Prince of the Seven Seas

Chapter 16

When Louis thought of home, many things came to mind.

The halls of the massive palace, always kept sparkling and bright, the large windows down the corridors bringing in a numerous amount of natural light as well as a beautiful view of the rose garden outside to the side of the building.

His lessons for education that he had somewhat dreaded attending with his strict instructor, where he learned more than he felt would be necessary for his ascent to the throne.

Late night escapades with Lottie when the two basically ran around lawlessly in the middle of the night, evading the guards that tried locking them in their rooms in favor of sneaking into the rooms of the other's rooms and completely messing with them while they slept.

Those special afternoons with Eleanor out in the rose garden when he was able to completely be himself with her over the political mess and pressure his instructor would constantly remind him of.

He remembered at one point he wished that he could still be royalty without the political bullshit that came with it but Eleanor told him not to think so irresponsibly because he was blessed.

Louis panted as he continued his run down the uneven street,

"Watch it!" A man snapped at him angrily after Louis had bumped past him, his run not slowing.

The royal held onto his left arm painfully, his head stuck to the ground, his heart thudding powerfully.

Louis could remember the family dinners he shared with his sisters and parents. He always made jokes that was deemed inappropriate by his father and often got him scolded, but it was all light-hearted unless he took it too far. His siblings laughed as well as his mother a majority of the time.

He could hardly remember the sound of his family's laugh anymore.

When was the last time he'd seen them? Surely it wasn't that long, but with everything that had happened to him thus far, it felt like an eternity.

Louis made a sharp turn down around a building and he found himself crashing into a group of women who all shrieked in surprise as he stumbled through them with a grunt. His steps nearly went over and he almost tripped, but he found his balance and continued going.

Louis recalled how upset he had been when he discovered he was being sent to France to study abroad.

His instructor was tough, but the man was one of the best teacher's a person could have. His parents played good cop bad cop and the moment his father angrily lashed out at him; Louis could only storm off and away, angrily accepting his fate.

His father's word was law after all.

Being a prince left him grounded to that as well.

All of his sisters had visited his room that night to comfort him on the news. Louis hadn't been very open to it; he was still moody on the concept of leaving home for France.

Louis tried to halt his steps as a horse rider galloped down the other parallel street, the man on top oblivious to the increasingly tired young man less than a few feet away.

Now that he stopped his run for the first time since he'd left the bar, Louis could feel the power his adrenaline had first given him seeping out of him at last. His lungs were burning but he knew he had to keep going on even if it killed him.

Just as he finished trying to catch his breath, a cold water droplet hit his nose from above, and Louis inwardly cursed at his terrible luck.

His head glanced upward, and then he was reminded of Harry's hat that had miraculously stayed on his head from his long drafted run.