His Majesty (Slide Away)

41.

John and Paul spent the night at Rotherham castle, and would spend the following two nights there too. The next day would be a day of mourning, and the day after that would be too. The third day would be the ex-kings funeral, and John and Paul would travel home later that evening.

John, Paul and Mike were all playing a game of tennis on the courts in the gardens of Rotherham Castle. Well, John and Mike were playing tennis together, Paul was sat at the side, playing with Mike's pet dog. He was a corgi, and his name was Dash.

The sun was shining, and Paul could feel himself getting too warm. He was sweating, and soon, the state he was in was becoming uncomfortableness. It hadn't been too long since Paul's last heat, and warm weather and heat recoveries did not go wel together. Thankfully, both John and Mike were so incredibly enticed in the game that Paul didn't think they would notice if he snuck back inside to get some cool air. He needed some alone time.

"Dash." He signalled for the dog to follow him, and Dash did so. "Good boy."

There was a long path to be walked from the tennis court to the castle, it took around five minutes to walk, and so as Paul neared closer to the castle, he grew more relieved. That was until more rooms of the castle became visible.

It was not long until he could see his old room in the corner of his vision.

Paul's heart stopped as he noticed it, and he could feel his feet slow down. When he came to a stop, he slowly directed his gaze over to the windows of his room. He hadn't seen it from the outside in years.

Dash barked all of a sudden, snapping Paul out of his trance.

He was here for a few days, there was no way he could have lasted all that time without atleast acknowledging that bedroom. And so without a second thought, and a sudden rush of pure confidence, a determined Paul sped into the castle and rushed towards the room.

He climbed the spiral stairs, before being faced with the door. He hated that door. But nevertheless, he flipped a key and pushed it open.

The smell was familiar, it was his scent, lavender, however topped with the fresh smell of dust. The room had been abandoned, left to collect such dust and to be filled with cobwebs. It was empty, apart form his bed. Where his piano once stood on the wooden floorboards, there was nothing. And where his mini desk and chair were, there was nothing. The curtains had been taken down, and the old fireplace looted for any wood.

As he neared closer to the fireplace, he could still see carvings he had left over the years. The word 'Paul', the word 'help', the word 'torture'. One word got him hard though. It was the word 'lonely', along with the date '18/6/58'. It had been put there on his 16th birthday that Michael had been away for. He had spent it alone, and he could remember it so clearly.

Paul had to look away, he could feel his eyes watering just from the pain of remembering it. The Omega blinked away the tears, quickly turning around and rushing to the window instead to see if he could see John. He needed a quick reminder of his modern life, immediately. To know that he was free now.

But as Paul peeked through the diamond style leaded glass, he noticed that John was not visible. The tennis courts could not be seen from his old room, and he cursed himself for not remembering that.

Dash barked behind him, and Paul had forgotten that the dog had followed him. He continued to bark, sensing something was wrong with the Omega infront of him.

"Oh, Dash..." Paul sighed, before bending down to dash' level. The dog whimpered, pressing his paws against Paul's covered knees. He petted the small corgi. "There are two hundred rooms in this entire castle and I decided to come here... My fault really."