The Pirate Prince *Larry Stylinson*

Freedom

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.

Those special afternoons with Ellie out in the rose garden when he was able to completely be himself without his 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 Ellie 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 his angrily after Louis had bumped past him.

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 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.

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 so far, it felt like an eternity.

Louis made a sharp turn down around a building and he nearly crashed 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 her 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.

His sister visited her 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.

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 his seeping out of his 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.

Another drop of rain fell from the sky and another, the number increasingly swiftly and Louis glanced all about in an effort to find a proper place for shelter from the precipitation that was now on the verge of slamming down much harder.