Deserter

SEVENTEEN

{Chapter Triggers: war preparations, desertion (sort of, twice), blade and mention of poison again. Those are all I can think of/figure out from reading through the chapter, I apologize if I missed any and feel free to inform me.}

Logan left the throne room, muttering to himself about going to  the War Room to grab something. 

"We need to evacuate the nearby towns." Roman spoke up, turning to King Thomas. "Deceit will destroy anything in his way on his way here and if we can do anything to take care of our people we should make sure it gets done."

King Thomas nodded slowly. "That is a good idea... but first, I want you to go to the servants' quarters and tell them that Prince Virgil is back and needs his bedchambers to be prepared for him-"

"No."

They all turned to look at Virgil. He crossed his arms, shaking his head stubbornly.

"Tell no one I was here. I'll be leaving soon."

King Thomas frowned. "What? Why?"

"Well to begin with, I renounced my title as Prince."

Roman scoffed. "You can't do that."

Virgil raised his eyebrows. "I did my research before I ran away, Sir Roman. I formally renounced the title of Prince of Eaden, with documentation, and made sure that it was properly recorded so that no one could dispute it or attempt to take my place."

King Thomas shook his head. "You always have the option to reclaim the title, Virgil. Eaden is your home and your legacy, you could become prince again."

"No. My plan is to get as far away from the country as possible."

"Why?" Patton asked quietly, frowning.

Virgil sighed. "I am a danger to you here. It will not be long before Deceit has been notified by some way or another that his precious attack dog has turned on him. If I am here when he arrives... he will use me against you all, then kill me the first chance he gets. I am not going to put that on your consciences or mine."

"What are you going to do then?" Roman crossed his arms.

"I'll board a ship, cross the sea. Go somewhere I've never been, where no one can recognize me." Virgil shook his head. "Somewhere I can start over, be normal. I never had a real childhood, but this would be my chance to have a regular life. 

"And I see that look in your eyes, Roman, but you chose to be involved in this life. I did not and frankly I do not want it."

The knight recoiled a little at being called out, but Virgil turned to his brother.

"Good luck, Your Majesty. I know you can win this war, but I will not be helping you with it."

No one moved when Virgil turned on his heel and strode out of the room, not looking back.

"Roman, I want you to begin preparations for the evacuations of the towns nearby. Go after Logan and tell him I want to see him in as quickly as possible. Patton, if you don't mind, I'd like you to assess the men in the infirmary and let me know who will all be ready to fight and when." 

King Thomas sighed, leaning back in the throne and dropping his face into his hand. "I want to keep this as clean as possible, though I don't believe it will be completely possible."

Roman clapped his fist to his chest in a salute and left the room. Patton nodded, making a small sniffling noise, and followed the knight.

They all returned to the throne room within twenty minutes. Patton was uncharacteristically quiet, but when Roman and Logan walked in they were both arguing about something passionately.

"No Roman, we need to move Lanait before Brathia. They're closer to the castle, yes, but they are more directly between here and Speira. Lanait is more out of the way, I'm less worried about the inhabitants."

Roman grumbled something about discussing it later and saluted King Thomas again.

"What are we going to tell the men, Your Majesty?" Logan asked. "About Prince Virgil, that is."

King Thomas sat up in his seat, setting his jaw. "What we have been telling them. Prince Virgil disappeared ten years ago, no one has seen him since and it is assumed that he is no longer with us in the land of the living. We will tell them Anxiety mysteriously disappeared as well, but that he warned us of what was coming and that is what we need to focus on."

"We shouldn't have let him go alone."

They all turned to look at Patton.

"Well really, Patton, what are you going to do?" Roman sighed. "He's headstrong, he's one of the most dangerous men in the country, and he had his sights set on leaving."

The healer shrugged, chewing his lip. "Someone could have gone with him. He's young, the country may be in trouble but he will still be questioned."

"Patton-"

"No, this is important!" Patton shook his head. "He is still the prince and he should have someone watching over him!"

"He's not your son, Patton." King Thomas said quietly.

"I know!" The healer's voice cracked sharply. He took a deep breath. "I know. But he is still a boy and... I'm going after him."

"Roman." Logan said calmly. Roman nodded and started towards Patton, but pulled up short when Patton pulled a blade.

"Patton... you and I both know that if this comes to blows I would undoubtedly win."

Patton swallowed thickly, nodding. "I know..." He turned the knife on his own stomach, meeting Roman's eyes steadily. "It's coated in poison. I grabbed one at random, I'm not sure what it will do, but it will undoubtedly kill me."

Roman looked back at the other two, at a loss. Logan was wide-eyed, and King Thomas looked as if he was in pain.

"Then go, Patton." He finally said, slouching miserably in his seat. "I can't stop you and I don't want to lose you completely."

Patton nodded, taking a sharp breath. He backed out of the throne room slowly, keeping his eyes on Roman, then re-sheathed the blade and ran through the castle to the front courtyard.

His horse, a pretty chestnut mare named Spindle, whinnied in greeting as he entered the stables. Patton grabbed the small bag he always kept near her, getting her saddle on in record time. She seemed to understand the seriousness of the situation and stayed still.

They broke out of the stables at a full run. The drawbridge hadn't been brought up from Virgil's departure yet, and Patton leaned down over Spindle's neck as she raced forward.

Logan and Roman watched from an upper balcony.

"Do you think he'll be back?" The knight asked quietly. Logan remembered suddenly how young he was.

"I don't know."

{To get to the port he has in mind, Virgil has a three day ride ahead of him. He's got about an hour on Patton, but will Patton choose the right path to find him?}