The Fallen Prince

04

Rowan's POV:

My eyes open when I hear muffled crying. I jump up, terrified that someone caught up to us, and if Ciaran is already captured, that's a shame for him, but I'm leaving.

When I turn toward his cries, I find his calf caught in one of my barbed wire traps, his limb bleeding as he tries to keep from crying too loud.

"What happened?" I ask, rushing over to him and trying to remove the wire from him without leaving injuries. "Ciaran?"

He looks up at me with teary eyes, and I surprise myself by actually being worried for him. Genuine worry, not just because I'm a decent person who shows compassion.

"I had to use the restroom, so I tried to get away from this space to do so and I forgot about the traps!" he explains, crying as I remove the barbs from his skin. "I didn't mean to wake you!"

I finish getting the wire from his skin and wrap it in the extra bandages I brought for myself, in case of injury.

Ciaran is just a mess, to be honest. If he hadn't freed me, I would never have considered taking him with me at all. However, I still feel as though I owe him, and he clearly needs some help. The boy has not spent much time out in nature, not like I have.

"It is alright that you awoke me," I tell him. "Now we can depart and get to my kingdom."

He looks so stressed and nervous, so I pat his back reassuringly. Ciaran tenses but doesn't push me away, so I take that as his okay to touch him and lift him onto my horse.

I climb on behind him today, just so I can keep an eye on his leg in case he bleeds through the bandage. I know that Ciaran will not say a word unless he is in immense pain or discomfort, so I need to keep an eye on him.

We ride all day long, and since we are a bit anxious that someone is following us, we really pick up the pace and reach one of the small villages that is a few hours outside my kingdom.

"Good evening," I say as we arrive in the town, and many of the people recognize me.

They bow, but I ask them to stand up when the do so. Technically, they are not my subjects because they are not part of the villages that belong to my kingdom, so they do not owe me a bow.

"I was wondering if you have a home available where we can gain shelter for the night?" I ask, before looking Ciaran up and down. "And maybe some clothing?"

Someone looks at the bellybutton ring on Ciaran and wrinkles their nose in disgust.

"I thought Arlian did not keep sex slaves?" she asks, pointing at Ciaran. "We do not do that here."

I raise an eyebrow. "He is not my sex slave," I say, highly offended that they'd think I'm a slave holder.

"He saved me from an evil Master in Vayl," Ciaran says, sounding confident and I'm grateful he is being bold and saying this, though I'm sure he'd prefer not to speak at all.
He points at his jewel on his belly button. "He did not do this to me."

The woman nods. "We will get you clothing," she tells us, before pointing at a house. "That home is empty and saved for visitors. You may use it."

I walk toward the small house, Ciaran following me closely. There are two rooms, but it is probably going to be cold tonight since a fire has not been lit yet and it will not warm up fast enough, so I will not be surprised if Ciaran climbs into bed with me.

He is a very clingy sleeper, if last night has anything to say about his sleeping habits.

"Sir?" Ciaran asks me once we've entered the small home.