Rats: Shai's Story

Prince Tegan

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone reading! Please tell me your thoughts, I'd love to know what you all think of this story :)

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 Shai couldn't stand it anymore. Mikko had gone upstairs, and Jasper had fallen asleep over an hour ago. Shai was struggling to keep her eyes open, but she wasn't willing to fall asleep. She needed to talk to Todd.

She reached over and peeled open his eye. She saw his pupil staring back at her. He moaned and rolled over onto his side. It was the first time he moved since they had dragged him into the house. She nudged his shoulder, but he didn't move. She dug her boot into his back until she watched him start to stir again.

Todd rolled onto his back. Shai sat on the edge of the couch and watched as Todd pushed his fingers into his eyes. She looked across the room to see Jasper was still curled up in a ball in the corner of the room.

"There's a lot you need to tell me," she whispered.

"Those camps are awful, Shai," he said. He stretched out his shoulders, and pain winced across his face. "There's not much to talk about."

"That's not what I mean," she said. "You never told me you were an Archy."

"It never came up."

Todd propped himself up on his elbows and he scanned the dark room. Shadows were cast across his face, but Shai could notice his weight loss. His cheeks and nose seemed sharper than they were before his arrest.

"Where's Ren?" he asked.

"Who?" Shai didn't want Todd talking about someone else. She wanted him to confess everything about his past.

"The girl I was with. Did you leave her behind?"

"No she's on the couch over there." Shai gestured to the side of the room.

Todd's arms shook as he pushed himself even farther up. He slid off of the couch and Shai watched him as he wobbled through the dark room. He kept his hands out in front of him, but he bumped into a lot of Mikko's clutter. Shai wanted to call out to him and tell him to return to the couch, but she didn't want Jasper to wake up. Todd sat on the edge of the couch the girl was lying across.

"Hey, Stutter," he said to her.

He grabbed her wrists and rolled her onto her back. Shai got up and took a couple of steps forward. She stopped when Ren and Todd came into the light peering through the window. Shai had seen Todd with an array of girls, but never like this. He had her face cupped in his hands. She ripped his hands off of her face and sat up on the couch. Her eyes widened when she saw Shai. She had taken off the jacket and boots, but she still had the rest of the Officer's uniform on.

"Don't worry. She's not an officer," he said.

"Y...y....you," she started to say.

Shai watched as she struggled to get the words out. She had never seen someone struggle so much to speak before. Ren's eyes were locked on Todd. She opened her mouth, and didn't say anything, but shook her head.

"Just spit it out," Todd said.

"P...p...pr..."

"Prince?" Todd guessed and Ren nodded. "My name may be Tegan, but I'm not a prince."

"You're not from Royale?" Shai asked.

"I was born there and I lived there when I was young, but I am no longer an Archy."