Put back together

3. The Voice

Patton wasn't sure what had woken him up at first. He tiredly rubbed his eyes and failed to suppress a jawn.

"Good morning."

Patton jumped at the sudden voice. He quickly sat up and looked around in the darkness of his room unable to see anyone. "Who's there?"

"Who I am? That er... doesn't really matter? I-I really didn't mean to wake you up. Sorry."

"What-?"

"Also I should probably go now. So... goodbye..."

"Wait!"

Silence.
Patton slowly got up and lit a candle. It took him a few tries, due to his hands shaking before the room was filled with the soft glow. There was no one there.
He would have heard if someone had opened the door. Had he imagined the voice? Or...
Magic.
Of course. For years he had managed to live a perfectly normal life and now magic had decided to ruin it all.
Mama had been right. Getting involved with magic was bad news.
With a sigh Patton decided to get dressed, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to sleep after that anyway.

One of the few downsides of being a baker was that he had to get up extremely early every day. He was used to that. But last night he hadn't gotten to bed until way too late and it was even earlier than he woke up usually.

A slight drizzle greeted him as he stepped outside and he instantly wanted to turn around and go back to bed.
He sighed and noticed that he could see his breath. It was cold. Wasn't it supposed to be summer? Fate really seemed to hate him.

Patton started wandering aimlessly through the city and thought back to the voice. It had sounded like a young man and a little shaky but at the same time smooth and deep. It wasn't Remy's voice and also didn't belong to anybody else he knew. Another mage who had somehow decided to mess with him? Maybe. At least this one had apologized. That was a big improvement from Remy. Well, maybe Remy had apologized. Patton still had no idea what exactly he had been talking about.
He absentmindedly fiddled with the leather band hanging around his neck, his fingers finding their way downwards to the silver amulet. The cold metal had a calming effect on him. Mum had given it to him years ago claiming it was covered in Teronan runes for protection. When he had asked if it was save to carry something magical around she had told him that rune magic was easily controlled and that nothing bad could happen even if Mama wasn't so sure about that. Patton had believed her. And up until now, it had worked.

Patton, unsurprisingly, was the first one at the kitchen, having to wait a few minutes before Gilbert showed up to unlock the door. The cook was glad to see him and promptly crushed him in a hug. Patton loved hugs, even when he couldn't breathe during them. Gilbert was a strong man. Sometimes he reminded Patton of a giant puppy. Lovable and easily exited but not able to restrain his strength properly.

"What did the King want? Or aren't you allowed to tell?", Gilbert asked after they had lit some candles.

Patton hesitated. No one had forbidden him from telling anyone about the audience but how should he?
'He is sending me on a quest because of a confusing prophecy from a crazy guy, who is somehow convinced I will help save us all.'?
No, it was easier not to explain. On the other hand, he should probably warn Gilbert that he would have to go soon. He didn't want the man to worry too much.

"I will have to leave soon to help the prince."
Ok, maybe not the best way to start.

"What?!"

"I... am supposed to travel somewhere with Prince Roman", Patton slowly looked up to see the other man starring at him with wide eyes.

"Are you being serious right now? I mean, this is not a joke, right?"

"No, it's not."

Gilbert fell silent.

"Where are you going? To another island?"
Patton was just about to answer when the door burst open.

"- so I thought it was settled but she decided that somehow that wasn't fine after all and so she told him nothing about it so when I got there-", the young woman didn't even stop to say 'Hello' as she was filling her friend in on something. She made it sound like a theatre worthy drama but Patton had worked alongside Jinala long enough to know that she tended to make things overly dramatic.
Not that he'd ever tell her so.
Her friend, Demin, listened and nodded along but looked like they had heard all of it before and were only being friendly.
Jinala was pretty much always talking. Where she was it was loud and no one else got a chance to speak. Normally this could be unpleasant but right now Patton was kind of glad for the interruption. He really had no idea how to explain his situation to Gilbert. Plus, the man's question had made him realise that he had no idea where this prophecy was taking him. The idea of traveling to another Island scared him. He didn't want to think about it.
So instead he got the ingredients and began to mix the dough for some bread for breakfast.

Slowly but surely the other bakers and cooks arrived and the kitchen filled with the clattering of pots and the humming of voices mixing together. In the familiar atmosphere, Patton found himself relaxing and almost forgetting about the prophecy or the disembodied voice from earlier.

But as soon as the servants had brought the food for breakfast upstairs he was forcefully reminded of it again.
He was whipping down his counter when he noticed the room got quiet. Curious he turned towards the door and almost dropped the cloth.

In front of him stood, in all his glory,
Prince Roman.

Oh. Heck.

Yay! Another chapter is done! This one is a little shorter again but school started up again so I've been kinda busy. Plus I had major writer's block so I'm glad I managed to bring this to an acceptable length at last. Also cliff hanger. Small cliff hanger but a cliff hanger. (I might change the PoV next chapter)
Roast me if you find a spelling mistake! Or any other kind of mistake.

Have a nice (gay) day!