The Cursed Princess Club fanfic: The Secret of The Plaid Family

Ch. 20

Bellows and the clank of metal mugs echoed across the Plaid castle courtyard which hosted a sizable party of young men. Some were slugging down ale while others were wrestling in the dirt; the rowdier ones were doing both at the same time. At one of the shaded alcoves, Blaine watched their beastly activities; a disdainful frown plastered on his face. The eldest Plaid heir found these types of men irritating, uncouth, and crass idiots. He took a few deep breaths as he stuffed down his annoyance; he had to remember why he was doing this. This was all for Lance. After two months, their father's patience had finally worn away. Tired of his middle child "moping about", father approached Blaine about the issue and planned a get together with Lance's academy friends to lift his spirits. It was Blaine's duty to not only coax Lance out of his room but to bring him back to his duties as a Plaid Prince.

"If Lance continues to behave in such an uncooperative manner, then we'll have to take another.... special training trip." Said the King.

Blaine's eyes widen. "Wha- but Dad! That's not fair! I've been trying my best to get him out! Why should I have to-"

The man is silenced by the poisonous glare his father gives him.

"You both are a team. If one of you fails, then you both will reap the consequences."

It had taken a lot of technique but Blaine had succeeded in getting Lance to agree to attend this party. Now, all Blaine had to do was make sure he was having a good time. With one last breath, he entered the courtyard with a fresh charcuterie board full of meats and cheeses.

"Ok, I have another cheese an-"

No sooner as the words left his mouth, the men pounced. Dirt covered hands grabbed at the food with the wildness of children seeing candy. Blaine was trying his best to not scream as he witnessed these boys gobble the carefully made snacks like starving lions and guzzle down the mimosas he mixed. But he would deal with it because it got his brother out of his room. As soon as they saw Lance, his classmates pounced on him immediately. But as Blaine was going around, he couldn't see his brother. He approached a familiar classmate and tapped his shoulder.

"Hey, where did Lance go?"

"Oh, said he had to use the john. Left during the best part of my story too."

Blaine held in a sigh.

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Meanwhile in the palace, Lance made his way down the hall trying to breath out the tight grip in his chest. He knew that he promised Blaine he would try to get out. Try to get back into his duties. Blaine even threw him a party and invited all of his old friends as a warm up. He should be happy. He should be grateful that he had done this but the longer he stayed at the party, the more his insides twisted inside him. All his friends could talk about was how many "monsters" they had caught. Retelling either nail-biting encounters where fierce monsters tried to shred the flesh from their bodies. Some had stories of heroic victories where they killed their targets and showed off the trophies that they had sliced from their bodies.

Claws.

Hair.

Teeth.

One guy had a scaly claw he'd taken from a small creature that had been stealing from the butcher.

Lance swallowed hard as he felt his stomach twist painfully. He slowed his pace as his vision began to blur at the edges. He stopped and leaned against the wall as the nausea worsened, his chest stung, and his breathing quickened. Why was he feeling like this? He's used to seeing wounds and hearing about grotesque battle stories from the academy teachers. He used to love them.