Tides that Bind

Before

There once was a boy who loved being outside and imagining going on grand adventures. The only problem came when the palace servants would remind him about lessons he should be attending. See the boy was the heir to the throne. Therefore he was suppose to be learning the laws and regulations of the land. Instead the boy would run around and pretend he was an adventurer or a lion tamer or even a pirate.

The boy would see the servant boys and long to join their games but every time he would the boys moms would take him back to the library. The king grew tired of the boys restlessness and barely cast him a look when the family would gather. Yet the small boy never gave up hope that his father would smile at him the way he did his brother.

One day while the prince was playing in the woods a man came and grabbed him. The boy called and cried but no one came. He had snuck out and no one seemed to notice yet. The boy fought against the man as he was drug down the mountain side and across the beach, to where a ship waited. The boy was thrown onto the ship and never seen again.

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One stormy night the tide rolled in and with it came two small boys. One with hair white as snow and the other dark as night. They had been on a slave ship, that caught fire and just barely escaped. They dark haired boy had a burn across his chest that began to bubble while the blonde had cuts and possibly a broken leg.

They crawled up the beach, pulling each other along the way, and finally laid down in the dry sand. The dark haired boy laid on his back while the blonde kept on his stomach, scared to roll over and see the state he was in. "Lift up your head." The other boy said in a raspy voice. The blonde said nothing but complied. He felt the other boy move closer to him and place his arm under the boys head "Don't need you drowning in sand." The boy spoke again and leaned his head against the back of the other boys.

The next morning the boys were awoken by seagulls pecking at them. After several moments of flailing around to rid themselves of the birds, they were both groaning in pain. "While I do enjoy a good wake up call, this seems a bit extreme." The dark haired boy spoke. While the other continued to groan. The dark haired boy didn't attempt to move his arm from under the boy, only let out a chuckle next to the boys ear. "We should find somewhere to get food." The light haired boy said feeling confident enough to try and lift himself up on his elbows and looking down at his friend.

The dark haired boy only met his gaze and gave a lazy smirk. His clothes were basically rags and the blonde boy could make out the burns easily. Without thought he reached out a hand and lightly brushed his fingers over the bubbled flesh "Does that hurt?" He asked, their eyes remained locked together. "Yes but I don't want you to stop either." The dark haired boy spoke low.

"We need to hide your eyes, Prince." The dark haired boy said pulling away suddenly sitting up. "How do you propose we do that?" The blonde boy let his hand fall and looked down at the ground trying to hide his hurt feelings. "Keep your head down and I'll knick you a hat on the way." The other replied reaching over and messing up the boys wild waves of hair. Both boys laughed and struggled to make their way to the town ahead.

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Eight years later a family was having dinner. The family was extremely close and rarely fought although they didn't have much money, they did have love for one another. The father was a wood worker and the mother was a baker. A sister with long dark hair that fell in curls around her and a brother with a smile always on his face.

One thing the children didn't know was that their parents were in a rebellion against the King. The King had been over taxing the people and taking most of the goods. The leaders of this rebellion had came up with a plan to locate the lost Prince. They believed that if the Prince could be found, he would change the Kingdom for the better.

What the rebels didn't know was that the King was sick and it was his son running the show from behind. Once would spread about the rebellion the Kings men came and rounded up the leaders and their families. The small happy family having their dinner was the last to be wrangled. The boys father pushed him out the window and told him to run. The boy didn't run far, watching his family be taken away in chains.

"I will save you." The boy whispered into the night and left for the dock with only the night as cover and the small knife his father forced into his hand.