ON the day after the court meeting, a letter arrived addressed to the Prince of Barguil. It was coming from his younger sister. In the letter he was informed that his older brother, the king, had been poisoned and was very ill, and had not been able to leave his bed for several days. The letter called for Michaels immediate return to the kingdom for the time being, in case his brother passed away.

Michael called for a boat to be readied immediately, and declared he'd be leaving by the next night. Jeremy watched the ordeal happen with a heavy heart. It was weighing him down that Michael could be leaving him forever, and that he'd left him broken, and bitter. Jeremy didn't want that to be the way that Michael left, if he had to. He wanted to at least make it up to a Michael before he left, and apologize for his actions. Maybe then he could let Michael go without a heavy feeling in his heart.

The king requested that Michael come to the dining hall during mid-day so that the two could dine together in the afternoon. He had requested that the two be alone, and said it was because the prince was under a lot of stress because of his family and he did not want other lords and ladies around. Michael would have preferred it the other way around, the more people, the less he would have to focus on Jeremy. The stress of possibly having to become a king was hurling him further into the hole that Jeremy had dug for him.

When Michael arrived at the dining hall for dinner, it was practically empty, save for a single guard outside the large wooden doors. The guard ushered him in quickly, and slammed the door behind him. Michael jumped at the sudden sound. When Michael turned around from staring at the door, he found that Jeremy had been staring at him since he entered the room. The king was holding a fork in one hand, and the other was resting on his lap. Across the table another plate had been set up. Michael took this as an invitation, and bowed, before taking a seat across from the king.

"Good afternoon," Jeremy spoke, breaking the silence, but not doing anything to ease the tension in the room.

"Good afternoon," Michael replied, his hands wringing together in his lap. He tried to keep his eyes away from Jeremy's face, looking from the plate of lamb in front of him to the white curtains to a spot on the wooden floor. Eventually he had no where else to look, and his eyes settled on the freckles on Jeremy's face. He was trying so hard to forget those freckles, but it was near impossible when they were all you could think about everyday. It didn't help that Michael was always around Jeremy.

Maybe the trip back home would help clear his mind. He could tell his sisters of his troubles and she'd give advice. She was already aware of his infatuation with the king, so telling her what happened wouldn't harm anyone.

"Are you happy?" Jeremy said suddenly, making Michaels eyes flicker to his lips.

"About?" he questioned, hurrying to move his gaze elsewhere.

"Going back to Barguil."

"Under different circumstances, most definitely," he answered. He didn't want to have to face his ill brother, it would be another pain his heavy heart couldn't take. "But these circumstances aren't happy, so I cannot be. My brother has been poisoned, and they fear he may not make it." He was being, rude, and he knew it, but he couldn't stop himself. He was angry at Jeremy and angry that his brother was close to death.

"I understand." Hurt flashed through Jeremy's eyes but he didn't speak on it. "Do you know who did it?"

"We have a couple assumptions, but nothing is solid. My sister thinks that it was the cook, he had access to the food and they've been suspecting a spy in their midsts for a while," Michael explained, tapping the fork against the edge of his plate. Jeremy nodded and kept his is trained on Michaels hand as he took a small bite of lamb.

They ate in silence for a while, doing nothing but casting each other sidelong glances and blushing. Some of the tension had cleared the air, but not all of it and they both knew that wasn't going to go away any time soon. Whatever they had in the past few nights was still there, but now there was no way that either of them risking acting on it, not after the disaster that ensued after last time. Jeremy was too afraid of the consequences, and Michael was too bitter from Jeremy's harsh rejection to want anything to do with him at the moment.

"I'm sorry," Jeremy said suddenly, eyes boring into Michaels. Michael glanced up at him, curiously, but didn't say a word. "I'm sorry about the way that I approached you the other night, it was uncalled for and I regret what was said."

"It's quite alright," Michael muttered, focusing on pushing the remaining food on his plate. "I just hope nothing changes."

Jeremy hesitated, and then said, "I agree."

—

Michael gave the king one final glance from the ship, and then turned away. His departure from Serris had just started, and it would take a couple days for him to arrive back in his country, but at least he'd be able to clear his mind on the trip there. His relationship with Jeremy had been weighing on his mind after the dinner he shared with Jeremy a couple nights prior.

Jeremy had been sorry, he could see it in his eyes, but Michael hadn't been ready to forgive. He'd broken a part of Michaels heart that night and it would take a while to heal no matter how hard  he tried.

He really just wished that Jeremy would see things the way he did. He wish that Jeremy didn't feel the need to hide what they had. Maybe now instead of traveling alone, he'd have a lover at his side, or at least the comfort that he had one. The prince had had enough of the king, constantly pulling back whenever they got to close again.

The afternoon of the lunch Jeremy had leaned in for a kiss, and when Michael could feel his breath on his lips, he pulled away. His eyes were big and rimmed with tears, but he simply didn't say anything in the matter and just walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. That hurt Michael even more, he didn't like being led on.

The last time that he had felt anything like this for anyone was when he was 16, and he had been in love with the son of one of the ladies in his fathers court. They had kissed and fallen in love, but everything had to come to an end and the boy left before Michael could even blink. Though he'd been in love, he'd gotten over it fairly quick.

Jeremy was different, he'd known him for years. Jeremy was very different.

—

It was a few hours into the trip when it happened. A high pitched screech followed by a loud boom. The ship rocked back and forth and knocked everyone over. When Michael had finally stood, he looked over towards the west. There was a ship, it's cannons prepping for another shot.

Michael had screamed for his men to get down, and they did. The captain shouted orders to fire back, and they did.

People were screaming, and it had just been the beginning.