The breeze teased the coppery wisps of hair at the nape of his neck and played with the strands that had escaped the confines of the gray ribbon tied at the back of his head. Brown eyes swept across the sight laid before him on his hilltop perch as he sat there, elbows propped on his knees and head resting in his small hands. The youth breathed in the sweet, honeyed air, his gaze shifting from the sunbathed farmland to the castle that loomed over it like a prison guard. The silence was bliss, a welcomed change from the raucous chiding of his father that was usually ringing in his ears at all hours of the day. But now, he was alone, and it was quiet.

A moment later, however, both his aloneness and the peace were lost as a rustle behind him signified the presence of another.

The boy opened his mouth to warn away the intruder who dared to impede upon his solitude when his breath froze in his throat, as if under the spell of the ice-blue eyes now trained on his own. Ice-blue eyes, pure and crystalline, set in a pretty face, ivory skin flushed adorably from the tasking hike up the hill. The child’s hair fell in a sheer, blonde curtain around the angelic face, innocence shining in the icy orbs.

“H-Hi,” the boy greeted his now-welcome intruder.

Cherry blossom lips quirked into a tentative smile. “Hello.”

It was then that the boy decided that this child had to be the prettiest girl he’d ever seen.

“I hadn’t expected to find anyone up here,” the girl said softly as she sat down beside the boy, brushing her cloak aside so as not to sit on it. The insignia of the gold-rimmed, white rose on the blonde youth’s shoulder didn’t register with the mind of the five-year old beside her.

“I di’n’t expect anyone ta come up here,” the boy replied, leaning back with his palms to the emerald grass blanketing the hill. The blonde giggled cutely, earning her a suspicious glance. “Wha?”

“Your accent,” the girl said, explaining her amusement.

“What ‘bout it?”

“You work on the farmland?”

“Yup. Me an’ my whole family. We work for the king.” The boy scowled. “Even though he don’t deserve ta be king, or so Pa says. He says-He says that any one of us working people would make ten times a better king than King Amaziah.”

The girl cocked her head, smiling faintly. “Yes, I suppose that’s true.”

“…” The other youth watched the blonde with something akin to curiosity, with a hint of admiration. Or maybe affection? Attraction? Something along those lines. Whatever it was, it possessed the young boy to lean over and lightly press his lips against the girl’s. She yelped, the sound muffled by the other’s mouth, but she didn’t push him away. It was a chaste, childish kiss, tentative and sweet, a mere ghosting of one’s lips over another’s.

A second later, though it had seemed longer, the boy pulled away and grinned.

A faint pink dusted the girl’s cheeks. “Wha…? Uh…you…I…” For once the articulate youth seemed unable to create coherent sentences.

“Pa says that when I grow up I have ta marry a pretty girl.”

The blonde giggled, her blush receding ever so slightly as her sharp mind snapped back into place. “Mother tells me the same thing.”

“Wha?” The boy frowned confusedly. “But…that don’t make any sense! Why would your ma tell you ta marry a girl?”

“Oh, not just any girl,” the blonde continued, “but a princess.”

The boy was officially bewildered. “But… But…” He huffed, trying to make sense of the situation. And then, a light of recognition dawned in the brown depths of his eyes. “Wha’s your name?” he asked, turning earnestly to the other youth.

The blonde smiled brightly. “Ezra. Prince Ezra.”

“…”

“What’s your name?”

“…”

“A-Are you okay?” Ezra waved his hand in front of the other boy’s face, whose expression was one of utter shock and perhaps a bit of nausea. But maybe Ezra was just imagining that last part.

Then, the boy scrambled to his feet and took off down the hill, not looking back as the young prince watched him go. And yet, if he had, the boy would have seen the hurt that flashed across Ezra’s delicate features.