unforgivable | solangelo royalty au | sequel to unattainable

Chapter Five

NPOV:

It's been, what, four years? Five?

His hair is shorter, and I can tell that he's taller and more muscular, even from this distance. His clothes look expensive and he wears them like royalty would be expected to.

Oh, what happened to the carefree man I knew? He doesn't resemble him at all in the way he holds himself!

"Aren't you going to say hello back?" The girl speaks up as I gape at him.
"Don't be naïve." Will scoffs. "It's not as if he cares."

"Will." I breathe. He rolls his eyes and repositions himself, though he doesn't look any more comfortable on his knees, his hands shackled behind his back as he leans forward expectantly. I place the lantern at my feet. My tongue suddenly feels too big for my mouth. "You... You..."
"Come on, di Angelo, we have got all day." He snaps. I feel a blush creeping up my face.

"You've changed." I manage to choke out.
"So have you." He notes dryly. "Though I guess underneath both of our past exteriors, we could each see a glimpse of how we are now. I was always destined to be a king, and you... Well, being a scruffy criminal isn't much of a surprise, looking back."

"Excuse me?" I growl, my hand flying to the sword on my waist instinctively before I remember that I left it by my bed. My anger flares suddenly, as I watch him observe me like I'm nothing more than a vaguely interesting speck of dust.

"What?" He retorts, daring me to defend myself, as if he expects me to back down!
"I am a prince! You can't talk to me that way!" It's been a very long time since I last used that defence, but this is Will. He's more powerful than me; the least he can do is respect what authority I do have.

"Technically, you're not, actually." He says, frustratingly coolly. "The land your parents used to own is mine now. You are ex royalty, and therefore you are nothing more to me, or to anyone for that matter, than an outlawed pirate."
"I'm not a pirate!" I argue, before realising that, actually, I am. "Your kingdom is built on unfair war and the murder of my family!"

"If this is about your sister's death, we had nothing to do with that, regardless of what you heard." He says quickly. For a moment, I think he's taking about Bianca, but then I realise what he means.
"Oh, Hazel is fine." I brush him off. "We took her just in time, literally as your father's men raided my palace and beheaded my step-mother as she surrendered." An obvious injustice, not that anybody dared to object. I push down tears, grateful that I managed to save my sister and her friend Frank, at least.

"Oh. Well, in that case, I don't feel guilty about taking your kingdom." He shrugs.
"My parents were killed!" I shout, the tears welling up again suddenly. The other two, who I had forgotten were there, whisper to each other, but I ignore them.
"Sacrifices must be made in war, Nico." He says calmly.
"Unfair war!" I protest.
"You started it!" How childish we are, yet we keep going regardless.
"Your mother started it!"

"Don't talk about my mother like that! She did what she thought was right!" I stumble back, shocked. Is the Will I knew really that far gone? I look at the steely look on his face. The Will I knew would never look so cruel. He would never appear so able, so willing, to cast a fatal blow and walk away unaffected.

I regather my wits and stalk forward, getting closer to him this time. "How dare you forgive her. That awful woman! Don't you remember how she treated-" I falter, unable to say the word 'us'. There is no 'us'. Not anymore.

"The only unforgivable person here is you." Will holds his head high like he's proud to be descended from her.
"You are to blame for what happened. You attacked her, unprovoked-"
"Unprovoked?"
"Don't interrupt me!" I flinch at the volume of his voice. "You attacked her, then broke from prison, killed many guards, and stole our property! Your parents and citizen's deaths are on your hands, not mine or my family's!"

Shaking with rage, I clench my fists and lower my voice to a hiss.
"How dare you talk to me like that on my own ship!"
"Which you stole from my kingdom."
"With your help!"

That's a surprising thing to flinch away from, yet he cowers like he's just received a physical blow. I frown, bewildered, but before I can continue, the others look up expectantly. Will nervously raises his head slightly. I hear footsteps approach from behind me, and Reyna appears by my side a moment later.

She barely glances at the others, simply wrapping an arm around my shoulder and leading me out of the hold. I go without resistance, Will's words finally sinking in. Am I to blame?

"I should have come earlier." Reyna mutters to herself, then to me: "Don't listen to him, Nico. He's just upset. You both are, but him especially. I mean, he's just been taken hostage, and your history is far from fine. There are gonna be a lot of old emotions getting stirred up right now, so just... Go easy on him, okay? Stay away for a while."

I nod numbly and wander into the sleeping quarters, then curl up in my bed, which is actually more of a hammock suspended between two beams. Above mine is Thalia's, then beside is Leo's. Above his hammock is Reyna's.

Thinking back to the first year after Bianca's death, when all I did was blame myself for everything. Every failure we experienced while at sea, and then on land when we found a habitable island, I found a way to trace back to myself.

And then, while rescuing Hazel, two years too late, I blamed myself for taking so long to find bed, for the horrors she had seen, and for failing to save Persephone before she was killed senselessly in an attempt to surrender.

Perhaps Will is right. No, not perhaps. He is right. Of course he is. Nobody knows what happened building up to and during the war better than us.

It's all my fault. It always is.