The Prince Forth & The Pauper by ARIE78 (Completed)

Chapter: 17.Critical Situation???

Wayo dropped his rapier, his hands shaking as he stared at them, imagining them covered in Forth’s blood even though they were, his panic stricken mind getting the better of him. He blinked a few times, trying to get the image that was superimposed on his hands to leave, panting slightly as he tried to regain composure. He looked up when he heard a further ruckus around him, bringing him back to reality and watched as Forth was carried away on a stretcher, Beam trying to keep up as he was whisked away, clinging to Forth’s hand as if scared of what would happen if he let go.

Phana having been informed of the fight just as Forth had been and had come out just as Forth was struck. He had given swift orders to the men around him; the reason for Forth’s quickly assembled stretcher and trip to the medic. He watched as Forth was led away, his desire to go with him mounting up but he knew he had other things to do first, the guilt of the events weighing heavily on his mind as he wondered through the ‘what if’s that he could have done to stop this from ever happening. What if he’d listened to Forth and let him choose his own fiancé? What if he had tried harder to help Beam stay at Forth’s side instead of Wayo? What if he hadn’t come up with this plan to begin with? He walked slowly over to Wayo, weighing everything up in his head as he went and stood over Wayo, who had slipped onto the ground as he watched Forth get led away, trying his hardest not to be angry or show his distress at what had happened. “Wayo?”

Wayo flinched as he heard his name and looked up at Phana, his face racked with guilt and fear of what was going to happen to him. “Yes, sir?” He gulped, the words coming out more as a whisper. He put his head down in defeat, unable to look at Phana for long, the guilt overwhelming him. “I have no excuse sir, please do as you see fit.” He bowed down in front of Phana. “I’m sorry; I don’t ask for mercy or forgiveness, I know you can’t give either after what I have just done.”

Phana sighed and sat beside Wayo. “Raise your head; I’m as much to blame for this as you are. I started this whole fiasco in the first place when I should have realised nothing would work to plan. There is one question I would like to ask though, just why were you so insistent to marry Forth when you obviously do not love him? Your kingdom is superior to ours, I’ll admit that without envy, so it was not the money that you were after...so why?”

A tear dripped down Wayo’s face as he looked back up at Phana. “I just wanted to do something right for a change.” He looked back down, still unable to hold Phana’s gaze and shook his head in perplexity. “I don’t understand you at all, you know that? Talking to me when you could be with your son for one thing. But also the way you dealt with Forth when you found out his preferences. My father was disgusted with me, this was his way of getting rid of me and making use of me at the same time.” He looked again at Phana, trying to show his remorse as further tears fell. “I just wanted him to be proud of me.”

Phana sighed and put his arm around Wayo’s shoulder. “It’s OK now. But really, you’ve been foolish.” He chided him softly, realising Wayo already felt guilty enough without pouring salt on to the wounds by showing his anger. In fact he was more painfully aware of the time he could be spending with Forth than actually angry with Wayo at the moment, he supposed the anger would come later. He nodded to himself reassuringly, later when he knew that Forth was safe and sound and would make it through, and then he would be properly angry for what had happened to his son. He stopped himself thinking of the other option, that Forth wouldn’t make it and continued talking to Wayo to distract himself. “For one thing, you should do what you want with your life and not let your father dictate it to you. And for another you could have come here and been truly happy if you’d made the right choices.”

Wayo blinked up at him, not understanding. He rubbed the tears from his eyes, trying to compose himself and think through what Phana had said. “Sir?”