The constant rustling was what woke Henry up the next morning. He rolled over in his bed towards the noise, opening his eyes to a bright light. Sitting with crossed legs on the floor of the prince's bedroom was his best friend, Charley, who was surrounded by open books and pieces of parchment. Henry frowned, watching the dark skinned man for a moment.
"Charley?" He croaked eventually, seeing his friend look up.
"Hey, Hen. I didn't mean to wake you," He smiled, turning a page in the book in front of him, "I was getting in the way in the archives, and none of the servants who work there like me very much so I moved."
Henry rubbed his eyes, "They don't dislike you."
Charley gave him a look, "Yeah, right. I don't work like the others so they don't like me. I don't blame them, to be honest."
"You work for me. Like they work for my father," The Prince reasoned, "I just happen to be nicer than him."
The servant shook his head fondly, "It doesn't matter, either way. I did those jobs once."
"Exactly. You've gotten further then they have," The blond sat up, pushing the duvet off and stretching with a yawn, "What's the time?"
"About nine-ish," Charley closed the book with a snap, "Hey, let's do something today."
"I need to finish signing those documents for that Adustio visit," Henry pointed out once he'd stood up.
The dark skinned man sighed, "We can finish that later. Let's go out somewhere. Ditch the robes and stuff and have some fun."
The prince rolled his eyes, "Fine. Now get out so I can get changed."
Charley grinned, gathering up his things, and left the room.
Henry walked out from his room about twenty minutes later in more casual robes, still his trademark light blue.
Charley was standing outside, having a conversation with a guard who had come looking for them. He was frowning and nodding, eventually dismissing the man once they'd finished.
"Is everything okay?" Henry asked suspiciously once the guard had left.
Charley took a breath, "Yeah. They didn't find Miles last night. No sign of him. Edward doesn't know."
The prince nodded slowly, "I'll go down and talk to him."
"But-"
"We're still going out, I promise. I told him I'd come and see him this morning, ask him if he needs anything," Henry reassured his best friend, "While I'm down there, could you grab the Adustio files from the archives and lock them in my room? So no one reads over them or misplaces them."
Charley looked downtrodden, "Yeah, sure, Hen. Not a problem."
"Twenty minutes, and I'm yours. Okay?" The blond smiled gently, waiting for his best friend's nod, "See you in a bit."
When no answer came, Henry started down the stone stairs, passing a guard who was on his way up. The halls were quiet, almost empty like usual, and nobody stopped the young prince on his way down to the hospital ward.
The big wooden doors were open a little, and Henry simply pushed past them and into the ward. There were nurses already in there, bustling around with bottled magic and bandages. Sitting on the bed he was in the day before, Edward had his back to the door looking down at his feet.
"Eddie?" Henry questioned as he walked over to him. The youngest prince froze, turning slowly to see his older brother.
"Oh, hey, Hen," He greeted awkwardly, fingers failing to button up the white shirt he was putting on over his bandaged torso.
