Our hope

They had three whole days of this that passed like a blur. It was the most amazing break they had ever taken and very well deserved. Unfortunately at the end of those three days they had to get back to the castle.

“Pretty sure my mum wouldn’t mind us taking one more day if you want.” The Rebel said as the Prince packed his favorite items. The Prince was informed to only take favorites. When the question of why was asked the Rebel answered.

"It's easier to just leave stuff here when we come back."

“We can’t do that to your poor mother. I won’t allow it.” The Prince didn’t really know what was going on. Last he check the Rebel leader was dead. Then again he was also sure they were only just getting back to the castle. He must have slept a little too hard and the rest is just a nightmare. It certainly felt like one.

“Can we get going. I want to get back in time for dinner.” The Prince wasn’t really hurrying to get back to the castle. It was silly to be reacting to the nightmares like this but there was still a feeling the Prince couldn’t shake from it.

Even after days of getting use to this new life there was still some hesitation. He still tried to hurry up as the Rebel readied the horses. The Prince had a wonderful time teaching them how to ride a horse.

There was a few mishaps, but they made it through without major incident. Soon the Prince had his bag ready, and they were off riding through the late afternoon sun back to the castle. Unlike the ride there the Prince remember the ride back. 

It only took a couple hours and a few back roads to get to the castle. It was nice a quiet avoiding most people on the way. The Prince handed the horses in while the Rebel went inside to make sure they both weren’t late to supper.

When he did he caught himself in a shiny serving plate they used as a mirror. There was no bruising. It was a shock even if the Prince didn’t feel any pain over the past few days. Even if there was no pain he thought there had been a little bit of colour still.

The Prince wandered inside wondering how it could have healed so fast. This was after having an experience with a similar bruise on his leg. The Prince was trying to piece together what was a dream and what wasn’t.

Since the bruise isn’t there and there is no pain it had to be before that day. Which was long before what the Prince had already thought was where the dream started. It was hard to tell. As he wandered the halls everything felt different. It was probably the time away.

The Prince only left the castle for a few hours for one night. Coming back after a couple of days it was weird. The Prince noticed little details about how the hall changed so much. He didn’t notice that he walked into the dining hall until he ran into the rebel.

“Hey love, you ok?” The Rebel said putting his hand on the Prince’s jaw making their eyes connect.

“What?” The Prince asked being pulled out of his thoughts and looking to find what is different in the room. There was something off, he just couldn’t tell what it was.

“What are you looking for, you were unfocused.”

“Oh, just looking. It’s weird being back home after being away. It’s like there is something missing but I can’t tell what it is.” The Rebel chuckled before pulling the Prince further into the room.

“That happens when you go away. I guess we will just have to take a few more trips.” The Prince moved his eyes away from the Rebel to the Rebel leader that was sitting to the left of the head of the table. She was smiling, not a fake smile or an evil one. This was now genuine and friendly.

The Rebel sat down to the right of the head of the table leaving the Prince to sit in between them. There was no one else in the room from the Rebel and their mothers conversation it sounded like no one was coming. That means the other royals weren’t coming.

Or were they turned away in favor of the kingdom putting themselves back together. Food was brought out and it was a very civil dinner. A little past the middle of the meal the Prince noticed that the rest of the royals filled the room.

They could have showed up for dinner on time with the three others getting to the room early. The Prince shook his head to clear his thoughts. Everything was getting mixed and messed up in his head.

“Everything all right star?” the Rebel asked noticing the distress in their boyfriends face.

“I um, think I’m just tired from the trip is all. I’m going to head to our room to just to get everything straight.” The Prince stood from the table leaving the room with everyone else not noticing.

When he got back to his room everything was spinning. He didn’t know what was wrong and even if it’s real life. The Rebel was not that far behind him coming into the room to stop the Prince falling over from the spin.

“Hey, What is going on?” The Rebel asked holding the Prince still in their arms.

“I just. I don’t know. Everything seems jumbled and there are things there that shouldn’t be.” He huffed out a breath trying not to cry.

“I don’t know what happened.” The Rebel rubbed his back to calm him down.

“You have been through a lot the past week. Why don’t we just climb into bed, and I can put into place the puzzle pieces that we need to?” The Rebel used their soft voice. They knew a break down was coming expecting it during their little outing. It was the healthy thing to do.

The Prince agreed not having the strength to do anything else. Fitting together what he was missing was surely to make things better. He and the Rebel changed into their night clothes before cuddling together in sheets.

“What was the last thing you remember dove?” The Rebel asked deciding that was where they were going to start. The Prince tried to figure out the same thing that last few days at the cottage.

“I think the last thing I remember is the execution. The rest gets jumbled from there.” That was where the Rebel started with. The Prince was taken to the dungeon to a cell where he was alone. Different. He was let back to the room and they both preposed. Same.

What caught the Prince off guard was to learn that the Rebel leader took the throne. Then the two were wed then they would be put in place as acting rulers until the coronation. This was when the Prince started dozing, all the information started falling into place.

He is safe and so is the rebel; that is all that matters. That seemed to be enough to calm his head and steady his heart enough to sleep. Next stop was to plan the wedding, what could possibly go wrong with that.