“What?!”

To her shock and agony, Catherine couldn’t believe the queen when she granted her son’s request.

“My only request,” Luke and Elizabeth held their breaths, “in Luke sleeps at home or in a separate bed.”

Without giving him time to exhale, the princess crushed the boy’s lungs in a fit of joy. While Luke didn’t mind the embrace, even if his ribs were crying in agony, he could feel his mother shooting daggers, swords, and spears from across the room. However, when he looked over to the queen’s throne, she merely leaning on the arm, as she would often do, her expression unconcerned.

The following days, Luke was happy to be away from his parents, but being closer to the princess had made him anxious the first week. She remained friendly, always having the brightest of smiles when he returned from school, but he feared the day he’d work up the nerve to strike a conversation on why everyone around him was disappearing.

Though Luke enjoyed spending even less time around the house, he would stay in his room whenever he wanted to concentrate. To his surprise, his father never raised peep about any of his decisions, simply going about his life.

Whenever he would plop a book from his shelf down on his desk, Luke would reminisce. He would forcibly push aside the memories of his brother reading to him, try to forget how long it would be until his brother returned, and try to calm himself whenever he remembered how long he would have to put up with school.

As winter break hit the city like a plague, parents all over Lumina had buckled down to bear a tsunami of vacationers. As the most wonderful time of the year approached, Luke wasn’t prepared for his friend had in store.

“Elizabeth, why is the holiday called Christmas?”

“Something about the goddess being a mesa…I think that’s what it was called, I didn’t really pay much attention to that lesson. Anyways, I found something that’s gonna blow you away!”

“Yeah?”

The boy heard this statement many times before, often regarding her flower garden. Though it was beautiful, he wasn’t ever ecstatic about it like her. To him, learning about monsters or watching other kids fight each other was exciting; pretty flowers were nice to look at, but got dull quickly.

“There’s a secret exit out of the castle!”

“Wait what?! Where?”

“It’s in the walls. It leads out to the front. We could sneak outside and see Lumina together.”

“I think a guard would notice.”

“Pssh, the guards don’t check on me, we’ll be fine.”

Luke wanted to raise concern with that last statement, but the girl was already down the hall, leaving him to chase her.

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“Right here.” The girl pointed to a tile among a line of tiles that decorated the wall. It was indistinguishable from the rest until she popped it off the wall. “You go first.”

Taking one look at the dark tunnel, Luke groaned. Despite wanting to refuse, he bent down and crawled into the abyss until he hit a wall. With nowhere else to go, he pushed against the barrier until another tile plopped off and a spiteful light blinded him. Pushing forward, he made his way out, the princess joining him after she returned the tile.

“See, It’s quick and easy. Now we can go explore the city!”

“Okay, well, where do you want to go?”

“Anywhere! As long as it’s not to the church, I’ll happily go to any part of the city.”

Luke looked to the sky, realizing the sun was closing in on the horizon. The heavens were still blue, but he knew it wouldn’t stay for long. It was then that an idea hit him, one instantly regrettable idea that was too persistent to kick out of his brain.

“Alright, let’s head to south Lumina. I don’t go there often myself, so it’ll be an adventure.”

Their journey was lengthy, more so than Luke expected. The pair had to get their bearings, then journey far from the castle as to not be spotted by guards, until finally they travelled the smallest ring from north to south.

The air of south Lumina stunk of fish and other sea dwelling life. This would be normal, but the repulsive stench was multiplied by the volumes amassed in preparation for tourists. Despite it being a popular stopping point for foreigners, the region looked as ugly as it smelled, with large portions of the wall cracked and dilapidated houses even on the richest ring.

“Wow, why does this place look so shabby?”

“I don’t know, but we should probably get going soon, it’s getting dark.”

Just as Luke finished, the line of lamps across the cobblestone road lit up, signaling it was officially night time. The boy admired the lamps as they glowed under the starry sky, his eyes travelling along the path they created until his gaze rested on a man just barely visible. The man had signaled him over with a flick of his wrist, the boy too curious to realize the possible danger.

“Hey boy, what are you doing with that pink-haired lass?”

“We’re just friends, exploring, why? What’s it to you?”

“You don’t seem too fond of her. I think you were looking for an excuse to abandon that girl out here in the dark.”

“What?! No way. I would never leave Elizabeth.”

“She’s slowing you down, boy. If you ran off without her, you would be free.”

Turning around, Luke saw the girl was preoccupied with a house with no windows, an overgrown yard, and a gate that had fallen off its hinges. Taking the opportunity, he ran off as fast he could, Using the cities circular structure to hide him. Once he could no longer see his friend, he kneeled over, panting. As he caught his breath, several questions had formed in his brain.

The questions droned on until Luke realized he had left the princess with that strange man. Much to his dismay, he began running back around. Before long, he could see Elizabeth was walking casually.

“Luke, what’s wrong?”

“We need to go! Some guy is going to try and take you.”

Without another word, the two raced down the southern road, travelling up the path directly toward the castle until they reached the secret entrance. Once inside the castle, the two made sure not to mention their absence to any of the guards or the queen, heading to Elizabeth’s bedroom post-haste.

“Sorry about leaving you Elizabeth, I just wanted to get away from the smell.”

“Luke, if you ever do that again…please do it during Halloween!”

“You’re not mad?” The boy was utterly befuddled at her remark.

“Of course not! I knew you’d come back, but I was so scarred for a moment. Just being alone in such a creepy neighborhood, I’ll never forget tonight.”

For the rest of the evening, Luke distanced himself from the princess, his mind still echoing with questions.

‘Who was that man? Why did he want me to run away from the princess? And why did I listen to him?’

He pondered all night until he eventually returned to Elizabeth’s room, passing out from exhaustion.