Spindle Wood (COMPLETED)

Chapter 53

"A boy looking right back at him, into the castle." If Pat sat forward anymore, he'd probably fall off his chair.

"What happened?!" He prompted.

"I'm getting there, I'm getting there!" Remus tugged on his sleeve again. "The prince and the boy started to talk to each other through this small crack in the wall. The boy was the prince's only connection to the outside world and the only person he'd ever known outside of his family aside from the servant. Eventually, the prince started to fall in love."

Pat gasped and grinned. Remus almost smiled. There was something about stories that just let Pat revert back to almost being a child. He didn't have to pretend to be moody or whatever human teenagers were usually.

"And then what?!"

Remus' smile faded slightly. "Unfortunately, this story doesn't have the happiest ending." Pat's grin faded.

"What?" He asked, his voice so small and quiet. "Why?"

Remus shrugged. "I don't know, it's just how I was told it." He said. "Do you want to keep listening?"

Pat thought about it seriously before nodding. "I want to know what happens, even if I won't like it."

"Alright. Well, the prince fell in love. And when he told the boy, the boy said he felt the same." Remus took a small breath. "But then the boy stopped coming to their meetings. The prince would call his name through the crack and get no reply. Every day, he went to the little hole in the wall and called and called the boy's name. Every day for about a month and he never got a reply."

"What had happened?"

Remus shrugged again. "The boy had left him. No one really knows why. But, one night, the palace guards caught the prince trying to escape. He'd made a rope out of his bedsheets and was trying to climb over the wall with it. They had to take him back inside before he really hurt himself." Remus shook his head. "He was never really himself after that. The first few weeks, he wasn't able to leave his room for fear that he'd escape."

"Why couldn't they just let the prince out?" Pat asked. "It's stupid to keep him behind a wall. How's he going to help his kingdom when he grows up if he doesn't even know what it looks like?"

"It was just the law." Remus said. "Royalty wasn't allowed outside of the castle until they came of ruling age."

Pat wrinkled his nose. "That's a stupid law."

"Agreed." Remus sighed. "But, the prince wasn't allowed out. Finally, he seemed to calm down. Took less walks in the garden, spent more time in his studies and the ballroom, that sort of thing.
But, one day, he was taking a walk in the garden when he heard a voice call his name. A voice from the other side of the wall."

"The boy!" Pat cried, his face lighting up. The light faded. "You said this story didn't have a happy ending?"

"We're getting there. I can change it quickly if you want a happy ending, there's still time."

Pat shook his head. "I wanna know what really happened."

"Okay." Remus tugged on his sleeve again. "The boy said he'd been detained at home, that's why he couldn't get to the prince. And he'd been so worried when he couldn't find him. And that he loved him too. And then the prince was himself again. He was so happy, everyone in the castle was almost suspicious. But he gave such good alibis and lied so well that they didn't suspect anything."

"And then?"

"And then..." Remus took a breath. "And then the boy just disappeared again. He promised the prince they'd run away together, start a kingdom of their own where they'd rule and the prince would be allowed out of the castle. They'd leave the next night. But when the prince got to the wall, there was nothing. No rope, no lantern light, no boy. He'd left. Again."

Pat's eyes widened. "That's it?!" He yelled.

"'Fraid so." Remus said. "Sorry, Pat, I told you it wasn't a happy ending."

"But that's so mean!" Pat said. "I mean, why promise him things if you're not gonna go through with it?!"

"Because some people are mean like that, I guess." Remus shrugged. "They never found the boy to question him and the prince still has the scar along his heart, even now that he's king."

No, Brain, we can't write a flashback next chapter, we need to write Logicality!
STOP GETTING SO INVESTED IN THE SIDE PLOT!!
AND NO, WE CAN'T WRITE THIS STORY AS A FULL THING!!!
Bye,
Blaize