arranged - a markson royal AU

Chapter 11

I'm back! Thank y'all so much for 1k views! I really appreciate it. Thanks so much for sticking with me and this story. I'm gonna call y'all my chickadees from now on. Anyway, enough of my rambling, heres the next chapter!

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The other two boys run to where Bam is. There, hanging on a branch, is Coco's leather leash.

"They must have gone through this trail." Jinyoung says.

Near the main road, there is a small trail, just big enough for four people to walk side by side on. It has not been used for a long time. Branches grew into the path and grass grew in the old wheel tracks. There was a sign that someone had recently gone through the path. There were a few branches resting on the forest floor where they had been broken off of trees.

"If we go down this path, maybe we can find where they went!" Jackson says.

The boys decide to take three of the horses from the stable and head down the path. They trot the horses through the forest, looking for any other clues about Mark's whereabouts. They look for around an hour and a half, but find nothing. They boys are getting tired and hungry.

"I guess let's just head back." Jackson says. "At least we got a little closer to finding Mark."

As the boys start to turn around, they hear a dog bark.

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When Mark wakes up, he is laying on the floor in an unfamiliar room. His head feels as if it is going to explode and nearly every part of his body is sore. He gradually sits up and tries to process where he is. The room is dark and Mark is laying on a small cot near the back right corner of the room. Mark notices that Coco is curled up on the other edge of the cot.

"Come here baby." Mark calls to Coco. The puppy perks up at her owner's voice and wags her tail. She crawls into Mark's lap and licks the boy's fingers.

"Are you hurt?" Mark asks. He looks Coco over and gently checks for wounds. The puppy has a small cut near the top of her head, but she doesn't look too bad.

Mark assesses his body for damages and when he sees nothing major, tries to remember how he got here. The last thing he remembers is going with Jackson to walk Coco. Wait........... Someone grabbed him. Oh no.

A sense of panic comes over Mark as he struggles to make sense of the situation. What is he going to do. There is not a clear way out and he is just trapped here at someone else's mercy.

Mark feels the stagnant are move a bit.

There must be a way outside from here. Mark thinks. He looks around and sees a hole near the ceiling to let fresh air in. The hole seems to be mostly covered in built up dirt but a sliver near the top is not covered. Mark stands, puts Coco on the cot, and tries to peek through the crack. It is too tall for him to get much more than a glimpse through. Mark tries to push some of the dirt away from the hole. A lot of dirt falls into the room, but Mark continues to push the dirt away.

After about 5 minutes of digging, Mark can see out of the hole if he stands on his tip toes. The room he is in is clearly a basement and ground level is about where the hole is. The surrounding area is full of trees and plants. Mark's thoughts are interrupted when he hears the door to his room being unlocked. He hurries to sit back down on the cot and pretends to just be waking up.

"Well, look who is finally waking up." A burly man says. Two people file in after him. Once is a lanky teen boy and the other is a pretty teenage girl with long hair. The girl walks up to Mark and slaps him across the face.

Mark can feel his face burning. That will leave a mark.

"Fiona!" The teen boy calls out horrified. "I thought you said we weren't gonna hurt him!"

"He stole Jackson from me; he deserves it." The girl that must be Fiona says.

"Fiona" The tall and creepy man says. "The king won't pay as much for damaged merchandise."

Well, Mark thinks, At least they won't hurt me that much.

Fiona pouts, but moves to stand behind the burly man. The teenage boy sets a cup of water down by Mark.

I wish they had brought some food but I'll take what I can get at this point. Mark thinks.

Coco seems to be waking up more and is cautiously watching the three aggressors in the room.

"Well Damien, If you want money so much, why don't you just ask the little princeling here where the King keeps all of his treasure. He must keep some of the good stuff at a minimally guarded estate or something." Fiona points out.

"You know," Damien starts "That's not actually a bad idea."

"He's not gonna tell us that. We might as well just leave him alone." Percy says.

"We can just make him tell us." Fiona replies.

Oh no, Mark thinks, I'm in trouble now.

"I thought Damien just said we weren't gonna hurt him." Percy seems nervous. He is too innocent to want Mark injured, he just wants for his father's job to be secured.

"Change of plans." Damien says. He stalks closer to Mark with a creepy grin on his face. "Why don't you just quickly tell us where your daddy keeps his stash and we can be done here?"

Mark simply turns his head. I don't want to tell them anything. I just have to wait for someone to find me.

"That's not the answer I wanted kid." Damien swiftly moves closer to Mark and kicks him in the side. Mark falls back onto the cot and curls up into a ball trying to protect his side.

Coco gets up and starts to bark and growl at Damien. Mark tries to get her to lay down so she won't get hurt, but she doesn't listen and continues to bark at the burly aggressor who hurt her human. She jumps up and bites his leg and he backs off.

"We will continue this later." Damien angrily says as he backs out of the room. Fiona follows closely after. Percy helps Mark back up into a sitting position whispers "Sorry." and then leaves.

Mark settles back into the cot and cuddles with Coco. He hears a slight commotion outside his little window. He does his best to stand without jostling and hurting his injured ribs and moves to look out the window.

Mark feels a spark of hope grow. There, on their horses, is Jackson, Jinyoung, and a boy that Mark doesn't recognize but must be Bam Bam. Mark stands on his tip toes and gets as close to the opening as he can.

"Jackson!" Mark calls out. He tries to be loud enough that Jackson can hear him, but quiet enough that Damien can't. Jackson doesn't notice him so Mark tries again.

"Jackson!" This finally gets Jackson's attention. The prince dismounts from his horse and rushes over to the small window. The two other boys call after him, confused as to why he ran toward the building.

"Mark!" Jackson happily says, "We found you."

Mark reaches his hand through the hole and Jackson grabs it. Bam Bam and Jinyoung give Mark big smiles.

"How can we get you out of here?" Jinyoung asks.

"I think you will need to get the guards to let me out, there are only 3 people guarding me but one of them seems dangerous." Mark says.

The other three boys agree and they get ready to leave. Jackson stays by the window to say goodbye to Mark for now.

"How did you find me?" Mark asks.

"We heard Coco barking and followed the sound." Jackson responds. "I wish we didn't have to leave you here." Jackson sadly says.

"It's okay. I know you will be back to save me. Also one of the boys guarding me, the small one, isn't happy about keeping me here. He may help you get me out." Mark says.

"Okay. I will go alert the guard. I will see you later." Jackson tenderly presses a kiss to the back of Mark's hand and gets up to leave.