The Misplaced Prince[COMPLETE]

The Last Sight

Joshua jerked awake with a startling clarity.

She had kissed him.

She had kissed him and then—

Nothing.

Apparently something had happened to have caused him to be sprawled on the floor of his brother's breakfast room.

He had obviously been knocked out, even though he felt no pain from a blow. One quick look around the breakfast room showed no trace that a struggle had broken out. Everything looked impeccable as before, all the chairs lined precisely, the room gleaming and untouched, as if almost put to rights by magic...everything, except for the melted candelabra sitting in the middle of the room in incriminating prominence.

Joshua stared at it, his mind a gaping blank. Something had happened, he was sure of it.

He had the oddest feeling, looking at the candelabra. Kasey had left it there, if only for him to somehow look at it and remember what had happened.

He stood up, pacing, thinking. He rubbed his temples. He hadn't been drinking, then why was his memory so dense and foggy?

He stared at the candelabra, and slowly, bit by bit, images started to form. 

He stopped in disbelief.

Had they really kidnapped Earl Rochester? What the hell were they playing at? Rochester had absolutely nothing to offer to anyone, unless it wasn't his massive inheritance or his shiny title, and something told him that wasn't what Kasey desired from him. He thought harder, trying to reach further into the recesses of his mind. It was like pushing across a physical boundary to access those images, but the longer he held on to them, the clearer they became.

A look at the clock told him that barely an hour had passed since they had disappeared. That was plenty of time to get away, but Joshua was determined.

He would find them. They had kidnapped his brother, an egregious insult that was just waiting for a retaliation from him.

But that was just an excuse. Fierce urgency raced through him as he tore through the house. In his mind was one thought.

He just couldn't let her get away.

...

Kasey didn't admit it when the anchor was removed. Nor when the ship lurched away from the dock, slowly gaining momentum, or when the crew cheered as they were taken further and further away from the coast of England. But as the docks faded from view under her steadfast gaze,the scenery giving way to a clear blue sky and rippling waters, she felt her shoulders slump and her heart thud with aching defeat.

She missed him.

They had barely left the country, and she missed him desperately already.

She had tried not to think about his wry humour, his intense eyes, his smile that looked like it caught him by surprised each time it happened, because he wasn't used to having many reasons for pleasure...And the odd, haunting look that sat on his face, whenever he thought no one was looking.

She had come to care for him even more than she had first expected, and the idea of not seeing him ever again...

It didn't sit well. It throbbed like an unhealing wound, made her restless, agitated.

She could see she wasn't the only one affected as the brothers joined her on the deck. They had cheered with the crew, but now as they stood beside her, their countenance was visibly subdued.

Joshua had gotten to all of them, and they were three of the people who hardly ever let anyone get to them. They all had a past that made them closed off, and they all trusted each other, their families, and no other. But there had been something about that lonely man...

"Ah, well," Dick said,attempting a cheery face, "No more unexpected emotional assault for me, thank God."

They were silent for a few moments as they contemplated that.

"It doesn't sit well."Tony said suddenly, "leaving everything as it is. It feels as if we left...loose ends..."

"Yes." Kasey admitted,and the brothers glanced at her in surprise for admitting it. She shrugged, "Feels like we left something behind."

"We did leave something behind." Dick said meaningfully.

Kasey rolled her eyes, "Not about the candelabra again, Dick." she said tiredly, "It was melted and stuck to the table...we didn't have much time to remove it."

"I'm sure." Dick said doubtfully.

Kasey looked away from him. Memory magic was a vague. Jalal made memories difficult to retrieve, sending them into the farther recesses of the mind. Most people, once something forgotten, never thought to access them, until they become covered with cobwebs of newer memories and impossible to retrieve. But very few very strong minded people had been known to re access their freshly wiped memories before new memories could fog them up, if they had an anchor. A candelabra that had been the cause of the explosion...would have been the perfect anchor to his memories, if Joshua knew to remember.

Had she left the candelabra in the secret hope that Joshua would prove to be one of the few strong minded men? Perhaps.

She didn't like the idea of him forgetting her. It made her mad.

Dick threw his arm around her, giving a giant squeeze, and she sighed, trying to tamp down her inexplicable sadness. "How about," Dick said in a scheming tone, "We come right back once we deposit the royal load on our shores? To clear our minds like old Princess Lily? Of course without the—" he wiggled his brows at Kasey, "pregnancy disaster. Old King Sebastian can't go through that again, what with you being his favourite ward and all."

Kasey laughed breathlessly, "Of course." She smiled. Neither of them mentioned that the determination of who the true heir was out of all the final prospects the rest of the searchers had rounded up could take any amount of time, from days, to years. There would be trials conducted by King Sebastian himself, no matter how certain Kasey and the brothers were that they had the right man.

"We must return for all those women you left waiting." She teased Dick.

"Ah, all those women."Tony grinned.

"Not to mention we forgot to deliver a swift kick up Joshua's behind." Dick added.

"That too." Tony nodded.

"We have unfinished business."

They looked at Kasey. She nodded, staring towards England with renewed determination, "We have unfinished business." She promised herself.

Whether be it months or years, she would return here, she promised herself. Return with a brand new mission, to explore...him.

>>>>>END OF PART 1<<<<<

Well, we're sailing of to Kasey's homeland now. Stay tuned! :) :)