The Prince's Curse

Chapter 16 - The Flight

~Chapter 16~

*The Flight*

The hum of the engine was all Luke could hear in the otherwise quiet plane.

    Ashton had refused to speak ever since Luke announced they were leaving that evening. Commander had given him a time that Ashton's private jet would be to the nearest airport, so they had to be out and ready by then. Luke helped him pack, since Ashton was sort of protesting that he didn't want to go home and he wanted to stay and see his friends. Luke might have gotten frustrated and yelled at him, thus sparking Silent Ashton.

    They'd been friends for 30 seconds that day before it was back to being weird again.

    Ashton was curled up on his seat, watching out the window. He had always liked his private jet. It had 4 oversized cream-colored seats facing each other, one on each side of the aisle as well as 2 behind his seat. There was a bedroom in the back of the plane, just a queen sized bed tucked into a little room, but it had a door which sort of seemed appealing to Ashton at the moment. He thought about getting up and going in there, even just to be away from Luke, who was sitting in front of him, also staring out the window.

    He sighed heavily, feeling sort of miserable. He was finally starting to fit in someplace, to act right--he'd even figured out contractions!--and now he was flying away from all that, stuck in a flying metal tube with someone who hated him.

    "I can't take this gloomy, self-pity you're wallowing in, Ash. I'm sorry we have to leave, I really am, but it's for your own good," Luke spoke up. If he heard Ash sigh one more time, he was going to jump out the window.

    "It is Ash-ton, since we're going back, and that's not what I am upset about,"

    "Then what are you upset about?" Luke asked, but to Ashton it sounded like he was asking more out of obligation than the fact that he really wanted to hear what was troubling him.

    "Just forget it, you do not care," he mumbled.

    "What? I can't hear you,"

    "I said forget it!" he roared, the sound echoing around the cabin.

    Instead of getting upset as Ashton had thought he would do, Luke looked puzzled. Ashton couldn't take it after a moment.

    "What?" He snapped.

    "What are you so upset about? You're usually so calm, is something bothering you?"

    Ashton scoffed.

    "What isn't bothering me? I was forced to flee my own country on account of someone wanting to kill me. Then for weeks I feel out of place in my new home, and just as I finally feel good, I am forced to leave and go back to the land of uncertainty and probable death. Can't wear a crown if I am dead," he chuckled morbidly.

    Luke sat forward in his seat, looking Ashton in the eye. He knew Ashton was lashing out in anger because he was scared. He didn't blame the boy; if he wasn't trained like he was, he would have been too.

    "I will do my absolute best to make sure nothing happens to you, Ash. Ton, Ashton." He corrected himself when Ashton's eyes flashed and his nose flared. "My job is literally to make sure you're safe, and it's not one I take lightly, as you know. Everything I do has been and will be in your best interest. I'm very good at what I do,"

    Ashton huffed.

    "Yes, I know that."

    Luke settled back into his seat.