Cruel - Prinxiety [Sequel to "Savage"] (ON HOLD)

Chapter Three

Roman watched as his dark prince ran back toward the palace, sighing heavily. Clouds over his head rumbled. He looked up at them, shrugging. He felt as though they were unhappy with his and Virgil's current relationship; after all, the latter usually expressed his feelings through the weather unintentionally. 

As the form of Virgil got smaller and further away, the prince felt a cold drop of water land on his face. He flinched at it. It hadn't been raining much lately. The sky had mostly been grey clouds and overcast, but no actual rain.

It rained when Virgil was crying at the party that one time, he thought to himself. A tiny smile came to his face when he thought about it. Luis told me he always wore his necklace then...

Roman's lips fell back into a frown as a thought crossed his mind. He wasn't sure the dark prince was still wearing the necklace he'd given him those years ago. It wasn't unusual that he'd hide it under his suit, but a sudden rush of fear shot through his veins at the idea that Virgil might've stopped where the necklace.

He wouldn't do that... would he? It means too much to him surely? he thought, hurrying back toward the palace. How can I ask him about that? I can't exactly say 'Hey are you still wearing that necklace that symbolizes our love for each other?'. With the state of things, that would either make him angry that I even doubted him or make him lash out because... because he did take it off for 'my protection' or something...

He was incredibly bothered now and intended to ask Virgil about it as he entered the palace, but he ran into the dark prince much quicker than he expected. This was because he had been approached by both of their fathers. 

"-is serious, Virgil. We have to discuss the state of the kingdoms within our alliance. Dorchadas has not been as idle in this past year as we believed," King Logan was saying as he entered the hallway they were talking in. They looked up to see him; Virgil immediately looked away, making his heart sigh in his chest. "Ah, Roman. Good, I need you too. Luis and Thorn are already waiting in the conference room. We all need to be there."

The kings then led the way down the hallway, leaving the princes to meet eyes briefly before moving to follow. 

Virgil was clearly to stay away from him, but walking in pairs down a thin hallway meant he couldn't distance himself without being obvious. Roman cleared his throat and tried to figure out what he wanted to say. 

"Look," he started, keeping his voice low so that their fathers couldn't hear. "I... I understand if you don't reciprocate my feelings anymore. You can stop wearing the necklace, I'll stop-"

"Roman, I never said that," Virgil replied hastily. He looked at him properly for the first time in months. He looked horrified that he even suggested the idea. "I'm not- I don't- what are you even talking about? The whole point of the avoiding you is because I still-"

Doors opening cut them off and made them both look up. They'd reached the conference room and were walking inside. Virgil swallowed his words and looked away. The other prince didn't push him, knowing that it would be cruel to make him continue this conversation in front of the others. He subtly brushed his hand with his pinkie finger, getting his attention as he headed to his seat around the table. When the dark prince met his eyes, he gave him a look that said 'we'll talk later'.

Virgil nodded as he sat down and focused on their fathers. However as they began to talk, he found himself subconsciously reaching under his suit collar and pulling out the necklace to fidget with it. He didn't even realize he was doing it, but Roman noticed and felt relief wash over him. 

"Dorchadas seems to be mounting an army to start a second war against dark magic," Logan began to explain, gesturing to the map on the table. "So far, he's only attacked small towns on the outskirts of our allies' kingdoms, but we just received a letter from Mincuini that they've been getting threats and capital has had numerous terrorist attacks over the past two years, before the dark sorcerer's return."

"What could that mean? The terrorists, are they dark mages?" Roman said, leaning forward with intrigue. 

The king looked unable to describe them, leading Patton to stand up. "Based on the reports, some of them have been implied to be dark mages, but others have been described as... mind manipulators."

They all scowled at this but Thorn gasped in realization. "Wait, in the reports, are these manipulators able to appear however they choose or change the environment?"

"Yes, that's... that's what it says, how did you know?" Logan replied, holding the letters. 

"They're illusionists! They're not natural mages, but rather flukes in the magical genetics. They're typically unstable and have deformities," she explained. "I learned about them a long time ago when I was learning about healing magic. Healing magic is a more common form of non-nature magic, but illusion is practically unheard of."

Luis shook his head. "It would seem that it's not unheard of anymore."

Virgil stayed quiet, deep in thought. The description of these illusionists sounded familiar to him for some reason; he figured it was something he encountered during his year as a prisoner, but there were so many different forms of torture used on him it was nearly impossible to place the memory. He would need to think about it more if he wanted to figure it out. 

"We can assume that these illusionists have aligned themselves with Dorchadas," Patton said, sighing heavily as he retook his seat. "Which means that we are not only fighting dark mages, but illusionists, two forms of magic users we know basically nothing about."

The dark prince felt his throat close up with guilt once again, but accidentally caught the eye of Roman who glanced his way. The other boy's gaze softened as he gave him a meaningful expression. Virgil felt overwhelmed; he knew he was trying to tell him it wasn't his fault that they didn't have knowledge of the magic they'd be fighting. 

Virgil swallowed and lifted his chin, about to speak, but he was caught off as the doors were thrown open. A royal guard rushed into the room. "Your Majesties, we've got a problem!"