Captive

Chapter 3

Was I not being selfish? If I love and adore my people, as they do me then why am I less than hesitant to have them meet their untimely deaths?

Louis sighed deeply, stopping halfway down the passage and realising that the warrior who so arrogantly barged in moments prior had not followed him. Louis grinds his teeth. He hates Harry.

The only problem is that he loves him too, maybe even more than he should. No one had to know.

"If I come with you......your army will leave?" Louis questions the distraught-looking fighter standing in the middle of the room. He has all his weapons tucked away and his face turned to the arrival of his fellow ships.

"I give you my word." Harry says, slowly moving his head to look at Louis.

The younger and petite prince saw no physical indication of the hurt Harry felt within, the betrayal and self-hatred. He'd done this to himself when he angrily barged off after Louis told him they had created a life. The older man felt like an utter humiliation to his bloodline, a waste of space and volume in this small world.
What kind of father will he make? How will he one day tell his son or daughter that he/she was a mistake? Oh how he'd love to have a son to mentor and go galavanting with. It would be a prize, an esteemed reward for accomplishing the greatest thing life could give you.

But he threw it away because he wasn't ready. He gave up the hopes of a happy family, now that Louis looked at him with blank eyes and a sore heart. Harry decided then and there that he'd capture the world in a fine wine glass and lay it before Louis if he wished.

He fell to his knees in front of the stunned royalty, who stepped back but Harry held him around the middle.

"I'm sorry, my Prince. I am truly a husk of a man, I'm selfish and unkind and hurt you. Hurting you is my worst nightmare and greatest error. I had not seen it before until you left me with sleepless nights and an empty soul. My soul wants you back, I need you to come back to me." He discreetly pressed his nose to the stretched spot of skin by Louis' lower abdomen. Harry wanted to cry.

"Let me have you again." Harry continues. "Every morning and every night. Through darkness and all that is light. I'll protect you from what you fear and I'll admire what you do. Share a bed with me again and let me fall asleep beside you. I do not care what happens here today, if a single man dies or a hundred. I cannot live without you a moment longer and if you choose to say no, then the enemy will vanquish my existence. I love you. I love you more than is healthy and I'm deeply ashamed for not saying it earlier. Give me back your affection and I'll pledge my complete and absolute allegiance to you. Let me father this child, let me love you both."

Neither took notice when Louis reached around his back to unclasp Harry's much larger hands from his waist. Louis had many things to say, an infinite amount of ranting that he never got to exude, but now his people needed saving.

"Stop this." Louis whispered with his eyes closed. "Stop your King from harming any of my villagers and then you may leave." Harry's face fell, hand twitching as it reached out for Louis before the younger man spoke. "I won't tell a soul, that way they won't.....they may not look for me."

Harry brightened before returning to a solemn expression. He had no time to praise Louis for abandoning what he's had for protection all his life, and throwing himself into the dark mess that Harry was. After a hard kiss to Louis' surprised lips, Harry took off down the passage with an instruction not to pack and just wait for his return.

Louis was wise enough, putting his family - his brother - first at all costs. So as soon as there was complete silence, except for the faint patter of hurried footsteps, Louis sat on his bed with a pen and script. He wrote to his father, then Niall. Telling them not to search, not to lift a finger concerning him anymore, that he was going somewhere because he needed distance and time. A great amount of both.
Signing his name at the end proved to be the biggest challenge, tears had welled up in his eyes and were flowing down his face to dampen the sheet. He was leaving his family. And he wasn't one to up and go without a goodbye or reason. He didn't feel right because his family, this kingdom has done him good. He will miss it, he'd never see it again or them.