The King's Pet

Chapter 23

. ..𓂃 ྐ❤︎ 𝒅𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 'ཀ'

"We'll have to tell him soon,” one guard said, anxiously. “We can’t hide it forever.”

“I don’t know, Ral. What if—what if he reacts badly?” The other guard replied. “Lucas isn’t… what he was anymore. If the king finds out—”

“You think we can just leave it? He’ll want to know, whether we tell him now or later. And trust me, if we delay, it’ll be worse.”

They both turned their attention towards the door. Inside, they could hear nothing but silence. No sounds of Bruce shouting, no smashing of furniture. That meant he hadn’t lost his temper just as yet. They still had time to explain before Bruce's patience ran out.

"What if this is the last straw for him? He won’t… he won't forgive us for this. Not for turning Lucas into a child." Evin's voice quivered, as though he could already feel the sword at his neck.

Ral didn't look at him, his gaze remained fixed on the door. There was no telling how this news would set him off. "This is Bruce we’re talking about," Ral muttered, "and you know the consequences if we don’t fix this. Our heads are at stake here, and our families will suffer. You really want to risk that?"

Evin visibly shrank back at the reminder. He had no desire to meet the king’s wrath, not when the blame would be passed down onto them.

"We have to tell him," Ral said, his voice firm. "And be prepared for whatever comes next. There's no telling what Bruce would do to us once we step through that door."

Evin swallowed, his throat tight with dread. "I just... I don’t want to be the one to say it. You know how much he liked Lucas. How—" He trailed off, too scared to say it aloud.

"I know," Ral interrupted. "But we didn’t do this. We didn’t ask the wizard to turn him into a child! We did what we could to contain him. And that's final."

Evin nodded, though doubt still lingered in his eyes. "But what if this is... the end? What if Lucas can’t ever go back to the way he was?"

A moment of silence passed between them, none of them speaking up. After a while, Ral spoke again, his voice softer now but still holding that serious edge to it. "We don’t know that yet. But what I do know is that Bruce will find a way. He always does, he is the king after all."

Ral took a step forward, placing a hand on Evin’s shoulder, offering what little comfort he could. "We’ll go in together. We tell him the truth, and we deal with whatever comes next. It’s the only way."

Evin nodded reluctantly. “Alright. Let’s get it over with.”

With a final, shared glance, Ral gave a brief nod to Evin before raising his hand to knock. He would be the one to speak first knowing how scared Evin would be...

Ral's knuckles hovered just above the door, but before he could knock, the door swung open. Bruce was standing there, dressed in his nightly robe. His sharp eyes met Ral’s, and the guard immediately stiffened.

Bruce's eyes flicked to Evin standing just behind Ral, then back to the guard in front of him.

“You have news for me?” Bruce’s voice was eerily calm—but there was something about it that made Ral’s skin prickle.

“Your Majesty,” Ral said, bowing his head slightly. “We’ve captured Lucas. But, there’s a... complication.”

Bruce’s gaze narrowed, but he didn’t speak, only waited for them to explain.