a Lout and a Prince

Part 8

He really had hunted down every lead.

Even after they insisted that he return to the palace and he'd already earned back his perception in the eyes of society as the perfect crown prince, he snuck back out to search some more.

He'd searched and searched and while following a lead that felt flimsier than most, he found Cale's slumped form.

It ought to have been a victorious thing. The first priority was to bring Cale to safety and get a healer and then he'd send back the full force of the royal guard to deal with the miscreants. If he hadn't been searching alone then he could have done more but even Tasha had advised him to return home and stay home.

He just couldn't.

That was precisely how he wound up with an armful of cheerfully napping Cale, a few bite marks, and a chaotic mind.

'First. I need to bring him to safety.' Alberu used the urgency of the matter as a way to force his feet forward.

He just needed to not think about any of what Cale had said. That was the key to getting out of here and solving this problem.

Just not a single word.

It occurred to Alberu late in the game that, as he was in disguise, bringing Cale straight back to the Henituse villa or even to the palace wasn't really an option. Even if he brought him to the guards, that would be suspicious. He needed to think clearly and solve this problem calmly.

He hadn't been calm since first seeing Cale causing chaos, had he?

The ever present pounding in his chest that felt so similar to anxiety but oddly made him long for more.

'He likes...'

Stop. Don't think about it.

Alberu swallowed thickly, heading towards the area where he knew the guard would be canvassing. When they were close enough, he placed Cale down as though he'd collapsed after a mad dash for freedom.

Now he just needed to remove himself from the scene.

Alberu lingered.

It felt wrong, leaving Cale collapsed so pathetically on the ground. And for what? Well, there were a lot of very good reasons from maintaining his secrets to maximizing the chances of the guard chasing after the real kidnappers as soon as possible.

It still felt wrong though. It made him feel like he was making the wrong choice all over again.

What choice did he have?

He waited until it was at the limit of time allowable, pulling back towards the treeline before the first guard spotted him and gritting his teeth as they clumsily went about picking Cale up and checking him for injuries.

They were all trusted men, he didn't leave him with strangers this time.

Yet he still hated it. Hated how cold it felt without Cale in his arms. Hated how his thoughts felt like they were teetering at the edge of a cliff.

He really needed a release of some sort.

...what a coincidence. In the woods behind him, there were a plethora of scumbags responsible for putting Cale in this state.

Alberu wasn't really the sort of man who normally embraced catharsis as a means for calming down but these were special circumstances and he just had a lot to give at the moment.

If the guard eventually found the kidnappers roughed up then so be it. Besides, Cale had already done quite a bit of damage to them in his escape. What were a few more injuries? A few more unconscious bastards?

He just needed to calm down.

–

He hadn't calmed down.

Alberu sat at his desk listening to his aunt berate him, respectfully, for his reckless behavior as she worried over his well being.

Cale had been returned home safely but still hadn't awoken. Ironically, Alberu found that he couldn't sleep.

Or focus on his paperwork for that matter.

There was a limit to how long he could avoid thinking about it.

"...are you okay?" Tasha's lecture winded down as she worried about her spacy and tense nephew, feeling his forehead for a fever and frowning. "You've been odd since your return."

Should he tell her? Burst out with all the emotions just exploding inside of him?

The trouble was he wasn't really sure what was exploding inside of him.

Why did he care to begin with? So what if Cale Henituse had some faint romantic interest in him. There were surely plenty of people who did. Alberu wasn't being arrogant in saying he was an attractive individual and he specifically geared his outward persona to be likable.

It would be stranger if there weren't a few hopefuls who held onto unfortunate feelings that would never be returned.

After all, Alberu had no intention of marrying. Much less falling in love. He was in a committed relationship with his responsibilities to his kingdom and Alberu was no cheater.

Romantic entanglements were just too risky. No one was liable to find out about the true nature of his heritage at a distance or in a brief political embrace. But romance was... messy. People had a tendency to find things out about their partners.

He wondered how his mother managed it. Alberu certainly had no intentions to even try. He had other priorities.

"I'm fine." He responded after such a long pause that anyone with a brain would understand that it was a lie. "Cale Henituse just said some strange things while he was delirious and they were weighing on my thoughts."

"...like?" Tasha pressed, her unerring instinct as his aunt letting her know that there was certainly more to it.

"I should bite him."

Alberu blushed a bit, pushing away the thought and the strange sensations that being actually bitten brought about.

"Nothing important!" He said a little too quickly this time. "I'd like to be left alone for a while, if that's alright."

He normally told his aunt everything. It weighed on his conscience to keep it from her but he really didn't know what to think yet.

No, he knew what to think. He was supposed to dismiss it. So what if Cale Henituse held some feelings? They were none of his business. Being bitten was just a delirious man acting out on impulse.

Tasha watched the unique shade of red that her precious nephew had been able to achieve through memories alone and tapped her chin thoughtfully.

She wondered when Alberu would finally reach the limit of his 'no romance' rule. She felt a bit bad for him but it was inevitable that someone would catch his fancy. Well, she amended the thought, there were actually cases of those who had no interest in romance at all so it wasn't necessarily inevitable.

But she'd always gotten the feeling from her nephew that he was merely suppressing those feelings, not that he didn't feel them at all.

She patted his shoulder compassionately as she went to obey his request. "I'm always here if you'd like to talk."

She was certain he'd reach his limit on how much he could contain it too. He'd need to talk to someone eventually and it was best if she could offer her ear.

Alberu nodded faintly, trying to hide his fluster by working on some paperwork. She felt a bit guilty that he'd definitely need to re-do the work later, judging from what she witnessed before she left the room.

Now what had that Henituse boy done to leave her precious nephew so distraught?

Alberu, lost in the cycle of remembering every single brief interaction he'd ever had with Cale Henituse with vivid clarity, slumped at his desk and held his head in his hands.

"This is driving me crazy."