The Trickster's Test {Prinxiety}

Chapter 15

Third Person

"In case you haven't noticed, this is a pirate ship, not a charity."

Virgil's discussion with Captain Clemons wasn't going too great. Although, it could have been going worse. He still had all of his fingers attached to his hands, and two intact eyes, which wasn't bad all things considered. Honestly, he was amazed to have made it to the deck without tripping over his own feet. The man escorting him obviously wasn't happy to be given an assignment and tended to tug his arm harsher than necessary.

Gaining an audience with the pirate was easier than Virgil had dared believe it would be, the man only accepting out of curiosity for what he could possibly have to say. That, and watching self-righteous pricks confidently try and make demands of him, only to end up with fear instilled into their eyes and terror in their hearts never failed to bring a smile to his face for days to come. So, Clemons didn't have a problem with what would almost certainly be an entertaining conversation. It's not like he had anything better to do than stare out at the ocean, a view that got a bit repetitive once you saw it every single day.

"I never accused you of being charitable," Virgil pointed out, drawing an amused snort from the pirate, "And I don't remember when sparing an innocent man's life became anything other than basic human decency."

"Innocent?" Captain Clemons scoffed, "Your little guard dog is a liability, and I don't make a habit of letting those become witnesses. Unless you can somehow guarantee his silence on the matter, which you can't, I'm not interested in whatever you have to offer," He had grown a bit bored of these sorts of conversation, the other party typically 'offering' some sort of threat or empty promise. He was intrigued if the prince would be more creative.

"I didn't say you had to drop him off in Ouranious," He suggested, "Unless you have to return to be paid by your 'employer,' there's nothing stopping you from leaving him in a foreign country."

Captain Clemons chose his words carefully, completely ignoring the topic of his employer, "If your guard is dedicated enough to you to risk his own life saving you from the ground squad, then surely he'd travel back at least to let the king know who was responsible for his son's death," It was smart not to give any indication of who exactly was paying him to fulfill such a job, especially since he already seemed aware that Virgil had his suspicions. Yet again the prince had shown his hand too early, and he remained in the dark because of it.

"Surely you've stumbled upon some uninhabited islands, or herbs that induce memory loss. For all he'd know he's always lived with rodents and bluejays to keep him company," Captain Clemons snorted at his reply. At least he was entertained.

"Captain, this one's been complaining nonstop since he woke up, and Everett thinks he spotted a shark this morning," Virgil's hands clenched at his side when he saw the pirate dragging Roman up onto the deck.

"While that idea doesn't sound half bad, leverage isn't something I tend to just toss overboard," Clemons reminded him, "But I've never been opposed to...damaging it a little bit."

"Damage me all you want, I already feel like crap," Roman comments, looking fed up with the conversation already. The pirate holding him appeared to be putting a fair amount of force into their hold, and from the way he swayed slightly, it was to keep him on his feet. All in all, the guard looked like he was about to pass out in front of them all, "And you would too with a fever, chills, and irritating sores."

In Ouranious, or practically any kingdom across the five continents, there was one sure way to get people to stay away from you. The plague.

Whether you actually had it or not, most people would steer clear if someone so much as mentioned one of its key symptoms, as it spread faster than wildfires and painfully killed most of its victims. The afflicted person could appear pale, feverish, and exhausted, but the most distinctive trait would be the angry red sores that appeared almost anywhere. These sores, especially in untreated cases, turn black and leave the flesh underneath in tatters and scarred. If even one of the spots began to turn black, the infected person was immediately labeled a lost cause and either put out of their misery, or moved to a quarantine ward.

So, it wasn't a surprise to Virgil that the pirate holding Roman let go the second his words registered, jumping away from him in a distinctly 'non-pirate' way. The confined quarters of a boat weren't exactly ideal for an outbreak of a contagious disease, and he recognized it. Good for him.

And while Captain Clemons certainly enjoyed keeping up an appearance of complete control and level-headedness at all times, he wasn't about to take such a risk so lightly, "Get both of them back to their room immediately, and make sure everyone knows to watch it. I'll be annoyed if it's just a cold, but I'll be p!ssed if we all end up dead."

The man looked incredibly perturbed at even the idea of staying within five feet of them for longer than he already had, "Fine, but you're the one that's going to help him back down," Their escort firmly told Virgil.

"Why are they freaking out?" Roman asked, his speech slower than normal and just a little too loud to be considered a true whisper.

"If you really don't know then there's nothing I can do to help you," He was fine last night, and Virgil was kind of confident that he was still fine. So, he must have known what he was doing saying he had symptoms like that if he was truly faking it, as the prince suspected.

The journey back to their room was short, and the pirate behind them had probably never felt so relieved in his life. Virgil considered asking him to open the door for them, but decided he would probably refuse and take away any potential entertainment his request could have. Instead, he pushed it open and helped Roman sit on the cot, barely flinching when the door slammed shut behind him.

"So, would you like to explain why you were trying to get yourself killed?" Roman conveniently sounded much more aware than he had when they were out in the open, which Virgil took as a sign that he was in fact faking his illness and completely fine. In hindsight, Clemons should have been able to at least guess this, but Virgil definitely didn't mind the extra caution on his part.

"I wasn't trying to get myself killed. They're going to kill me anyway so there's no point in speeding things up," Virgil argued, "I was trying to get Clemons to let you go."

Roman stared at him, "Because you've just given up on saving yourself?"

"In my defense, I would have tried to save myself after I knew you were safe," Virgil tried, getting only an eye roll in response from the older, "And you ruined my plan so let's just move on and figure something else out, yeah?"

"You didn't even think to tell me about your 'plan,' so I couldn't have known I'd be ruining it," Roman argued, not at all upset with his interference.

"Actually, I did think about it, I just decided not to. Unless you want to claim that you wouldn't have stopped me?" He watched as Roman's frown grew, already suspecting the other wouldn't respond because he was right.

The guard huffed like a child put in time out. He was upset. No, he was p!ssed. Roman hated how Virgil just decided to sacrifice his own life without properly considering that there was another way. A warning would have been nice, a say would have been even better. This was both of their problems, so naturally, they should try to fix it together. Apparently, Virgil hadn't come to the same, obvious conclusion he had. It was frustrating how little self-preservation instincts the prince had. Did he somehow forget that he was the one expected to rule over a country in a matter of years? And while it may have been childish to ignore Virgil as he patched him up a bit better, he felt more than justified in doing so.

"Hey," Roman trained his sour gaze on Virgil without raising his head, "Do you still know how to pick locks?"

A/N: Not only do I have a long weekend and a minimal school month ahead of me to work on this book, I also get an excuse to listen to Spooky Scary Skeletons on repeat