Royal Problems

Chapter 21- Back

Xue Yang was almost to the closest town when he stopped, what am I doing? He thought, I can't just leave him over there he'll get killed. He remembered Wei Ying's words and was beginning to panic, he's going to die.

"Prince Xingchen," a voice said from the door, "it's me Wei Wuxian, may I come in?"
"Yes," a voice weakly said. Xingchen sat up in his bed and watched Wei Ying come inside his room with a bowl.
"I brought you some food," he said, "you need to get your strength up after passing out."
Xingchen nodded and took the bowl. He ate slowly and quietly and soon finished, "There," he said handing the bowl to Wei Ying, "I'm finished."
"Good, it's getting late now. You should rest as much as possible, and also I was looking for Xue Yang and I found him in the woods. He told me to tell you that he's sorry and that he might visit you soon," Wei Ying said.
Xingchen chuckled, "He's lying, he won't ever come back."
"He might, you never know," Wei Ying said and walked out of the room. Xingchen stood from his bed and walked to his window, it was dark outside but the full moon lit the trees.
He looked down and saw a vine climbing up to his window. It was sturdy, and hard. He grabbed it and climbed out his window quietly, if Xue Yang wouldn't come back, then he would go to Xue Yang.
Xingchen climbed down the vine and soon jumped a couple of feet from the ground. He landed on his feet and ran to the trees, he heard a yell from his window, "The prince is gone!" He ran faster and hid in the trees.
He was running through the trees when he heard footsteps behind him. He hid behind a tree and saw the king running past him with a group of men, he hid in the shadows and gasped when they stopped.
The man looked and saw two men stopping in front of the tree, "Your majesty!" One of them yelled, "there is someone over here!"
Xingchen tried to run away but his arm was caught, "Let me go!" He yelled.
"Xingchen!" The king hollered, "What are you doing?"
The man turned to the king, "What do you think? Running away from this shitty place!" He yelled.
"Stop playing around! You will come back to the castle this instant!" The older man yelled back.
"No! You told me to get out of your sight! I'm doing it aren't I?!" Xingchen yelled. He looked around and saw one of the guards daggers on the floor, he picked it up and yanked his other arm. He moved back a couple of steps and put the dagger to his throat, "Get away or I kill myself!"
The men instantly took a step back, scared that their prince would actually do it. The king however, took a step forward, "Xingchen put that down, you're being ridiculous!"
"Am I? I think you're the one who's being ridiculous! You made the man I love run away! And now I can never see him again!" Xingchen yelled, he was crying now.
The king frowned, "Are you that in love with him?"
"Yes," Xingchen's voice cracked.
"Then leave, and never come back," the king said.
"Fine," Xingchen said and ran away, dagger in hand. He ran into the woods and looked around, he couldn't find anything and ran some more. The trees stood over him and the birds chirped and the ravens cawed, almost as if they were making fun of him.
"Xue Yang!" He yelled, "Xue Yang where are you!"
"Xingchen!" A faint voice called, "Is that you?"
"Yes! It's me!" He cried in relief and fell to his knees, "Xue Yang it's me!"
"Xingchen!" Xue Yang yelled when he saw the man, he ran over. He arrived and embraced Xingchen tightly, "I'm so sorry princess, I'm so sorry."
Xingchen cried hard, he was glad his lover was there with him. But he still knew he couldn't be with him, "Xue Yang," he said wiping his tears, "I'm sorry."
"What for?" Xue Yang asked.
"I love you so much, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you but I can't. I wish we had more time together but it seemed to have run out, I'm so sorry for what I'm about to do," Xingchen said before raising the dagger to his throat.

The king was walking to the castle when he had a memory. He remembered the face of a young man, his brown hair and blue eyes.
He stopped walking and saw the man's lips moving, "Remember me forever," the blue-eyed man said, "never forget how much I love you."
The king had tears in his eyes as he remembered that exact moment. The moment when he realized he himself was gay and had a male lover, the moment where his parents killed his lover and made him marry a woman.
"We must go back," the king said turning to his men, "I'm not leaving my son anymore. Not after all he's been through."
The men nodded and ran into the trees yet again, with the king in front of them. The king felt his emotions run wild, he wished he could have a happy ending with his lover.
He would never wish what happened to him upon anyone else. He felt bad for all the things he told his son, he just hoped Xingchen would never go through what he did. But now it was the kings fault that his own son ran away.
The king ran to a clearing and saw his son with Xue Yang, but it wasn't what he expected.