The Cursed Prince

10

TW: blood, self harm (kinda, it's not from any mental illnesses or anything it's just Lukas being a sneaky son of a witch)

Roman walked down the hall towards Virgil's room. He had been thinking lately that he should let Virgil go. It wasn't right to keep him here, he has a life of his own. He'll let him leave once his injuries heal.

He heard talking on the other side of Virgil's door and knocked.

"Come in!" a voice called and Roman entered.

Logan was next to Virgil on the bed, the bandages around Virgil's arm unwrapped.

"I was just checking his injuries," Logan explained. "I wanted to make sure they were properly treated, and I wanted to see how bad they were."

"I hope they've been healing well," Roman offered, playing with his paws.

"It could have been worse," Virgil said, shrugging it off. "If the ice hadn't broken then I might have been wolf food. And you pulled me out of the water before I drowned."

"All of that is still very concerning."

Virgil smirked at him. "It's nice to see that you care."

"I do, your safety is my responsibility while you're here."

"Don't you dare start talking like dad."

"It doesn't hurt to have people worry," Logan reminded him. "Though tomorrow I want you resting as much as possible. You're stressing out the injuries on your legs too much, especially your ankle, by walking around."

"I'll be fine."

"Virgil, I will keep you in bed all day if I have to. If you go anywhere tomorrow, someone is to be with you. Seriously, you're going to kill me."

"Not unless you get yourself killed first. You're just as bad as me."

"Falsehood, I get proper amounts of sleep."

"Fine, I'll be careful tomorrow."

"Thank you."

"I mean, it's not like Roman would let me walk around by myself hurt. Seriously, every ten seconds I'm standing he asks if I need to sit down to rest."

"Your legs-" Roman tried to defend.

"Will be fine!"

"Not if you keep walking around they won't be," Logan reminded. "Roman is right to make sure you're not putting too much pressure on them! I'm glad you've had proper care and treatment so far."

"This coming from the guy that was going to shoot Roman earlier."

"That's because I thought he was a threat, and reasonably so. Anyway it's getting late, and you need to be getting ready for bed soon." Logan started to wrap Virgil's arm back up.

"I can show you to your own room," Roman offered Logan. "The room across from this one is empty, if you'd like to stay close to your son."

"That doesn't sound too bad, thank you Roman."

"Oh, do you think I can get a book from the library?" Virgil asked.

"What book, I'll get it for you," Roman offered.

"The um, what was it called? Oh yeah, Castle of Glass."

"Oh yeah, the one with the annoying protagonist."

Virgil snorted. "Funny enough, he reminds me of you."

"Hey!"

"Hurry up ya big fuzz ball, or I'll get it myself."

"You stay in bed, is there anything else you need? Some water or tea?"

"Tea will be nice, if you have anything that's relaxing anyway."

"Alright, one book and one cup of tea coming up. And I'll show you the way to your room, Mr..."

"You can just call me Logan."

"Logan. I'll be back soon, Virgil."

~~~

Lukas dropped the knife he had brought after he finished carving wounds into his own arm. He needed proof, even fake proof, that there's a horrible beast. So what's better than claw marks? It wasn't deep enough to cause any lasting damage.

Now he needed a mob. He'll convince them to fight, slay the beast, and then take Virgil back.

"Help!" he ran into town from the woods. "The beast! It's real!"

Many people in the streets stop to listen to him.

"The one Logan spoke of?" a woman asked, stepping forward.

"Yes! It has taken Logan! I went with him to help rescue his son. Look what it did to my arm!" Lukas raised his bloodied arm to show the crowd forming.

There was gasping and whispered in fearful tones. Lukas did his best not to smile, this was exactly the reaction he wanted.

He put magic into his next words to persuade them. "The beast won't stop there! It has Logan and his son, but soon it'll go after us! It'll go after your children, your wives! It has an invisible army that does it's bidding, who knows how many work for it!"

"Impossible!" a man shouted.

"Horrible!" a woman cried.

"It'll eat us all! With it's horrible teeth and sharp claws! It's the size of two men with horns like a bull! We'll never be free of it's wrath! Unless we kill the beast!"

"But how?" a man asked.

"We storm it's castle and destroy anyone that gets in our way! I'll focus on slaying the beast! I'll lead this hunt! Now come with me! Grab your weapons, grab torches, we must protect this village and kill the beast!"

"Kill the beast! Kill the beast!" the crowd chanted, spreading throughout town. Word of the monstrous beast will spread quickly.

Lukas smiled. "Grab your weapons! I'll lead you there! We leave tonight!"