Chapter Text
The ball was in full swing, and Virgil couldn’t get his breathing under control or his heartbeat down to a regular pattern. He had been skirting the walls of the room looking for the prince of the kingdom for about an hour, but he had yet to appear, and now he felt like all the bravery (or stupidity) that had led him to the ball that night had fled his system. He didn’t know why he was still there and what he thought he could achieve, and with the noise of the ball becoming an echoing headache he found himself escaping into the nearest corridor and through the door of the closest room.
Virgil slammed the door closed and immediately fell to the ground against it, bringing his knees up and the heels of his hands digging into his closed eyes. He gasped in any breath he could as he tried desperately to get his fear under control, but all it was doing was bringing him closer to hyperventilating.
“Are you OK?” A voice asked.
Suddenly aware that someone else was in the room, Virgil’s head shot up as he looked through bleary eyes to see a figure standing a little way off with his hands up like he was trying to calm Virgil down. Virgil tried to respond but his throat was too tight and all that escaped was a strangled sob. He shook his head repeatedly in the only answer he could muster and brought his hands back up to rub viciously at his eyes.
“OK then, umm, what can I do to help?” The voice grew louder as the man came closer and knelt down in front of Virgil, but didn’t touch him which he appreciated greatly, “Umm, I think you just need to get your breathing under control, right? Maybe… maybe try to follow my lead, or something?”
Virgil looked back up and saw that the man was breathing in an exaggerated way, with his hands moving up and down with each long and steady breath. It was almost amusing the way the man looked so panicked but was still breathing calmly, but Virgil watched intently, and after a while it seemed to work. Virgil finally could let a breath in and out without it getting caught, and once he was able to do that consistently he let out an even longer relieved breath out, let his knees drop to the floor, and all of his muscles relaxed.
“That worked?” The man asked, sounding shocked, but he too looked more relaxed as he sat against the wall next to Virgil while keeping a close watch, “I had no idea what I was doing, in case that wasn’t obvious, but it worked, right? You’re OK now?”
Virgil nodded and muttered a thanks that was barely audible. The stranger still beamed at the sentiment, as if he had been given a medal.
“You’re welcome!”
The two sat in a comfortable silence for a while until reality hit Virgil like a ton of bricks. He looked around the room properly for the first and saw that it was some kind of dimly lit sitting room, with enormous, exquisitely framed, paintings lining the walls, an unlit fireplace, and a few regal armchairs and sofas. He then turned to study his saviour and saw that the man was definitely dressed for the ball, in a white suit and red sash.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you,” Virgil blurted out hurriedly, “I shouldn’t be here, I really shouldn’t… I’ve gotta… but I… I shouldn’t…”
“Woah, woah, calm down there, buddy. You just started breathing again. Take it slow and tell me what the problem is. Maybe I can help?”
“I have to find the prince, but I can’t tell him what I need to tell him, but maybe you can.”
“The prince?”
“There’s an assassin here who is going to try and kill Prince Roman tonight.”
“What?” The stranger suddenly turned a ghostly white and Virgil could see fear and suspicion in equal measure in the man’s face, “How do you know that?”
“Because I… work for this assassin… I don’t kill people though, I promise!” Virgil quickly added, “It’s more like they have magic that stops me from defying them, but I couldn’t sit back and do nothing after I found out what they intended to do tonight, so after they left I came here myself to… I don’t know… push the prince out of the way… I haven’t thought it through.”
“Why not just tell the guards of this threat?”
“Part of the magic stops me telling any authority about their plan. I can tell you because I don’t know you, you’re just some guy, so it’s like a loophole, I guess. It’s not like they expected me to come here or oppose them in any way, so…”
The stranger laughed then, and Virgil furrowed his brow at the inappropriate reaction of finding out the monarchy was in danger.
“I’m just some guy, huh?” The man finally said as his laughter died down.
“No offence meant,” Virgil mumbled.
“No offence taken, really, I just don’t think anyone has ever said that about me. You see, I’m…”
“Don’t tell me!” Virgil interrupted, “The less I know the safer it is for you. Listen, I have to get back home before… the assassin does, so now you know there’s a threat you can warn the prince, and the guards, and everyone. My mission is complete. I’ve gotta go.”
Virgil stood up abruptly and the stranger followed suit rushing to stand in front of Virgil to halt his movement.
“Why go back to this assassin? Who are they?”
“I can’t tell you that. I can’t tell anyone that. One of the stupid spells stops me from uttering their name or anything identifiable about them when outside, as well as my own name.” Virgil looked away from the man when he saw pity begin to form in those large brown eyes.
“But you’re here right now, and I know that the prince would want to thank you properly for your efforts today. Please… stay and we can protect you.”
“Only if you take down the assassin. If they get away, then I’m still trapped with them, and nothing in this castle can stop that. They can’t know I was here.”
“Then…” The man began, shuffling from one foot to the other nervously, “Promise me this! When we take down this assassin and lock them away in an anti-magic prison… when they can no longer hurt you… you’ll return here, so the prince can thank you officially. Deal?”
The man stuck out his hand to shake on the matter, and Virgil stared at him in disbelief that a man could be so confident about matters he knew nothing about, but sure enough the man looked totally earnest in all he had said, and there was a fire in his eyes that confirmed it further. Virgil couldn’t stop the smallest of smirks at the man’s attitude.
He would usually have started pointing out the millions of reasons why the deal was stupid and never going to come to fruition, but he found that he didn’t have the heart to quell the stranger’s enthusiasm. Let him think that he could save Virgil if he really wanted to think that. It wasn’t like they would ever see each other again. So, Virgil lifted a slightly shaky hand and grasped the hand of the man before him.
Both men gasped as their bodies suddenly filled with adrenaline and warmth. The feeling swirled from their hands, throughout their bodies, and finally settled in their quickly beating hearts where a tingling sensation swept over the left side of their chests. They let their hands drop in confusion and awe, and while Virgil had no idea what had just happened the stranger seemed to have more of a clue as he ripped off his sash and started unbuttoning his shirt.
Virgil side-stepped and got some distance from the apparently insane man stripping before him, but paused when the man let out an excited squeal after revealing a large, intricate tattoo of purple flowers across his left peck. The man looked back up at Virgil with an excitement which both unnerved and delighted him.
“It’s so beautiful!” The man said in awe, “What does mine look like? Show me, show me, show me!”
“What are you talking about?” Virgil asked, taking a step back, in time with the man’s step closer.
“What am I talking about? What do you mean? I’m talking about this!” The man answered while waving a hand over the tattoo as if that explained everything, “Our soulmarks!”
“Soulmarks?” Virgil asked, feeling stunned, before he let out a mirthless laugh, “Those don’t exist, what are you even saying…”
“We’re soulmates! You and I! It’s rare, and incredible, and… you don’t believe in it?”
“I was told it was fiction. Soulmates aren’t real.”
“Check out your chest and then tell me again soulmates aren’t real.” The man declared and folded his arms like a child.
Virgil sighed and decided to comply, if only to put this nonsense to rest, but he had also felt something strange, and he was curious. His own suit was a plain black tie affair – nothing fancy that would stand out – so he undid the tie and unbuttoned his shirt, and stopped after the second button when he caught a glimpse of something red on his skin.
“What the f…” Virgil breathed out.
His hands started to shake as he unbuttoned the rest of the shirt to reveal a single red rose which spread widely over his left peck and had definitely not been there when he had got dressed into the suit earlier. The other man began squealing excitedly again, but Virgil just stared at it numbly, and slowly rubbed a finger over it as if it might come off.
“It’s amazing! You have to stay now! We’re meant to be together, forever, it’s everything I dreamed about. You’re everything I dreamed about!”
“Hold on,” Virgil finally snapped back into the room and he tugged the shirt closed again, rapidly buttoning it back up, “This doesn’t change anything. I have to go, and you have to save the prince. We’ve wasted too much time here already.”
“But wait…” The man said, sounding sad for the first time, “We’re soulmates…”
“So what?” Virgil snapped back, getting angry despite himself, “Love won’t save me from my life. We made a deal, right? If you capture the assassin then I’ll return, but until then… I have to go.”
“Wait, please,” The man cried out as he tried to get in front of Virgil again, “I can’t just say goodbye to you now. Surely there’s some way that I can see you again – assuming we don’t capture the assassin tonight, of course.”
The voices in Virgil’s head screamed at him to let the man down now before things went too far; to crush any hope of a future together; to just run and never look back. One look at the man in front of him made those voices louder and more distant at the same time. He hardly knew anything about the concept of soulmates, but he felt in his heart that something had changed. This man meant something to him, something incredibly important, and he couldn’t bear to hurt him.
Virgil groaned and rubbed at his forehead to try and release the tension that had grown there as his mind reeled with new feelings he couldn’t understand.
“There’s a town called Pennybrooke, to the West of here.” Virgil said, “When I am allowed out I always visit the library, for as long as I can, but I couldn’t tell you when I would next be there. It could be a few days, or weeks, or even months. If you sent a letter there then I would eventually get it and I would be able to reply.”
“But I don’t even know your name.”
“Address it to Logan. He’s the librarian. Tell him… tell him the message is for the man in the purple and black cloak.”
“Pennybrooke, Logan, purple and black cloak. If this is as much as you can give me right now then I’ll take it.”
The man still looked sad but his old confidence had returned and he looked as determined as though Virgil had given him a quest to complete.
“Now go save the prince.” Virgil ordered.
One last small smirk was given, and the man offered a broader smile in return with a definite nod, then Virgil headed for the window of the room, opened it up and jumped. He heard a gasp from the man which made him smirk again, but he knew he was safe as he cast a spell to allow him to float to the ground. He looked back up to see the man watching him from the window. He gave a little salute back up to the man then ran into the gardens, beyond hedges and out of sight.