Into the Sky: Alex and Devlan’s Story

Into the Sky

Chapter Two

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“You know that you really don’t have to help me with this, right?”

Alex nodded. “Yeah. I know that, but I want to help you. Unless you don’t want me here, in which case, I can leave.”

The blonde boy shook his head frantically. “N-no, no, no. I didn’t mean it like that. I’m sorry.” They were on the top floor of the library and he was standing on the sliding ladder, putting books away – Devlan’s job. He felt really guilty about letting him do it, but the stubborn prince wouldn’t do otherwise, despite all the glares they were getting from the other workers. Devlan would probably get in trouble for this later, but, truth be told, he really enjoyed the other’s company. He thought he would be nervous, but in fact he was the complete opposite around Alex. Not that it came out like that, but he felt less nervous than around anyone else he knew. He definitely didn’t act like a stereotypical prince. Devlan thought, in passing, what went wrong in the gene pool?

“Don’t be sorry, Dev,” Alex said, reaching for another book. “You did nothing wrong. I should be thanking you for dealing with me.”

The younger nodded, but didn’t tell Alex that he actually liked dealing with him. It wasn’t his place to say, so instead he began shelving books on the lower shelves. After another couple of minutes, all the books were stacked. Devlan looked up at him, wondering what he was going to do now.

“What do you have to do now?” Alex asked.

His eyes widened in wonder. “I… um… nothing. I have the rest of the day off,” he said, looking at the floor. Alex stepped off the ladder and lifted Devlan’s chin so he was looking straight into the other’s royal green eyes.

“Come with me?” he asked.

“What?” Devlan asked in complete surprise.

“Just come wander the city with me. Come on. I don’t bite.”

“W-why?”

“Because I like you and I don’t think you get out enough.”

“I guess…” he said, dropping my gaze. “But I have to tell Arianna.”

“Who’s Arianna?” he asked.

“She’s the lady who took me in. We live in a building out back.” Arianna had taken Devlan in five years back when he was still living on the streets. She found him, felt sorry for him, and dragged him to her house. He has lived with her ever since. She was the closest thing to a mother that he had ever really known.

Alex nodded and let the smaller boy lead the way back down the stairs, both of them watching out for Amir. Devlan still couldn’t figure out why Alex felt like spending time with him.

Arianna worked on the first floor, checking out books. When they got to the bottom of the stairs Devlan walked up to the desk. “Arianna, I’m going out.”

She raised an eyebrow. “With who?” and that’s when she must have noticed Alex standing behind her surrogate son. “Oh Prince,” she said, bowing her head.

“No, I’m Alex. You must be mistaken.”

Arianna smiled knowingly and nodded. “All right Alex, are you the one taking Devlan out?”

Alex nodded and wrapped an arm around said boy;s shoulders, “Yep, he’s my new best friend.”

His eyes must have been popping out of my head. Before he could say anything though, Arianna was laughing and Alex was dragging him out of the library and into the street.

It was beautiful outside and it was true that it had been awhile since he had been out and about. That’s probably why it seemed so pretty. There were trees and grass (rumor had it that they got them from the Overland) along cob stone streets with tall ancient buildings on either side. The sky was water, beautiful blue water with fish swimming: all shapes and sizes, and many species with different colors. All swimming freely within it.

Devlan heard Alex laugh, a deep laugh, with just a hint of boyishness left in it. “I was right. You really don’t get out much, do you?”

He shook my head and blushed. “It’s been awhile.”

“What do you want to do?” he asked.

“You’re asking me?”

“Yes, you’re my guest of honor, Dev.”

“I’ve never really done anything fun,” he replied, shrugging, “so I really don’t know what there is to do.”

Alex stared at him like he had just announced that he had an Overlander living in my house. “Never?” The blonde shook his head. “Wow,” he said, running a finger through his hair.

“Sorry.”

He smiled at Devlan. “I swear that I am going to rid you of that habit.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me down the street.

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“No,” Devlan said. “Absolutely not!” They were standing in front of two huge birds that apparently belonged to a friend of Alex’s. He wanted Devlan to ride one. Sure, he had seen people flying above the city on them before, even though most people just used flying vehicles, but he had never thought he would ever actually fly on one.

“Come on,” Alex whined. “You’ll love it! I promise. If you don’t, then you can call me a liar and never speak to me again.”

“I’ll die.”

He grinned a princely grin. “How about this: we both get on the same bird and I’ll hold onto you and make sure you don’t fall off.”

The younger shrugged. That sounded better, he supposed. Better than flying by himself, anyways. And besides, it wasn’t as though Alex was just planning on letting him walk away from this without even trying it. He pretty much had no choice in the matter. “Fine.”

“Great! I’ll be right back. I have to go get Zachariah. And you had better be here when I get back.” Did Devlan look like he was going to bolt or something? He nodded and Alex left, leaving him alone with the birds. They weren’t actually all that intimidating. They were kind of magnificent. He heard that a long time ago, birds such as these were the most amazing things around. They had riders who pretty much saved Atlantis from whoever was currently attacking them. But those had been in the days when Atlantis was still above ground. Sometimes he wondered what it would have been like back then. It probably would have been much more exciting. Some people said that Atlantis sunk because their technology was too advanced for the surrounding world. Some people said it was the elders who purposely made Atlantis fall, but no one really knew. No one was old enough to remember. Not even the Emperor.

Alex came back with a tall, burly man in his wake. “You didn’t run away.”

Like he could. He would never run away from Alex, even if he did want to run away from the birds.

“These old birds would never hurt you. Don’t worry,” said the man who he assumed to be Zachariah. “They wouldn’t hurt a blade of grass.”

Devlan just nodded and turned back to Alex who was putting some sort of saddle on the back of one of the huge winged creatures. When he was done, he thanked Zachariah and climbed onto the back of the bird in a graceful, very princely, motion that Devlan was sure he wouldn’t ever be able to imitate. “Come on, Dev,” he said, grinning.

He walked over and stood beneath Alex, wondering how he was ever going to get up there, when he reached down and grabbed the small boy under the arms, pulling him up in one swift motion, so that they were sitting one in front of the other. He wrapped one arm around Devlan’s waist and the other grabbed the reigns of the animal. He leaned down pressing his partner against the back of the bird. “Hold on and keep your head down,” he whispered into Devlan’s ear, sending shivers down his spine. He nodded and they lifted off.

It was the most amazing thing he had ever experienced. From the moment they left the ground Devlan loved it and wanted more and more. Atlantis doesn’t have a natural wind because it is underwater, but they were creating their own wind, soaring above the gigantic city and its huge population. The feeling of Alex pressed against his back also helped. He was sending tingly feelings all down the younger’s spine. He didn’t know how or why. He had never felt quite like this before.

“How do you like it?” Alex yelled over the roar of the wind.

“Magnificent!” Devlan yelled back. He glanced down. Suddenly, he wasn’t afraid of heights anymore even though we were hundreds of feet in the air. All he saw was the beauty of it all.

He felt, more than heard, Alex laugh. “I told you so!”

“Yeah!”

They stayed up in the air for what felt like an eternity, soaring above all the other air ships, just the two of them, before Alex started the descent back down.

Alex got off first, helping Devlan down after him, and catching him when he almost fell, legs unable to hold him. Devlan stood up, still a little weary, but too embarrassed to stay leaning against him. “Would you do that with me again sometime?” Alex asked.

He nodded. “If you want.” Then he realized something. “You won’t get in trouble for this, will you?” If he got in trouble, it would be all Devlan’s fault and he didn’t know how to deal with that. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I don’t want you to be in trouble. It would be my fault and if the Prince gets in trouble that’s not good. Andyourfatherprobablywon’tbehap-” Alex cut off what were probably the most words that had ever come out of his mouth at one time by him pressing a finger against his lips and smiling.

“I won’t get in trouble. I do things like this all the time.”

“Y-you… you do?” he stuttered.

“Yep. Don’t worry about it. So what do you want to do now?”

He shook his head, not having any idea why Alex was doing this. No one had ever been this nice to him before – well, besides Arianna, but she was more motherly-nice. Atlantis had always been a cruel place to him. “I-I don’t know.”

“Come with me to the palace?”

Devlan gave him what must have been a horrified expression. No one went in the palace except the royal family, elders, and people of importance – definitely not someone poor and lowly like him. “What?” he asked. Maybe he had misheard.

He repeated the exact same thing a second time. “It’ll be fun.”

“But… people… like me aren’t allowed in there,” he breathed out.

“They are if I say they are.”

So he nodded, once again unable to say no. “I guess…”

“Good,” he said, once again grasping Devlan’s hand and leading him down the street toward the heart of the city. The farther into the city they got, the better and more elaborate the buildings became. The upper-class people, like Alex, lived here. Many people stopped to bow at Alex (he waved them off). Others raised an eyebrow, presumably wondering why the Prince was hanging out with a lowlife such as Devlan. He didn’t blame them. He was wondering the same thing.

Finally, they stopped in front of the palace. It was huge. Devlan didn’t think he had ever actually been this close to it. Huge pillars framed the doorway and above them were towers, reaching up to what seemed almost the top of the city.

He heard laughter and turned to see Alex grinning at me. “You’ll get used to it.”

“Not any time soon,” he assured.

“Ah well, we have all the time in the world.”

He raised an eyebrow. Alex was saying that he wanted Devlan to be around a lot. Devlan didn’t know what to say. Luckily, he didn’t have to.

“Alexander! I have been looking all over for you! You skipped classes! What have you been doing?” This was Devlan’s que to hide behind Alex, thankful that he was so much bigger than him. This woman was his mother. Even he knew that. She was queen of Atlantis and he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that yell.

“Mother,” Alex said, bowing his head and dragging me out from behind him. He squeaked, but bowed his head also, not wanting to appear rude. “I was showing Dev all the better parts of our city.”

The Queen scrutinized me, her gaze lingering on my low-class clothes. She obviously wasn’t pleased. “How many times have I told you not to associate with… scum like that?”

His lips started quivering and he tried to hold back the tears, but it wasn’t working. He knew it was a bad idea to come here. He should have known she wouldn’t like him. Why would she? He was scum, like she said.

“Just because he doesn’t have as much money as we do, that doesn’t mean he is scum, mother,” Alex said, wrapping a protective arm around the blonde’s shoulders in a soothing gesture, much to the obvious disgust of his mother. “Dev just needs a friend and I’m not going to push him away now.”

“What do you have to say for yourself?” The question was directed toward Devlan.

“I can… I can prove myself,” he replied, still sniffling.

“You don’t have to prove yourself, Dev,” Alex said, looking down at me.

“He’s a sniveling mess, Alexander. Take him away.”

“He’s only crying because of you,” Alex hissed. “Come on, Dev.” He nodded and followed him as they left the entrance for deeper parts of the castle. Devlan had to practically run to keep up with Alex’s long legs. “I’m sorry,” he said a few minutes later. “My mother just doesn’t understand. I’ve been doing this ever since I was little: making friends from classes lower than ours, and she’s never liked it.”

He didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt less special than he did a minute ago before Alex mentioned that he did this all the time. So Devlan was just another one and once again was back to being a nobody. There really was nothing special about him. Alex was just too nice. It was unfair and selfish of him, but I felt it all the same. Devlan didn’t mention anything though. He never did.

They walked in silence for another long while before Alex finally stopped in front on a door and pushed his way inside, motioning for Devlan to follow. Inside the gigantic bedroom was a huge four-poster bed with shimmery fabric hanging from it, making it look like something straight out of one of those fantasy books that the small boy always read. There was a balcony that looked out over the city. A shelf of books, all neatly organized, was on one wall. He saw a sword lying across the desk that took up a corner of the room. “Wow…” he murmured.

“I don’t like living like this,” he said out of nowhere. “I don’t want to be the next emperor.” He walked over to the balcony and Devlan followed, eager to hear what he had to say. “I always dreamed over running away to the Overland. People have done it before. Father always says that the Over Landers don’t have technology like ours, but I don’t care.” It was almost like he was talking to himself now. He wasn’t looking at Devlan. Frankly, he didn’t know why he was telling him this. “I want to escape from this, Dev. I hate it. You’ve seen what my mother is like.”

“Who will be emperor if you leave?” he asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

“Maybe it’s time for a new age for Atlantis.”

“What do you mean?”

Alex didn’t say anything for a while, just stood there not looking at Devlan, like he was embarrassed after that whole thing with his mom. Finally, “Maybe the time has finally come for no more kings and queens. I mean, the same family has been ruling Atlantis since the beginning. We need a change. If I leave, then that can happen.”

“Why… are you telling me this?”

He looked Devlan, for the first time in what felt like forever, and replied, “Honestly, I really don’t know.”

“Oh…” h said, bowing my head. “I think I’ll just leave…” It was getting late anyways.

Devlan turned to go when he didn’t say anything. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder and a firm, “wait.” Devlan didn’t face him, but he also didn’t start walking. “Did it bother you when I said that I made friends with low class people all the time?”

He froze. Was it really that obvious? Probably. He never had been good at hiding his emotions.

“It’s all right. You don’t have to tell me, but I want you to know that you are different.”

His heart sped up, but he tried to ignore it. “W-what do you… mean?”

“You make me feel things that I’ve never felt before. I don’t know. It’s weird. Do you feel it too?” Devlan hated how Alex always knew what to say, while he just blubbered his way through life.

“I…”

“Look at me,” he said, not as a question, but as a command. Devlan didn’t want to. He might do something stupid or rash.

“Alex, you’ve known me for less than a day. I don’t think you can feel anything toward me.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Alex said, releasing his grip on the smaller boy’s shoulder.

Alex finally turned so that Devlan could look him in the eyes – wow. “I’ll leave, alright? Maybe I’ll see you later.” With that, he turned and ran out the door knowing full well that Alex could catch up with him if he really wanted to. He must not have wanted. Somehow, that thought made his heart break a little. His only hope was that he could somehow remember his way back to the house without the help of Alex.

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It was late into the artificial night before he finally made it back. Arianna was sitting at the kitchen table, reading, like always. She looked up when he opened the door, a relieved look washing over her face. “Devlan, I thought something horrible had happened to you.”

“No,” he said, shaking his head and sitting across from her. “I just got a little lost on my way back.”

“Alex didn’t walk you back?” she asked.

“No. Something happened at the palace and I had to walk back by myself.”

“The palace?” she asked, her voice rising.

Whoops. He hadn’t meant to say that. “Yeah. He took me into the palace.”

Now she shook her head. “You are one strange child.”

“I know.” She didn’t say anything after that. She just went back to reading her book. Books. They can take you to realms of fantasy. Fantasy. “Arianna, is it really possible to go to the Overland?”

“Of course. Many people do it. Just… none of them ever come back.”

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Notes: Hopefully more will come soon.