Stolen Princes

Chapter 22 ~Give Up~

Josh paced back and forth within his cell. He was quietly muttering under his breath some ideas for guidelines and such for the peace treaty he was working on with Lachlan. The most difficult part was figuring out how to make the trade work. It has to be balanced, fair, and benefit both kingdoms economy equally. Josh looked at the cactus on Preston's table that he put there to "make the place homier". Josh heard someone running above him and shortly after Preston appeared. He seemed shaken about something.

"Hey, Preston. How are you doing?" Josh asked.

"Lachlan hasn't told you yet has he?" Preston glanced up, a nervous look on his face.

"No? What now?" Josh groaned. He was tired of these strange secrets popping up. He wanted them to be done.

"Your father-, well Simon, has announced that he is going to, um, marry Lachlan." Preston toyed with his hands.

"Uh... Did you say marry?" Josh had a hysterical look on his face. Preston nodded. "What the hell?! Do you have any idea how weird that is? I know Simon isn't technically my father but he still kind of is which means Lachlan would become my other parent..." Josh slowed down at the end. That sunk in and sent shivers down his spine. "Poor Lachlan. To be forced into a marriage like that. How is it allowed?"

"He's under Simon's possession and Lachlan isn't tied to anyone else. He is with Vik but they're only dating." Preston answered. Josh ran his fingers through his hair.

"Will you be able to stop it?" Josh walked up to the bars. Preston shook his head and shrugged.

"Hopefully. We don't know when the wedding is. For all we know Simon could of already married Lachlan and tricked us into a useless fight." Preston pointed out.

"Why is this happening?" Josh moaned. "I know why but at this point I may as well give up." He hung his head down. What good would anything do now? The West Kingdom is pretty much doomed. Josh felt his eyes begin to water. For some reason he felt bad for the West Kingdom. It was mostly because of Preston. Ever since Josh thought of the possibility of a happy ending for everyone that's all he's ever wanted. Doesn't seem like that's possible now.

"Josh you can't just give up. There must be something you can do." Preston pressured.

"No, Preston there's nothing I can do! This is out of my hands. I can't just tell Simon don't marry Lachlan because he'll do whatever he wants! Besides no one can know about this note passing between me and Lachlan until the time is right. But what's the point? Simon has outsmarted us and basically won." Josh put his hands up and plopped down on his bed.

"Josh you promised you could save us all. I really thought you could do this. How can you quit this easily?" Preston shook his head.

"Look I'm sorry I'm such a disappointment. How was I suppose to know Simon would pull something like this out of the bag?!" Josh argued. He could feel the anger boiling inside of him.

"I don't want to just let Simon take away my best friend, Vik's boyfriend, our prince. Josh I thought you were smarter than this!" Preston shouted. Josh's face scrunched up.

"Why have I even sided with you?! Why am I trying to save the Western Kingdom?! I should be happy you're about to lose this war! I think I should thank my father. I wanted this war to be over and now it is!" Josh shot back. Preston stood up.

"Why did I even bother trusting you? I should've known you'd crawl right back home and forget about me. It's crazy to think that you would choose the man who lied to you your whole entire life, than your own brother who helped you with your plan. You were just using me." Preston spat. "And this war isn't over yet." he added before stomping away back upstairs. Josh whipped around and pulled out his papers. All the letters from Lachlan and ideas he scribbled down. He took them and ripped them up. Josh knew he messed up terribly. He didn't know how to control his temper. He still needed Preston.

Harry sat in his cell with his hands over his ears, shaking his head. All the yelling between Preston and Josh reminded Harry of when him and Simon would argue before he was captured. It seems all hope is abandoned before everything actually is abandoned. Without passion what is there to fight back with?

(Are you guys still enjoying this book?😕 )