The Borrower and the Fairy Prince

Chapter 19: Roman Tortures Virgil With Tickles

"I'm fine, seriously," Roman told Virgil and Annabelle. They had returned home not too long ago and both the borrower and elder were escorting the prince to his room.

Upon their return, they handed the mushrooms over to the fairies in charge of the food. They hadn't run into the king or queen yet, and Annabelle was anxious to tell them about Roman's magic. The whole colony will be happy to hear that the crowned prince has found his magic.

"No you are not," Annabelle told him. "Trust me, after using so much magic for the first time, the second you lay down in bed you'll pass out."

"And I'd rather be with you to make sure you're okay when you wake up," Virgil added. He was currently letting Roman lean against him. "You healed my injuries, now it's my turn to take care of you."

"You don't need to take care of me, I wasn't the one hurt!" the prince argued.

"No, but I am fully healed and you're the one that can barely walk and is leaning against me."

"Roman just go lay down," Annabelle said, opening the door to his room.

"I got it from here," Virgil told her, giving her a smile as he led the prince inside.

"Thank you." She thought for a moment, debating whether she should say something else but decided against it. She closed the door and turned around, leaving to find the king and queen.

Before she could reach the throne room, however, she was stopped by another one of the elders, Magnis.

"Annabelle," he greeted.

"Magnis," she replied, not too delighted to talk to him considering they've hardly gotten along in the past.

"I heard you spent the day with the borrower."

"Indeed I did."

"What was he like? Is he as dangerous as we had thought?"

"No, he's quite loyal actually. To be more specific, he's loyal to Prince Roman. They seem to have a strong bond."

"Do you think he's planning something?"

"No, and thinking about it now it would be very foolish to have ever thought so. He's shown nothing but bravery and is more than willing to do anything to protect those he cares about. And more importantly, he makes the crowned prince happy."

"I still don't trust him, have you seen the scars on him! He had to have gotten them from somewhere."

"It's quite easy to get scars when there's so many predators, and he doesn't have any wings or magic to help him so it must be harder for him to survive on his own. He's no threat to us, Magnis, and it's actually a good thing that he's here. The prince will accept no one else as his guard."

"Listen to yourself, he's tricking you! He's no hero, and he's certainly no good. I wish that he had been killed by the poison."

"I would refrain from saying that if I were you. Currently we are nowhere in the investigation of who tried to poison the borrower, and saying such things would paint you as our main suspect. It is clear that someone had to be in a high position to have the chefs and servants work with them."

"Well it was most certainly not me! If one thing had gone wrong, someone else could have been poisoned."

"Hmm, you're right. You're too stupid to pull such a thing off correctly."

"Oh why you..."

"Now if you'll excuse me, I need to have a talk with the king and queen. I cannot continue to waste my time on someone like you."

~~~

Virgil smiled softly, watching over the sleeping prince. Roman looked peaceful, and part of Virgil wanted to lay down and rest with him, but he didn't. He has to watch over him, in case he needs something when he wakes up. Besides, the prince probably wouldn't appreciate it.

It was still nice sitting next to him. The silence was comforting, nice. Virgil didn't realize how nice it could be.

Except the silence was ruined when Remus kicked the door open, shouting, "ROMAN HOLY FUCK!"

Roman jumped up and grabbed the hissing Virgil from behind, wide awake and slightly confused now. "Wh-wha?" he slurred.

"What the heck?!" Virgil shouted at the louder prince, on edge now that the peace was ruined.

"Don't what the heck me! What the heck you!?" Remus told them. "Why didn't you tell me you found your magic?!"

"Maybe because he was drained!" Virgil answered for Roman, who was sitting up and rubbing his eyes now.

"'M fine," Roman mumbled with a slight yawn. "I'm awake now."

"I'm sure half the colony is now."

"You're a healer?! How did that happen?!" Remus asked.

"I don't know, I just... did it!" Roman answered.

"But we've tried all kinds of magic before when we were kids, even healing! You tried to heal my scraped knee! Why does your magic only work now?"

Roman rubbed the back of his neck, looking away. "I... I don't know." He looked up at his brother again before looking at Virgil, who was staring at him with slight concern. "All I know is that Virgil was hurt and I was really scared. I-I guess I just really wanted him to be okay?"

Virgil felt his face heat up. He looked away and squeezed the bed sheets in his fists, but he couldn't fight down his smile.

"Oh so you didn't want me to be okay when I scraped my knee?" Remus pouted.

"You were fine! You never cared about any scrapes or bruises you got! It wasn't even that bad!"

Remus flopped onto the bed with the back of his hand to his forehead, crushing Roman's legs. "My brother doesn't care about me!"

"No I don't!" Roman tried to push his brother off of his legs as Virgil started laughing at their antics.

"Oh you wound me so!"

"You're cutting the blood circulation off of my legs! Virgil, help me!"

"Hm, nah," Virgil replied, joining Remus and laying down on Roman's lap.

The prince gasped, feigning betrayal. "You royal jerk! You'll pay for this!"

"Oh? How so?"

"Like this!" Roman reached out and started tickling him, making Virgil scream with laughter.

Remus rolled away before Roman could get him too, so the crowned prince just continued to attack Virgil.

"N-no!" the borrower giggled, trying to cover his sides. "St-stop! Re-Remus!"

"Nope! Not helping!" Remus told him, already leaving. "Have fun!"