Prince of Evermore | l.s.

Part 4

Louis woke up from the coldness that he felt. When he looked next to himself he didn't see the stableboy from yesterday, but their horses were both still tethered to that old tree.

Louis' eyes found him washing his face by the river. He got up from the cold ground, approaching Henry slowly.

"Good morning." Louis said before he splashed some of the cold water on his face as well.
"Good morning, prince." Henry said casually.
"You don't have to call me that, you know you don't. I am just Louis for you."
"Alright, Louis." Henry glanced at the blue eyed boy next to him before he got up.
"We better get going."
"Yes, you are right." they prepared the horses, getting into the saddles.

"What is our plan?" Louis asked.
"We don't have a plan, Louis." and with that Henry spurred his horse to run.

Louis bit away a smile, following Henry tight.

Nova was soon right next to that robust stallion and the boys both stole a glance at each other at the exact same time.

Louis smiled, spurring Nova to run the fastest  she could.

When they eased the pace again they kept riding slowly side by side in complete silence.
"Why didn't you stay at the ball? No prince was good enough for someone like you?" Henry asked.
"No, I just wasn't compatible with any of them. I don't want to live with someone just because I have to. I would rather stay alone forever than marry one of them."
"They were that bad?"
"One of them hadn't even arrived. My father was pretty angry about that."
"Maybe he got sick." Louis shrugged in response, rather tilting his head to the side to steal a look at the rising sun.

"You know." Henry cleared his throat.
"You did a good thing."
"If I come back they will murder me, all of them." Louis stated sadly.
"Then don't come back."

They kept riding with little pauses for the horses almost the whole day until they discovered a little lagoon hidden beneath a tree.

"Let's stay here for tonight." Louis removed himself from Nova's back.

"It's a lovely place." Henry added, leading both of their horses to the tree where he could tether them.

"The water is warm." Louis announced but even then neither of them began to undress.

After some more time Louis turned to the side, undressing himself from all those layers of clothing. One of them had to be first.

When he was naked he quickly jumped into the lagoon, hoping Henry hadn't got the chance to see him.

As Louis realized the green eyed boy did the same, joining him in the water.

The lagoon wasn't any big so they were pretty close to one another.

They tried to relax in the warm water that was currently surrounding them.
"I sometimes wonder how the life would be if I wasn't born a prince."
"How is it?" Louis asked Henry curiously.

"It's lot of work for the royalty, lot of stress that they won't like something. But as I told you I am trying to run away from that, I want to live on my own now."

Louis nodded.
"I understand you Henry."
"And how is it? Being the prince of Evermore?"
"It's wonderful and horrible at the same time. I am glad I have my own horse, I am glad for books and food, but then there is the pressure and I despise that."

"The pressure on me to be like everybody else, to get married, have a family."

"I understand how you feel." Henry nodded to his words.

"I bet you do." Louis smiled up at him. It was nice to talk to someone who knew how Louis felt.

Suddenly Henry's horse began to roar loudly.

"Damon!" Henry got swiftly out of the water and Louis rather looked away from him since the boy was naked.
"Damon!" the boy tried to calm down the horse only by his voice. When it didn't work he brought an apple from the pocket of his clothes that were lying on the ground, showing it to the black demon.

"Apple, Damon, I have your favourite apple." the horse took it from him, eating it quickly.

Those words left Louis confused. He thought about them for the rest of the day.

They were now lying next to the fire that they once again made and Louis was still thinking about what Henry had said.

"Henry?"
"Hmm?" he hummed in response.
"How did you know apples are his favourite? And how do you know his name?" it wasn't his horse so how could he know?
"I- since I am a stableboy I took care of the horses today and I overheard it from his owner."
Louis narrowed his eyes at him but he didn't utter a single word about it, letting it be.

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A/N
Hello my lovely people.
I hope you are doing great. Take care and stay safe!

I love you lots!<3