i'd give some excuse for not having this up sooner, but i don't have one, so i won't. enjoy?

Okay. Okay, so Bloom had thought it through. She'd set up a date with BrandonSky, a stroll on the forest path, with light and privacy. She'd had a few days to properly think over what she'd say, she wasn't going to lose her temper - at least, not a lot - give him her ultimatum, and then never speak to him again. She could do this.

Bloom exhaled a deep breath.

She could do this.

BrandonSky smiled at her, holding her hand as they walked. He hadn't acted as if he thought it weird that she wanted to just walk, nothing special in mind. He didn't seem perplexed about Bloom's monosyllabic behaviour. His eyes were as brightly blue and guileless as they'd always been. It turned Bloom's stomach. Was it that easy to lie, for him? To create complete fiction to feed to a girl, any girl, that caught his fancy between dinners and dances with his fiance? How could someone that came off so honest, so kind, really be that cruel?

Bloom didn't know. She'd never met a sociopath before - at least, not one that wasn't trying to kill her with witch magic. But there was a first time for everything.

She breathed deep, and stopped walking, letting go of BrandonSky's hand as she did. That wiped the smile off his face; and the sparkle in his eye dissipated in favour of concern.

He broke the silence first. "Bloom, is everything okay? You've barely said a word since we parked the hoverbike."

"I need to talk to you about something." BrandonSky tilted his head, in the universal sign for 'okay, talk'.

"First, I should probably let you know that the girls and I snuck into the Day of the Royals celebration. Got right past security, and ended up under the bleachers where everyone was sitting." BrandonSky opened his mouth to speak, a smile quirking it's way up his lips, but Bloom barrelled forward anyway. "We ended up being chased by guards doing rounds, and got separated. Once I got away from that guard, I ran into someone - literally. And I found out something. I found out that the girl I ran into was Lady Diaspro of Isis, which is a province in Eraklyon. She was surprisingly nice, considering that I made her bag explode, really considerate. She didn't mind me helping her pick up her stuff."

Bloom took a breath, keeping an eye on how the blood seemed to be steadily draining out of BrandonSky's face, his lips shrinking with what was probably realisation, or terror.

"The thing was, she had a holo-photo, you know, the kind that projects the image. It was a photo of you." BrandonSky's face officially had no blood left in it. "I was confused - why would a member of nobility have an image of a squire to a Prince? It didn't make much sense to me. I did ask her, not in so many words, and she said that the 'squire' was actually a prince, specifically, the Prince of Eraklyon. Her fiance."

Surprisingly, Bloom was holding her temper very well, despite the rage she could feel bubbling in her gut. "I don't suppose you would care to explain to me how, exactly, you're a squire here in Magix, but a Prince on Eraklyon? Because, I mean," Bloom gave a humourless chuckle, "I know I'm from Earth, the most backwards planet most people have ever seen," the sarcasm was smooth and sweet on her tongue, "but we do have royalty, and they tend to be able to keep their own royal position. I imagine things aren't that different here in Magix. So. How?"

BrandonSky gaped, his mouth flapping open and shut like a fish.

"I guess you just can't think of anything to say. Is your little plan blowing up in your face? Is that what's happening? How does it feel? Humiliating? Infuriating? Because that's how I felt when I realised that you'd lied. Humiliated. Like the biggest idiot imaginable. Objectively, I know that I wasn't my job to realise that you were a lying sack of shit, that I had no reason to believe you'd lie to me, that Stella would lie to me - Does she know, by the way?"

BrandonSky looked about to interrupt, but Bloom barrelled forward, talking over his gaping mouth. She could feel that her anger had tempered into a pure white-hot fury, her mind clear to make her point, and her feelings, across.

"I imagine she doesn't. I don't think she'd take that little bit of information well - ya'know, finding out that she so-called "prince" boyfriend was actually a serial liar their entire relationship. Someone of Stella's . . . temperament probably wouldn't take being lied to about something so emotionally big very quietly. But I do wonder . . . does your fiance, Lady Diaspro, know?" There was officially no blood left in BrandonSky's face. Bloom could feel the smirk trying to worm it's way onto her face.

"Nah. Probably not. She doesn't seem the type to take that information quietly either. But I'm not gonna tell either of them." BrandonSky looked like he wanted to slump his shoulders, relax. But he remained tense. Good to see he was finally getting a clue.

"Instead, you and your conspirator are gonna tell them. By the end of the week. You're gonna tell Stella, and Diaspro, about your lies, everything and anything that has to do with your spider-web of deception. If you don't, then I will. And I guarantee, it will not be in any way kind or understanding of whatever fucking excuses you might have. You're gonna tell them. They deserve to know. They deserve to know that people they trusted lied, to their faces, for I-don't-even-know-how-long amounts of time."

Bloom turned, and began to walk away from the bloodless, yet still-handsome face of BrandonSky.

"You're a fucking selfish bastard. I never wanna speak to you again, I never wanna see you again. The only reason you should contact me is to apologise. And don't think I won't know if you haven't fussed up. By Friday. Fuck you."

She left him there, standing in the woods. Alone. Because fuck him.

Come Friday, Bloom was consoling a Stella that was a mixture of furious and weeping, the other girls committing themselves in the age-old tradition of cursing out lying bastards that messed with their friends, when she got a phone call from a number she'd never seen before.

"Hello?"

"So, apparently the fiance I have been betrothed to from my childhood is a lying, cheating weasel." It was a voice Bloom recognised.

"Yeah. Sorry about that, I really am. You don't deserve that."

"Hmph. Is it true that Stella of Solaria was entangled in this mess as well?"

"It is."

"Then would the two of you like to join me for some very alcoholic drinks tomorrow night? To commiserate together?"

"Just say when and where."