Rat POV
"I'm leaving," I said simply once Dove and I had reached a quiet place.
"Leaving?" Dove asked, "Why? For how long?"
"I don't know," I sighed, "But I have to, I have no choice in it. The council decided, they had a vote."
"A vote? You're the prince, surely you can override whatever they say."
"I tried, Bear isn't budging on this one, and neither are the others to be fair."
"What about Louis, he's always by your side, surely he wouldn't vote against you?"
"Louis is on my side, he's the only one that voted for me. In fact, Louis is coming with me."
"Just the two of you? That doesn't seem very safe?"
"It's not, but Louis and I are strong enough to handle ourselves and if left with an army there would be more chance of them finding us."
"So you're hiding?"
"Apparently," I scoffed, "Trust me when I say I don't want to though."
"Why can't I go with you instead, are you sure you and Louis will be... okay?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well it's just that the two of you have been rather close lately, what if something happens?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, growing confused.
"Never mind, I'm just worried. Are you sure you'll be okay?"
"I'm gonna miss you," Dove said, hugging me.
"I'm gonna miss you too," I whispered into her hair, trying to take everything in so I could remember how holding her felt.
"I leave tonight. Please don't tell the others that I'm leaving, you and the council are the only ones who know, I'll come back when everything is ready."
"How will you know?"
"I will, just trust me."
"Alright," Dove sighed.
"Things will be okay, I promise," I said, maybe the last words I would ever say to her, words I throw around all too easily. Those last words echoed through my skull, "I promise."
**********
Louis and I left that night just as we were supposed to. Bear and Wolf were the only ones to actually see us leave, making sure we had plenty of supplies and wishing us safe travels. Louis was still angry with them, he barely spoke to them the entire time and his last moments with them were spent arguing about how ridiculous all of this is. It wasn't that he was annoyed he had to go with me, Louis would follow me to the end of the earth, it was that he was annoyed for me. He was furious that I allegedly had all of this power but no one trusted me, and how I was supposed to be a prince but no one would let me lead, in his eyes it wasn't fair.
It wasn't that I didn't agree with Louis, and it wasn't that all of this didn't annoy me too, it was just that I had become subdued, I trusted Wolf as one of the oldest people in the camp and Bear who had been doing this for a while now more than I trusted myself to stay and lead. In a way this was some kind of cowardly way out for me, every day since I had told the people here had been spent walking on eggshells, I felt trapped and used, this was the perfect getaway. Of course I didn't want to abandon everyone, but I also didn't want to stay, I couldn't stay knowing that they all knew I wasn't really fit to be the prince they all thought would save them.
"Hey," Louis said, placing his hand over mine, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," I sighed, "Just thinking."
We had stopped around midday to give the horses some rest, Louis was also exhausted as he had sat out the front the entire time and not gotten anytime to sleep, not that I had slept much either.
"What are you thinking about?" Louis asked.
"I... I don't know," I answered honestly, "Everything... and nothing. You seem to be at the forefront of everything."
"Aww, you think of me," Louis teased, "So what is scandalous that you can't even tell me?"
"It... It's nothing like that..." I stuttered nervously, blushing, "I don't even know what you mean by scandalous... it's just..."
"Seriously, are you okay?"
"Not really," I sighed, "It's just that I'm worried, what if they all hate me after?"
"Then they're dumb," Louis declared, squeezing my hand tightly, "And even if everyone back there hates you, I'll always be by your side, and I'll fight for you until all they do is sing your praise."
"Thank you," I whispered, leaning in closer to him until I was resting my head on his chest. I had finally calmed down enough to fall asleep.
"Anytime Princey," Louis said, "You sleep now, I'll keep you safe."
YOU ARE READING
Broken Promises (Stolen Truth: Book 2)
Fantasy"Things will be okay, I promise," that's what I had said, maybe the last words I would ever say. Those last words echoed through my skull, "I promise." ***** Things were supposed to be okay. They had found the prince, they won the battle at the camp...
