14 Garden

In the Royal garden, Vincent could be seen sitting under a tree sketching a quetzal as it perched on a branch, it's wings displayed its iridescent green hue and its red colored chest and belly above him.

"Your Highness!" Vincent turned towards the sound, there stood Blair who had an unreadable expression as she folded her arms.

"Good day Blair, you could sit here if you want to" Vincent offered as he patted the empty space beside him.

"Thank you for the offer Your Highness but I rather stand" Blair replied as she stressed the former.

"Oh" Vincent was disappointed in her reply and her words made him uncomfortable, "is there any reason why you're here then?".

I want to get to know you better, Blair had wanted to say but instead, "unfortunately, my assignment has been slightly changed to babysitting".

"I don't need your supervision or protection!" Vincent had not intended to sound coldly but the mere thought of his parents still considering him as being fragile was sickening, "I can protect myself".

This brought an unexpected smile on Blair's face as Vincent saw her brows raise, why did she find his statement funny?.

"That's all I wanted to hear" Blair got comfortable as she sat where Vincent had offered earlier. "What are you sketching?" Blair tried peering into his journal.

"It's just a silly hobby I picked up from my mother" Vincent nervously hid his sketch behind his back.

"Since it's a hobby from the Queen, it's definitely worth doing" Blair replied as she nodded her head, "b-but you, I agree you picked up the silly part all by yourself" she ended chuckling slightly at her own witty remark.

"I did not" Vincent protested.

"Did"

"Did not"

"Did" Blair replied yet again in a singsong voice.

"Did- you know what?" Vincent was clearly frustrated.

"What?" Blair found the prince's frustrated attitude amusing.

"Wait are you enjoying this?" Vincent's mouth slightly opened in shock before he regained himself, "don't answer that".

"I did not intend to Your Highness" Blair bowed mockingly.

"Would you stop that?" The playful manner Blair displayed, got Vincent having mixed feelings, why the sudden change in attitude? Was she trying to make up for the last time they met?.

"Stop what?" Blair looked perplexed.

"Your Highness, you never called me that before-" Vincent closed his eyes as he dreaded hearing that and most of all from Blair, "and I do have a name you know".

"But your title befits it" Blair reverted to her brooding character as she crossed her arms, "you never had a problem with it when others referred to you in that manner".

Don't you get it? You are not just anyone!, I don't know why, but I feel a strong connection to you

Prince Vincent shook the thought from his mind, "well I had to pretend I was alright with it in front of everyone, but right now we are alone" he briefly examined their surroundings to make sure, "so I would really appreciate it if you could just call me Vincent, when in public, you could simply just add the title of prince but I wouldn't mind you calling me my name though".

"As you wish Your High-" Blair paused momentarily as Vincent have her a warning glare, "I mean, Vincent".

"Much better" Vincent's mood lightened up as he brought out his journal, "you want to see what I was sketching?" He tried steering the conversation from anymore tense topics.

"Thought you didn't want me seeing your silly hobby?" Blair replied, Vincent could tell she had a smirk on her smug face as her cheek bone raised a little as did her brow.

"That's in the past now, do you want to or not?" Vincent was getting impatient, "the swallow is getting away, uh!" Vincent cried out as the quetzal flew from it's original position on a branch.

Blair raised her hands in defense,"I did nothing to make it fly away, I guess it sensed someone drawing a silly picture of itself, and didn't want to waste a good opportunity to get itself some snack".

"And what makes you think that was the reason?" Vincent challenged?.

Blair pointed up a few branches above Vincent's head, there perched the quetzal feeding on a trail of honey ants, "oh!" Vincent felt outwitted.

"Prince Vincent!" Someone called behind them, Vincent looked behind him, disappointment washing over him instantly.

🔲🔲🔲🔲

Queen Milana walked towards her window, placing her hands on the plane as she looked at the garden below, she could see her son sketching a bird, but she couldn't make out the drawing.

Blair took long strides approaching her son, the Queen's interest sparked up as she could see their lips moving, what are they talking about?.

She slightly opened her window so she could hear them better.

"Did"

"Did not"

She could hear them arguing, Blair seemed amused.

I knew it was a good idea choosing Blair to look out for my son!

The Queen's lips curved upwards at the thought, as she spied on their little squabble.

****

"Prince Vincent!" Queen Milana looked towards her right following the voice, her mood changed instantly. Amelia!

She looked towards her son and Blair, Blair took a protective stance in front of him. Vincent pushed Blair to the side, confronting Amelia.

"What do you want?" He asked coldly.

Amelia looked stunned for a moment but then recovered her composure, "I thought we could have a few moments together, maybe a walk by the lake?" Amelia clasped her hands together as she batted her eyes, pouting her lips.

"Maybe another time" Vincent turned his back towards Amelia taking his journal as he prepared to continue sketching the bird, "I'm busy right now as you can see".

Amelia's mouth fell open for a slight second, "You- you're with him?" She pointed an accusing finger at Blair. "You prefer his company over mine?"

"Princess Amelia, I told you another time, I'll make it up to you, but right now could you leave?" Vincent held his journal, holding in his anger as her outburst scared the quetzal, ruining his chances of finishing his sketch.

"What are you looking at?" Amelia's rage blazed against Blair as she could picture a smug look on his face.

"I never said anything Your Highness!" Blair bowed mockingly, only angering Amelia more.

"Let's see what the Queen has to say about this!" Amelia stormed off.

"You need to be careful around her, she's a loose cannon" Blair playfully warned.

"I noticed!" Vincent shook his head at the unfortunate position he found himself in.

"Under all that, she might actually be a nice person" Blair pretended to reconsider her previous statement.

"Sure, maybe I should get to know her more" Vincent played along.

There was a brief silence before they burst out laughing.

"What was that?" Vincent and Blair looked at their surroundings.

The Queen still watching them, covered her mouth as she tried restraining her laughter as she quickly hid from their sight.