diamonds

chapter 2| Hibiscus

"That's a weird name"

"Good thing it's not my name then"

"Oh, well then what's your name?" I snorted.

"Calm down Casper-

"Caspian" He corrected. I rolled my eyes

"Calm down Caspian, We literally met 3 hours ago"

"You're not exactly a pleasure either Hibiscus" He cursed underneath his breath "Gods that's a mouthful do you have a nickname" I groaned.

"Call me Hibi" We continued to walk in silence before I looked at him with a raised eyebrow "Well what's your nickname Jack Frost?" I taunted referencing his ice coloured hair. He thought to himself for a second before surprise flashed through his eyes.

"I don't think I've ever gotten one before" I raised an eyebrow.

"You're childhood must've been very depressing then" A forced, painful smile graced his face.

"Sorta, I wasn't allowed friends growing up" Guilt slapped my face hard as I stumbled over my words to apologise. He chuckled "Don't sweat it it's not a big deal" His passive behaviour to me intruding on a clearly painful memory made me feel even worse.

I cleared my throat. "So where are you from?" He raised an eyebrow gesturing to his pale skin and light blue eyes. I facepalmed "Right, Hearts...clearly" I mumbled the last part.

"And you're...diamonds?" I nodded "Why so far from home?"

"Long story"

He smiled "We have time" I chuckled.

"Funny you say that because we're only about five minutes away from the KOS" I grabbed my map and looked over it. Caspian came and looked down at it from over my shoulder. I could feel his warm breath on my shoulder making heat creep up my neck. I snapped out of it and focused back on the map "Okay so we're entering South KOS, we have to go through it to enter West KOS where we'll meet up with my other friends and I can help you out"

I dragged my finger to the middle "This is Central KOS, basically Queen Adaora's domain. She's not very fond of me so we'll have to avoid that at all costs" I closed the map and turned to look at him. "Now let's go over the rules" He leaned back into a tree and crossed his arms.

"Rules?"

I nodded "Yes rules" I pointed in the direction we were going "There? You need to relax, don't pick fights, don't start conversations or look at anyone for too long. The south has an overpopulation problem due to the people that have fled from Hearts. I might get recognized a few times because I a..." I coughed "Reputation".

He raised a brow "Reputation?"

I sighed "I'm not very liked round these parts okay? Fights I've picked, people I've betrayed yadadada which is all besides the point!" I pointed out " Point is this place is trouble and if something happens we either need to run or fight and in a situation I advise you run cuz people here play dirty"

I looked him up and down "Now, fitting in" He was wearing a hearts royal suit which I assume he used to fit in with the guards "This is going to be hard since you're practically a giant" I muttered.

"I'm 6'7!"

"You're a sasquatch"

I grabbed the pins and all the red things and started removing them. He grabbed my hand, alarmed "What are you doing?"

I rolled my eyes "Red. It's a Hearts colour. Here we wear blue and I can't exactly walk in there with you dressed in that uniform"

"Aren't the Spades and Hearts allies?" I snorted.

"The queens are, the people hate each other" I stood on my tippy toes to ruffle up his hair, making it more natural luckily I didn't have to do much considering our fight earlier. "I'll be able to get you better and more comfortable clothes once we get to the west".

I tried to steal a glance at him quickly only to see he was already staring at me. Even when I caught him staring he still continued to look at me, it was almost painful to look into his eyes because they were just so piercing. He looked so much better with his hair messed up, small strands of the platinum blonde were now everywhere making him look more childish and relaxed.

"Okay let's get going".