It Was Enchanting To Meet You. || DNF

74. Caught.

"I said no."

The words drifted around hopelessly in the air, the silence that followed it deafening. Wilbur felt his grasp tighten around his bow and he could feel Sapnap's shoulders stiffening against his own.

With narrowed eyes, the Head Hunter observed the duo before him. The way George seemed to be protecting Dream, who had George's sword clasped in his hand, ready to charge an attack at any given moment, seem all too unusual to Wilbur, and the more he thought about it, the more suspicious it became. But beyond that, everything that led up to this point conflicted the brunette, and with a clenched jaw, his eyes found Sapnap's, who was already looking at him expectantly.

"What should we do?" the ravenette quietly asked, his voice low enough for him and Wilbur alone to hear. And once again, the brit had no answer to the questions that kept seemingly popping out of nowhere. Instead of answering the boy's question, he decided to ask one of his to the other brunette. "Why are you protecting him, George?" Wilbur asked in a quiet voice filled with uncertainty and sincerity. The question, however, seemed to catch George by surprise, and he furrowed his eyebrows as though he was being accused.

"That's none of your business, Wilbur," George retorted, his teeth gritting in panic and suddenly, Wilbur thought that he was staring at a completely different version of his friend. The old George wouldn't have hesitated to tell him anything. The old George was kind and reasonable, but now, the George that stood before him in front of his very eyes seemed vicious and reckless, totally out of line.

"Actually," the Head Hunter began, taking a step forward. "It is my business." George scoffed at this. "Oh, yeah? How so?" he asked, venom dripping from his voice, and Wilbur would be lying if he said that it didn't hurt. "Because once the King's not around, you're rightfully under my control. And as your Head Hunter, I am kindly requesting that you step away from the guilty," the brit said, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"I won't do such a thing, Wil. I made a promise to him, and there's nothing that you can do about it," George bit back, feeling cornered by the choice of his friend's words. "Okay. Tell us what the promise is and why you're working with him and we'll help you," Wilbur said, taking another step forward as he desperately tried to understand the shorter.

"No," Dream finally spoke up, startling all three of them. His voice was deep and husky, carrying some sort of command which signaled that one must obey. "As George said, it's none of your business. So, please, I'd appreciate it if you stopped butting into our business," the blonde said, placing a hand on the smaller brit's shoulder. Wilbur opened his mouth to respond, but before he knew it, an arrow came whistling over his shoulder, firing into the thigh of the criminal.

Dream dropped to his knees, groaning in agony as the blade of the arrow dug into his flesh deep enough to draw blood. George shouted, getting down to Dream's height as concern and anger took over his features. Wilbur snapped his head in the direction of Sapnap who had shot the blonde boy. "What the fuck, Sapnap?! I had it under control! In a situation like this, you don't shoot unless I give a command!" said the brunette, his eyes darkening with distress. "Look, we don't have time for this shit, Wilbur! The recruits are gonna be here any second and I don't need you two having the tragic downfall of a reunion right now when the rest of our men are up there getting their asses kicked!"

Wilbur bit down on his tongue, wanting to reply with one of his lousy, sassy comebacks, but instead, he said nothing, knowing that Sapnap was right.

And if things couldn't get any worse, suddenly, two of Wilbur's men came rushing down the stairs, their armor covered completely in the blood that Wilbur prayed wasn't theirs. "Sir! They're here!" one of them said through raged breaths before his eyes landed on George. "Get the boy and go! We can hold them off for as long as you want. But you need to leave!" he said, pointing to George frantically. Wilbur nodded at this, sweat beading along his sharp hairline. "Come on, George. Don't make this any harder than it has to be," Wilbur encouraged, taking risky steps toward the brit.

"Fuck you, Wilbur!" George spat, his words like lemon in a wound, but Wilbur kept moving forward, and just when the shorter was an arm's length away, his hand was slapped away by a weak Dream who was still groaning in pain. "Don't touch him," the blonde barely managed to grit out, his teeth gritting against one another.

Irritated, the brunette pushed the sea green-eyed boy away, grabbing George by the collar rather aggressively. "Sapnap! Get one of the transportation cages and put this no good of a criminal in it," the Head Hunter commanded, dragging the shorter away while ignoring his protests and harsh words. "Let me the fuck go!" George exclaimed, his eyes brimming with tears as he watched Sapnap and the other two knights cage the one he loved. "Get over it, George," Wilbur muttered in a low voice, leading the boy away and to the bloodshed that was happening outside.

"It's over."

"Please, Wilbur," begged George, his voice shaking. "I made a promise," the brit continued, clawing at the taller's dirty dress suit. "Once we're back at the castle we can talk about negotiation. But right now, George Davidson, you are a threat to the Royale Community after unintentionally admitting your sealed partnership with Dream, a well-known killer, thief, and all of the above. Do I have to remind you what he's done to us? Why you were even sent out to capture him in the first place?" Wilbur ranted, and with each word that came out of his mouth, the more he felt himself becoming fired up. The more he felt his bottled-up anger coming to the surface.

George whimpered, allowing his head to droop forward as he barely caught himself; Wilbur tugged him along as though he were nothing. It hurt, everything hurt. He was just so tired, and listening to the clanking of chains from the room below them didn't make the situation any better.

The only thing running through the brunette's mind was what was gonna happen when they arrived back at the palace; the people he'd have to face and the destiny that was bounded. Most of all, he feared what would happen to Dream.

~

Not that long of a chapter but I really wanna get this story finished with! :)

(There's no rush, I'm just really excited to start my other books!!)