Scoundrel - Prinxiety [COMPLETED]

Chapter XXI

Roman could barely breathe as he ran through the trees, rain starting to hit his skin at an alarming velocity. He didn't care enough to stop though; he needed to get away from that pirate.

According to him, he wasn't born into a royal family, they'd met when they were children, and nothing, absolutely nothing, he knew about his life was true.

The fury he felt towards Virgil in that moment was unmatched by any kind of anger he'd ever experienced before. How dare he claim such things? How dare he lie directly to his face after saying he never lied to him before? He was angry beyond rational through with him, but more so, he was angry at himself. Why had he let himself trust him? He should've known better than to let his guard down around a pirate. He'd known from the beginning that allowing feelings for him would lead to pain.

The captain was running faster than he'd ever run in his life. His heart was pounding against his rib cage as he tried to catch up with the prince, feeling the familiar dread of chasing him. Virgil felt as though he was nine-years-old again, crying out to him in desperation as he was taken away from him. His voice was broken as he called his name again. "Roman!"

He looked back, standing at the edge of a precipice that led to a long fall down to the rocky beach below. "G-Get away from me," he said, tears on his face mixing with the rain soaking both of them. The prince took a step back. The ground underneath his feet looked unsteady, as if one wrong step would cause him to tumble down onto the rocks.

"Roman, get away from the ledge," Virgil said, voice tense.

"Or what?" he countered. "What happens if I just keep stepping back? You've already taken everything from me. What more do I have to lose?"

The captain shook his head, his throat closed up with emotion. "P-Please, Roman, I can explain everything, just please get away from the edge," he pleaded, taking a tentative step toward him. "Please, Princey, this isn't funny."

"Neither is kidnapping me! Neither is telling me everything I know about myself is a lie!" he said, voice cracking.

Virgil just moved toward him. "Please! I'm sorry! I can explain, I promise! Just please, please come away from the edge," he begged. The prince broke down, sobbing as he took a few stuttering steps toward him. He stepped forward to met him, pulling him into his arms. His pulse was racing as he continued to tell himself that he was okay. "Oh my god! Don't you ever do that again! God, Roman, you scared me..."

He nodded into his shoulder; he scared himself. They stood holding each other close for a while, long enough that the storm overhead passed by so that only dark clouds and occasional rumbles of thunder were left. "P-Please explain..." he breathed.

"Okay," the captain murmured pulling away to look him in the eye. "You once asked me a couple days ago what I meant when I said that I had taken the life that was handed to me. What I meant is that I didn't have a normal childhood. I was kidnapped at the age of three by human traffickers."

Roman froze, exhaling sharply. "What?"

"I was an orphan, this... this group of human traffickers... they liked to use child laborers and sell them off into slavery," he explained, clearly uncomfortable talking about it. The pirate pulled back the sleeve of his jacket on his right arm, revealing a small black tattoo identical to the one on the prince's. "They would mark the kids by group, sort of like a generation system. I met you on the boat on the way to their lair."

He stared at him, trying to remember to breathe. "I don't know what happened to you that's keeping you from remembering, but I promise you, I'm telling the truth," he reassured him. "I don't know where you came from, or how they got you, but I remember waking up on their ship. It was dark, damp, and I didn't know what was going on, and yet, I wasn't really scared. I didn't really care what happened to me at that point. There were these other kids around... they were all crying and wailing about their families and their homes, but I didn't have either of them, so I didn't have a reason to be upset."

The pirate took a deep breath as he tried to continue. "You were brought on board with a couple of other kids a day later," Virgil said, looking at him. "You... were talkative. It was endearing, having someone to talk to. The other kids... they got sick, or angered the captain. They died. You and I were the only ones who survived that group. That's how I know it's you. You and I are the only living beings with this mark because we were the only ones of that generation that survived the voyage."

"We made a promise to stay together, to keep each other safe," he continued. "At their lair, we stayed together. We'd tend to each other whenever we got hurt, whether one of the men had smacked us around or we'd gotten injured working."

Roman was looking with wide eyes. "You meant everything in the world to me," the pirate breathed. He seemed pained by just thinking about it.

"What happened?" he asked quietly.

"They... they liked to sell us away to horrible people that wanted someone to work around their house or their farm or something. I didn't think we'd get sold, but one day, I came back to our cell and they were dragging you off toward the boats," he said, having to pause to swallow to keep his voice from trembling. "You... you had found something, the key, and I thought... I thought they'd killed you, but I guess somehow you got away."

The two of them were silent for a moment as they looked at each other. Roman thought about what he'd been told; he'd been kidnapped by human traffickers, Virgil was his companion, and he'd supposedly been taken to be killed but got away and ended up becoming a prince?

"I know it may seem like it's impossible because of your memory, but just think about it," he said, voice tentatively hopeful. "I promise I'm not lying to you. I don't know how you got away from there either. I'm very sorry that I had to tell you all this and that what you know about who you are isn't true, but..."

He let out a breathy laugh of joy, reaching up to wipe his eyes as he smiled at him. "I'm so happy you're alive," he managed, pulling Roman into a tight hug.