The Royal Prisoner

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The Royal Prisoner

Chapter 21

Matteo Poggi was an old Italian fisherman. He was born and raised in the city of La Spezia, in northern Italy. When he was a young teenager, he survived the great pandemic, unlike the rest of his family. Throughout his life, Matteo had witnessed a great deal of many changes.

The pandemic, of course, and the state of global panic and chaos that followed. Then, the end of the great Nation-states and the fragmentation of Italy into a multitude of city states of varying size and importance. The first Corsican civil war, even if Matteo wasn't affected by it in the slightest. The emergence of the Corsican Empire in the aftermath of the civil war, and eventually the annexation of his hometown by the Empire.

When the second civil war broke out, Matteo couldn't care less. It was a Corsican war, fought by Corsican people, for Corsican interests, and Matteo wasn't Corsican. It didn't matter to him that the Supreme General Di Colona D'Istria, head of the rebellion, established his headquarters in Bologna, northern Italy. Unlike many Italians, Matteo never used his right to vote in the Corsican elections.

To him, the only things that mattered were that his kids, and grandkids, were happy and healthy. That's precisely why Matteo was jumping on his tiny boat right before sunset, to fish and bring his family something nice to eat. Not any of this supermarket bullshit that came from who knows where, but something local, that Matteo would have fished himself.

The old man started his motor and slowly headed away from the shore. This seemed like a beautiful evening as many others, except it wasn't. As the sun was shyly about to set at the horizon, Matteo stopped his boat above his first fish trap. He pulled the rope to get the fish trap, full of spiny spider crabs, out of the sea. When he was done, something caught his attention. A feeble humming could be heard in the distance, but the old fisherman couldn't exactly pinpoint where from. He first looked at the shore, nervously expecting to see a patrol ship. You see, Matteo wasn't technically allowed to use his boat. Since the beginning of the war, civilian ships weren't allowed to sail unless they had an authorization, which Matteo didn't have. The old fisherman had been caught once or twice, but he always found some way to get away with it. It was no big deal after all, he only owned a tiny boat, not a damn warship.  

He looked around him, expecting to see another boat somewhere around him, but he couldn't spot a single one. He then looked up to the sky, and squinted his eyes. It was difficult to see anything, because the sunset was blinding him, but he eventually distinguished tiny black dots in the sky, coming from the west.

Matteo's first reaction was surprise. Indeed, if seeing planes flying wasn't exactly an odd occurrence when he was a teen, it definitely was now. For years after the great pandemic, old planes, built when the world was completely different, were used, but almost 40 years after the pandemic, there weren't many of them left. Small city states didn't exactly have the industrial capacity to own an aeronautical heavy industry, and cooperation wasn't exactly their strong point either. Therefore, only great nations actually produced planes, and almost exclusively to military purposes.

As the old fisherman was lost in his thoughts though, he finally realised just how many of them there were. Far too much to count them actually. It wasn't just "unusual" any longer, and Matteo realised it, but he was simply too shocked to fully process what was actually going on.

Soon, the tiny dots shifted into very clearly identifiable bombers. Matteo's heart sank to his stomach, this little insignificant coastal town of northern Italy hadn't witnessed a single battle in the fisherman's lifetime. Surely today was no exception, he thought. The planes would fly right over the town and head to whatever their destination was. Yes, that was it, nothing to worry about.

Up high in the sky, one of the jetfighters that escorted the bombers spotted the tiny fisherman's ship. The pilot was on cloud nine, quite literally. The jetfighter was brand new; it exited the factory barely two weeks earlier and, damn, it was a good one. The pilot had very clear instructions, sink any ship between the landing fleet and the shore and, well, however tiny, the fisherman's ship was technically just that, a ship. The pilot dived and after a quick and surprisingly easy manoeuvre that made the pilot shiver with excitement, he locked the tiny target in his shooting range and in the blink of an eye, the fisherman and his boat were no more.

"Jetfighters units one to fifteen, search and destroy any suspected anti-aircraft installations in the defined perimeter." The pilot's voice said in his radio.

"Copy." The pilot simply answered. He scrutinised the town of La Spezia and dived, it was time for the fun to begin, he thought. The city looked quiet from where he was, but it wouldn't stay that way for very long. By midnight, the general staff had decided, the imperial troops would secure a whole coastal front, and La Spezia would be the centre of this new coastal front.

The pilot caught sight of the church's tower and thought it would be a perfect position for a 360° shooting spot. That tower would be the first thing to go, he thought, and this pilot was always true to his word.

On the other side of the Mediterranean, the Rebel army's general staff in the middle east was back in Jerash's general quarters. Victor was glad to be back, he came to resent the tiny room he was confined to in that gloomy University they installed him in during the battle. He expected the tense atmosphere to be lifted after the rebel's dazzling victory in Ma'an but, except during that sex-filled night he spent with Hadrien afterwards, the General and his officers were still quite moody. The prince couldn't quite make sense of it, but there was so much he wasn't told, so much he didn't know about the actual situation.

The General was exhausted, the battle and its preparation drained the living energy out of him. He needed a fucking rest; a rest he knew he wouldn't have the chance to take anytime soon. His officers were a pain in the ass, some wanted to surrender, some wanted to prepare for guerrilla warfare, and none accepted the status quo the General established. Hadrien needed more time to survey his options, he wanted to see how the Italian theatre evolved, he wanted to bargain the best possible deal for himself. He certainly wasn't looking forward to being a mister nobody back in Corsica when he held so much power where he stood at that very moment. He foresaw that the Imperial administration would never trust him with any sort of responsibilities any longer, if they didn't straight up send him to rot in prison cell, that is. Of course, there was also the Victor question, although the General wasn't quite admitting it himself.

"Hey!" Victor seducingly whispered in Hadrien's ear, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Are you okay?" The prince asked with a soft insecure voice. They had just arrived in their suite and Victor was glad to be back in his appartments.

"Hmm, I'm fine." Hadrien quickly brushed off unconvincingly. Victor detected the lie but knew there was nothing he could do, or say, to make things better.

"Do you think we could have dinner in the gardens?" The prince suggested with a hint of hope and a faint smile. Hadrien sighed and finally turned his gaze to look at Victor. He displayed an apologetic smile, and the prince had his answer. "It's okay, we'll do it another time." Victor quickly added.

"I need to meet with the officers tonight." The general unenthusiastically declared. The prince faintly nodded and slowly placed himself behind the general. He laid his hand on Hadrien's shoulders and began massaging them. "Fuck, that feels good!" Hadrien exclaimed with a deep moan. Victor dropped a tender kiss on his lover's neck and kept massaging him. The prince could feel his partner's body relax under his skilled touch, and it made him feel good.

"We can't have dinner together, but there are still things we could do afterwards." Victor lustfully whispered with a sly smirk.

"Oh yeah?" Hadrien whispered back seducingly. "Why do we have to wait until after my meeting though?" He asked mischievously. The general turned to face the prince and shot a quick glance at his growing bulge.

"We don't." Victor simply answered before kneeling in front of the general and grabbing Hadrien's cock through the obscenely stretched fabric. Hadrien was in no mood for foreplay, he fished his cock out of his trousers and the massive meat sprung free, bouncing up and down in front of the horny prince.

"Open your mouth." Hadrien commanded authoritatively. The prince obeyed and stuck out his tongue for good measure. The general grabbed his cock and slapped the teenager's tongue with a loud smack, grinning at the sight in front of him. The general might not be completely honest when it came to accepting his feelings for the prince, but he was completely aware of how much the little shit turned him on. He plunged his fat dick deep inside of the boy's mouth and bottomed out in a single rough thrust. The prince unavoidably gagged and choked on the sudden intrusion, but Hadrien couldn't care less. When he was horny, he was an animal, and there was no more holding back. "Come on you cute fag, I know you can take it!" Hadrien sneered devilishly.

The general quickly pulled off and, as Victor took a deep inhalation after being oxygen-deprived by his lover's dick, plunged it back in the boy's velvet throat. Despite the rough treatment, though, the prince was rock-hard, and incredibly turned on. He liked nothing more than being used as a mere sextoy by his manly captor.

Hadrien had his hand on the back of the teenager's head, setting the rhythm of this ruthless throat-fucking session and asserting his authority over the submissive boy. Victor looked up at his captor as their gazes met. The boy was a mess, his lower face was spit-covered, and his cheeks were flustered as his hair was all tousled up. Hadrien smirked at him, very pleased with his slutty imperial faggot, and increased the pace when suddenly, someone knocked at the door.

"Sir? The officers have arrived in the meeting room." A soldier announced from the other side of the door. Hadrien grunted his displeasure in being interrupted and slightly shook his head in disbelief. What a fucking bummer, he thought.

"I'm coming!" He annoyedly shot back at the door before pulling off his meat from the velvet throat. Victor expected the whole scene to be over, but he was wrong. Hadrien immediately grabbed his cock and jerked it off for a few seconds before he splattered a huge load all over the prince's angelic face. "We'll have dinner in the gardens tomorrow." The general declared, catching up on his breath with a smirk on his face.

"Yes, Sir!" Victor submissively answered with a timid smile.

"Good boy!" Hadrien sneered while tugging his cock back in his trousers. Victor displayed a goofy smile at his captor and simply looked at him straightening up his appearance before storming out of the room with a wink at his boy.

Hadrien walked in the meeting room as his officers scrutinized him inquisitively. The general was already impatient for this meeting to be over, as he had grown to resent them. All the officers ever communicated to him was bad news, and he was sick and tired of that. Hadrien was perhaps a young and energetic general, but he liked to win, and it seemed like he was now in an unwinnable position. He tried to listen to his inner wisdom, but the truth was; he wasn't good at wisdom, he was better at fighting and winning. The general waved his hand dismissively to encourage the officers to start their report.

"Sir, according to our Intelligence the Saudis have halted their offensive and are rethinking their strategy." An officer began.

"You can bet they are!" The colonel Batti Paolini cockily exclaimed, triggering several snickers around the table. "We kicked their asses!"

"We lost a third of our men and spent a huge amount of our remaining ammunition and fuel, too." The commander Nicolas Lucia pointed out bitterly towards both the colonel Paolini and the general. "How long will it take before we sit around the negotiations table!" He exclaimed vigorously.

"And what is there to negotiate, commander?" The colonel Paolini snapped back. "The Empire wasn't willing to negotiate when they were losing, you think they will now?"

"We should at least try! What do you suggest, hiding and fighting for the rest of our lives?" The commander challenged angrily.

"I'd rather win, or die trying, than rotting in a prison cell for the rest of my life!" The Colonel responded energetically, quickly followed by a few approving grunts.

"Enough." Hadrien authoritatively interrupted. He massaged his forehead with his fingers and deeply sighed. "We're not going to negotiate now." He declared triggering different kinds of reactions, from relief to anger, around the table. "We still have time, and the government might have naval supremacy now, but they still can't fight us on both fronts. I want to see how the situation evolves in northern Italy before making any decision." He concluded in front of mostly dubitative and distrustful officers. "Now, I want us to review every strategic defensive outpost and their current situation."

Hadrien's meeting was long and exhausting. He was already pretty whacked before, but now he was drained of all energy. He was craving one thing above all, his bed. When he arrived in his suite, he planned on heading straight to the bedroom and having a good night's sleep. When he opened the bedroom door, though, he was immediately welcomed by a very strange sight.

The two soldiers that were supposed to guard the suite were lying on the floor, lifeless. The prince was struggling to break free of a tall blond man's hold. The intruder was covering Victor's mouth with one hand, so he could only produce muffled screams, and restrained his arms with the other hand.

Hadrien was instantly wide awake. His eyes met the blond intruder, and Hadrien immediately started to run towards him. The intruder threw the prince on the bed in a swift move and braced for impact with the general. The prince gasped in shock as he witnessed the fight in front of him. The general threw his best punch at the intruder, and the blond man was sent to crash into a bookcase but was quickly back on his feet. He dodged the general's fist and jumped on the opportunity to tackle him.

Hadrien fell on his back and the intruder immediately straddled him, pinning his arms on the floor with his legs. The intruder punched the general square on the temple and Hadrien was instantly feeling very dizzy. Another punch on his temple and he was out. As the general had lost consciousness, the intruder grabbed his long knife and was about to slit the general's throat when, suddenly, the prince snapped out of his catatonic state and threw himself at the intruder with a desperate complaint.

"Noo! Please no!" He begged desperately while he struggled to hold the intruder's arm from taking Hadrien's life.

"Stay away, Your Highness!" The intruder commanded angrily before pushing Victor away and attempting to kill the general once again.

"NO!" Victor protested determinedly before punching the intruder in the jaw. The intruder wasn't actually harmed, but the prince's assault took him aback and left Victor enough time to grab the general's gun from his case and point it at the intruder threateningly. "I said no!" The prince repeated with a stern tone.

The intruder stared back at the prince with an equally stern expression that combined both confusion and anger. Victor couldn't help thinking that he was incredibly handsome. The first time he met with the intruder, back when he broke in his bedroom in Jerusalem while Sasha was fucking him, he couldn't clearly see his face, but his voice was already very charming and intriguing. The fact that the intruder was Victor's brother's trusted friend, sent to the middle east to free him from the rebels, was already making the prince feel warm inside. However, there was no way on earth he was going to let Hadrien be hurt, and certainly not killed right in front of his very eyes, let alone by Victor's rescue team.

"Your Highness, we need to leave, and we need to leave now!" The intruder declared with a low but authoritative voice. Victor painfully gulped and felt a lump in his throat. He really wanted to go back to Corsica, and especially to be reunited with his brother. But, he couldn't just leave Hadrien, as if what happened between them meant nothing. If he left now, would he ever see the general again? The thought made the prince shiver, and he felt impossibly split between two incredibly unappealing options.

As the prince was lost in his thoughts, dreading to make a choice, Victor and the intruder clearly heard footsteps getting closer. The intruder quickly snatched the gun from the prince's hand and jumped behind Victor, once again covering his mouth to prevent the teenager from screaming.

"I need you to stay silent, Your Highness, or I'll have to shoot a bullet through the general's head. Do we understand one another?" The intruder whispered in the prince's ear. Victor quickly and submissively nodded before the intruder dragged him inside of the large wardrobe. Hidden in the wardrobe, the prince and the intruder couldn't see anything, but they still could very clearly hear.

"What the hell!" A man's voice that the prince identified as Captain Valois exclaimed. They heard some rushed movements and ruffled noises until another soldier spoke.

"The guards are dead, Captain, but the general is still alive!" The soldier announced with a hint of panic.

"What should we do?" Captain Valois asked.

"We must find the prince immediately, if the little fucker escaped, we're screwed!" Another voice shot back angrily. Victor instantly recognised that voice as the one of the Earl of Ulmetu, the man that choked him unconscious on the night of his 18th birthday. A chill browsed his spine thinking back on that dreadful man, meanwhile the intruder was very cautiously listening to every single noise coming from outside of the wardrobe.

"What about the general?" Captain Valois inquired.

"Just kill him already, so we won't have to worry about him any longer!" The Earl nonchalantly answered. The prince's eyes bulged wide open, and the intruder felt that Victor was about to try to break free. There was no choice left for him.

The intruder kicked the wardrobe open and before Captain Valois could even realise it, he fell on the floor, blood oozing from the hole that just appeared on his head. The Earl of Ulmetu screamed with surprise and the intruder shot the soldier that was leaning over the unconscious general. The intruder then pointed his gun at the Earl, but he dodged the bullet by falling on his ass. The remaining soldier tried to draw his gun but the intruder was once again faster. The Earl jumped on the opportunity that the intruder was busy shooting the last soldier to jump to the door and escape the bedroom before the intruder could shoot him too.

"Quickly, let's go!" The intruder shouted at the prince who was leaning over the general. "I said let's go!" He vigorously repeated.

"We can't leave him here, they are going to kill him!" The prince pleaded, talking about Hadrien.

"Big fucking deal!" The intruder sarcastically exclaimed in utter disbelief. Your Highness we must..."

"I'm not leaving without him!" Victor exclaimed with tears of anger in his eyes. The intruder was completely abashed by the prince's behaviour, but he realised it was pointless to try escaping in that situation without a cooperating Victor. He quickly leaned over the unconscious general and slapped him hard on the face. The general immediately regained consciousness, although he was still very dizzy and confused. "Hadrien, they tried to kill you, your officers!" Victor told a completely lost general that didn't frankly know where he was or what situation he was in. He glanced at the bedroom, filled with blood and lifeless bodies, and panic invaded him.

"Let's go, now!" The intruder insisted with exasperation.

"What..." Hadrien began saying with a hoarse low voice.

"We don't have time for fucking questions!" The intruder cut him off before wrapping his arm around the general's shoulder and helping him stand up. Hadrien was confused, to say the least, but he surprisingly complied. He immediately noticed that the intruder had his gun too firmly in grip to take, so he figured out there was no point in resisting now, especially in his current state. Besides, Victor's presence kind of reassured him, somehow.

As the intruder, the prince and the general rushed in the palace corridor they heard the footsteps getting closer and the soldiers talking and shouting at one another. The intruder helped the general climb the homemade ladder before climbing it himself. The soldiers caught the sight of the intruder's lower half disappearing in the ceiling and they shot. They missed the intruder by an inch and he immediately cut the ladder for the soldiers not to be able to follow him.

"They're on the roof! They're on the roof!" The intruder heard the soldiers shouting. He quickly guided the prince and the general through the roof and they were able to climb down into the gardens. "Here! They're here!" A soldier shouted from afar, pointing at the escaping trio. The bullets began firing in their direction until they stopped altogether. "... We need the prince alive!" Someone finished saying after the guns stopped covering his voice.

The three of them ran through the gardens to a breach that the intruder had created in the fence. They squeezed out of the breach and ran through the streets until the humming of a car pushed them to hide in an alley. The rebel soldiers patrolled around the garden fence slowly and scrutinized the surroundings, until they disappeared, failing to search and spot the escaping trio. Hadrien's face darkened and Victor was suddenly very concerned, but none said anything.

After they were sure the way was clear, they followed the intruder into an abandoned house on the edge of the city of Jerash. They settled in the basement and announced that they were going to sleep there.

"What's your name?" Victor asked the intruder once they were settled. The intruder shot him a quick glance and frowned.

"I thought I told you when we were in Jerusalem that I wouldn't let you know until we reached Corsica." The intruder reminded him which triggered Hadrien's inquisitive glare.

"I think I deserve to know the name of the man I'm following in the desert; don't you think?" The prince protested bitterly.

"Though luck,Your Highness." The intruder retorted, inflexible.

"And what am I supposed to call you in the meantime?" Victor inquired.

"Just call me commander, Your Highness." He said in front of the pouting prince. "And now, have a good night's sleep while I keep watch of this house." He condescendingly added before disappearing upstairs.

"So, this was all planned ever since Jerusalem?" Hadrien eventually said, unable to contain his disappointment.

"What? No, it wasn't!" The prince quickly shot back. The general stared at him and he clearly didn't believe the prince, who immediately noticed it. "He broke into my bedroom in Jerusalem. He was sent by my brother to free me from my captivity." Victor explained as the general was still gauging him. "I didn't plan on following him! And I probably wouldn't have if your officers didn't plan on killing you!" He added. "Hadrien, I swear that's the truth, they tried to kill you while you were unconscious."

"I know." Hadrien simply answered with a gloomy expression.

"You do? But why?" The boy inquired with a hint of confusion.

"That I don't know, but I have my suspicions." Hadrien enigmatically answered. "And yes, I believed you when you told me they tried to kill me. I saw the Earl of Ulmetu when we fled the palace. He was supposed to be in our jail, and he hates my guts! Someone in the rebellion is aiming to kill me."

"He was the one that asked Captain Valois to shoot you." Victor said, thinking back on the scene with a shiver. Hadrien sighed and looked at the prince with a faint smile.

"So, what's the plan now?" Hadrien questioned with a hint of uncertainty.

"I guess our best shot is to follow the commander back to Corsica." Victor hesitantly told him. "Don't you think?" He added with a soft voice. Hadrien looked away and seemed thoughtful for a moment before nodding.

"I guess so, yes." He eventually confessed. The prince then wrapped his arms around his lover and nested his head in his man's neck.

"I love you." The boy murmured between kisses.

"I love you too." Hadrien responded while hugging the teenager back.

The commander woke Hadrien and Victor up in the very early morning, before dawn. He planned on leaving the city before the sunrise to enjoy maximum discretion in their escape. The trio left the abandoned house around 5 am and headed towards the hilly forest of Dibbeen.

While leaving the city, they passed by the Arch of Hadrian, the Roman Emperor. A large rebel flag had been hanging from the arch ever since Hadrien's brilliant victory in Judea. The irony of the situation didn't escape the former general who felt the burning humiliation of sneaking out of a city in which he was celebrated as a hero a few weeks earlier, looking at a monument built to celebrate another Hadrien, an emperor of an ancient nation that declined and disappeared millennia ago. And yet, the arch was still proudly standing. Who would remember Hadrien, the general, in a hundred years? Fucking no one, that's who, Hadrien thought.

The commander knew that until they reached the Dibbeen forest, they would be exposed and due to the largely arid and desertic vegetation of the plain, there was virtually nowhere to hide if they were spotted. The sunrise was just around the corner, and they were about to reach the edge of the forest, when they bumped into a patrol. Despite their quick reactions and their attempt to hide behind rocks, they were spotted. The commander was the first to shoot, and the rebel soldiers quickly fired back. The soldiers were five, and the commander was therefore really outnumbered, but Hadrien and Victor quickly realised that the commander was not any soldier.

After the commander successfully suppressed two soldiers, the two remaining one were in position behind their armored car for shielding. Hadrien jumped from behind the rock and ran to a soldier's body.

"What the fuck are you doing?" The commander yelled incredulously as Hadrien grabbed a rifle from the dead body. He quickly ran back to the rock as a bullet missed his shoulder by an inch.

"We need to move fast, the fuckers are waiting for reinforcements, and by the noise we're making you can be sure that they'll be here soon!" Hadrien shot back at an angry commander. The former general then checked his rifle and crawled on the floor from behind the rock. He positioned himself and shot one of the soldiers from under the car.

The soldier was only injured, but that was enough to distract them while Hadrien got around the blinded vehicle in a quick move. Before he was ready to counter-attack, the remaining valid soldier found himself with the former general's rifle aiming at his head.

"Drop the gun, boy." Hadrien commanded between his gritted teeth. The frightened soldier immediately complied while the prince and the commander walked to them.

"Rebels shooting rebels; what a rejoicing sight!" The commander sneered while he collected the soldier's weapons.

"I'm still holding the gun!" Hadrien pointed out with an implied threat at the commander, which made Victor smile at the display of macho behaviour his two companions displayed. The prince hadn't smiled much ever since they left the palace in Jerash, for while Hadrien and the commander were used to war, the boy wasn't. Needless to say that witnessing soldiers, some he recognised from training with them a few weeks earlier, dead in a pool of their own blood was utterly distressing for the teenager.

"Let's move, I'll let you finish them off." The commander nonchalantly said while finishing searching the blinded vehicle for ammunition and provisions. Victor felt a shiver browsing through his spine, the way they talked about ending someone's life was quite shocking to him. The war had never felt so real to him, and he realised there was a big difference between knowing people died and actually witnessing them dying.

"I'm not wasting bullets on these two idiots." The former general declared contemptuously, which triggered a sigh of relief from the prince. "I'll drive." Hadrien added.

"We're not taking the car!" The commander snapped. "The tire tracks would be too easy to follow!"

"We're driving to the edge of the forest where we'll abandon the vehicle." Hadrien retorted with a hint of aggressivity. The commander walked to the general until they faced one another and they stared at one another with defiance and hatred.

"Let me remind you, General Ciabrini, that you are my prisoner and that I am acting under the authority of his Majesty the Emperor." The commander said with a low voice that barely contained his inner anger. "It looks like your little rebel friends are not so friendly towards you anymore, so I'd advise you to follow my instructions without discussions. You think you can do that, General?"

"Listen, boy, I have been in charge of this territory for the past two years. Now, I'm sure you were the meanest, the baddest kid in the playground back in Corsica, but I'm not sure how many patrols we can afford to bump into before things turn sour." Hadrien answered in an equally threatening tone. "Can we all get into that car and move the fuck out of here?"

"Come on, Commander, please." Victor begged with a soft voice. The commander looked at the prince and rolled his eyes before sighing.

"Fine, I'll take the rifle with me on the backseat in case we are followed." The commander eventually gave in. The escaping trio quickly jumped in the car, leaving the wounded man and his fellow soldier in the middle of nowhere but, to the prince's relief, alive.

Hadrien drove like a madman to the Dibbeen forest, and, to everyone's relief, they didn't bump into another patrol. The former general stopped the car once they were well covered by the trees. The Dibbeen forest was similar to the coastal forest they had in Corsica, Victor thought, but nothing like the large pine forest that you could find in the Corsican mountains. To be honest, the forest wasn't the best place to hide, considering how sparse the trees were, but it was the best they had around Jerash.

"Why don't we keep driving?" The prince sheepishly asked Hadrien. The former general gave the teen a faint smile and sighed.

"Because we're running out of fuel, for a start, and also because the car is too loud for discretion." Hadrien answered while shooting a furtive glance at the commander. "Victor, we'll need to be extra careful in these woods, because they are expecting us to be here. There is really nowhere else we could have sensibly gone, we were lucky earlier with the patrol, but I don't want to know what happens when we run out of luck, okay?" Hadrien explained with a soft but serious tone. The teenager promptly nodded with a defeated expression and gulped painfully.

"We'll be fine, your highness." The commander added with a wink before putting the rifle on his back and gesturing at the former general to approach.

The commander explained their itinerary to Hadrien and asked for his opinion. They, surprisingly, calmly discussed the best possible route and Hadrien gave his expertise on what he thought the searching party would look like and how it would be organised. Then, the trio started walking. It was still early, not even noon, but the heat was already difficult to bear. At least they had the trees' shade, but there wasn't the faintest breeze, and the prince finally experienced the bitter reality of middle east's later spring outside of a climatised palace.

The three of them progressed through the forest in silence. Of course, this was mostly due to the fact that they needed maximum discretion, but there was also an obvious tension between them. Victor knew Hadrien didn't trust the commander, and that the commander didn't trust Hadrien. The opposite would have been quite surprising, and even though the prince knew he could trust both, at least regarding his own safety, they had no reasons whatsoever to trust each other.

The prince closed his eyes and filled his nostrils with the Mediterranean's forest scent, as he listened to the birds singing from their three branches. Victor was free, and even though he was still in the course of escaping, he was not a captive any longer. Hadrien was here with him, not as his captor, but as his whatever-they-were-to-one-another. Suddenly the prince felt deeply relieved, and as he realised all that an immense burden was lifted from his shoulders.

"Victor?" Hadrien called him, snapping him out of his world. "Are you okay?"

"Yes... yes I am!" The prince beamed, triggering both men's confusion.

In the Corsican mountains, a large car parked in front of the Quenza Castle's entrance and a tiny old man got out of the vehicle. The imperial guards escorted him inside of the Castle as he scrutinized his surroundings, until they reached a large room in the basement where the young sovereign was playing pool with another young man in a very laid-back atmosphere that looked more like a fashionable bar than an Imperial Castle's basement.

"Your Majesty." The tiny old man greeted as he bowed to the Emperor. "The Prime Minister passes on her apologies for being unable to meet you today." He added with a somehow wavy insecure voice. The young sovereign dismissed his friend who walked out of the room, leaving the tiny old man and Hector alone.

"No worries, I told her that I could move to meet her instead, but she insisted for you to come instead." The Emperor nonchalantly answered. "Do you want something to drink? Wine? Beer? Whiskey?" Hector then proposed with the same relaxed tone that unsettled the Council Member.

"Hmm... just water, thank you, Your Majesty." He politely accepted. The young sovereign walked behind a counter and grabbed a bottle of water and a glass that he poured before uncapping a beer bottle for himself. "You know how to play?" Hector asked, gesturing at the pool table.

"Well, it's been a while and..." The Council Member started mumbling.

"Come on, take your cue." Hector told him as he prepared the pool for a new game. The tiny old man was completely taken aback by the Emperor's behaviour, far from what he might have imagined from his sovereign. He complied and grabbed the cue as he painfully gulped, even more intimidated than he thought he would. "So, apparently we have important things to discuss."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The Council Member eventually answered, snapping out of his thoughts to regain his composure and seriousness. "First, I am glad to tell you that the landing of our troops in Northern Italy was a complete success. Our progression is even faster than we predicted. We have captured the Rebel's top officer of Liguria in Genoa."

"Who was it?" Hector inquired before taking a swing at his beer.

"Petru Ciabrini, Your Majesty." The old man answered. Hector's expression darkened and the Council Member immediately noticed it. "He is General Hadrien Ciabrini's father, Your Majesty."

"I see." The Emperor simply answered with a stern face. "Any news from Judea?"

"Yes, Your Majesty." The tiny old man said. "The Rebels successfully repelled a Saudi offensive last week in Ma'an."

"Oh?" Hector exclaimed, frowning.

"It's not very surprising, considering the Saudi were too impatient to coordinate their attack with us, even though we specifically requested that they do." The Council Member commented with a hint of annoyance.

"Well, we didn't really expect them to be reliable anyway, did we?" Hector pointed out bitterly. "It's your turn." He added, pointing at the pool table.

"Oh, yes, Your Majesty." The old man answered while clumsily taking his cue. "No, indeed Your Majesty, we didn't. The Prime Minister was furious nonetheless."

"Anything else?" Hector inquired, suspecting that the Prime Minister wouldn't have sent a Council Member just to brief him about the military situation.

"Actually, yes, Your Majesty." The tiny old man began with a hint of embarrassment. "Apparently there has been an intrusion in the Imperial Palace earlier today. The man was apprehended and, although we haven't been able to establish a link with the rebels yet, the Prime Minister believes that the situation might push the Rebels to be... uh... somehow desperate." He explained in front of a dubitative Sovereign. "Therefore, it is the Government's wish to strengthen the security around and inside the Imperial Palace, but also here in Quenza."

"It's not the Government's decision to make." The Emperor pointed out sternly.

"Of course not, Your Majesty." The Council Member promptly recognised. "But we hoped we could convince you." He specified cautiously. Hector sighed and took another swing at his beer before nodding.

"Fine." The sovereign reluctantly agreed. The tiny old man sighed in relief, knowing he wouldn't have to face the Prime Minister's wrath for failing his mission.

The Council Member left the Castle shortly after, heading back to the capital. Hector didn't like the idea of a heavily guarded Castle, especially since Quenza was supposed to be his laid-back mountain residence, and not the stuck-up Imperial Palace he hated so much.

The young sovereign left the basement and headed upstairs. As he arrived in the main hall, he ran into Maël's preceptor, who bowed to Hector as soon as he saw him.

"School day is finished, I assume?" The Emperor inquired.

"Yes, Your Majesty." The preceptor answered.

"See you tomorrow then." Hector joyfully said before heading upstairs.

Maël was back in his bedroom when the young sovereign knocked at the door and opened. The kid broadly smiled at the young sovereign and dropped his toys.

"How was your day buddy?" Hector asked the boy with a soft tone.

"It was okay!" Maël shrugged unenthusiastically. "Can we do some horse-riding?" He then asked with a hopeful boyish voice. Hector chuckled and walked to the boy.

"Not today, it's going to be dark soon." Hector answered, triggering a disappointed pout from the boy. "This weekend, if the weather allows it, I promise." The Emperor added with a smile.

"Hector?" The boy called with a soft hesitant voice.

"Yes?" The young man answered.

"When will I see my mommy and daddy again?" The boy asked, his gaze fixed on the floor and his voice barely audible. Hector felt a lump in his throat and browsed his hand in the boy's hair affectingly.

"I don't know buddy." Hector murmured with an insecure voice. "They are in a place that is not suited for a kid to live in."

"Is my Dad a bad person?" The boy asked with a deeply sad voice. Hector was feeling helpless and there was nothing he wanted more than this conversation to be over. He sighed and looked at the boy that stared at him with teary puppy eyes.

"No, he is not a bad person." Hector answered, although he wasn't convinced of what he just said himself. "He did what he believed was right, but he was mistaken." The Emperor enigmatically said, leaving the boy in a mixt of relief and confusion. "Maybe... uh maybe we could visit your Mom and Dad someday." Hector added.

"We could?" The boy repeated with a sudden burst of energy and joy. "Can we go now?"

"No, not now." Hector chuckled. "But I guess I could try to make that happen, soon."

"Thank you!" Maël exclaimed before opening his arms and throwing himself against the Emperor to hug him.

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