What Do You Mean I'm The King Now??

Spotting the lake through a clearing in the trees, I turn back to the two women walking behind me. I notice that they are deep in conversation, and while I haven't been paying much attention to what they've discussing, they appear rather chummy, as if like old friends. At the moment, Argeias has her arm wrapped around Candy's shoulder, and the two are laughing hysterically, the centaur's face glowing from the radiance of her joy combined with her natural majesty, and for a fleeting second, I can't help but again marvel at the centaur's beauty, at her proud, noble features.

It's just an illusion, Parker. You know better now. Don't fall for it.

With a shake of my head, I turn to the pair and say, "Hey, we're here." In response, I see Argeias look up at me, her gaze catching my eyes, and as we make contact, she blushes and briefly looks away. A second later, however, her gaze returns, a scowl already forming on her face, and I can almost hear what she is going to say. Something something maggot, probably. Before she has a chance to actually speak however, Candy tugs on her arm, pulling her forward.

"Come on, Argeias, you have to see this," Candy says excitedly. The two rush past me towards the lake, and I sigh, a faint smile crossing my lips as I follow after them, catching up just in time to hear Argeias let out a loud gasp of awe.

"Oh wow, Candy, it's gorgeous!" she says as she surveys the surroundings. Then I see the centaur gallop forward, making her way to the shores of the crystal clear lake before looking at her reflection in the stillness of the water's blue surface. She kneels down and takes a sip. "Ah, so refreshing!"

Candy and I walk up from behind, our feet crunching along the lake's pebbly shores, stopping as we reach the water's edge. Then I turn and point to my elf companion, saying, "Candy, drum roll please!"

"Dun dun dun duuuuunnnnn! Dun dun dun duuuuunnnnn!"

"Pst, Candy, wrong one. The other one I taught you," I whisper, jabbing her gently in the side with my elbow. She looks at me with confusion for a second, but then I see the light bulb go off.

"Oh," she says smiling, "Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-pa-paaaaahhhhh!"

"Ta-da! Welcome to Lakeside Castle!" I finish with a dramatic bow, throwing my arms up into the air as a conductor might at the end of a long symphony. To my surprise, I actual hear Argeias giggle in reply to my antics.

Looking up, I see the centaur laughing. Her violet eyes are curled up into two small crescents, her cheeks a rosy pink, while both her hands are covering her delicate mouth, which at the moment is pulled into a wide, silly grin. She looks almost-

~Adorable-!

But then her eyes open, and she spots me, and once again, her face forms a scowl, and the illusion shatters, along with my heart.

See, Parker? Why you gotta do this to yourself? Stop being tricked by the centaur girl. Use your brain and not your d.i.c.k for once. She's a wolf in sheep's clothing.

"Hey, maggot-?"

I feel my eyebrows twitch, and as I look up, I see Argeias glaring at me. "I have a name, you know, or did no one ever teach you proper manners?"

At my admonishment, I see Argeias blush deeply, her violet eyes flitter away and averting my gaze. Looking to the side, she stutters, "I know that! A-A-A-!" Suddenly, she turns to me, her eyes locking with mine, "Ash-ole!"

"It's Ash! A-S-H! Just Ash! Don't go adding weird things to the end of it!" I immediately retort, "Seriously, how do you even manage to get that wrong?!"

"I was put on the spot, okay? It's totally your fault for forcing me to do something so perverted all of a sudden!" Argeias shouts back.

"Perverted? How is just remembering my name perverted? Are you saying I'm so perverted that my name itself is a l.e.w.d word?!"

Calm down. What am I getting all worked up over? There's no need to yell. And look, she about to burst into tears again.

I sigh, shaking my head at the troublesome girl. "Nevermind, Argeias. What did you want to ask before?"

I see the centaur's eyes open a little in surprise, and her features soften. She sniffles, then looks away shyly before saying, "You called this place 'Lakeside Castle', right?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Well, I don't see a castle around. I-is it in the lake?"

I stare at her blankly for a second, a deadpan expression on my face before replying, "We're not fish you know…" Then gesturing to the white, rocky mountains across the waters, I say, "The entrance is over there."

Argeias follows where I'm pointing, and her violet eyes suddenly light up. "Wait, you live in a castle built into a mountainside? That's incredible! How big is it? I can't see it from here, so it must be completely embedded, right? I wonder how long it took to build. Do you have a lot of servants? Wait, how do you get supplies this far out? Or do you source locally? Wow, a castle in the mountains. It must be amazing living-!"

She suddenly stops. She must have noticed the curious expression on my face, because her brows furrow and she turns her nose up at me, saying, "Hmph! Not that I'm interested in the living quarters of a maggot or anything."

I force out a laugh, my eyebrows twitching. "Haha, you sure know how to piss people off, Argeias! I bet you-!"

Before I can say something that I can't take back, I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I abruptly stop. I look over and see that it's Candy, a kind smile across her face. She nods at me, and in the fleeting moment that our eyes meet, an entire conversation takes place.

-I get all that, Candy, but-

Staring into Candy's gentle, golden eyes, I finally let out a sigh, my anger and annoyance evaporating. She's right, I realize, and so I take a deep breath, and nod in reply. Then turning back to Argeias, I say, "Look, just a bit of unsolicited advice, particularly if you're going to be hanging around for a while. Tone down the pretension, okay? I'm not expecting you to change who you are, but at least try to use people's names rather than insulting them as bugs. You'll look much cuter that way, you know?"

I give her a friendly wink, and I see Argeias' face turn beet red, but I don't stick around to hear her reply. Instead, I turn to Candy and say, "Come on, let's go."

Candy joins me, and we begin to walk along the shore, towards the mountains. As we move out, however, I hear that there are only two pairs of footsteps. I stop, turning around, and see that Argeias is not following us, still standing in the same position as before. I throw up my hand, calling out to her. "Hey, what are you just standing there for? Come on, let's go."

I see Argeias look up, her expression confused at first, but it quickly transforms into a wide, beaming smile, her entire face lighting up with joy. She nods, and begins galloping towards us. Seeing her approach, I turn back around and start walking again, entering into a conversation with Candy about what to have for dinner. A few seconds later, I hear the sound of hoofsteps, as Argeis catches up, falling in line behind us.

Just as I'm in the middle of debating with Candy whether beef or chicken makes a better stew base, I hear a tiny sound come from behind me.

"-I'll try my best, Ash, I promise-"

I swear that it's Argeias' voice, but when I turn back to look, I just see her staring off into the distant mountains, not paying me any heed. Thinking I misheard, I return back to my conversation with Candy. I shrug.

Maybe it was just the wind.