"Hush..." James cooed when Kendall finally opened his eyes. "Hush, love. 'Tis alright, I'm here." He said and gingerly ran his fingers over the blond's cheek.
"J-James..." Kendall breathed and closed his eyes again. He was sweating and his blond fringe was sticking to his damp forehead. His body as well as his mind was tired and limp. "What happened?" he asked and James kept him in a lying position.
"We made it out, thanks to you, love." James cooed and smiled carefully. "You chased them off." He said. Kendall smiled weakly and nodded his head. "You kept my crew safe." James said and gave a light laugh.
Kendall took a gentle hols of the brunet's hand. "I wanted... you all to be safe." He said and smiled tiredly. James leaned down and kissed him. "Captain... would you take me out to get some air?" Kendall asked.
The brunet got off the bed and swept his long arms around the prince and picked him up, holding him close to his chest. "Anything for you, my love." He whispered into Kendall's ear and carried him out of the cabin and took him up to the rudder deck, placing him in a chair and kneeling next to him. "You just take it easy, you've done well." James said and caressed his cheek once more before walking off to discuss with Woodland.
Several crew members came up on the rudder deck to thank the prince and Kendall dismissed them by swatting his hand and saying, "We are a crew."
The ship was swaying gently back and forth on the small waves. They were far from the siren's lair and in the distance the prince could see the sun already wandering up the sky. He'd been unconscious for nearly a whole day.
When Carlos spotted him up on the rudder deck he hurried to his side and slung his arms around him. "You're awake!" He exclaimed and Kendall gave a light chuckle. "We've been worried sick." Carlos said and Kendall glanced over the latino's shoulder at Logan who was keeping a cautious distance between them. Carlos noticed the looked and frowned. "Kendall, Logan's worried too."
"Are you sure he's not just acting?" The blond scowled and Logan's face fell into a frown.
"M-My prince..." He mumbled and bowed his head, quickly scampering away and going back down to the main deck and offering to help some sailors. Carlos shook his head and sighed.
"You can't keep gritting teeth and growling at him." Carlos said. "He's worried. He came to this ship to seek your forgiveness." He explained and Kendall scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest.
The latino sighed and the prince let out a breath of his own. "You do not know him, Carlos. He is unpredictable. Sneaky and devious." Kendall said lowly. "He has done nothing but lie to me, he even lied about himself... I trusted him, invited him in and took him under my wings only to find out that he has been the one who have plucked the feathers away." He hissed. "He is the reason I have been obliviously imprisoned for seventeen long years."
"Perhaps he had his reasons?" Carlos suggested.
"Oh, he had his reasons." Kendall gritted out and glared down at the deck. "Sick and twisted ones. I heard my father and the adviser. I saw the documents in my father's study. His journals." He mumbled and shook his head. "Sick. That is what it is."
"M-My prince..."
"Enough." Kendall said sharply. "I will speak no more of this." He said and turned his back against the latino. "Leave me be." He said and Carlos bowed his head and backed off before turning around and leaving the rudder deck.
Linelineline
"Logan?" Carlos whispered when he found himself alone with the former servant again. "Why is the prince so upset with you?" He asked. "He acts as if you've done horrible things."
"I have done horrible things." Logan replied simply. "Mistakes that can't be reversed. Promises that couldn't be held and both illegal and immoral tasks." He mumbled and the latino looked troubled. "I am truly a horrible human being. Not at all worthy to have the prince present. I've caused him nothing but pain and suffering."
"H-... He said something about documents... in the king's study." Carlos said and Logan's head snapped to look at him. Eyes wide with fear and misery. The latino couldn't help but pity the former servant.
"I'll never get his forgiveness..." Logan said. "It was foolish of me to think that I could but it is too late for me to leave now. All I can do is hope that at least I won't cause him more trouble." Logan sighed and shook his head.
Carlos hesitated a bit before placing a hand on Logan's shoulder. The raven haired boy flinched but Carlos was persistent. "It's alright." Carlos said softly and Logan relaxed a bit. He was silent for a bit before speaking.
"No one's ever touched me with such careful fingers." He mumbled. "Comfort and sympathy has never been a part of my life." he confessed. "Quite frankly I dislike physical contact." He mumbled but Carlos didn't move.
"How come?" he asked. Logan gave a throaty laugh, filled with a mental pain.
"I am a servant of the royal palace. We're worth less than the beggars on the street. We're nothing. We're just there to fulfill needs and various tasks." He said and shook his head. "We're all disposable should it be necessary."
"That's horrible." Carlos said. Logan shook his head.
"'Tis not horrible." He muttered. "With the choices I've made I deserve this." He sighed and frowned. "The prince have been too good to me. I've been spoiled by him and his kindness." He whined and his hand shot up to rub away the beginning of tears. "Blasted damnation." He cursed and frowned.
The latino just watched for a moment before offering a seat to Logan and then sitting down himself in a chair next to him. "Tell me about yourself?" He suggested and Logan scoffed. "Please, I would very much like to know." Carlos said soothingly.
"What's there to know?" Logan snarled and shook his head. "I am no one."
"What about you parents? Who were they?" Carlos asked.
"How should I know?" Logan asked. "I told you already, I'm a royal servant. I am not allowed to have a family." He said and gulped. "I was ripped from my mother's arms when I was a mere newborn. It's impossible for me to know who they were since I am not allowed to seek them out."
"You were raised in the castle then?" Carlos asked.
"Oh, no." Logan said. "I was raised together with other servants. We were all treated equal to the dirt on the ground and the only thing we were good for was serving or acting like dummies for the soldiers who needed practice." He said. "I was lucky to be assigned as the prince's personal servant."
The latino sighed a bit and gave the other boy a moment to recover and arrange his mind. He felt bad for Logan, the poor guy had had it even worse than he and Carlos had always thought that it had been impossible. He gave Logan's shoulder a gentle squeeze and the raven haired boy turned to him. "It's okay." Carlos said. "Tell me something good instead." He said. "Tell me about the good things."
Logan sniffled a bit and nodded, thinking back. "T-The prince and I would often spend time in the library. He taught me how to read and write." Logan explained. "When we were young we'd play together and make pretend that we were in the foreign countries we had read about... there was no adults there, no rules, no beatings, nothing." Logan said and sounded awed for a moment. "The prince promised that he'd always protect me... that I didn't have to be afraid of anything for as long as he was near."
"Are you?" Carlos asked and Logan turned to look at him. "Are you scared now?" He asked and Logan gulped a bit and shook his head. "Then he's keeping his promise. He saved us from the sirens, didn't he?"
"I-I suppose." Logan mumbled.
"He'll forgive you, Logan. One day." Carlos said and smiled. Logan looked away, looking a bit pale and sick.
"Oh, Carlos..." he sighed. "If the prince knows everything about me... then I'm sure he will never forgive me." He said and brushed the latino's hand off his shoulder and leaving Carlos puzzled and confused.
Linelineline
"Rest, love." James murmured and put the blond down on the bed. "I don't want you to strain yourself. You need the rest." He said and Kendall smiled tiredly and nodded. "Let me help you." James offered when Kendall started to unbutton his coat.
Kendall chuckled lowly and let his hands drop when the brunet unbuttoned the last few buttons and pushed the coat off his shoulders before helping him out of his white cotton shirt. The blond shuddered a bit when James' fingers ran along his collar bone.
"By the gods..." James breathed and the young prince looked down.
The green mark on his chest had grown. The vine like lines around the diamond shaped center seemed to have grown upwards, reaching up and lining Kendall's left collar bone and then stopping just under his throat. Kendall gasped, placing his hand over the mark.
"J-James!" He exclaimed and frowned. He whimpered and reached back to feel his back, wondering if it was as bad there. James gently turned the blond around and furrowed his eyebrows.
The tiny mark that had been on the prince's lower back had grown and a thick line ran up with his spine before splitting into several branches, just like a tree. The branches were few but reached far across Kendall's naked back.
"Is it there too?" Kendall asked. "Is it, James? Is it?" he asked and frowned.
"Ar..." James mumbled and placed his hand on the small of Kendall's back, where the mark began. "It's... a tree." He said and put his index finger on the start of the mark. "It starts here." James said and ran his finger up Kendall's spine. "Here's the bole." He hummed and then traced each of the branches. "And there's seven branches." He murmured, following the last branch that reached the back of Kendall's neck.
"What is happening to me, James?" Kendall asked. "This is not supposed to happen..." he whined. "I read my fathers documents. I read all about it, this is not going to happen. Nothing is supposed to happen at all!" He said and shook his head. "I'm scared."
James frowned and wrapped his arms around the blond and hugged him close. "Don't be." He said soothingly. "Don't be, love. Do not be afraid." He chanted and Kendall sniffled a bit, tilting his head up to look at the brunet.
"I-I did not hurt anyone, did I?" He asked. "I didn't hurt you?"
"You did not." James cooed. "You were brave. You protected the crew and me. You saved lives, Kendall." The blond smiled timidly and leaned his forehead against his lover's shoulder. "You are truly out of this world." James breathed.
"I know..." Kendall sighed, sounding sad. "I am in this world to be with you, James." He said and looked up. His face scrunched up in a tiny frown and he sighed. "Those creatures..." He mumbled. "They knew what I was. They told me that I am just like them." He said and frowned. "They wanted me to stay with them... with my own kind."
"You are nothing like them." James said.
"J-James..." Kendall whined and let out a sob. "I-I am a monster..." I whispered and shook his head. "If anyone on this ship is a monster then it is me. Look at me!" He said and put his hands over his chest. "An abomination in this world..."
The brunet quickly pulled his lover in for a tight embrace. "You are not a monster, Kendall!" He roared. "Would a monster risk themselves to save others? Would a monster protect mere humans?" He asked and grabbed Kendall's head and tilted it upwards. "Would a monster love?"
The young prince's lips trembled and he shook his head. James hugged him again and sighed into the blond's hair while Kendall cried silently. The pirate was worried about his lover and truth to be told he was frightened too because he didn't know what exactly was going on with the prince and he didn't know what to do to make it better...
All he could do was to be there and protect him and love him and make sure that the prince didn't think that he was a monster.
Guys! I have some things to say. Really.
I now I've been gone for a bit and I'm super sorry, it's just that I've been kind of focusing on other stories. See, I really want to be published and so I'm working on several original stories. I have a few on Wattpad but lately I've been getting more serious and I think I might have something going on. Something good.
What I wanted to say is that I will most likely take a break from ff for a little while. I'll try and update whenever I can and feel like it but I really need a break. I'm super sorry. I love writing and ff is so much fun but I'm just in this bubble of inspiration right now and I want to harvest as much as I can from it while it's here. Thank you guys for understanding. I know you do because you're the best readers in the entire world and I love you all with all of my heart.
Thank you for reading and I really do hope that you'll stick around for a while more. I promise I'll get this story as well as a Million colors done. Just not right now. I'm sorry.
oxox Hannah