Lost In You Ch4: The Knight

The prince was starting to regret agreeing with this trip as he gripped the leather reins tightly, the wind blew against his face and made a few stray silver bangs to go over his eyes, shielding his vision and thus making him much more nervous than he already was.

Lightning let out an exasperated sigh from behind the silveret and unwrapped her arms from their place around Hope's waist and grabbed the reins herself, shrugging the prince's hands away. "You've never been on a dragon before, have you?" She muttered, but really, it was more a statement than a question.

Hope remained silent, prince or not, he was still a child and was stubborn. "I never had the need to ride on one." He murmured, gripping the saddle that covered the dragon's back tightly, being as high in the sky as they were, Hope wasn't looking forward to slipping and falling a few hundred meters to the ground.

"Then why did you tell me that you knew how to ride them?" Lightning huffed as she slowly regained control of the winged beast after Hope couldn't control him. "You could have killed us."

The silveret grunted and squeezed his eyes shut, a pink blush creeping up his cheeks due the embarrassment; he had to admit he wanted to impress the princess, but it seemed that everything he did, she could do better. He sighed and slumped slightly, his back pressing against Lightning's chest before he tensed and sat up straight again to avoid their bodies from touching.

The princess rolled her eyes and looked over her shoulder to look at the royal escort Hope had prepared for them. Did he really fear for their safety so much that he needed all those knights?  …That or maybe he was just a scaredy cat. She chuckled softly to herself and shook her head, back in Cocoon it wasn't like this… She blinked and looked down at Hope, perhaps because he was the only prince of Pulse?

She took a deep breath and looked forward, the floating city that was Cocoon becoming bigger in the distance every minute; a faint smile appeared on her face as she thought of her sisters. "Did you feel lonely when you were little?" She blurted out without thinking.

Hope blinked and lowered his eyes; suddenly the saddle seemed incredibly interesting. "…Sometimes," He murmured with a sigh. "But I had my cousins… even if I didn't see them much, it made me happy." He smiled fondly at the memories of him and Larsa playing in one of his gardens.

Lightning hummed. "We'll be there soon," She said softly and wiping the reins, making the dragon speed up. "Just hold on tight, I don't want you falling down."
Hope complied.

Xxx

Compared to Pulse, Cocoon was a rather small kingdom; however that did not mean it was less powerful. Hope looked at his surroundings… it was so different from his own home, it almost seemed as if the traditions of old were already forgotten to be replaced with different customs. This saddened the young prince.

However Lightning seemed relieved to be back in the palace she knew so well. Her stance was much more relaxed, she seemed like a whole different person that when they were back at his castle. Perhaps the pressure was too much on the woman and thus she behaved that way? It was still a wonder to the prince.

Hope sighed softly and followed her through the silver plated hallways, great blue and green stained windows adorned the sides. Lightning strode confidently as servants bowed down before them.

"Light-" Hope tried to talk but was soon cut off by a deeper voice.

"Lady Éclair!" A tall dark-haired male approached the princess and bowed down until one of his knees was on the floor. "You didn't tell us of your return, we would have sent an escort." He said, still kneeling, his head lowered out of respect.

Hope frowned slightly. Éclair?

"Noctis…." She sighed. "I've told you not to bow down like that, you're my knight not a servant," She sighed and pulled him to his feet by the arm, he was at least a head taller than her, Hope noted this and couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy. "Besides there was no need, my husband arranged the trip; we had a nice escort… And don't call me that, you know I don't like it."

"But princess it's your name, I cannot call you any other way out of respect," He spoke respectfully at her and then turned to look at the small silveret, his eyes widened slightly for a split-second and then returned to normal, he placed a hand over his chest and bowed his head. "Forgive my rudeness your highness; it was not my intention to appear disrespectful."

Hope lifted his hand and waved it dismissively. "Don't worry about it, and please don't bow there's no need for formalities." He smiled and nodded his head to the knight; the prince looked at him and bit his lips slightly. He felt so small standing next to the older man.

"Your highness?" Noctis inquired, his voice concerned. "Are you alright?"

"Oh… yes, yes I'm fine." Hope chuckled softly to himself as he snapped out of his thoughts. He wanted to be older… to be taller so he could stand next to the princess and look like that, so she could feel proud to be married to a real man and not a kid.

"Sister!" A petite girl exclaimed and threw herself at Lightning, knocking the air out of her and flinging her arm around her sister's neck, clinging to her like her life depended on it.

"Serah?" Lightning gasped softly and tried not to stumble to the ground due to the impact. "Don't do that!" She said trying to sound serious but that proved to be impossible, the joy from seeing her sister was far too great to conceal it and it only made her smile brightly.

Hope kept his eyes on the princess; he was at a loss of words, this Lightning was so different from the one he met on the day of their wedding, she actually looked… happy. He frowned slightly and averted his eyes, he wondered if someday she could smile like that for him, too.

"Did you bring your husband? Is he handsome?" Serah chirped excitedly, still clinging to her older sister.

Lightning cleared her throat and gently pushed her sister away, turning to look at Hope with a faint smile still on her lips, but this one looked a bit different he noted, somewhat awkward.

"Serah," She said softly, lifting her hand to place it atop Hope's shoulder. "This is Hope, my husband."

The younger princess stared, and kept staring for a couple of seconds before turning to look at her sister again then to Hope once more. "Ah..." She gasped softly and placed a hand over her lips. "I-I didn't expect…" She giggled softly and then shut herself up when Lightning's eyes narrowed.

Hope cringed. He knew what she was thinking. "A pleasure to meet you, Princess," Hope said politely and made a small reverence out of respect, this wasn't his kingdom after all. "Lightning told me about you."

Serah looked at her sister one last time and then turned to look at Hope. "Did she really?" She giggled and offered the younger a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well, please do call me Serah, you are my brother in law after all." She said, tilting her head to the side with a soft hum.

Hope smiled and then looked at the eldest princes. "Light, will you show me around?" He asked quietly, walking closer to her as he did.

Lightning was about to answer when a thin arm latched on to Hope's own and yanked him away. "Don't worry sis, I'll show him the palace!" Serah said and smiled brightly, pulling the prince away before he could protest.

The princess couldn't react before they were out of her sight; she sighed heavily and placed a hand over her eyes.

"Milady," Noctis spoke. "Wasn't the Prince of Pulse older…?" He questioned the woman before him.

She sighed again and turned to look at her loyal knight. "I found out two days before the wedding there was nothing I could do then, everything had already been arranged," Lightning murmured and shrugged some. "But there's nothing I can do to change things now," She looked at the hallway were her sister dragged the prince through. "Besides… he's not so bad."

Noctis hummed and frowned slightly. "You deserve a real man, your highness." He said under his breath, not looking at her but at the floor instead.

"Don't be insolent, Noctis," She turned to look at him sharply. "He will be your king one day; you should respect him like you respect me." Lightning said, looking up at him piercingly.

Noctis looked taken aback by her response; he remained quiet for moment with a frown on his face. "Forgive me, I was out of place." He bowed.

Lightning looked at him for a moment and nodded. "No matter how close you are to me, you must remember who I am, and who he is as well." She murmured almost over a whisper and walked away, leaving the knight standing alone in the hallway.

"Éclair…" Her name passed softly through his lips, like a lover's whisper.

Xxx

Hope found himself trapped and unable to escape, he wondered if there could be any other torment worse than a cheerful princess, one that seemed to be pretty spoiled, too. He couldn't do anything more than smile at Serah and compliment whatever she showed him. She was his sister in law after all, he needed to make a good impression.

"Say… Serah," He murmured and looked at the fair girl when she finally stopped talking about the flowers in the garden. "What is your sister like?"

Serah blinked and turned to look at him, she then smiled slightly. "Well… I guess it's normal for you two to not know each other… you met only two days ago," She giggled under her breath. "Light is… very kind," She hummed. "But she's very strict as well; she's a great warrior, very skilled at almost everything she does and a loving sister as well." She smiled.

Hope frowned. "That… doesn't sound like the Lightning I met."

She let out a tiny sad laugh. "That's because she tries to be someone she's not, for the sake of everyone," She sighed softly and ran her fingers through her hair, straightening some stray bangs. "For the sake of the kingdom, in front of everybody… she tries to act like the perfect princess, like the ones you read about in fairytales." She murmured with a low hum.

The prince bit his lip, he remembered Lightning had told him something like that before, but he didn't really think the real her could be all that different. However he could be wrong and he knew that it was most likely he actually was.

"And what about her name… I heard that knight call her Éclair." He asked looking a bit fidgety, it actually bothered him a bit the way the older male looked at her, it made him feel uncomfortable and insecure. There was something, but he couldn't quite tell what it was, that he didn't like about Noctis.

"Ah," Serah giggled again. "That's… her real name," She smiled. "She thought it was much too feminine for her and decided to change it, 'Éclair' actually means lightning in an ancient language of ours," She said with a small laugh. "Even though I like her real name a lot, Lightning really does suit her," The princess chuckled under her breath and covered her mouth with the back of her hand. "She forbids everyone to call her Éclair."

The silveret frowned. "Then why did he call her that?" He asked, looking more annoyed every time.

Serah looked at him for a bit and smiled knowingly. "They've been friends since they were little," She hummed. "Noctis and my sister are very close," The princess murmured and then turned to walk further into the garden. "Shall we continue our tour?" She smiled and kept walking.

He stood there for a few more minutes, too deep in thought to even hear the young princess talking to him. He frowned and looked at the grassy ground, he narrowed his eyes. He didn't like that knight, not one bit. He hated the way he looked at Lightning and how they seemed to be very close just like Serah had said. But what he hated the most was the fact that Noctis knew more about Lightning than he did. Hope closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.

And so, for the very first time in his life, the young prince knew how jealousy felt like.