Escape: A Royal Tom Holland Romance

Duty First

For the past twelve days, Harrison had let it slide. The past twelve days he pretended that he was unaware, completely unsuspecting, and utterly blind to it all. Had it gone his way, he would've continued on ignoring it for Tom's sake. Over the course of time he had watched his friend become bitter, a recluse in his own home even, but there was something different, something brighter about him every time he came back from a ride. He knew it was a good thing for him. He just couldn't seem to get that across to Tom's parents for the life of him.

"Your Majesty, I swear to you on my honor—"

"Need I remind you, Harrison, that you are Captain of the Guard first and a mere friend to my son second!" King Dominic, frustrated, swung at the bowl of fruit to his side, knocking it across the room. The fierce clang pierced through the throne room, startling Queen Nicola.

"Dominic! Please!" She scolded him in an attempt to keep some decorum. "Harrison, if there's something you're not telling us, I need you to say it. We only have two days before the princess arrives, and I need to know where my son keeps disappearing to!"

Harrison's cold, icy eyes softened at the queen's desperation. He ran a hand through his crisp, golden waves, resentful of his position. "If you must know what I know, all he's said to me is that he rides to the wood and back. He's up by dawn, sometimes before, and gone soon after, staying away for hours at a time. He won't tell me why, and he doesn't need to."

"Why's that?" The queen asked.

"Because I already know, your Majesty. It is pertinently clear."

"You and Thomas have always been close—"

"No, your Majesty, with all due respect it doesn't take being close to see that this arranged marriage has absolutely despaired him. He finds peace out there away from the palace. And I, for one, don't see any harm in it."

Harrison's honesty was not well received, as the king again lost his temper. "That boy needs to learn his place is here, at the palace, at all times! He is next in line, and he can no longer go out unaccompanied. It is unsafe and completely unheard of—"

"But your Majesty—"

"Silence!"

Harrison stood down, his heart angry for his friend. "My apologies, your Majesty."

"Tomorrow morning when he goes for his usual ride, I order you to follow him. Map his route so that it can be guarded in the future to ensure his safety. Tell him nothing of this, so he may still feel at peace on his outings. Are my orders clear?"

"Yes, your Majesty."

***

As always, Harrison went to greet his beauty of a horse by the dawn's early light, but this time with somewhat less joy in his stride. It was his duty, he repeated to himself. He was not in the wrong, yet something felt so wrong about it. Was this betrayal? An invasion of privacy? He felt a knot form in his stomach the moment Tom approached the stable, right on schedule.

"Off again, mate?" He kept his eyes on his horse, trying his best to remain casual. He had never kept something from Tom before, although he wasn't sure whether or not Tom was keeping something for him.

"Just my normal ride." Tom replied, pulling himself onto his own horse in his usual haste.

"Be careful, Tom." Harrison finally looked up at him, his face weary.

"Aren't I always?" Tom chuckled, snapping the reins. Within a minute or so he was a few yards away, and Harrison quietly set off after him, careful not to be detected.

The route was simple enough, simply heading East past town towards one of the clusters of trees and brush, and then deeper into the wood. Harrison surely thought he'd lose Tom once he went into the wood, something he didn't anticipate, but he was almost dumbstruck to see the path marked before him. A long trail of pebbles weaving their way through the forest gleamed in the dim glow of the morning.

"The simpleton." Harrison shook his head, keeping a loose follow on the prince. It was much harder to stay stealthy with the crunch of the leaves and detritus beneath his horse's hooves, but they managed. He wasn't Captain of the Guard for nothing.

As trees became more sparse and the wood began to clear, Tom sped up, startling Harrison a bit. He was at a mild trot, carefully cruising through, and suddenly broke into an aggressive gallop. He was now out of sight, so Harrison looked to the pebbles, changing his pace enough to catch up. He slowed considerably as he came upon the clearing, scratching his head as he watched Tom tie up his horse in the little stable he saw through the trees.

Hiding behind a thicket near the cottage, Harrison silently climbed off his horse. He spotted the royal crest that was missing from Tom's horse the other day, hidden under some brush. He shook his head violently wondering what it could mean. Peering through the branches, he immediately had to refrain from gasping. He was shocked to see Tom with his arms lovingly draped around a girl he didn't know, their foreheads touching. Panic struck him as he gaped at the sight. Tom started to gently kiss her, sweeping strands of hair behind her ear tenderly. She smiled into the kisses, pulling him in more and more. It pained him that he had stumbled upon this secret that was never meant to be uncovered. He wanted to flee, convincing himself he didn't see it, but walking away from this meant serious, possibly fatal consequences.

"...you are Captain of the Guard first and a mere friend to my son second!"

He stole one last look at them in their precious, fleeting moment, and took a deep breath. It was his duty.