The Warlock (BxB)

Chapter 23

They burned Tristan's body an hour after his death. Sebastian suggested doing the same to Logain to put his soul to rest, but Prince Casimir refused. He wouldn't let go of Logain. He wanted to take him back to the castle to bury him. Neither Red nor Sebastian argued with him about it.

It would have been faster if Casimir would have let Sebastian use his magic to get them to the castle. Casimir refused to take off the ring that prevented spells. He wanted to walk to the castle. He wanted as much time to go by as possible before he had to say goodbye to Logain once and for all. Getting to the castle meant that he would have to accept that Logain was gone.

Red walked with them to the edge of the cursed town before parting ways. Darren was waiting for her and she wouldn't keep him alone for long. She promised to visit Casimir soon to see how he was holding up.

The castle was a few hours away and with the pace Casimir was going at it would take them forever to get there. He was going slow on purpose but this time, it wasn't like when he first started this journey. He could tell his father that he didn't want to become king just fine. Letting go of Logain, though, was another story. He couldn't do it, but he would be forced to once he reached the castle.

"I can carry him if you want," Sebastian offered. He didn't say something because he thought that Casimir was struggling. He was carrying Logain with little effort, but he was taking forever. If Sebastian carried his friend, then that would make the prince pick up his pace.

Sebastian was sorry for his loss and he was sad that his friend was gone, too, but they couldn't change things now. Nothing would have saved Logain and the prince needed to face that fact. People died. That was life.

Casimir shook his head. He was barely watching where he was going. Most of the time he had his eyes on Logain. Part of him still hoped that any minute he would wake up. "I asked him to stay with me. I was going to tell my father that I wouldn't become king so that I could be with Logain. I knew that this would happen, but I still hoped that things would end differently. I didn't get to spend enough time with him. It went by too fast."

"We can't change things. Cherish the time that you had with him. One day, everyone dies."

"Everyone except for you. You will never die. Logain could have been like you. I wonder how things would have turned out if he were. I wonder if he still would have loved me. We might not have ever met if things were different." Everything would have changed if Logain was like Sebastian. He would never have been cursed.

"It was planned for you two to meet. Your sister set you up. When you left she saw that as a perfect opportunity to make Logain go after you. He didn't want to at first, but I forced him to come with me. She noticed you always watching him whenever he came to the castle to visit." Sebastian noticed this, too, but he always kept quiet about it. Selene, on the other hand, made a plan for Casimir and Logain to meet.

"That's just like Selene. She never knows when to stay out of my business. But perhaps she was right. If I would have introduced myself to him when I first saw him at the castle, then I would have had more time with him. Maybe then I could have found a way to save him." He regretted not listening to his sister when she gave him that advice.

"You know . . . they say that true love's kiss breaks curses. Maybe you should give it a try now." Sebastian was reluctant to tell the prince this information. He didn't want to break his heart more if it didn't work.

"That's just a fairytale. Besides, I kissed Logain a lot when he was alive. If a kiss could break a curse, then it should have saved him then. It didn't."

"Your father kissed Briar Rose and that broke her curse. She died afterward, but nonetheless, the curse was lifted. If Tristan's powers did get transferred to Logain, then he might be under a different curse now. I'm not saying that kissing him will work, but there is a chance." There was also the chance that this would end badly. Oh, how Sebastian wished he would have kept his mouth shut. The chances of this ending in their favor were next to none.

Casimir knew better than to get his hopes up, but he was willing to try anything at this point. He let out a sigh before leaning down to kiss Logain. When their lips touched, Casimir didn't feel anything change. He knew that it was too good to be true. It might have worked for his father, but Briar Rose wasn't dead at the time. Logain was.

Casimir pulled away and looked up at Sebastian. The other man gave him a sad smile. Casimir said, "It didn't work."

After he said those words, he felt something moving against his chest. Upon looking down, an overwhelming happiness filled him.

Logain was moving. It was as if he was only sleeping. He moved his head to rest on Casimir's shoulder before opening his eyes. Casimir couldn't stop the tears from falling. They were no longer ones of sadness.

"Why are you crying?" Logain asked.

"I-I thought that I lost you," Casimir answered.

"Casimir . . . don't cry. I didn't die. I fell into a deep sleep."

"How do you feel?" Sebastian stepped in. It was a miracle that the kiss worked. He doubted that it would. "Do you feel weak at all? Do you feel like you did before when you were cursed?"

"No . . . Honestly, I feel great. I feel better than I ever have before. Did something happen?" There was no weakness like he felt during the curse. He no longer felt any sickness either.

"Tristan gave his life to save yours. If I am correct, then that means that you now have his powers, plus your old ones that you had before you fell into your illness." Sebastian left out the part where Red forced Logain to stab Tristan. He had a feeling that Logain wouldn't like that very much.

Logain was confused as to why Tristan would give his life to him, but he didn't question it. He was thankful, but at the same time it scared him. Tristan was immortal because of his powers. Did that mean that he was now, too? If he was immortal, then he would live forever. This time, he would be the one losing Casimir.

Out of happiness, Casimir leaned in once again to kiss Logain. This time, the kiss wasn't soft. He kissed him as hard as possible and he didn't stop right away. When Logain had the chance to breathe again he said, "Casimir, not right now! Not in front of Sebastian."

"Sorry, but I'm not stopping because he's here. I'm just so happy to have you once again." Casimir went in for another kiss. Logain didn't try to stop him either.

Neither of them were listening anymore, but Sebastian said, "Um, I'm going to head back to the castle now. I'll see you two there."

They didn't notice him leaving. Even when they started their final journey back to the castle they didn't seem to notice his disappearance. Casimir could hardly keep his eyes off of Logain. He couldn't help thinking that this was all a dream because he wanted it to be true. He was afraid that if he looked away then Logain would be dead again.

Logain didn't mind when Casimir walked up to the castle gates still holding him. He didn't care about the strange looks that people were giving them. He wanted to stay in his arms. He wanted his time with Casimir to last for as long as it possibly could. Eventually, Casimir put him down. He was wobbly on his feet at first, but Prince Casimir helped him. He wasn't about to let him fall.

They were standing in the entrance hall of the castle. They barely noticed the servants running about, announcing that the prince has returned. Their attention was completely on each other.

"I shall tell my father the news. I would rather be with you than become king. I am sure that he will understand." Casimir took Logain's hand to lead him to his father.

Logain didn't move. "Casimir . . . I'm not coming with you. I need to think. Alone."

Casimir looked back at him, confused. "I can take you to my room. If you need time to think about things then I will give you privacy."

"No, I need to go home. I'm sorry. I told your sister that I would return you to the castle. I did that, so now I must go. I need to think without you around. Being near you will make this harder." Logain took his hand away from the prince's.

Being with him would make things harder in the future. He would one day lose him. Everyone dies one day, but now Logain wouldn't. He would one day lose the person that he loved once again.

"Goodbye, Prince Casimir."

With the flick of his hand, Logain was gone.