Distance Between Us | Peterick AU

9

At noon, Patrick was taking a break from studying and was walking up towards one of the higher balconies when a maid touched his arm lightly. When he turned to face her, she spoke that he was requested in the formal dining room.

Tea with the ladies wasn't as awful as he expected it to be, hearing dirt about some of the other royal women served to be slightly entertaining. Although, he did have to painfully smile through them swooning over his wealthy future and pretend to agree with their comments about his soon coming life as king. Patrick wasn't too disappointed when the whole ordeal was over with.

It was later that evening when Patrick's nerves began to set in. He had already told his family that he needed some down time after the 'unusual event' that ruptured his regular schedule that day, and they gracefully complied. He knew it was a shitty excuse, but it was the simplest thing to say and they automatically believed him. Of course he loved his family, but at the same time he couldn't believe how dull-minded they could be sometimes.

Back to the point, Patrick was pacing around his bedroom only forty minutes later, realizing that even after his day of intricate planning, he still had no idea how the fuck he was going to pull this whole thing off. Pete had said to meet him at the big oak tree next to the lake at dusk, which made sense because it was easy to tell when dusk was compared to any other time of the night, but also made it harder for Patrick as most in the castle would still be awake and moving. Easy to be caught.

His simple plan was to go out the window, hopefully not accidentally killing himself on the way down, and then going the (quite long) distance to the other side of the castle and into the woods. He wasn't quite sure where the lake was, but it can't be too terribly hard to find a body of water in the middle of some trees, right?

How he was supposed to come back into the house was the part that still baffled the prince. There was no way in hell he would be able to scale the wall like Pete could, but hopefully he could make it back in time before everything was locked up completely and slip in one of the back doors. If noticed, he could claim wanting a quick walk in the garden before bed and hope he would be believed once again.

The sun was beginning to set even further and Patrick knew he was going to run out of time if he didn't get a move on. He walked across the room and braced himself out the window, his nerves about to go off a wall until a knock on the door stopped him. He clenched his eyes shut, hoping for it to be just a maid coming to check up on him like they do a few times a day, but of course to Patrick's luck, the door opened and in peeked Earl.

"What has you burning a hole in the floor, Mr. Stumph?"

"Patrick," the prince corrected harshly without any thought. He immediately cringed at the tone of his word but didn't make a move to apologize. "And I'm just feeling a little bit, tense. . .that's all."

Earl twisted his face slightly, (in what seemed like an attempt to hide it) and eyed Patrick skeptically. "What are you feeling tense about then, Patrick?"

Frozen with no response, Patrick stood there, panicking inside his head, fighting to come up with the one excuse he hadn't gotten a chance to plan out. He tried to play off being anxious about some of the information he was learning and not being able to understand it, but it was obvious it didn't make the cut.

"I found a note under your pillow this morning."

Fucking busted.

"If you think you are going out that window tonight, you are crazy."

Patrick sighed deeply and fought to keep control of his temper. He balled up his fists but brought them up to pull at his hair. "May I ask why you were even in my room, Earl?"

Taken back, the butler eyed Patrick suspiciously and spoke his answer slow. "I was in for a moment to speak with Ryia as she was straightening your bedroom. We were in the middle of conversation when she pulled me over to show me the note."

"So now Ryia knows too?" Patrick exasperated. He began to pace the room again. "Oh gosh, oh gosh oh-"

"Mr. Stumph," Earl waited for Patrick to stop walking in circles to face him. "There is no need to freak out. Ryia does not know about the situation.  . . .And you better close that window right now. Come on, we will convince your mother to let you go shopping with me."

"I don't want to go shopping. I was obviously trying to get out because I haven't seen Pete in weeks." Patrick felt insanely stupid for having to tell Earl his potential plan, but he didn't know how else he would get out of the castle and out of his butler's attention.

"I highly doubt you would have the courage to sneak out of the castle."

Patrick couldn't help but mentally agree with Earl. Not verbally though, obviously. "I was scared of what would happen if I was caught."

A smile twitched on Earl's face. "Come on, let us go shopping."

Patrick stayed right in place. His confusion didn't let up as the butler turned to open the bedroom door. "Shopping? Why would I go shopping if I have to go see-"

"It wouldn't be sneaking out if you were with me, now would it be?"

-

"I do not see why Patrick must come with you if you are simply grocery shopping for the upcoming events," the queen observed as various maids were taking off her daytime makeup and preparing her for a quiet evening. She averted her attention directly to her son. "You said you were getting tired Patrick anyway, did you not?"

"I said I need some time by myself," he started carefully. "But with the chaos of the war I haven't- have not been outside the castle walls in quite some time. I would like to be out for just a bit, even if all I do is stay in the carriage while Earl shops."

The mother pondered for a moment, and Patrick rocked back in forth on his feet as silence filled the air. He expected the worst, but was surprised when she finally complied.

"Alright," she sighed. "But no leaving the carriage and do not expose yourself far too much." She looked at Earl. "Do not be long. I am trusting you to get what you need and come back soon with my son."

The butler nodded and Patrick thanked his mother, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before the two men went down the grand staircase and out to the side where the carriages were parked. Earl rounded up someone to steer the horses for them, and soon enough the three were off and moving swiftly along the dirt road that led to the front gates of the castle.

Patrick was too nervous to ask Earl about the plan, so he simply stayed quiet and hoped the butler had already thought of something himself. He assumed his thoughts were correct when the coachman that Earl had spoken to before the trip started had turned right instead of left, leading them to the upcoming forest just outside of the castle property.

They had stopped a few moments later next to the treeline and Earl turned and looked expectantly at Patrick. "I will be back in forty five minutes, nothing more, nothing less. I trust that you will not go anywhere but to that oak tree near the lake and back here again when it is time to go. I am doing this for you, Patrick. Please do not disappoint me."

Patrick nodded quickly and thanked his butler multiple times before climbing out the door and closing it quietly behind him. One look at the sky and he knew it was getting late. He hoped to God that Pete was still there.

He rushed off into the treeline, squinting to look for the lake and listening to the carriage move away from the forest. After a few moments of carefully swerving in between tree trunks and bulky bushes, Patrick caught the soft sound of moving water. He smiled to himself as he noticed a distinct wide-trunked oak a few meters in front of him.