On the Run, Your Highness

Solo Venturing

Taking another peek at Louis' worn out figure still laying on the bed, I tiptoe out of the room, making sure to close the door behind me. I grab a black beanie and a pair of sunglasses off the kitchen island before stepping out of the apartment.

With the money I stole from Louis' room, I call over a taxi and order it to take me to the airport. 

My hands shake as I sit in my seat on the airplane. I've been on many airplanes before, mostly all private ones that my family owns. But I have never sat with the ordinary common people. It's strange. We're so close together, and someone is always coughing!

My leg bounces as I think through my plan.
Get to Eroda.
Talk to King Mitch.

It's a good plan.

Hesitantly, I take a step onto Eroda soil. It's been too long. I've longed for the day when I was able to be back in my land, with my people.
And finally, I'm here.

With my head down, I make my way toward the palace. I walk through the streets of my village, the path that I've taken so many times. But now it's different. I can still see my people walking around the streets and shops, but there are less than them now. It seems like a lot of people decide to stay in their own homes nowadays. And the reason for it: soldiers march around the kingdom, armed with guns.

I glance around the quiet streets, wondering how one man could want this for a whole kingdom. How cruel does King Mitch have to be in order to capture and torture a whole kingdom of innocent people?

I make it to Town Square, if that's even what you can call it. It's more like Kingdom Square, but whatever. There are so many soldiers around; some are chatting, some are staring off stoically, some are harassing townspeople.

I hate it.
I hate what he has done.
I need to bring an end to this.

Closing my fists tightly and breathing out deeply, I take a step toward a group of soldiers. I'm going to reveal myself to them and get them to take me to King Mitch.

Reaching up to take off my glasses, a sudden weight crashes into me. My fingers graze the side of my glasses, knocking them off my head. Hands grip my hips, spinning me around so my back is to the soldiers.

My eyes trail upward to land on the bright blue eyes I ran from this morning. 

Louis glares down at me. But it's not just anger that his eyes hold, but fear. Panic and concern are written all over his face as he peers down at me.

"What were you thinking?" He hisses out, hands gripping my biceps tightly.

"How did you find me?" I ask in a whisper.

"I followed you, dumb ass!" Louis' voice raises slightly but he quickly brings it back down. "I followed you all the way here, the one place you were ordered to not return to!"

"I need to save my kingdom, Louis! My people need me! I'm so close, you can't stop me!"

"You're close to saving the day?" Louis scoffs, "What do you think those soldiers are going to do when you come up to them and reveal yourself? Are they going to bow down and bring you to the king for a nice chat over tea?" Louis yanks me closer, "No! They'll try to kill you the second they find out it's you!"

I gulp, maybe there was a slight hole in my plan. 

"I'm sorry, Lou. But my people need me!" I whine sadly. Louis pulls at the sides of my beanie, trying to cover my face some more, taking a quick glance around the area. 

"I know, Haz. But they can wait six more days. We'll be back, and you'll be able to save them then." Louis smiles, enthusiastically for a moment. But then his eyes trail from my face, he peers past me, eyes going wide and his smile fading. "We have to go."

"What? Why?" Out of instinct, I turn around to follow his gaze. Immediately, I make eye contact with a soldier standing beside another. The man's eyes widen before he lifts his gun. "Shit..."

Louis jerks me to the side as soon as the first bullet left the gun. The soldier shouts, "He's here!" Louis pulls me so hard as he takes off running, me dragging behind.

Multiple other soldiers turn our way, quickly chasing or shooting. Louis drags me down the street, running faster than I thought a person could. He yanks me around corners and shoves me around to avoid getting shot.

Civilians turn and watch as we run by while the soldiers chase. I glance over my shoulder for only a moment but when I turn back around, my beanie flies off my head from the force of the wind hitting my face while running. When my curls spring to life and my face is shown without the dark cover of my hat, I hear a collective gasp from every civilian in the area.

"Oh my god!"
"Prince Harry?"
"The prince is back!"
"They're gonna kill him!"

The civilians panic as they see their prince and last hope for the country getting chased by the men with weapons. They're put into action when one boy, a little younger than me, kicks a large trash can onto the ground in front of some soldiers. The soldiers trip and hit the ground, stopping them from catching up to me and Louis.

Together, as a kingdom, the loyal people of Eroda start rebelling against the soldiers. They throw stuff in their path as big as bicycles. They knock over fruit stands and throw backpacks. 

Louis doesn't stop to look at them, he just continues pulling me toward the train station. A stopping train catches my eye. It's so close but yet so far. It's stopping at the station ahead.

My legs take me as fast as I can toward the station. Louis is still ahead of me, his hand holding mine in a death grip. 

As we jump onto the tile of the station platform with soldiers close behind, the train light flashes to indicate that it's about to leave. Louis rushes toward the train, my hand becoming sweaty in his. 

With all the passing people, my shoulders get bumped and our pace slows down. 

"Lou!" I wheeze, pleadingly. "Lou, slow down."

My voice gets drowned out by the sound of the crowd around us. One final shove to my side sends my hand out of Louis'. 

I slam onto the ground, my face smacking onto the tile. I grunt at the force of my chin hitting the hard ground. I look up to see Louis turn around in the crowd. His eyes eventually find mine.

Louis hurries back toward me, ripping me off the floor and immediately running back toward the train.

"Hey! Stop!" The soldiers yell, getting closer now that we had to stop.

The train doors ding and start closing.

Louis' grip tightens on my forearm as he's only one step away from getting inside the train. He uses all of his upper body strength to yank me in front of him. 

Before I know it, my back slams against the interior train wall. Louis lands against me, his body ramming against mine with force. Louis completely covers my body with his as a gunshot echoes through the train.

I glance past Louis' shoulder to see the train doors have closed, no soldiers inside. I breathe out, my lungs burning and my legs about to give out. Louis glances at the soldiers before the train takes off, officially leaving Eroda behind.

"Lou?" I start before I see the reflection in window. I gasp against his ear. "Louis, you're bleeding!"

He glances down at his side, noticing the red liquid and hole in his hoodie. He places his hand on it and mutters, "It's fine. Just a graze." He steps away from me, glancing at the shocked civilians on the train. He only looks for a second before he takes a step toward some empty seats. 

I watch Louis collapse onto one, his hand still gripping his side. Slowly, I go over and sit next to him. Hesitantly, I place my arm around his shoulders, bringing his head to lay on my chest.