Will woke up cold, hungry and in pain.

He noticed a total of three things. The first thing, was the horrible pounding in his head. He grimaced and reached around to feel the back of his head. His hair was crusty and matted from what was probably dried blood, the cuts in his palm stinging painfully.

The next thing he noticed was that he was lying face down on cold, uneven ground that was very much different from the hardwood and tiled floors of his house. He forced his arms to work and push him up into a kneeling position, realizing that branches, leaves and mud had been strewn all over his back. Will came to the realization that Cassandra must of thought that she had killed him immediately hidden the body to avoid punishment. Sadly, Will couldn't bring himself to be surprised. He shakily stood up and took a few minutes to gain his bearings before looking around. That's when he realized the final thing.

He had no idea where he was.

He was surrounded by bare trees, dead leaves strewn around on the ground meaning he was probably in a forest. The lack of leaves allowed him to see the sky clearly, the sun being at a high point in the sky. That meant it was about it was about mid-day. If it was even the same day. That was as much as he could figure out. His head throbbed in pain and he did as much as he could to try and ignore it for now.

He considered trying to find his way back to his house but immediately shot it down. Going back would mean facing Cassandra and she would surely try to kill him this time, no doubt about it. What mattered most right now was finding shelter, food and hopefully civilization before he got eaten by wolves. Did wolves live in forests? Were they even native to this country? He had no idea and had no intention of ever finding out.

Will turned around in a circle before deciding on which direction to walk in. He walked off confidently. That was a lie but he liked to think he was confident, so he was. Sue him.

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Will had been walking no longer than ten minutes when- well, it could have been longer than ten minutes, or even shorter maybe, he had no way of knowing, it's not like he had a watch. But that's not important. As he was saying, he hadn't been walking for very long when he heard heavy footsteps.

Will froze, not daring to move. What if it was a wolf? 'Don't be stupid.' He chided himself. Wolf footsteps weren't that heavy. It had to be a human...or something bigger. The fear settled in his chest leaving him feeling cold and empty. What if Cassandra had come back to check on him? If she found him...he didn't want to think of what would happen. The footsteps were getting closer now and Will impulsively did the first thing he could think of. He dove into a thick hedge. Due to winter being so wonderful, the hedge had no leaves. It also had thorns.

Will bit back a hiss of pain. The hedge provided barely any cover but maybe if he stayed very still, whoever was approaching wouldn't see him...hopefully.

Will's vision was partially obscured because of the bare branches but he managed to catch a glimpse of the person, letting out a silent breath when he realized it wasn't Cassandra. The person was riding a midnight black horse and some rather atrocious, far too fancy shoes. Seriously they were so- 'Will shut up, your gay is showing' he thought to himself and went back to observing his mystery stranger.

He caught glimpses of pale skin and raven hair, not even knowing the horse had stopped in front of him until he was staring directly into eyes the colour of dark chocolate. Will let out a startled squeak, practically running out of the hedge and passed the stranger, backing away until his back hit a tree.

The stranger simply raised an eyebrow at him, looking at him as if he declared that he had found a unicorn. Upon a closer inspection, the stranger was a boy who looked as if he were about 13 years old. His clothes didn't look too special at first glance, but if you looked closer you could see how fancy they were. The shoes were still awful though. He had his hands clasped behind his back, having a refined air around him. He stood up straighter to try and seem important but to Will, it only made him look more like a cute kid.

'Yup.' Will thought. 'Definitely rich.' The boy began walking closer to him and with the tree at Will's back, he had nowhere to run. Not like he could run, the kid had a horse after all.

Will also didn't have to ask to know that the boy thought he was strange. Every rich kid thought the poorer kids were weird for one reason or another. It didn't matter if you were the most proper and polite person to exist, if you were poor, you were looked down upon. That's the way it was.

"Do you usually jump into shrubbery when you see horses?" He asked. Will blushed deeply. Okay, so maybe him being weird was a worthy assumption in this case but he wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"Do you usually wear shoes that look like the lovechild of an eggplant and fool's gold?" He countered, satisfied when the other boy blushed deeply and looked away.

"I know they're awful but I have to because they're fancy and elegant." He muttered the last words mockingly. Will found himself breaking into a grin. The kid seemed okay.

"So what's a kid like you doing in the woods all by yourself?" He asked trying to start a conversation. The boy's head whipped towards him, giving him a death glare. Will wasn't impressed.

"What do you mean?!" He snapped. "I'm old enough to be out on my own!"

Will snorted and gave him a look "Ya sure kid, how old are you? 13?"

"Idiot, I'm 15! Do you people usually talk to royalty this way?!" He asked incredulously before freezing as if he hadn't meant to say that. Will went stiff at the sudden realization.

Schist.

Royalty. There was only one teenage royal.

The prince.

This kid was the prince.

Prince Nico, heir to the throne.

And he insulted him.

Twice.

Schist.

Will scrambled to step forward and kneel on one knee, ducking his head in apology.

"I'm sososo sorry, your highness, I didn't know it was you, it wont happen again, pleasedon'tkillme." He apologized frantically, praying to every god he could think of that he wouldn't get chopped into bits or whatever it was that they did to people who disrespected the royal family.

The prince didn't seem to be listening to him anymore though and began walking towards him urgently. Will gulped and reminded himself to keep his eyes glued to the ground until he was told otherwise unless he wanted to be thrown in some dungeon for the rest of his life.

Nico-Prince Nico on the other hand, was being more cautious towards him now, as if Will were a wild animal. He reached a hand out and brushed his hand through Will's hair hesitantly as if he was afraid of hurting him. He probably was, Will realized. There was dried blood on the back of his head after all. The prince finally seemed to realize that Will was still kneeling and sighed in exasperation. He grabbed one of Will's arms helping him up.

"You can cut it with the prince crap." He said before Will could get a word out. "I hadn't wanted to say it, I just get annoyed when people think I'm younger than I actually am. It's not my fault I'm short. So treat me like you were before, got it?" He said sternly. Will nodded quickly and Nico turned his attention back to the blood in his hair, seemingly concerned "What happened?" He asked.

"I fell out of a tree." Will replied immediately. The curse had taught him how to lie extremely well, to the point where only Cassandra, Lou Ellen and Cecil could tell. Will himself, hated lying. It only added to the heavy weight on his shoulders, made up of pent up misery and missed opportunities to confess the truth.

Nico seemed to believe him, which wasn't surprising. He grabbed Will's hand before letting it go almost immediately as if it was covered in slime. He grabbed Will's wrist and turned his palm upwards, revealing dirt, dried blood and the cuts from the shattered vase. Will cringed. Thankfully there were no pieces of that vase stuck in his hand, but it was so filthy. Nico must be disgusted.

Nico didn't comment on it though, taking him by the wrist to his horse. He put his foot in the stirrup and hoisted himself onto the horse before turning to look at Will expectantly. He patted a part of the horse's back, clearly wanting him to do something but Will could only manage to stare blankly at him, uncomprehending of what he was being asked to do. Nico sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"Get on the horse, I'm taking you to the castle to get fixed up." Will tensed, his eyes widening.

"Wait what?! You don't need to do that, I'm fine. I know some first aid and stuff, I can take care of myself." He said quickly. No way in hell he was letting himself be checked out by a doctor. They would see all his bruises and scars. That would be way too embarrassing and awkward. Will could imagine it, Nico and some stranger staring at him in utter pity while he couldn't even form the words to tell them what happened. No, going to a doctor was not an option. Anyways he had been studying first aid techniques ever since his dad died, he would be fine. Nico seemed less than impressed though.

"I said get on the dam horse. Now." He ordered. Will opened his mouth to protest but the look Nico gave him made him think otherwise. He relented and got on awkwardly, sitting behind Nico. He would just have to make sure the doctor didn't check under his shirt and then he could probably get away scott free.

Nico clucked his tongue and the horse turned, walking in the exact opposite direction Will had been going when he jumped into the hedge. Will nearly fell off at the sudden movement and scrambled for a place to keep his hands so he could steady himself. He ended up wrapping his arms around Nico's waist, feeling his face heat up at the intimate position. The prince had stiffened at the sudden contact but soon relaxed slightly, flicking the reins to make the horse go faster.

"So why are you climbing trees so far away from the village?" Nico asked. Will gulped and scrambled for a lie.

"I-I'm kindof adventurous?" He said, laughing nervously. Nico looked over his shoulder, an eyebrow raised.

"So, you just happen to be about 10 miles away from the village, just because you wanted to climb a tree." He said slowly.

"I-I mean, I kindof just like to explore?" That came out sounding like a question. "I mean, I realized I got lost eventually so I thought that if I climbed a tree I would be able to see the village." He clarified quickly. Nico narrowed his eyes, looking at Will suspiciously. The intensity of the his gaze was starting to make him squirm but luckily Nico let the subject drop. He finally turned back around just as the castle was looming over them.

Will looked at in awe, having to tilt his head all the way back, just to see the top of it. The structure was huge, made of grey stone and black marble, and it seemed to be swarmed in shadows even thought the sun was shining brightly. The flags flying from the towers depicted the King's black iron crown with his sword crossed over it diagonally. Will remembered the younger kids in village, telling legends about how one touch to the blade could result in your soul being sucked into it. Will didn't believe in them for obvious reasons, but he was still pretty intimidated by it, and it was just a picture. To be honest, Will was intimidated by the whole building. Soon he would be going in there to be examined by whatever medical treatment the royals had.

He had to think up a good lie, go see the doctor, avoid getting hanged and then get out of there as quick as possible. He had to admit, it seemed a little rude to just up and leave on someone who was being so kind to him but then again, Nico probably had better things to do anyways. Will sat up straighter, having a set plan in place.

After an hour at most, he should be able to find an escape route and then he could leave as soon as possible. It would be simple.

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This was not meant to be as long as it was, so if the upcoming chapters aren't this long, don't be disappointed!

Anyways I hope you enjoyed reading it, you'll be getting Nico's point of view in the near future, so stayed tuned!😄