The Cursed Prince

5

Virgil wanted to stay in his room all day, maybe even forever, but his stomach won out and he had to go looking for food.

The castle was huge, though he had guessed the kitchen was downstairs. He had no idea where the beast was but hopefully he wouldn't run into him.

He found the dining room and walked further, hoping the kitchen was close by. Hopefully the beast had some actual food.

He heard someone talking and froze. Looking into the room the voice was coming from, he saw it was a kitchen. What had scared him was the cloth and glass that was moving on it's own.

"I don't know, his highness was a bit rough with the boy yesterday," an unfamiliar voice said.

"We have to hope, maybe in time something will work out," another voice said, it sounded older even though it was more high pitched.

"Patton, you're too optimistic about everything. Just face it, we'll never break this-" the voice cut itself off and Virgil tensed up.

"Oh, hey kiddo!" the other voice said and the glass and cloth set itself down on the counter.

Virgil tried to say something but his voice was stuck in his throat. He felt his legs move himself backward but he ended up tripping on the carpet and falling down.

"Careful, it's okay," the voice tried to convince him, it sounded closer.

"A-are you... ghosts?" Virgil managed to squeak out.

"Ghosts? Oh no. We're just invisible."

"I mean, we might as well be," the other voice said. "No one can see us except for each other."

"Well we can still touch things, we can't go through walls."

"I-I don't..." Virgil tried to make sense of everything. A huge beast in a castle no one has ever heard about with invisible people?

"Can you breathe for me, kiddo? Just take a deep breath."

"How are you...?" Virgil desperately looked for any sign that showed where they were.

"That's a long story, and not a very happy one. But I'm sure you're hungry, so why don't we get you something to eat?"

Virgil gasped when he felt a hand grab his and he pulled back, crawling backwards.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you..." the voice sounded hurt.

"Don't worry Pat, he's just scared," the other voice said.

"How-how many of you are there?" Virgil asked.

"Well there's the two of us here, I'm Patton and the other one is Janus. There's only one other one and he's Prince Roman's brother, Remus."

"Prince Roman?"

"That would be the scary beast," Janus told him.

"That's a prince?!"

"Well, I suppose he would be a king now. His parents were killed by that stupid bi-"

"Janus," Patton hissed, making Virgil flinch. "Watch your language."

"The-the prince killed his...?" Virgil let the question hang in the air.

"Oh no! Of course not! He would never, he loved them dearly. They were killed by the woman who... well that doesn't matter right now. I'll get you something to eat, uh may I lead you to the dining room?"

Virgil hesitated before reaching his hand out. He felt a hand carefully grab his and Patton helped him up.

"Are you feeling okay? I hope we didn't scare you too much," Patton asked.

"I'm... I'll be fine. There's just so much happening at once, I must have gone insane."

"An insane person wouldn't think that," Janus said. "Or maybe they would?"

"Janus, why don't you go find Roman? He does need lunch," Patton suggested.

"Fine."

Virgil heard footsteps leave and felt nervous. He didn't want to have to see Roman again.

He felt Patton pull on his hand. "Come on, I'll lead you to the dining room."

"Do... do I have to eat with Roman?" Virgil's voice was quiet.

"I know he's scary, but I promise he won't hurt you. He's a real softy."

"Okay." Virgil didn't believe it, but he didn't want to offend the invisible guy.

Patton brought him into the dining hall and pulled out a chair for him. Virgil sat down and started to play with his sleeves.

"So, where'd you come from?" Patton asked, hoping to make Virgil feel more comfortable in the castle.

"I'm from the village next to the forest," Virgil mumbled, though Patton heard it.

"Oh, Conques?"

"Yeah, it's pretty small though. Apparently there was a plague a few years ago, but I wasn't there. My father is actually my god father, my mother passed away when I was young and I was sent to live with him."

"He seemed like a really nice guy."

"Yeah, he is. I wish I could see him again."

"I'm... sorry. I'm sure one day you will."

Virgil had a feeling he would, he knew Logan was probably doing everything he could to save him.

He heard the sound of claws clicking against the tile floor and guessed Roman was coming. He frowned and turned to stare at the table.

"Good afternoon, Virgil was it?" Roman asked as he sat down on the other side of the table.

Virgil didn't say anything or even look at him, he just nodded.

"I... apologize for being rude last night."

"Rude is an understatement," Virgil growled.

Roman frowned. "I had my reasons for doing what I did."

"Oh yeah? Do tell."

"Your father trespassed into my castle!"

"Well something attacked him, probably wolves since they're everywhere in this forest."

"You have no right to question me!"

"Roman you need to calm down," Patton tried to tell him, but Roman just growled at him.

Virgil was going to tell him to back off but a hand towel was thrown at Roman's face. Virgil snorted, trying to hide his smile.

"Calm down ya big furry brat," a new voice said.

Roman took off the towel that was hanging on his horn and growled at where the voice came from.

"Real mature, Remus."

"Says the one getting angry over nothing big."

"I hate you."

"Hate me all you like, you're not getting rid of me."

"You're lucky you're invisible, otherwise I would have smacked you by now."

"I doubt you would have any luck doing that even if I was visible, you still trip over your claws sometimes."

Virgil tried hard to hide his snickering, but the others noticed.

Roman stood up from the table. "I'm not feeling very hungry right now."

"I brought sandwiches," Janus said, walking into the room with a tray full of them.

"Thanks sweetie," Remus told him. "But Roman is being too much of a baby to eat."

Roman growled as he left the room, mumbling under his breath.

"I'll bring some food to him," Patton volunteered. "You three go ahead and eat though."

Virgil felt a little bit guilty for embarrassing Roman, but to be fair he is the beast's prisoner.

"Oh, by the way I'm Remus," he introduced himself to Virgil. "Welcome to this mess of a family."