Scoundrel - Prinxiety [COMPLETED]

Chapter XVII

Logan took a deep breath of the sea air, looking out at the horizon with worry. The sky was growing dark and clouded in the distance and he could see small flashes of lightning. Storms were far worse to deal with on the ocean than on land. He hoped they would find the key before it reached them. 

"You okay, Logan?" a sweet voice asked from behind him. 

Patton had set their course and was sitting on a box, watching him curiously. He sighed and nodded, moving to sit across from him. "Yes, I'm just stressed," he admitted, nodding to the black clouds. "There's a storm on the horizon. It's far off, but storms are dangerous." 

"Yeah, they are," the baker agreed, fidgeting a little as he followed his gesture. "My parents were killed at sea during a big storm when I was a younger..."

The advisor looked at him in surprise. "Really?" he breathed, earning a solemn nod from him. He wasn't sure what to say, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Wow, I'm... I'm really sorry to hear that... that's horrible."

"It's alright, it happened a long time ago," Patton said, smiling sadly. He shrugged a little as he looked out at the ocean. They were quite for a few minutes before he shook out his head and offered a shy smile at him. "So what about you? What's your life story?"

"I'm sorry?" Logan replied, confused.

The baker stood up and crossed to sit down next to him. "It's going to take another couple hours to get to the island. We should talk about something," he said cheerfully. He stared at him, shifting uncomfortably and moving away slightly. The expression on Patton's face fell a little as he stammered. "U-Unless you'd... you'd rather not..."

"I just... I don't talk about myself," he said, standing up and hurriedly moving into the small cabin. He looked at him through the window in the door. His chest and heart figuratively constricted upon seeing the hurt look on his face. 

It wasn't anything personal he was holding against the baker. It was simply something he'd embedded into himself after rising to royal advisor back home. His purpose was to assist and advise others; talking about himself was a luxury he didn't feel he had. He wished he could explain it to him, but now he feared he'd screwed up the friendship he had started to make. 

You're too proud to admit that you're actually horrible with people, he thought, sighing as he rubbed his face. You pride yourself in being able to aid other people, but you really can't connect with them, can you?

He shook out his head as he took a seat, feeling his throat closing up with emotions he quickly suppressed. His position didn't allow for such trivial things as emotions; they were pointless and got in the way of objectives. 

Logan let out another sigh, his hand falling from his face to his side and on top of his bag he'd brought. Hitting the solid form of the books, he took each of them out to inspect them, hoping to find a book that would keep him occupied on their journey. He'd forgotten about the journal he'd found back on the royal vessel.

"Oh, right," he murmured to himself as he opened the journal, tracing his fingers over the spirally text that spelled out Roman's name. It matched the text written on the pages that it contained. "What is this, your Highness?"

The advisor started to read the pages, realizing this was written by a child. He was reading Prince Roman's childhood notebook, but what confused him was the descriptions of horrible cages and being forced to work. Stories about him and a boy trying to survive in a dangerous environment. He paused, considering the facts. Prince Roman had been given a childhood on a gold platter, quite literally. Recalling the prince's fascination with fantasy, he figured they were just stories he'd made up to fill his time. Regardless of what it was made of, the way he described being a child brought surges of memories of his own childhood. 

He swallowed, and was about to continue reading, when there was a soft knock at the door of the cabin. Patton entered as he closed the journal and returned it to his bag. There was a look of guilt on his face as he stood in front of Logan.

"I'm sorry if I offended you," he said quickly, looking up at him nervously. "I didn't mean to overstep by asking you about your personal life. That's not really my business seeing as we've only known each other a couple days. I'm very sorry."

The guilt he felt as the baker looked at him with wide eyes was indescribable. He wanted to trust him, and the thoughts the journal had brought up were starting to overwhelm him. He let out a small sigh, looking down at his legs as he spoke. "When I was a child, my mother died from disease," he told him. Patton gasped but immediately fell silent as he watched him with intrigue. "I was really young, so it didn't affect me that much. I barely knew her... but my father... my father was obsessed with my future. He was determined to make me a successful, respected person. He pushed me every day to learn and train to become a business man, and I was never good enough for him."

Logan let out a shaky breath as he realized he'd let the bitterness slip into his voice. "It just... was never enough," he tried to explain feebly. "I became a servant in the palace, but that was still not good enough. Eventually, he fell ill as well. He died before he could see me be promoted to the royal advisor, but I'll always remember the disappointment in his gaze and the way he'd pushed me to become a stoic, emotionless servant..."

"Hey..."

A hand landed on his shoulder, making him jump as he looked up to see Patton standing in front of him. He realized his cheeks were wet, reaching up to wipe them hastily. "I think he'd be very proud to see how far you've come now," he told Logan with a smile. "And you don't have to force yourself not to express your emotions."

"I know..." he murmured. "It's just a difficult mindset to get out of..."

The baker sat down with him and pulled him into a hug, making him gasp. "Well, if you help me break my bad habits, I'll help get you out of that mind set."

He nodded into his shoulder and they stayed like that for a few minutes before Patton spoke up again. "We've got another hour or two until we're close to the island, do you want to take a nap?" he said, nodding toward the bed in the corner. He offered a gentle smile. "We can share if you're comfortable with it."

"That... that would be nice," Logan said with a small smile.