't figure out anything to do to help her. No matter what I come up with to save her, it always seems impossible to achieve. I'm the crowned prince and I can't even do one thing right and save her." When he finally looked up to face everyone, he had fear written all over his expression. "I'm terrified, and the worst part is that I was the reason for this and I know it. Letting my feelings slip gave my father the perfect excuse to get rid of her." The prince suddenly had tears prickling up in his eyes. "I apologize. I'm glad you all felt comfortable enough to talk about this. My door is always opened if you need a friend. You're dismissed." They quickly left. This was the first time they'd seen him be so...human. All throughout his life, he had the same personality as a brick wall, then Aphmau came and shattered that.

Once the door shut, KC pressed her ear back up to the door. She shushed the others while Blaze joined her since they had the most enhanced hearing of the group.

"What is it?" Travis whispered.

"He's mumbling to himself." Kc replied. Lucinda got her staff out and cast something on the door.

"We'll all be able to hear what he's saying and see what he's doing now. Stay quiet."

A sigh came from the speaker spell and a holographic screen popped up on the door that Lucinda cast the spell on. They all looked up to see the crowned prince with his elbows on the table and his head in his hands. Between his pointer and middle fingers was a slip of paper that look nothing less than weathered. "Every minute of every hour, I miss you more? What the hell is her deal? She knows shes about to get killed and she's still being a hopeless romantic." He chuckled softly, tears starting to fall from his eyes to the table. "What will I do? What will her friends do? She can't just be giving up, right?" His voice cracked on the "right" as he vigorously wiped at his eyes. "What's gonna be left of the world if she's not in it..?" His voice came out as a whisper. He desperately wiped at his cheeks, brushing the tears away.

"May I ask what you're all doing?" The group spun around to see the princess staring back at them. "You guys all simultaneously get released for your duties and I find you easedropping on my little brother?"

"Princess! We meant no harm. His Highness called us all to talk and-"

That was when Melissa finally took notice of what was happening on the magical screen. "He's crying. You all- go back to your duties. Don't let me catch this happening again." The princess rushed in the room. Everyone else had begun to follow her orders, but the witch stood still, her eyes glued to the screen.

"Aaron? What's happening? Why were the Big 8 in here? Are you okay?" Travis walked back to her. Everyone paused as the warlock put a hand on her shoulder.

"Lu, we shouldn't be here." She shoved his hand away.

"I need to see who this man really is."

"He was just incredibly vaulnerable with us, I feel like that definitely shows a bit of who he is." On the screen, the prince replied to his sister's question with a quick "I invited them here" before looking up to his older sister with beady, tear-dripping eyes.

"Aaron?"

"Mel, how could Dad kill someone so many people love so dearly with no remorse? When did he become such a shitsack?" She took a moment to think before responding. She wrapped her arms around him, which he took kindly to. He embraced her back.

"I don't know."

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