The Deal || Sanders Sides

9. Lost Trust

I just had a wonderful idea for the future of this book, so y'all are in for a ride.

TW: swearing, talk of kidnapping, angst, slight unsympathetic Remus,

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"Roman what's going on?" Remus asked as soon as he stepped into the room that would serve as their bedroom prison sort of thing. "You clearly know what's going on more than we do, so what the hell is happening? Why are we here? Why did the pirates take us? What the hell is about to happen to us?"

"Calm down," Logan said. "You're asking far too many questions at once."

"It's fine," Roman muttered, sitting on one of the beds. "We're here because I'm an idiot, and didn't realize I was being played."

"So what's happening with the wedding?" Remus asked. "Is he still going to make you marry him?"

"There was never going to be a wedding," Roman explained. "When he brought the idea to me of being married for the treaty I was suspicious. I didn't trust him, but I guess I trusted him more than I should've. There was never going to be a wedding because the pirates were going to leave before then. He offered to let me come with and have a way out of any more arranged marriages. I decided to take it."

"So you knew this would happen," Remus whispered. Roman could see the hurt and betrayal Remus felt. "You- you knew about all of this?"

"No, I only knew that at some point we'd be leaving," Roman said. "I had no clue that you guys would be kidnapped. I didn't know what the pirates were planning to do. I just wanted a way out. I didn't know this would all happen."

"So that's why you weren't fighting to get free." Remus' voice was quiet and sad. The distrust in his eyes hurt Roman to see, but he didn't know how to prove it. "You just stood there and you let them take you at knife point because you had expected to leave. You knew something was going to happen. You told the guards to stand down. You... you knew."

"Remus, listen to me," Roman said, his voice desperate and pleading. "I had no idea what was happening. I didn't want any of you to die. There was nothing I could do but go along with it. I didn't know what the hell was happening, and the pirates sure as hell didn't tell me that you would be taken with me. If I didn't agree to go I would've been taken anyway, and this still would've happened."

"Why were we taken?" Logan asked, adjusting his glasses. He looked the most composed out of the four of them. Patton was curled up on one of the beds, watching the conversation with dull eyes. He looked like he'd been crying. "If you would've been taken anyway, why exactly is that? We can deal with emotions later, let's deal with the logistics now."

"Apparently the pirates believe the throne is corrupt," Roman explained. "They want to remove the two bumbling idiots off of the throne, and put someone else on there. They're... they're going to kill Salem. They took Remus and me because we're the next two in line. They... they want to put me on the throne."

"Please repeat that," Logan mumbled. "I hope I didn't hear you correctly."

"The pirates want to put me on the throne," Roman whispered. "I- I don't want the throne. I don't want power. I thought I'd be dead by now, but not this. I don't want this. I don't want to rule. I'm not ready for any of this."

"Might as well just start calling you king then," Remus muttered darkly. "You were the one who agreed to this. Deal with the consequences."

"Remus, please," Roman pleaded. "Don't leave me alone with this. Please talk to me. Let me explain. Let me do anything. I don't want to be alone with this. I don't want this. I- I didn't want this."

"You aren't fighting this," Remus deadpanned. "You didn't fight. You didn't stop this. All of this was allowed by you, whether you wanted it to happen or not. I don't want to speak with you right now."

"R-Remus?" Roman's heart was slowly cracking apart as he watched Remus turn away from him. "Patton? We- we were friends, weren't we? Are you just going to ignore me as well?"

"We weren't friends, Roman," Patton said tiredly. "I'm a servant. Servants aren't friends with princes."

"Logan? Please don't leave me alone with this. I don't want this. You need to believe me, I never wanted this," Roman whispered. Logan sighed, looking between him and Remus before turning away as well.

"I'm sorry, Prince Roman, but it isn't logical to trust you at the moment," Logan said quietly. "Let me think through this. There is a lot of information to process, and I would like to do so after I get more sleep."

Roman nodded and curled up on the bed, trying to ignoer the feeling of his whole world falling apart around him. He knew he should sleep, since the exhaustion was clearly catching up to him, but there was no way he could sleep now. He didn't know if he'd ever sleep well again.

888 words.