At Your Service- A Royalty Solangelo AU

Chapter 27

TW: The violent dreams return (Avoid the italic section if you don't feel comfortable)

The wind whipped through his hair as he took in the field around him. He was back again. 

Luke lay across from him, crumpled up on his side with body curled around the wound in his torso. The crimson tongues lapped their way across the golden white uniform, pooling onto the green grass and killing it like acid. 

"Will, go," Luke croaked at him. Even from the distance, he could make out the spear tip lodged below his ribs, a deadly strike. 

"No," He yelled back, flinching at the hitch in his voice. "I can't leave you."

He tried to move to Luke, but his legs were immobilized. He was rooted to the spot, forced to watch the colour drain from Lukes crumpled figure as the blood continued to seep out. "Luke? LUKE?" 

With another strong breeze, Will blinked only to open his eyes to see the man now standing in front of him. The gold eyes were the first thing to meet Will's, start, cutting, dangerous eyes which roamed his face with a sneer. 

"Luke?"

"Oh Will, why didn't you help me?" The man who was supposed to be Luke taunted him in a cold voice. "You could've ruled over Aruma when it fell, but now? Now, the crown is mine. And you can't take it from me."

He knew what was to come before it happened. The general lunged at him with the glint of silver in his hands, the unmistakable sound of blade lodging in flesh meeting his ears. 

He peeled his eyes open reluctantly, seeing the body that acted as his shield lurching over the object that protruded from his stomach. 

"Don't pull it out," He wanted to yell, but it was too late. The metal object clattered into the grass, and soon after it a waterfall of blood poured out from the man's stomach. It stained the grass around him as he fell to the ground, startling the ravens into a cacophony of caws as they took to the air. 

Castellan took the blade once more from the ground, tossing it in his hands effortlessly. Debating. 

Then, with startling accuracy, the general hurled the blade at the body, nestling it into the skin of the mans stomach. The faceless figure struggled against the weapon as Luke drove the blade further in, pinning him to the ground so he could not move. 

Still rooted to the spot, he could only watch helplessly as the man turned his head slightly. His hood fell back to reveal feathers of raven coloured hair across porcelain skin as the last words of the man echoed  back to him. 

"A life for a life."  

Will woke with a start, breathing rapidly. He felt something twitch beside him. Not something, someone. There was a hand on his shoulder now, guiding him to lay back against a solid warm object, there was a hand in his hair gently massaging his head. There was a voice speaking to him softly, promising it was going to be okay in between quiet hushes. There was someone lulling him back to sleep. 

When he woke up again, he found his body intertwined with another. Fingers were combing lightly through his hair, almost absentmindedly, and he could feel the gentle rise and fall of a chest against his back. He tilted his head up, eyes fluttering open to see the person he was laying on. 

A set of brown eyes looked back down at his, and the Prince's face broke out into a soft smile. 

"Hey," he said quietly. "You're up." 

Will made a groaning noise as he stretched. "Yeah, I guess I am. Don't take this the wrong way, but how did I end up here?" 

The Prince chuckled slightly. "Asking me is the wrong choice. All I know is that I had way too much to drink last night, which is why the only thing my mind can focus on is my pounding headache." 

Drink. That is what reminded Will of the reason he now shared a bed with the Prince. He had hauled him back to the room after he found the man absolutely hammered, and the Prince- being in his state of grief and drunkeness- had asked him not to leave him alone. But that still failed to explain why he was now laying in between the man's legs, cuddling. 

"If you are wondering how you got into this exact postion, I can tell you that. You woke up screaming from a nightmare, and the only thing that calmed you down was me holding you still. I hope you don't mind that," He could hear the slight amusement in the Prince's voice.  

"No- uh, I don't. Thank you," When the prince quirked an eyebrow he clarified. "Thank you for calming me down."

The man smiled back sadly to him, and finally removed his hands from his hair. Will sat up and turned around, still nestled in between the legs of the Prince. "I feel bad though, I should be the one comforting you." 

A quick grimace broke out across his face, and Will immediately wanted to retract his statement. "It's not your job, I assure you of that. I've lost before, so it is nothing new to me."

Will looked at the Prince who was staring anywhere in the room but him. His eyes danced across the surfaces of the room, not once coming to rest on Will. 

"But you've never lost like this. Hazel- she really loved you."

"All of them loved me." The prince said back hollowly. 

"True, but she was the last one. She was there with you through all that pain, she knows what you went through."

Something shifted in the Prince's expression as his voice turned cold. "You think I don't know that, William? You think I don't know that she was the last family member I had left?"

"No, that's not what I was-" 

"Of course it wasn't," He laughed bitterly. "Of course you weren't trying to remind me that even though I have everything in the world, you still have the one thing I truly want." 

"No, your highness, I swear I was just trying to-"

"Well stop," He snapped, and Will flinched back visibly from the tone in his voice. "Whatever you're trying to do stop."

"Hey, I'm sorry. I'm really trying to help, just let me know what I can do-" 

"Just get out, Will."

The words stung more than they needed to. "I-I'm sorry?"

He still wouldn't look at Will, tears welling in his eyes. "Leave me alone." 

"Please, Nico, I can't leave you in a state like this. Just let me help you, I'll sit in silence, I'll do whatever you need me to do to make sure you're okay." 

"No. There is nothing you can do to make me feel okay. I just lost the one person I had left to love, so excuse me if I don't feel incredible for a couple of days. Just go." 

"You're highness, I cannot leave you alone, especially not after last night." 

The prince cut him a glare, finally looking back at him. "Fuck you Will. Get out before I make a bad decision." 

"You already have so many times, I'm here to make sure you don't," He searched his eyes pleadingly. "Do you know how hard it was to see you like that last night? Nico I was so scared for you." 

The tears were beginning to fall down the Prince's face, but Will could tell he was doing his best to ignore them. "That's too bad that you were scared, Will. I don't care what you were feeling, I had just lost my sister. I'm so sorry that my coping mechanisms when my sister dies don't match the healthy standards you want to see. Now don't make me repeat myself. Get. Out." 

Will swallowed, tears of his own beginning to line his eyes. He slipped from the bed and out of the doors into the hallway. 

And when his back slid down the wall outside the doors, his soul was ripped into pieces as he heard the heartbreaking sobs from inside the room.