Chapter Text
The day had started out normal.
Roman found that hard to believe now.
++_+_++
The first thing Roman noticed when he woke up was a sense of dread pooling in his gut.
The second thing he noticed was that his alarm was way too loud.
“Taz!” He called, shoving a pillow into his face. His butler came stumbling in, trying to wrestle his shirt on.
“Yes, my prince?” Taz asked, gingerly picking his way through the absolute mess that was Roman’s room.
Roman raised his head. “Taz, come on, stop with the titles. We’ve known each other since we were three.”
Taz shifted. “Yeah, but I get nervous.” He said plaintively. “You know your parents scare me, and they would murder me if I didn’t use titles.”
Roman sat up, a hint of a smile at his lips. Taz was, by far, the most endearing person in the castle. “On the topic of my parents-”
“Oh no.” Taz groaned. Roman flashed him a smirk. “Can you tell Mother I can get up without having an airhorn in my ear?”
“Why don’t you do it?” Taz grumbled, already making his way towards the door.
“Because you know I’d just make her mad!” Roman called after Taz’s quickly retreating back.
“Yeah, yeah, yuk it up.” Taz said, but Roman could hear the laugh in his voice. He grinned, stretching and popping his back. Standing up, he made his way over to his dresser, throwing on the first thing he could find.
Just as he finished getting ready, Taz came bursting back into the room.
“Roman!” He said, out of breath. “You have to come. Now.”
Roman jerked up, looking around wildly. “What is it?”
Taz shook his head. “I don’t have time to explain, just- just hurry up!”
Roman dropped his hairbrush, sprinting after Taz- he was surprisingly fast. Rounding a corner to enter the throne room, Roman skidded to a halt.
He gaped at the scene before him. Remus had, somehow, gotten… some sort of slime concoction to dump all over their parents’ thrones. Roman felt a surge of affection at how Remus it was, making his way over to his brother.
“Roro!” Remus crowed, squeezing him in a hug that Roman realized- too late- was a ploy to get slime on him.
“Remus, you odious- oh, get off!” Roman tried to detach himself from his twin, but Remus only squeezed him tighter. By the time Remus finally let go, Roman was covered head to toe in slime.
Roman grumbled, a hint of a smile at his lips as he attempted to clean himself.
“Remus,” Taz sounded exasperated. “You need to clean this up.”
Remus appeared to consider this, before shaking his head. “Nah, I spent too much time on this!” He grinned brightly.
“No, you need to clean it right now.” Taz’s voice was low, a warning. Remus, evidently finding that he was serious, sighed. “Fine.” He lamented.
Just then, voices drifted through the halls towards them. Roman stiffened. He didn’t want to think about what would happen if his parents found that Remus had done this.
"Quick, hide!" He hissed- too late. Their parents opened the door to the throne room, stopping dead in their tracks. The others with them- likely royalty from a neighboring kingdom- began to whisper.
Roman blurted out "It's not what it looks like!" a few seconds before his brain caught up with his mouth, and internally smacked himself. Could he have been any more obvious?
Seeing the disgust on his mother's face, he hurried to clarify. "I was, um..." He glanced at Remus. "Practicing potions with Remus! And, uh, it, just… exploded? All over? And that's what this is!"
Taz sighed. Roman shot him a glare before turning back to his parents. Finally, the King spoke.
"Taz?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow. "You're supposed to keep them safe. Where were you during this?"
Roman paled.
And Remus spoke up. "No! It was me. It was a prank! Taz was with Roman."
Roman clenched his fists. He wouldn't let Remus take the fall again.
But it was too late. His parents were nodding like they always did, the oh, of course Remus did something wrong.
He wished, just this one time, they thought it was him who did it.
He watched miserably as Remus was dragged out of the room.
Taz touched his shoulder. "You need to get to classes, My Liege." He reminded gently.
Roman brushed him off, storming out of the room.
++_+_++
When Taz found him again, he was curled up on the bed as tightly as he could manage.
"Roman-" he started, sitting down next to him.
"It's not fair!" Roman burst out, tears making his vision blurry. "He always gets the blame, always, Taz. Why do they think I'm the good one?" Roman sighed. "It's not fair." He mumbled, burying his head in his hands.
Taz looked at the ground. "I know." He murmured quietly, resting a hand on Roman's shoulder.
They sat like this for a while, until Roman's fury had turned into a passive sort of heat, simmering quietly beneath the surface.
The lunch bell rang.
Jolting out of his stupor, Roman dragged himself out of bed after Taz, mentally preparing himself for the chaos of meals in the palace.
Servants rushed back and forth outside his door, bringing platters and platters of food that smelled divine.
Roman made his way down the hall, not-quite dodging a falling something once
("Oh, I'm so sorry, My Prince, let me clean that up for you.")
and getting a stain that was quickly removed by one of the passing maids.
When he got to the dining hall, filled to the brim with nobles, he looked around, searching for his brother. He'd be somewhere around here… there!
Roman's brow furrowed. That wasn't right.
Remus was seated at his parent's side, looking seconds away from bursting into tears.
Roman made his way towards him, but before he could get there, he was pushed back by a guard.
"Hey!" He said, glaring. "Let me through. Do you know who I am?"
The guard nodded. "I am under express orders to not let you through. My Liege." He added hastily after seeing Roman's expression darken.
"My Prince," Taz said. "Maybe it is best you don't-"
Roman was already stomping away, looking murderous. He sat down, hard, in a chair.
The noble next to him inched away.
Out of the corner of his eye, Roman saw Taz sigh. He strained to hear the quiet conversation Taz had with the guard, but wasn't quite close enough.
Soon, Taz joined him, sliding into the empty seat- that had been previously occupied by the noble- next to him.
"Roman," Taz sighed, and Roman knew he was in for a lecture.
He beat Taz to it. "I know, I know, no public outbursts, I just can't help it."
Taz's eyes softened. "I know." He said softly, chewing on his bottom lip. "It's hard."
"Yeah." Roman agreed. "It is."
They sat in silence until the bell rang again, bringing silence in its wake.
Roman's mother began to speak.
"Hello and good morning to everyone. As you all know, we're going to be putting our new crop plan to use soon..."
Roman tuned her out, playing with his napkin. He wondered what was going to happen to Remus.
As if on cue, his ears turned back in.
"... As you all know, our son Remus has been particularly," She wrinkled her nose, practically spitting out the word. "Troublesome lately."
She softened her face, a perfect mask of calm. Roman strained to hear her next words, heart in his throat. "Bluntly put, he is a bother. He contributes nothing to this Kingdom. So, we have decided to exile him."
Roman was up before he knew what he had done. "No!" He shouted, voice breaking. He met Remus's teary eyes, and continued, stronger. "You- you can't do that! He's your son!"
His mother's face remained a perfect, practiced smile. "Roman, honey, sit down please."
Roman glared at her. "You can't do this." He looked around wildly at the nobles. "She can't do this!"
No one replied.
Roman caught Remus's eyes and deflated. Remus had given up. The nobles weren't going to help. His parents sure weren't going to do anything.
Taz tugged on his sleeve, eyes sad. I'm sorry, they said. There's nothing you can do.
Roman sat down, numb.
++_+_++
He finished the rest of the day in a haze. He wasn't sure what to do with himself now that he knew his twin, his other half, was going to leave.
That night, he laid in bed, wishing he had a way to save Remus. He dreamed up every single possibility, but discarded each one.
For once in his life, he didn't have a plan.
For once in his life, there wasn't going to be a happy ending.
Distantly, he heard a clang at his window
Well, let the kidnappers or whatever they were come. He didn't think his day could get much worse.
Remus tumbled through his window in a blue of green.
"Remus!" Roman instinctively relaxed. With Remus here, nothing could hurt him.
"Hey Ro-Bro." Remus's voice lacked his normal flair, making Roman hyper-aware of their present situation.
"How did you even get in…?" Roman wondered absently. "I'm like, three stories up." He shook himself. "Nevermind. I- I'm glad you're here." He said softly, smiling a t Remus.
Remus gave him one of his rare real smiles back. "... I'm glad I'm here too." He admitted.
Unable to contain himself, Roman lurched forward, throwing his arms around Remus and squeezing as tight as he could.
Remus made an attempt to laugh, sniffling. “Whoa, bro, trying to suffocate people is my thing.” He tried to pull away, to no avail.
Roman gripped Remus’s shirt in his hands and fiercely pulled him back in. “I love you, Remus.” He said, words muffled when he buried his face in Remus’s shirt.
At once, as if the words were a switch Roman had flipped, Remus’s calm facade crumbled. “Love you too, Ro.” He replied, trying not to sound miserable.
He failed.
“Hey, it'll be okay yeah?” Remus said, trying for reassurance. “As long as we have each other.”
“Yeah,” Roman echoed hollowly, “As long as we have each other.”
As long as we have each other.
The next day, Remus was gone.
__________________
Once upon a time, two princes were cursed.
But first, let us set the stage.
One was a prince in his truest form. Dashing, noble, courageous- he was the perfect son for the King and Queen.
The other, well.
The other was... not quite a prince. The second was, simply put, a nuisance. He was an embarrassment to the Royal Family.
And embarrassments were exiled.
Of course, the first prince fought and kicked and screamed. He would not stand for this, that was his brother, please please please he can’t leave!
The townspeople shook their heads and murmured sympathetic nothings that the prince knew they didn’t mean.
He turned to them anyway, begging them for help.
And, of course, they turned him away.
Thus, the castle was purged.
Watching from the sidelines, the Dragon Witch bared their teeth in a smile.
__________________
It shouldn't have happened.
No.
We should have stopped it.
A sigh. You know we can't.
He's right, you know. None of this is fair.
We can't do anything about it. We just tell the story.