3 YEARS LATER
(Just kidding, I'm very sorry)
Eren quietly followed behind his father and you with each step he took the nerves in his stomach grew. When he had left the room it took everything in him to reel in his emotions and pretend that he didn't just say goodbye to the person he was irreversibly in love with but with 19 years of hiding his feelings, he had grown used to it.
He had wiped his face from any signs of tears, straightened his shoulders and put on the mask he had been so familiar with on his face.
Aslan had given him a look that was filled with suspicion while his father had shot him a look that promised him that they would have a talk later.
Eren had been given a new horse that was waiting for him at the Rivanian border and he had quietly mounted it and then they rode back to Yarisha.
Back home.
But Eren knew that that place had never been or never will be his home. He had never known what a home felt like before but after meeting Mizuki he now knew what his home was.
Mizuki was his home.
Eren stopped walking once he noticed they had reached the castle. He nervously entered the threshold and immediately he was met with judgemental stares from everyone.
"Your Majesty." A low voice greeted and Eren raised his head to look at the person when he somewhat recognized the gruff voice.
"Arlen?" Eren said in a surprised tone. "You're back?"
"I came back a few days after you left. It's nice to see you again." The tall man said with a bow of his head and Eren stared at him in shock.
The last time he had seen Arlen was when he was 13 years old. Arlen was shockingly enough Aslan's 'best friend' but despite that disturbing fact he wasn't that bad.
Eren had once heard him and Aslan fighting because Arlen told Aslan to stop trying to kill his brother. Arlen had been one of the rare people in the country who had the decency to be polite to Eren.
The 6 years that Arlen had spent in the Royal guard training district have changed him a lot. He was now a whole head taller than Eren and his body had changed from the body of a teenager to the body of a man. His blond hair was pushed back and his dark green eyes ran over his frame before stopping to intently stare into his eyes and Eren had to look away from him when an uncomfortable feeling started gnawing at him.
"Arlen, we're going to the throne room. Come with us." King Augustus's voice uttered and the man looked away from Eren to nod at the king.
Aslan walked towards his friend and they started talking in hushed voices as Eren followed behind with his anxiety growing inside of him at what was to come.
As soon as they entered the throne room a deadly silence filled the room before Augustus Acosta turned to his son and grabbed him by the throat, pushing him against the wall.
"Dad." Eren gasped as he felt his dad's fingers squeeze his throat.
He saw Arlen move in shock and panic towards them but Aslan grabbed his wrist to stop him and then his eyes shifted back towards his father's furious gaze.
"You're a fucking disgrace! If I hadn't just signed a fucking peace treaty to get you back then I would have killed you myself right here and now." He sneered in Eren' face and Eren shut his eyes in disgust when he felt his father's breath fan his face.
"But don't worry, you'll die soon enough." He suddenly said, as a loud laugh left him and he dropped Eren on the floor.
"What-what do you mean?" Eren coughed as he pushed himself up to his feet and took a step away from his father.
"You've given us more than enough reasons to take away the crown from you, Eren. Once the elders hear of what you have done they won't object to Aslan taking it from you." Augustus declared and Eren's eyes widened in panic.
"What?" He exclaimed. "You can't do that!"
"Oh, I can and I will." He replied with a glare. "You will fight Aslan for the crown if you wish to keep it."
"Fight?" Eren repeated the words that felt like acide from his mouth.
He knew what was coming next but he hoped to god that this wasn't happening.
This couldn't be happening.
"A fight to the death, brother." Aslan grinned in excitement. "The one who wins shall be crowned king immediately and the other one... well he'll be dead."
Eren's heart pummelled to the ground at the words that left Aslan and he swallowed down the panic. A fight to the death with Aslan. A fucking fight to the death.
"You can have someone fight for you, if you wish or fight it yourself." Augustus told him the rules he was already aware of.
"No." Eren said. "I'm doing this myself."
"As you wish. But we all know who's the strongest one between us." Aslan taunted and Eren clenched his fists.
"The fight will be happening in three weeks' time. You have until then to prepare yourself." Augustus said.
"Now get the fuck out of my sight." He said and Eren scoffed.
"Gladly." He muttered and stormed out of the room, letting the door slam behind him.
Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck
"Eren, wait!" Eren heard a voice call out stopping his internal panic and he turned around to see Arlen walk towards him.
"What?" Eren asked.
"I can fight for you."
"What?"
Eren stared at the man in front of him with a startled expression. Did he just propose to fight instead of Eren?
"I've trained with Aslan since we were kids. I've been personally trained by the man who used to be the head of the Royal guards before for 6 years now and I've been sparring with Aslan since I came back. I know I can beat him."
"And I can't?" Eren asked with a bite of his tone and Arlen's eyes widened with panic.
"No-that's now what I'm saying but-"
"I don't need you or anyone fighting my battles for me, Arlen." Eren told him firmly. "And why would you even want to do that for me? You want to murder your best fucking friend for me?"
"Aslan is not my best friend." Arlen harshly said and Eren scoffed in disbelief.
"And I'm the favourite son." Eren laughed in mockery and disbelief and Arlen clenched his jaw
"I've only stuck around Aslan to make sure he didn't do something stupid." Arlen said. "I never wanted to be his friend and I'll never consider him as my best friend. He's an asshole and he certainly doesn't deserve to be crowned king. Our country is already fucked up without him as a king and we don't need him to make it any worse than it already is."
"That still doesn't explain why you want to fight in my place." Eren said.
"Look-I just don't want you to get hurt, okay?" Arlen breathed out and Eren stared at him, dumbfounded.
"I appreciate the concern but frankly, this isn't any of your business, Arlen. I'm going to be the one fighting Aslan." Eren said and Arlen sighed in frustration.
"Will you at least let me help you with the training?" Arlen offered as a last resort.
Eren sighed and for a moment he considered it. It was true that Arlen had always beat Aslan in their sparring and it was also true that Aslan had been going through the most vicious training for the last six years so not accepting his help would be extremely stupid of him.
"Fine." Eren grumbled and Arlen grinned, the smile breaking over his whole face and Eren was taken aback by how happy the man seemed with Eren accepting his offer.
Hello!
Thoughts?
I'm so sorry for the wait but I've been so busy with school starting again and I was stuck on a chapter for my other book "bois des esprits" and I couldn't bring myself to write this one until I was done with that ð
I think I might only update on the weekends now but I'll try my best to update as frequently as I can!!!
-till next time <3