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The situation was simple, really, but at the same time so full of shit.
Virgil growled a bit in the back of his throat as he felt his attempts to escape the net that was currently entrapping him just get his horns and wings even more tangled with the thick rope. All he had been doing was running through the forest and now he was stuck and he was probably going to die here once whoever put the trap up caught him and gutted him like a fish-
He tried to take a few deep breaths, feeling a new but all too familiar wave of anxiety crashing over him. Virgil’s wings instinctively curled around him and he felt his eyes bulge out of his skull as more possibilities of what could happen to him swam around his head. They would shove knives into his heart and head, they would burn him on a stake, they would do all of this but still the worst pain would be when they screamed at him at how ugly of a freak he was, as if he wasn’t painfully aware of that already.
Virgil whimpered until the sound of a twig snapping in half snapped him out of his daydreaming. Someone was talking towards him. Shit. Virgil tensed up, body shaking even harder as he peeked from between his wings to see who or what was coming towards him. He prepared himself for the worst as he squinted into the darkness just beyond the patch of trees right in front of him.
A tall figure suddenly sprang out from a couple of bushes, its breathing labored and holding a long, pointy sword. Once Virgil’s eyes settled on the weapon his breathing hitched and in an instant his mind was coming up with even more possibilities for his surely impending demise. This stranger would cut off his wings so he wouldn’t be able to fly away before doing his way with the rest of him. Maybe if he asked nicely he’d make it fast.
Virgil let out a sound, something like a mix of a high whine and a squeak at the thought that he was going to die so young and so sudden and the figure perked up at him. In a flow of emotions its face went from shocked to confused to sympathetic in mere seconds. Virgil whimpered again.
“Hey, it’s okay!” the figure assured him in a hushed voice. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just… I want to see if I can get you out of that trap.”
The person slowly crept forwards with his hands outstretched trying to act as non-threatening as he could. He had no clue what the creature in front of him was, but they were trapped, hurting, and panicked and he just wanted to help.
Virgil didn’t seem comforted by his words, however, as he just tried to back away as far as he could from him, which of course only made the net curl tighter around him once more. The person looked at Virgil with wide eyes when he was finally close enough to get a good look at him, and Virgil growled a bit in the back of his throat.
The figure’s brows furrowed until following Virgil’s eyes to the sword still gripped in one hand. He laughed nervously and shot Virgil an assuring smile. “I’m just going to use this to help you, I promise.”
With that, the person wasted no time and swung the sword expertly in a way that cut the net in half without even putting a mark on Virgil. Virgil fell to the ground, naturally landing on his feet and took a few deep breaths. His vision came into focus--he hadn’t even noticed it had been blurred by tears until now-- and he eventually mustered enough willpower to look up at his rescuer.
“Are you okay?” he asked softly, unsure if the creature would be okay with being touched, so he kept his distance.
Now that it was no longer stuck in a large net he could get a better look at it. It looked… humanoid, in a sense. It had a face, arms, legs, the whole deal. But then there was its tail, thick and purple as it went from its lower back down to the ground where it curled around its ankles. Spikes poked out from it nearly matching the glistening horns perched on its pale forehead. Speaking of, its skin was really white like the rays of pure moonlight only interrupted by patches of purple scales. Scales… a tail… a dragon.
Well shit.
Virgil turned to the boy who was still taking him in, whimpering a bit but nodded. “T-thanks-...?” he stammered, unsure of what to call him.
“Prince Roman of Imaj, at your service,” the person--Roman, it seemed--said with a little bow, taking Virgil’s hand into his and giving it a kiss on his knuckles as if on habit. Virgil flushed, swiping his hand away. “Oh! Sorry, sorry,” Roman apologized quickly, putting a hand to his mouth that felt anything but sorry if he was being honest with himself.
“I-it’s fine,” Virgil stuttered. God he was such a freak. It was probably customary for regular people to do that, and this was a prince! He probably just disrespected an entire kingdom! “I- I haven’t been around people in awhile, I’m sorry.”
“Oh, well in that case, do you need directions? We’re pretty deep in the forest but I’m sure-“
“Wait a minute,” Virgil interrupted him. “What are you doing here in the first place? You just said you were a prince.”
Roman frowned. “Ah. You see, I’m on business. I’m traveling to the kingdom across this forest to meet with their rulers for some political matters. Nothing for you to worry about.”
“And you’re all alone?” Virgil cocked a brow. His dad never taught him too much about royalty but even he knew they were like china, fragile and needing to be secure at all times because any damage would be invaluable.
“I wouldn’t say all alone,” Roman hummed, placing his sword back in its sheath. “My men are just around that patch of trees there. Although I try to go off on my own as much as I can, because being surrounded by guards can be a bit stuffy, especially when I know I can handle myself.”
Virgil hummed, nodding his head a little. Yeah, that made sense. But that also meant that there was a herd of royal guards not too far from him probably armed with every weapon imaginable. Virgil felt his breath shortening again, that vulnerable and unsure feeling reaching his head again and he felt as though he might pass he out.
He was so about to get killed today.
Grasping onto whatever senses he had left, Virgil’s wings began to flap and then beat behind him, his feet already hovering slightly above the forest ground.
“Wait!” Roman cried, and Virgil watched as he waved his arms at him frantically. “Please! Don’t go!”
“Why shouldn’t I?” Virgil barked at him, baring his teeth at the Prince.
“You’re obviously lost! I can help you find your parents if you want! I promise my men won’t harm a hair on your head!” Roman said, then quieter: “Besides, I’ve never seen a half-dragon humanoid before.”
Virgil hesitated then slowly returned to the ground, frown apparent on his face. “I know I’m a freak, you don’t have to remind me.”
“I never said that,” Roman quipped, cocking his head to the side. “I think it’s pretty cool. Admittedly, princes are legendary for slaying dragons, but you don’t look too evil to me.”
He couldn’t have, not when the first position he saw the creature in was curled up in one of those nasty hunters’ nets. They were really getting out of control these days, weren’t they? Roman made a mental note to make hunting illegal when he finally became King.
“I don’t?” Virgil couldn’t help it; his eyes lit up from hearing that from an actual prince. Now that Virgil was getting a better look at him Roman looked very heroic, dressed in all white with a red sash tucked around him and a gold crown on his head. His face was not too bad either, kind of handsome in fact. Virgil blushed at the thought. This lack of human interaction for years was really starting to do a number on him.
“Of course not! Come, I will take you to my castle where you can meet the King who will hopefully let you stay and freshen up before we find your home. You look like you haven’t taken a bath in.. awhile,” Roman noted, eyeing Virgil and his dirt-covered self up and down. Virgil’s face burned even more.
“I can’t,” Virgil said just as Roman was extending his hand towards him.
“And why not?”
Virgil just shook his head. “I… I just can’t.” He couldn’t just go off with a stranger, even if he claimed to be a prince.
“Creature, I swear on my life that you will be safe on the journey to and at my kingdom,” Roman assured, but Virgil still picked at his bottom lip with doubt.
“I, uh…” Virgil stared down at his hands. What else was he to do? He had nothing left for him here, just boiling guilt. It might actually be nice to die if he got killed, now that he thought about it, and if he didn’t and got to live in the lap of luxury for a little awhile, then that was fine by him. “Fine I’ll go.” Before Roman had the chance to smile with excitement at that, however, Virgil lifted a hand to quiet him. “On one condition, though.”
“And that would be?”
“Tell me why you’re really here,” Virgil said, “and why you lied to me about there being guards with you.”
Roman looked at him in shock. “How did you-?”
Virgil tapped his nose lightly with a finger. “I would’ve smelt them by now. Panic dulls my senses but now that I am sort of calm I can’t smell any trace of other humans or metal weapons from anywhere around us.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed. “Alright. I accept your deal with a condition of my own.” Virgil leaned forwards a bit as if to show that he was listening. “You have to tell me your name. That is, if you have one. I assume you do.”
“Oh. Y-yeah,” Virgil said. “I-it’s Virgil.”
“Well then, Virgil, it appears we have ourselves a deal.” This time when Roman extended his hand Virgil took it and they shaked, albeit Virgil a bit hesitantly.
After that, Roman turned back to the direction he had come from and Virgil followed a few feet behind him. “So, about why I’m here,” Roman spoke loudly in a booming voice, waving his hands around as he talked. “I did not lie to you when I said I am Prince Roman Sanders of the Kingdom Imaj nor when I said I was traveling to the Kingdom Anx, which is where I assume you originate from.”
“Y-yeah,” Virgil said in a shaky voice. “Let’s go with that.”
“I am alone because my father, the King that is, can’t know what I’m doing,” Roman said, looking at Virgil with a slight glare. “So I expect you to keep this a secret.”
“Yeah. Okay. But what’re you going to do when you get back?” He meant how did he expect to just go back and not get punished for wandering off alone, but Roman seemed to understand.
“I usually go off to explore the villages and my people on my own. My father won’t think twice if my excuse for being out alone was just that.”
Virgil pouted. “But why? Why be here? The woods are dangerous, you know.” At least, Virgil would know.
“I have to… I have to do this… Virgil,” Roman explained, the name still feeling weird on his tongue. It was strangely familiar, a bit gothic, though, so Roman had no doubt it was of Kingdom Anx origin.
“Do what?” Virgil asked, getting a little impatient.
Roman stopped, twisting his sash with a small frown. Virgil kept walking so that they were finally standing beside each other and watched as Roman looked down at his calloused hands with dismay. “There was a witch…” he began, “that killed my mother long ago.”
Virgil gulped. He already didn’t like where this was going.
“I… my father never told me about her and I never knew until just now,” Roman continued. “I overheard a conversation he was having with my grandmother, the old Queen of the kingdom. They were first speaking of me taking over as King and them setting me up with some pretty little thing so I could produce an heir to the throne-” Roman huffed at that and rolled his eyes, “-but then their talk turned to the lack of a current Queen for Imaj, as I’m sure you know.”
“Uh, yeah, sure.”
“So they begin talking about my mother and reminiscing on how she died I guess and I learned a witch from Anx killed her. Now I’m on a mission to find the witch and kill her. An eye for an eye, I suppose.”
“Seems kind of violent.” Virgil shuddered.
Roman shrugged. “I’ll have to put all my sword-training to use someday, anyways.”
They walked a bit more in silence. Virgil looked down at the ground and his black, muddy boots, stepping over the rough trail. Eventually it began to thin and Virgil looked up to see the amount of trees in his vision decreasing as well. His heart started to pound once more as he realized he would be leaving the woods soon. Outside of the woods? Outside. Danger. Bad, trap, bad. Oh God, this was all a trap, it was a trap-
“You okay?” Roman said after glancing to the side in Virgil’s direction.
“Y-yeah.”
Breathe, Virgil. Breathe goddamnit.
“You don’t look okay,” Roman noted, stopping again to get a closer look at the half-dragon creature. Virgil was nearly sweating, chest rising and falling in a rapid pattern and his small fangs gnawing into his bottom lip.
“It’s just that...” Virgil whimpered. “A-are you sure I’ll be okay in there?” If he looked over the edges of the soft green trees he was almost sure he could see the outlines of a kingdom. Kingdom Imaj. Roman’s kingdom. Roman who, despite just meeting him, had already lied to him and told him personally he was about to lie to his father. The King. Oh God.
“Virgil, I promise. What kind of Prince would I be if I broke a promise? And to a dragon-boy, no less.”
Virgil honestly didn’t know what to do, what to believe. Fight or flight. Flight would mean literally flying away from this situation, back to loneliness and solitude. Fight would mean continuing on and fighting through whatever happens to him outside of the woods. In the castle.
Virgil ended up choosing the latter, and not even on his own accord. By the time his heart had settled from it panic they were fully out of the woods and in front of them lay the sight of a village and a large castle. There was no turning back now.
-
“A dragon!”
“Kill it!”
“Halt!”
“Quick, all men at front gates of the castle!”
“Halt!”
“Dragon! Kill the dragon! Strike it dead!”
“I SAID HALT!!!” Roman screamed, holding out his arms as Virgil hid behind them. “No one is killing Virgil! That is an order, gentlemen!”
The guards around them all looked at each other warily but let down their weapons with shaky nods. “If you say so, Your Highness.” Your Highness? Was Virgil supposed to be addressing Roman with those formalities this whole time? God, he was so done for.
“Now if you’ll excuse me-” Roman lifted his head in the air and grabbed Virgil’s hand, dragging him behind him. And, okay, normally Virgil would either be provoked or annoyed but Roman’s hand was really warm and nice in his own. Like a comforting anchor in the midst of all this chaos, he told himself.
Virgil and Roman had walked through the entire village of curious citizens who either screamed and cried out at the sight of him and ran to hide their children or leaned in closer, trying to steal glimpses of the freak creature that was currently following their beloved Prince. Virgil was plenty uncomfortable with being the center of attention but now his stomach felt like it would absolutely combust at the mere thought of going inside the castle and meeting the King.
Think. What did his dad teach him about the King? Not much, of course. Life outside the forest was never really one of their best subjects. He’d never even heard of there being two kingdoms on either sides of the forests until now.
Fear paced around in Virgil’s poor heart as he followed Roman into the castle. The air was automatically cooled and smelt of a higher class aristocracy. It was clean, crisp, and it only made Virgil more terrified. Golden and scarlet decals and polished floors or walls marked every inch of the large castle and Virgil was already running out of breath from all the long-ass halls they were speed-walking through. Well, at least Roman was speed-walking, probably with excited anticipation, and Virgil was being dragged behind him.
Eventually they arrived at two very large doors, no doubt belonging to the throne-room. Virgil began to noticeably shake with nervousness and Roman shot a reassuring smile his way, squeezing his hand just a little.
“Trust me, Virgil. You have nothing to worry about.” His voice was like silk, smooth but Virgil put it in his head as false security. With that, Roman let go of his hand to push open the doors and immediately bowed before the King upon stepping inside.
Virgil looked at Roman and immediately did the same, but this only caused his wings to flail around him awkwardly, not used to such a position. He stiffened as they began fluttering behind him and he quickly stood up and tried to calm him down, and Roman followed, speaking loudly as to distract his father from Virgil’s antics.
“Ahem! Father, Your Highness, King of Imaj, may I present to you Virgil of Kingdom Anx! I was out in the village again today and found him and decided to assist him. May he stay here until we can find his home?” Roman said, and Virgil finally looked up to meet the eyes of the King. He didn’t really look like a King, sitting on his massive thrown though he was only a small thing, bounding up and down giddily like a kid and smiling from ear to ear.
“Why of course! This is so cool! We don’t get a lot of dragons around here, let alone humanoid dragons! I didn’t even know Anx had humanoid dragon boys! What a delight!” The King squealed, clapping his hands. Virgil looked at him with some surprise and Roman nudged him with his elbow.
“Oh. Um- thank you, sir,” Virgil said, voice low and quiet but the King understood.
“Oh, dear, please call me King Patton,” the royalty said, waving his staff around happily. “Servants, find this fine young boy a room to stay in until we get this whole ordeal cleared up!”
The humble servants began to make their move, but were stopped when a voice called out, “Wait!”
Everyone turned to the man standing beside the throne dressed in blue robes, adjusting his thick glasses with a frown. “We cannot simply take in a citizen of Anx. They’ll have our heads if we do so, seeing as this boy is not even just a regular human.”
“Logan, I’m sure it will be fine! He’s just a little kiddo after all-“
“Your Highness, your optimistic moral judgement is clouding your logical thinking. As your top royal advisor besides my father I say we do not take this boy in lest you want to forget what happened the last time we angered King Deceit,” Logan warned. Virgil gulped, not knowing what he was talking about but by the way King Patton was staring at his advisor with fear he knew it wasn’t a pretty thing.
“But- but we can’t just kick him out onto the streets!”
“If he made it all the way over to Imaj from Anx than he can make it all the way back. Let us not forget he is a dragon humanoid. He can fly… right?” Logan looked at Virgil curiously who nodded. “Actually, now that I’m thinking about it, has anyone actually asked this newcomer what is purpose is for being here? Prince Roman, Your Highness, you did say you found him in the village. How? Why? When?”
Virgil bit his lip, but Roman remained calm. “Okay, okay, that is enough, Logan. I didn’t ask him because it isn’t my job to know the reason he is lost. My duty as heir to the throne and future ruler of Imaj is to take care of everyone in our noble kingdom, and that includes lost tourists.”
“Tourist?” Logan sneered. “You really think this boy is just a tourist? He could be a spy sent from King Deceit for all we know! He probably is! Look at him! Do you really trust him?”
Virgil looked up at King Patton again who looked down at him with a pout.
“Is that true?” the King asked in a whisper, almost saddened by the mere thought of this boy that he just met being a spy all along. Virgil shook his head, slowly at first, but then the movement grows more rapid and frantic.
“No, no, it isn’t! I swear! I- I’m not even from the Kingdom Anx!” Virgil cried, and Logan rolled his eyes.
“Another lie! There’s no way out of it now, you’re a liar and a spy and you shall be kicked out of Imaj at once!” Logan announced, but King Patton slammed down his staff.
“Silence, Logan! At least let the kiddo explain himself!” Patton barked, then turned to Virgil with a sweet smile. “What do you mean you aren’t from Anx, sweetie?”
“I’m- I’m not from Anx,” Virgil said, stuttering a bit, searching for the right words. “Nor am I from Imaj. I’m from the woods. I was born there, raised there, and I never left there until now.”
“So why come here?” Logan demanded.
Virgil looked at Roman, remembering his promise not to tell anyone about him going into the woods to go to Anx. “I- uh, was running away from something.” Well that wasn’t a lie. He had been, after all, before getting stuck in a hunter’s net.
“From what?” Patton asked, intrigued.
Virgil took a deep breath. “Well, um, you see I had a dad. I don’t know about my mother, and father never told me, so I got used to just living in the woods with him. He schooled me, taught me everything I know, but one day-“ Virgil took a shaky breath, feeling his body wobble a bit as the tears began pointing down. “One day he died.”
“Oh, that’s horrible!” Patton cried.
“But that doesn’t explain why you were running,” Logan pointed out.
“The reason why I was running is because ever since then I’ve been getting visions of a witch who is after me and I must have hallucinated her chasing me. Don’t worry, it happens a lot. Dad told me a witch cursed me from birth, which is why I look like this. It’s why I’m half-dragon,” Virgil explained in a quiet voice. The room was quiet for a moment before Patton banged his staff against the floor again.
“Servants, you may now get this boy a room!” Logan opened up his mouth to disagree but Patton shushed him. “And not a word out of your mouth, Logan.” Logan’s mouth snapped shut with a glare, but Patton didn’t seem to mind.
The group of servants began crowding around Virgil, musing at his wings while they lead him out of the room and down the twisting halls again. From somewhere behind him he could hear Roman’s voice asking his father if he could accompany Virgil and the King’s acceptance of the request.
Not too long after, Roman bounded up to Virgil’s side with a smile. “That angsty backstory you told back there really sold my dad, huh? I didn’t know you had it in you!” Roman said.
“What? You think what I said was a lie? I don’t lie, Princey, everything I said back there was true since I never said anything about leaving the woods to the King,” Virgil spat, and Roman’s eyes widened.
“R-really? Oh God, Virgil, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. Don’t worry about it,” Virgil hummed as he stopped in front of a room. Some of the servants left, claiming to go run to tell the cooks to prepare a meal for him, and the others that stayed behind were all asking him questions at once.
“Do you need a bigger room, sir?”
“Want anything else before we go?”
“All preparations are made for your bath, sir. Would you like us to bathe you?”
Virgil flushed at that last one, and Roman waved a dismissive hand. “That’s not really necessary!” His face was also visibly blushing, and Virgil wondered absentmindedly if it was because of the thought of his servants bathing him or the now public knowledge that the servants have bathed the Prince before. “Thank you, though. I’ll take it from here.”
The servants looked at one another skeptically but nodded and bowed to their Prince before leaving him and Virgil alone. There was a private silence that followed until Roman coughed.
“So, I hope you’ll be comfortable here for now. Go wash up and rest. Dinner will be ready soon and we’ll begin the search for your home… in the forest… tomorrow morning,” Roman said, and Virgil nodded slowly.
“Okay.” But that was going to be a problem, especially considering- Virgil stopped that train of thought. He’d tell Roman when it was a better time. “Sounds good… Your Highness.” He wasn’t used to the phrase and luckily Roman shook his head.
“No, no. Please just call me, Roman. There’s no need for formalities here,” the Prince said with a dashing smile, and Virgil nodded again before slipping into the room without a goodbye.
It was huge, huger than any room Virgil had ever been in before. The bed could fit an elephant, a literal plush couch leaned against a big window, a complementary basket of fruit stood upon a pedestal. The walls were white with specks of gold woven within them and paintings lined each one.
Some were of colorful landscapes ranging from an autumn day to lush gardens of flowers. The others were portraits of people, but not just of any people. They were royals. Virgil’s eyes followed each painting consisting of a couple. An old man and woman on the first wall draped in royal purples. Next to them a slightly younger man and woman dressed in earthy greens. And so on and so forth with the same pattern, each couple’s clothing marked a different shade as expensive crowns sat on their heads.
A knock at the door pulled Virgil out of his thoughts and he muttered, “Come in.”
Roman threw open the door and waved his hands around grandly. “Hello, again, Virgil. I have just come to check to see how you enjoyed your bath and-“ He looked over the dragon boy with a frown. “You haven’t bathed yet?”
“Oh. No,” Virgil said, face flushing. “I must’ve zoned out looking at the paintings… I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize,” Roman said as he joined Virgil to look at the paintings. “These are all my grandparents, you know.”
“Yeah.”
“There’s Father and… and Mom,” Roman whispered, pointing to the very last painting. Patton, a bit younger than he is right now, stood smiling with his staff, clothes all a light, baby blue. Beside him was a blonde woman with the same shade of clothes. While Roman has his dad’s hair color and smile, he had his mom’s eyes and overall face, especially the chin. The similarities shouldn’t be surprising knowing they were related, but they were anyways.
“My painting is next,” Roman suddenly said, throat tightening. Virgil looked at him curiously.
“Hooray?” he said, phrasing the word like a question.
“Not hooray. See all these paintings? They all have a man and a woman. The problem is, I’m a man and I do not like women,” Roman explained. “My dad couldn’t care less about gender, which made it easy for the royal council to hook him up with some Princess from the Kingdom Perela in order to make our alliance official or whatever.” Roman blew some air past his lips, almost looking enraged. “But I- I just can’t. I do not love women, not in that way. I tried. But I have to produce a heir to throne somehow, and father would never have it. Logan would never have it.”
“Man, fuck that guy, Logan,” Virgil growled. “He’s such a jerk.”
“No, not really. Not always,” Roman said. “You can’t blame him for how he is. He is the son of the head royal council—my dad’s advisor—and is therefore my main royal advisor.”
“Then why be next to King Patton in the throne-room? Why not his father?”
“Because… his father has fallen ill. We have suspections it might be a witch, but I’m not to sure. People seem to blame everything on Anx’s witches these days. Anyways, it’s not like Logan is complaining. Poor fellow and my dad were in love as teenagers, but they couldn’t be together. The council wouldn’t allow it. So Logan has to lock up all his feelings lest he want to be kicked out of the council.”
Virgil gasped. “Bullshit.”
“It’s true.” Roman shrugged. “It’s just how things are around here. I can imagine I’d love being a prince if it weren’t for the fact I’ll be King next year, expected to have a child with a woman, and never adventure again.” He sighed heavily and Virgil didn’t know what else to do but pat his back.
Then Roman shook his head and immediately he was back to his cheery self again, looking at Virgil and beaming. “But don’t worry about me. You go take your bath and come out for dinner.” With that, Roman flicked his hand and left without another word.
Virgil gulped. He did as he was told, but didn’t stop worrying. That was the thing about him. When something bad happened, or in this case, when he heard about something bad he couldn’t stop fretting about it. It wasn’t his decision, it was just how his mind was.
Virgil tried to concentrate on the cold spray of the shower—he preferred it to bathing since a bath felt too much like the lakes in the forest and the shower felt like calming rain—letting the water drizzle down his body and he relaxed his wings. He tried not to drool too much when the dinner was more than anything he ever had in the forest. He tried not to let his carnivorous instincts take over as he dug into steak after steak until he couldn’t fit anymore into his stomach. And he tried to ignore Roman sitting right from across from him watching his chaotic eating, an expression on his face that Virgil couldn’t pin down by just looking at him from his peripheral vision but for some reason didn’t think it was disgust.
He tried, but honestly, what else was a dragon boy supposed to do?
-
Virgil had the best sleep he’d had in years that night in the soft fabrics of the ginormous bed. When he woke up the next morning Roman was already waiting for him, equipped with bodyguards and Logan by his side, explaining to Virgil they were going to help him find his home in the forest. But Virgil declined.
He used the conclusion that Roman jumped to as an excuse; he was too amazed by living in such a high-class castle that going back to the forest would just be plain torture for him. In reality, Virgil couldn't even see himself trying to explain the truth about why he couldn’t go back home, no matter how much he hated lying. Not even he could believe it when it happened, so he decided telling Roman and everyone else wasn’t the wisest option.
Upon this information, King Patton allowed Virgil another week in the castle, much to Logan’s dismay. One week soon turned into two and two into three until Virgil lost count. The transition wasn’t the easiest one, but Virgil managed to grow used to the heavy dinners, expensive antiques littering every corner, and large rooms.
Him and Roman grew plenty close too, Roman taking Virgil everywhere, showing him every single room there was in the castle. In return, Virgil let Roman play with his wings and ask questions about how they worked, sometimes even letting him feel his horns. It was… nice, to say the least, to have someone to talk to that you could call a friend without hesitation after all those years spent alone.
But Virgil didn’t want to get attached. Everyday he spent in that damn castle he worried he’d repeat the same mistake that deprived him of his old home in the forest… and father. Virgil growled in the back of his throat.
It was currently some time early in the morning and everyone was asleep while Virgil lay awake, an endless stream of anxious thoughts settling inside his head. This happened more often than he liked, but again, it was something he just had to live with. Sometime later—Virgil wasn’t sure when, the minutes always blurred together when he was up this late—there was a quiet knock on the door. Seeing as he had nothing better to do, Virgil got up slowly and pulled open to door, rubbing his eyes as he grumbled, “Who is it?”
“Virgil!” Roman’s energetic voice woke up every sleepy part of Virgil and he looked up at his friend with wide eyes.
“Whah-? Roman, what’re you doing up?”
“I couldn’t sleep! And I had the most fantastic idea!” Roman cried, then looked crestfallen. “I apologize if I woke you, I really should’ve done this in the morning-“
“No, no,” Virgil mumbled, waving his hand dismissively, “it’s fine. I was up already, promise.”
“Excellent,” Roman cheered. “Now, come with me!” Without further warning, he grabbed Virgil’s wrist and yanked him out of the room. In no time they were zooming through the labyrinth of halls that Virgil was surprised to almost have memorized by now until they got to one unlike the rest.
While all the others had several doors and rooms connected to it, this hall only had one large door at the very end. It was a crimson red with golden swirls lining the edges, standing proud as if the room it was hiding behind it was the definition of the word elegance.
“What’s this one go to?” Virgil whispered.
“It’s a room I haven’t showed you before because no one is allowed in here except for father and me,” Roman whispered back.
“Then why’d you bring me here? Trying to get me in trouble, Ro?”
Roman flinched at the nickname and for a second Virgil feared he went too far but instead Roman just smiled at him. “No, not at all. Technically no one is allowed in here until today, and it’s past midnight so… we’re not breaking any rules.”
“Why today?” Virgil asked, watching Roman’s hand curl around the door handle.
“Well, today’s my coronation,” Roman said as gently as he could.
“What?! Why didn’t anyone tell me?! Are you even old enough to be King?! Didn’t you say it wasn’t until next year?!” Virgil was spitting out questions faster than he knew possible and Roman just laughed and grabbed his hands to calm him down.
“Slow down, Virge. First of all, no one told you because we didn’t want to worry you. And was supposed to be next year but next week is my nineteenth birthday so it’s not like having it any earlier harms any of the age rules too much.”
“But why the rush?”
Roman trembled slightly and put his hand back on the handle. “Logan figures the longer I’m King the more I’ll understand my duty to be married to a Princess and have a heir.”
Virgil snarled. “Stupid.”
“I know.”
There was a moment of quiet and Virgil looked up at the door again. “So… what does your coronation have to do with all of this?”
“This is the room we’re having it in. To put it in simplest terms, this is a ballroom, but unlike the others I showed you, it’s specifically my ballroom, made for only my special occasions only.”
“Sounds tacky.”
“Not until you see the inside, my dear,” Roman said, hand twisting the handle, but not going all the way. “Oh- and before we go inside, I want to tell you I brought you here for more than showing you the room and being rebellious teenagers.”
Virgil snorted. “Yeah? And why is that?”
Roman’s face softened as he looked at Virgil and he whispered, “If there was anyone I wanted to spend my last night-early morning with as Prince I wouldn’t have it with anyone else but you.”
Roman threw open the door and strolled inside, but Virgil didn’t follow. He was too busy trying to calm down his suddenly frantically beating heart in his chest. Why did his breathing get all rapid all of a sudden? Why was his face hot?
Virgil shrugged it off and silently stepped inside the room. It was pretty impressive, but so was everything else here to Virgil, growing up where he did and all. The walls were crisp white and red carvings of lions were everywhere.
“You look like you like the color red a lot,” Virgil commented.
Roman chuckled. “Yes, well, every royal is born with a birth color. Father’s was light blue and mine is now dark red. Can’t say I’m complaining, though. It is rather a beautiful color.”
Virgil hummed and realized they had made it to the center of the room. Roman looked at him, eyes burning with something Virgil didn’t recognize, and he led out his hand.
“Virgil, dragon humanoid of the forest between Imaj and Anx, will you so kindly indulge me, soon-to-be King Roman of Imaj, and accept my last dance as Prince?” Roman spoke sweetly and sincerely and Virgil suddenly felt like he wanted to burst.
“I- are you sure about this?”
Roman smirked, bowing a bit. “Positive.”
Shakily, Virgil took Roman’s hand and led him into a dance. It wasn’t formal but it wasn’t free-style either. It was a weird mix of the two, Roman’s hands on Virgil’s waist and Virgil’s around his neck as they swayed together and Roman threw in a hip twerk or two in the middle. He laughed as Virgil made a face of disgust at the action.
“Oh, come on, Virge!” Roman giggled. “Loosen up! Have some fun!”
“I haven’t had fun in years,” Virgil deadpanned. Roman pouted.
“You’d think being a half-dragon you’d be having a lot more fun than any of us petty humans.”
“It’s a burden.”
“It’s amazing.”
Virgil was shaking his head faster and faster, his body suddenly stopping and Roman had no choice but to stop dancing as well. “You don’t understand, Roman, so just shut up.”
“What don’t I understand?” Roman huffed. “That you get to fly whenever you want? Doesn’t seem like a burden to me.”
“I don’t just fly. You forget it’s a witch who cursed me.”
Roman let go of Virgil, cocking a brow. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
Virgil sighed. It was now or never. Roman was about to be King anyways. He wouldn’t want a freak like him running around his castle. “Do you remember when I told you my dad died?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s because I killed him.” Roman gasped and Virgil hurriedly waved his hands. “But it wasn’t my fault! I swear I didn’t mean to! One day a few years ago we were fighting, heaven knows what about, and I lost my temper. The next thing you know I’m roaring and breathing fire. The house burned down with him in it. I tried saving him but my wings weren’t developed enough to carry two people and he told me to fly and save myself.” Virgil sniffled, feeling the tears dribble down.
“A-and now he’s gone and I ever since then I’ve been having nightmares about that damn witch who cursed me at birth to be a freak, and even though I know they’re fake I still run as fast as I can wherever I can- which is what I was doing before getting trapped in that net.”
Roman was crying a bit too but he didn’t look sad, more shocked, cradling Virgil’s face carefully. “What?” Virgil croaked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You’re the lost prince.”
“The lost- what?”
“You’re the lost prince!” Roman cried louder. “Oh my God! It’s you!” Roman hugged him tightly.
“Roman, what are you talking about?!”
Roman released Virgil with a large laugh. “Long ago Anx had a King and Queen- Quick! What was your father’s name?”
“Nate, I think. We didn’t talk about it much.”
Roman only laughed louder. “King Nate and Queen Olivia! That’s what their names were!”
“Uh, Roman? The story?”
“Oh, right! Anx is a kingdom of magic, right? Well there was a group of witches who were against the monarchy and decided to kill off both kingdoms’ existing monarchs. The witch got away with my mother and Queen Olivia. My father managed to get away just in time from being affected by her spells and survived. As for King Nate, the story goes he ran away in fear and took his son with him. No one knew where and the highest noble of the court, Deceit, took over. And to think you were in the forest all along!”
“So, I’m a prince?”
Roman nodded feverishly. “Prince Virgil of the Kingdom Anx!”
Virgil smiled for a bit then frowned. “Well that doesn’t change a thing. I’m a hideous dragon freak. No one would accept me as royalty.
“While I would just reply by saying you’re not hideous that has me thinking. All of Anx’s figuration spells can be cured by one thing and one thing only.”
“What’s that?”
“True love’s first kiss.”
“I’m doomed,” Virgil groaned. “Not like I had any hope of being human again anyways. I’m just a freak.”
“You are not a freak, Virgil,” Roman hushed him, moving his hands to his shoulders. “Anybody would be lucky to have you as their true love.”
Virgil rolled his eyes. “Yeah right.”
“I’m serious.” Roman took his hands in his and began dancing again. Virgil let him, giving up on trying to hold back from the Prince.
“Should I go in? It's been an hour. I give a fake name and I hang in the emergency room,” Roman sang softly while spinning Virgil around.
“What’s that?”
“Just a tune I picked up from the village. I quite like it and find myself singing it often,” Roman explained, then continued. “They say the good thing about plastic flowers is you could spray them with any type of perfume.”
Roman began swaying his hips again to the imaginary rhythm of the song, nudging Virgil until he huffed with a smile and joined him.
“You should fear what you already know. And hope that you never find out about the things you don't know yet,” Roman sang. His voice really was something quite magical. It made Virgil feel as if he was on another plane of existence, it was so heavenly and calming. He wondered if Roman wasn’t a prince if he would have been a singer at a bar of some sort in the village instead.
“‘Cause I believe that someone's got a plan for me.” Roman rolled his eyes at that one and Virgil grinned. “Got a plan for me, even if I don't know it yet. Not quite yet.”
Virgil felt him relax and he let Roman caress his wings tenderly as they continued to dance together.
“You should fear a hurt that's hard to explain and hope that the next couple days to come are as relaxing as any other day.” Roman was brushing the tip of his right wing now with a light smile. “I hope your quarters go to laundry. I hope your problems go away.”
Virgil felt his wings start to flutter and soon he was dragging him and Roman up into midair. Roman stumbled on his singing a bit but when he realized Virgil was only taking him a couple feet off the ground and he was safe in his arms he continued.
“Either buried underground or drifted off into space. What more can I say?”
They were insanely close now due to Virgil having to hold Roman up, noses poking at each other’s at every move. They weren’t even dancing anymore, just staring at each other with reddish faces. Virgil felt like something was about to happen but he didn’t know what.
“'Cause we are all, eventually either the victims, or the victims' family. The victims' family, the victims' family.”
Roman hummed and stopped as they steadily floated back to solid ground, but neither moved a muscle. Virgil became suddenly aware how Roman was cradling his face again and how his own hands and wings were curled around the Prince’s body.
“Virgil,” Roman breathed.
“Yeah?” Virgil asked in between pants.
“I knew it every since I saw you. I didn’t understand why I liked you so much. I took notes on every fairytale book I could but none of them could explain how a Prince like me could fall in love with a dragon.” Virgil’s eyes widened.
“W-what?”
“Virgil, goddamnit, I love you,” Roman and in a pleasing voice. Virgil put a hand to his chest, feeling his thumping heartbeat. Was that why it was beating like that? Because he loved Roman? Prince Roman? Virgil’s breath hitched. Oh God he was in love with a Prince. And he was a Prince too. God, that was a lot to process in the early morning.
“I- Roman, I-“ Virgil choked and licked his lips. “Can’t- words, but yes.”
“Yes what?”
Virgil couldn’t think. His brain wasn’t functioning and trying to answer any questions right now would absolutely fry it. So Virgil didn’t speak, but captured Roman’s lips with his own instead.
Roman’s eyes flew open then quickly closed shut in pleasure as he dragged Virgil deeper in. Soon Virgil’s hands where in his hair and his own around Virgil’s waist, finding a good rhythm. It was delicate, it was passionate, it was everything and more. It only stopped when Roman’s eyes fluttered open and pulled back mid-kiss.
“Roman?” Virgil asked, blinking and getting adjusted to the light from closing them for so long.
“Virgil- Virgil look behind you!” Roman’s surprised face split into a huge grin and he released Virgil so he could turn around. He expected his eyes to be met with his violet wings but they didn’t- they… they were gone?
“My wings…” Virgil gasped, slowly feeling his forehead, no horn-less, his teeth, no fangs, and then his skin. Smooth without a trace of scales. He looked up at Roman with wide eyes. “True love’s kiss?”
“True love’s kiss,” Roman confirmed and squealed, picking Virgil up and then twirled him around until they were dizzy. Virgil laughed, genuinely laughed for the first time in forever, and finally felt worriless.
The next day Roman would become King and convince Logan and the council to abolish the heteronormative laws of Imaj, who would only agree since the Prince of Imaj being with the Prince of Anx would finally let the two kingdoms become allies. One day Virgil would be announced his fellow King as Anx and Imaj would blend together, and they would rule together and King Deceit would be no more. One day they would adopt an orphan boy on the streets and name him Remy to be their heir, allowed to marry any man, woman, or anyone in between or no one at all when he would take over the land.
But for now they had each other and that was enough.