The Bars Between (MxM)

15

Due to Ryion being moved to a cell actually in the castle, Adren could still visit him. As he walked up to the door of the prison, he looked over at one of the guards standing at the door. He looked back and opened the door, letting his prince in. There were several more guards inside, word would surely get back to his father, but Adren couldn't care. He had bigger problems to deal with.

He walked along the lines of cells, most of them empty, until he saw a familiar face resting behind one of them.

He stood in front of the cage, just looking in. Ryion hadn't noticed him yet. He was staring at the wall adjacent to the one Adren was at, his eyes unfocused. Adren took a minute to just admire him. He was prettier than he thought, and the new light made him look like a whole other person. It was so strange, but didn't make the prince love him any less.

"Leave." He commanded shortly, there were too many guards. Ryion's head snapped to him.

The guard standing closest to him swallowed loudly and shuffled a step closer. "Sorry, my prince, but we have orders to keep a constant watch on him."

Adren's eyes turned to him, clearly annoyed. "Well those orders have changed. Go wait four cells down until I leave." He wanted to tell them to go outside the room, but he knew they'd never agree to that, they needed to keep an eye on him.

The guards looked between themselves for a moment before the one who had spoken nodded and they all awkwardly walked away. As soon as they were far enough away, Adren lowered himself to his knees in front of the bars while Ryion quickly shuffled over. Adren turned teary eyes to him. "Why didn't you tell me that you were sentenced to die?" He nearly whispered.

"I thought you knew." Ryion replied, his voice low too, neither wanting the guards to overhear their conversation. "And I guess I didn't want to think about it. Well, there isn't much putting off left is there?" He tried to joke but failed miserably.

"I'm going to get you out of here." Adren resolved, his eyes still wetter than normal but drying fast.

"No, you'll get in trouble. Plus, there's nothing waiting for me out there, it might be better if I am just... gone."

Adren went to reach out, but stopped himself when he remembered they weren't alone this time. "You have me." He stated firmly, not allowing any space for argument. "Now, listen carefully because this is what's going to happen. I'm going to take care of the guards sometime tonight and I'll unlock the cell. We'll have to move quickly, so eat a light meal. I'm going to need to deal with the guards right after your out to try and ease suspicion, but you're going to run East along these cells with a key I'm going to give you and go out the door at the end. There's a house at the edge of town that's front door is painted pink that's basically a straight shot from here. Once you get there, you'll be safe. I'm probably going to be a little bit later, but if I get held up you can last days in there and be fine. Just sit tight and wait for me, got it?"

Ryion looked like he wanted to say more, but he pressed his lips together and nodded.

Thankfully, the first part of Adren's plan went by without a hitch. He was able to leave the prison without any troubles and get all of the guards out due to a loose "criminal" in the area. He was then able to snatch the keys and let Ryion out without much trouble, although Ryion looked more upset than Adren had seen him before. The prince had kept asking him what was wrong, but Ryion didn't give any actual answer. Eventually Adren had to let it go. What came next was more tricky, but Adren still got it done. He managed to keep the guards running around for more than enough time for Ryion to get out without drawing much suspicion to himself.

Now he found himself in the house with the pink door, the only one with that in the whole town, waiting. Ryion should've been back by now, should've arrived before him. Adren spent the entire time pacing, nervously looking out the windows. There's no way he could've gotten caught, right? He itched to go check, but the thought that Ryion might arrive at the house without him kept him rooted to the spot.

It wasn't until morning came that Adren knew he had to give up waiting. He rushed back to the castle, heading straight for the throne room. He burst inside, his father's head snapping up from whatever boring speech a nobleman was giving, like he did every morning, and waved the speaker off, a look of fury on his face. Adren didn't care about that though. He had something bigger to worry about.

He didn't even get the chance to get a word in before his father started to yell. "Adren! What have you done! Now I don't know what happened between you and that Ryion, but I know it was you who helped him escape! We have a killer out there running loose in the kingdom and you're fully to blame! You should be-"

Adren stopped listening, what was said fully sinking in.

Ryion wasn't caught, at least not by one of his father's men.

Was it possible that he got hurt? Or some random person killed him? Or he got lost?

Adren knew none of these possibilities were true.

It hurt, but deep in his heart he knew what happened.

He left.

He never loved him, just used him to get what he wanted.

He betrayed him.