Archive of Our Own ^beta

Picasso Lily strolled through the halls of the castle, passing by pillars of silver and paintings of flora and other faeries as he did. 

It was a weirdly calm day in the kingdom. 

No one panicking over the now free Beasts. That was what had been going on for a full week.

"The Beasts are out!"

 "What will we do?" 

"We must contain them!"

Bla, bla, bla.

Boring to the young prince.

 It wasn't like the Beasts were focused on them, they were much to preoccupied with their other halves to care about the Faerie Kingdom. 

Though, truly, he still wondered why it was so calm. 

Perhaps it was because he hadn't gone out yet? Maybe everyone was still stressing outside the palace while he peacefully roamed the halls, carefree.

With that thought, he spun around and headed in the direction of the castle exit, planning on walking through the Kingdom for exactly twenty minutes before retreating into his room once more. 

That was till a voice stopped him. 

"Your highness! Your highness!-"

And he wasn't even halfway down the hall yet. 

Rude.

Holding in a sigh, Picasso Lily slowly turned around, coming face to face with one of the new palace guards. 

If he remembered correctly, this guy had only been hired.. Maybe two weeks ago?

He was unsure. Mercurial Knights talk about newly hired palace staff bore him half the time. He only listened when magic or the Beasts were involved. 

Much more interesting. 

The guard — Blue Lead Cookie, he believed the guys name was — stopped quickly before he could bump into the prince, straightening up.

Picasso Lily raised a brow, looking the guard up and down. "What is it, Blue Lead Cookie?"

Blue Lead smiled, folding his hands behind his back. "Your royal highness, I was wondering if you'd like to visit the palace library with me? I do know you love to read."

Picasso Lily blinked, glancing behind him at the hall he had been originally going down. Then back at the guard. 

A little detour wouldn't hurt. His observations could wait. 

Plus, there was a book he had wanted to read last time he visited the library — but, he hadn't gotten much of a chance to look at it before Mercurial Knight had found him, up at 2:35 AM, and ushered him to his room. 

Something about princes needing their sleep?

It baffled him how Mercurial Knight still treated him like he was eight. 

Rude.

He was almost eighteen, for witches sake!

Realizing he hadn't answered yet, Picasso Lily quickly nodded, looking back at the guard. "Yes. That would be wonderful."

Blue Lead's smile widened slightly, and he took the prince gently by the hand — something that quite displeased him, but he wouldn't be dramatic and speak up about it — and began leading him to the library. 

Hmph, guiding me as if I haven't lived here my whole life. 

Rude. 

The guard chatted on and on as they walked. 

Picasso Lily dissociated halfway through.

 The most words he picked up was 'books' and 'fun' and 'together', but he was more focused on the tiny, barely noticeable cracks and the littlest details in Blue Lead's armor.

Interesting shapes..

"You first?" Blue Lead suddenly said, letting go of the prince and stepping aside, holding the large door open. 

Picasso Lily blinked, and he quickly realized they had arrived at the library. 

He swiftly recovered, stepping into the large space, gazing at the shelves upon shelves of books. 

Certainly, the Faerie Kingdom had the best libraries.

"Where should we start?" Blue Lead asked, closing the door behind him and stepping a little too close for comfort. 

Picasso Lily narrowed his eyes, but decided to let it slide. This guy was new, he could be cut some slack. 

He would learn soon the importance of respect, certainly Mercurial would put him in line.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Blue Lead cut him off, pointing at the back of the library.

"Why not over there? Seems interesting!"

.

.

.

Rude 

But. 

That was fine. 

Picasso Lily nodded. There were interesting books back there, too. Astrology, astronomy, and more scientific discoveries. 

Blue Lead took him by the hand again, leading him to the back.

Picasso Lily skimmed through the books, before freezing as his staff — silver and as tall as he himself, with snakes and butterflies carved into the sides, and topped with a large, light blue crystal, glowing faintly in the pristine lights — was taken out of his hands. 

His gaze snapped to the culprit — Blue Lead, who just smiled, gently leaning his staff against a nearby desk.

"Chill, just thought it would be easier to browse without that big thing."

The princes gaze darted between his staff and the guard, but, he breathed deeply, maintaining a calm demeanor even as his eye twitched with annoyance.

"I suppose you are right. Quite thoughtful." He said simply, turning back to the shelf. 

Hm.. Meteorites? Interesting..

The prince ran his fingers over the sides of the books, before tensing as Blue Lead came up next to him, humming as he looked over the titles.

Too close. 

Picasso Lily took a step aside in an attempt to make space, but Blue Lead just stepped closer, smirking. 

"What's wrong, prince?" He said, raising a brow. 

Picasso Lily's eyes narrowed, and he reached for his staff. "I believe we are done here—"

"Ah, ah, ah!"

Blue Lead interrupted. In a flash, he had the young prince pinned against the desk, staff out of reach against the wall. 

He tensed, staring up at the guard, who was smirking. 

"We're not done here yet, dear prince." Blue Lead purred, tightening his grip on his wrists before swiftly tying them tightly with a piece of rope. 

With that, the guard leaned down, holding Picasso Lily in place, one hand on his hip and the other on the back of his neck as he sucked on the skin just below his jaw, leaving a dark purple mark behind. 

Meanwhile, Picasso Lily trembled, already feeling his heart rate speed up as he tried to pull away as much as he could with his wrists tied together. 

To no avail. 

He winced as the guard pressed their lips together and bit down on his bottom lip, making the prince bleed.

Not again..

Not again.

His mine raced, and through his panicked breathing he could vaguely feel Blue Lead unbuttoning his white vest, yanking down the sleeve of his black undershirt to leave a dark hickey on his collarbone.

While the guard was focused on marking him, Picasso Lily's gaze darted around the library, landing on his staff. 

If he could untie himself while Blue Lead was distracted, he could grab his staff and get himself out of this situation. 

Trying to ignore the painful sucking on his skin, Picasso Lily maneuvered his fingers to try and untie the knot, wincing at the burn of the rope sliding against the skin of his wrists.

After a minute or two of trial and error, right as Blue Lead was trying to pull off his shirt, he undid the knot, the rope falling onto the smooth wood floor. 

Quickly, he lunged for his staff, heart still racing. 

And before the guard could react, knocked it over Blue Lead's head.

CRACK!

Blue Lead fell limp, his body sliding down to the floor. 

Picasso Lily stepped aside, hands trembling as he stared down at the unconscious guard.

His gaze then drifted down to his chest. He was still breathing. 

Without thinking, he raised his staff again, the sharp metal end of it plunging into the guards chest. 

It hit the soft spot between his armor, sending spurts of blood upwards. 

A singular drop landed on Picasso Lily's shoe, and he tilted his head down, narrowing his eyes at it as he slowly pulled his staff out.

"Rude."

Suddenly, he was aware of how hard it was getting for him to breathing, of his trembling body, of his fast heart rate. 

Shit. 

Picasso Lily practically sprinted out of the library, mumbling choked apologies to the one or two servants he bumped into. 

He needed to get to his room. 

Fast.

.

.

.

Picasso Lily threw open his bedroom door, quickly shutting it behind him and locking it before running into his personal bathroom, coughing. 

He leaned against the countertop, rummaging through a drawer.

"Shit, shit.. Where are my pills?.." He mumbled before finding a small orange bottle, half-filled with little white pills.

He fumbled with the top, before it finally popped off. 

Coughing still, Picasso Lily dropped to his knees and dumped one of the pills in his mouth before sitting up slightly, turning on the faucet and filling his mouth with water before swallowing. 

He panted, sitting with his back against the counter, staring down at his trembling hands. 

He didn't know how long he sat there, the shaking slowly subsiding, his heart rate slowly going back to normal. 

But, when he glanced up through the doorway, the window above his bed already showed the sun setting.

Picasso Lily stared at the orange sky for a moment before sighing.

He took a deep breath, slowly standing up and making his way to his bed, a mess of blankets and pillows. He rarely made it. 

When his knees hit the edge of the mattress, he collapsed onto it, not bothering to change his clothes or take off his boots. 

He didn't need to. 

He just needed to rest.