All evening he’d received a variety of looks from passing strangers, mostly teenagers around his age who were probably here trying to find a way to soothe away the pain of early week classes.

Impatiently drumming his fingers along the escalator railing, he slowly ascended the fourth floor. After today’s events, it’d be nice to go back to his quarters and sleep. Auric honestly didn’t care much for frozen treats, but Galavaine’s excitement was too much to neglect.

With a smile, Galavaine reassured Auric for the ninth time this hour they were almost at their destination. As they rose higher and higher, the shoppers on the lower stories began to appear as dots.

“Well, it is the central mall of the most grand city in the best continent. We’re approaching it, It’s on floor seven.”

Auric quickly glanced over the escalator railing and groaned. Being terrified of heights brought forth a slight anxiety in the tower-like mall. Despite being severely irritated, he did find happiness in one thing. The coolness of the air conditioning was saving him from slipping into insanity. No longer did his head feel like it was going to split apart from the overwhelming heat.

He’d found his only solution to not feeling like trash about earlier, was to just try to ignore what happened. If it never happened, then it was no big deal right?

Arriving at the seventh floor, Galavaine stepped off the escalator with a huge smile on his face. The escalator opened into a vast area, with all sorts of stores, stands, and booths littered about. The space ahead of them was taken up by a large fountain, surrounded by benches. Groups of high school students hung around, teasing each other and gossiping. Auric looked up and saw that there were still about two more floors above. From the ceiling hung numerous spherical ornaments of various vibrant colors.. He followed Galavaine through crowds of shoppers and encountered a small flight of stairs. Next to it was a slope, presumably for the disabled, or just lazy. Finally, they found themselves in front of a massive sign that read “Frozen Paradise”. A mind-numbingly cheesy picture of a snowman decked in sunshades and swimming trunks was positioned near the text, causing Auric to notice a life sized replica of it standing to the side of the designated eating area. A vast arrangement of tables and chairs were positioned all around, resting in the shade of the small umbrellas and cheap plastic trees that were scattered about . He shrugged and eyed the ice cream shop with curiosity, reluctant to meet whatever nutcase designed this joke of a place. The line snaked throughout most of the floor, filled with hungry commoners anticipating their sugar fix. Being at the very back was dreadful, but Galavaine repeatedly mentioned that it would be worth it. One by one, the fortunate ones ahead of them began to turn back and shoot looks at Auric. Whispers soon followed. He sighed and continued to let himself be a spectacle.

“Oh my god It’s the king!”

“Hey, he’s kinda’ cute. . . “

“Think he’ll give me his autograph?

“That’s the king? What a faggot.”

“Shouldn’t he be doing something other than buying ice cream?”

A short, stubby woman weaved through the line, squeezing past the impatient customers. Auric had to rub his eyes for a second to make sure what he just witnessed was real .Nearly every inch of her body was plastered in a snowman outfit that looked like it’s time was nearly up. Deep cracks extended through the white plastic. Her brown eyes and spiked hair poked through an opening in the face of the costume.

“King Auric!? Whoah! We usually get celebrities around here but this is still a big deal! Want to cut the front of the line?”

“I gue—”

Galavaine, who couldn’t be happier, interrupted him nearly instantly.

“Yes! Absolutely!”

As the chubby snow-woman escorted the duo to the counter, the looks that fell upon them quickly became hostile, and envious. Hiding the camera flash of her 5.0 megapixel cell phone wasn’t a priority as Auric noticed. Every few seconds a sudden light caught his eyes, while the obnoxious noise of the photo being taken reached his ears.

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The gleaming atmosphere that Galavaine began to exude was almost enough to absolve Auric of his mood. The young man that stood across the counter appeared excited to see them.

“Galavaine! It’s been a while”

“Ah yes. . .well it’s been pretty busy at the Castle for the past while.”

The man turned to Auric and chuckled.

“I’ve heard. By the way, magnificent performance the other day, kid”

“So Galavaine, the usual?”

“Indeed. To be honest, I’m rather surprised you remember my usual order”

“No . . . you’re pretty much one of the only regulars that orders this.”

While the two were conversing, the teenagers at next counter over caught Auric’s attention. Perhaps it was the fact that one of them was cloaked in a long, unzipped black winter coat, each sleeve lined with worn looking fur, contrasting his jeans, which were so tight they nearly looked painted onto his legs. An array of chains sagged through each belt loop. His pale, sullen face was mostly hidden by black hair that varied in lengths. He grabbed his milkshake from the counter and with an icy glare, cast his attention to Auric.

“Look at me like that again and I may have to rip your eyes out”

He winced as the elbow of his friend met his ribs.

“That’s the king!, relax!”

His almost-chubby friend looked equally out of place, with a brown coat even thicker. His hands rested in his pockets, covered in large wool mittens.

Words nearly escaped his mouth, but Auric was hesitant to make yet another scene. He’d been done with the day hours ago. The feeling the two boys gave off didn’t rub him the right way, but. . . . .”whatever”, he thought. Judging from their thick accents, they weren’t from around here. He chose to not dwell on it further, seeing as Preston had messed with the immigration laws far beyond comprehension. As the two foreigners walked past, their conversation carried on, only quieter.

“You really got to watch what you say around here alright? You were the one talking about how you wanted to avoid drawing much attention!.”

“My apologies. . . .It was just so hard to resist in the heat of the moment”

“What heat? What moment? You were buying a bloody milkshake!”

“Did you see the way he looked at us?”

“Absolute coincidence!. I wouldn’t dwell on it too much.”

By the time Galavaine found them a table to rest at, Auric was about four spoonfuls into his vanilla twister treat. Across from him, Galavaine was deeply indulged in his roenut soft serve. The only noise he’d made since they sat down was a loud crunching. Auric’s admiration of his sweet dessert was cut short when his ears tuned in to the horrid pop song that was playing on the mall P.A system. Galavaine pulled out his cell phone and tapped the “talk” button. Suddenly the music stopped.

“Oh”.

Auric didn’t have to listen hard to guess who was on the other line. He continued to wolf down his treat and listened to Galavaine’s phone call. Most of the shoppers passing by didn’t hesitate to stare. Grasping the white handle of the umbrella next to their table, he repositioned it to block their view.

“What? I’m with Auric at the mall. We bought ice cream. It’s quite good.”

“No. There are no televisions in the food court. . .”

In just a matter of seconds the knight’s expression switched from curiosity, to panic.

“What!? No! How is that possible!?”

“Of course!”

Slamming his phone on the table, he inhaled what was left of his ice cream and looked directly at Auric.

“Relaxing at the castle will have to wait. Someone’s set fire to Preston Park.”