Royally Screwed

Kellin didn't know what time it was but judging by how dark it was, it was probably somewhere around midnight. He has become pretty good with telling the time based on how dark it was out or how up the moon or sun was in the sky since he got locked up in here. Kellin couldn't sleep. He couldn't sleep most nights anyway. He still hadn't grown much accustomed to the darkness and dustiness of the tower. It still terrified him all the same.

Another thing about it was that it was always much too quiet. It was so quiet, he could hear ringing in his ears. The silence enveloped him whole and his ears ached for the music he so loved. He'd simply drum his fingers against the floor sometimes and soft hums came out of his mouth with the repetitive little beats he made for himself.

He was singing tonight, though.

Kellin wasn't sure he even thought of singing, he just started doing it. What started out as hums were now words. Words from songs his mother used to sing to him that he knew by heart. Beautiful words that made him miss his mother much much more and he did not want to stop singing because he felt like he could hear his mother singing right with him.

His voice reverberated around the walls of his little room, high and sweet-sounding. Kellin imagined the low hum of violins and slow trumpets accompanying him and in his mind, it was like a symphony just for him. A symphony he could sing anything he wanted in.

And he was taken back to when he and Vic first kissed.

Magical was the only word to come close to it. It was all so surreal, like a fairy tale. They danced around the ballroom, music and love filling the atmosphere. He could still remember Vic's unwavering gaze on him, the brown eyes locked on his turquoise ones and it was like no one else in the world existed. It was just Kellin and Vic. Vic and Kellin.

He could still remember how their lips melted together in their first ever kiss, how their lips fit so perfectly together that he was afraid they'd melt into each other. He remembered how his stomach filled with butterflies and his heart threatened to stop beating all together. He could remember Vic's hand on his waist and how comforting it was. It was like every touch of Vic's could make him feel safe and secure.

Kellin touched the pendant on his necklace. It was the only reminder he had right now that all this ever happened. He missed Vic so much. His hands ached to hold, his lips ached to kiss, his skin ached to feel the prince's warmth. Everything hurt. Everything hurt because he missed Vic so much.

He was still singing and he didn't notice that the dreamlike song he was singing had changed into a sorrowful one, one that his mother would sing to him when he'd been sick.

And then he heard it.

"Kellin?"

It was a voice he knew so well. The voice that whispered in his ear those nights before he was kept locked up in here. Whispers of love and adoration and forever.

He quickly stood up from where he was sitting and looked out of the solitary window of the tower, "Vic?"

A huge grin broke out on Vic's face, "I'm going in to come get you!"

"The door is locked. You can't," Kellin warned.

"I'll get you down from there! I have some rope in the pocket of Sheepcat's saddle, just wait!"

Vic turned to run back through the arc but Kellin's voice stopped him, "No! Don't leave. Please don't leave me. Please."

The prince looked up at the tower, at Kellin's face full of pleading and he said, "Never. I'm not going to leave you. I'm just going to get some rope to get you down from there. I'm not going anywhere, darling."

Kellin smiled lightly at the use of the pet name, "Okay."

Vic smiled at him, blowing a flying kiss before turning and going through the arc. A few moments later, Vic returned, a rope over his shoulder. He looked up at Kellin, "Kell, I got the rope! I'll throw one end up there and you'll catch it. Try not to get hurt, please."

Kellin nodded and after a few throws, Kellin finally caught the other end.

"Okay, now tie it somewhere there, somewhere sturdy enough," Vic instructed. Kellin immediately thought of the doorknob. He'd tried to break the door open many times and he failed each time so he thought it must be pretty durable. He tied the other end to the doorknob tightly, making sure it was secure by pulling on it a few times. He stuck his head out the window again and gave a double thumbs up to Vic.

"You have to climb down now, Kell. I'm going to be down here to catch you if you fall. Be careful," Vic said slowly, as if he were speaking to a terrified child.

And Kellin was feeling very much like a terrified child now. He wasn't afraid of heights, he was afraid of falling. He looked down and he thought that 'wow, that is a long way to fall.' But Vic was there to catch him. He stopped shaking at the thought and he bit his lip.

"Okay. I'm gonna climb down now," Kellin said calmly. And he did. He shakily steadied himself as he held on to the rope and he was sure he'd see marks from the rope on his hands when he makes it down. Well, that is if he lives to see them.

He slowly and shakily went further from the tower window, trying his best not to look down because his stomach felt like it was being flipped as his feet weren't on solid ground. He opened an eye, just to look at Vic. He was staring intently at him and it looked like Vic was just as terrified as him.

Kellin kept climbing down and his palms started to sweat so hard and he was about seven feet from the ground when his hand slipped.

He fell and Vic was quick to catch him easily. He landed right in Vic's arms and when Vic planted him firmly on his feet, Kellin went straight back, hugging the prince tight, his arms around the person he loved the most and every ache in his body was gone when Vic held him right back, the prince's strong arms around his waist.

Kellin didn't know why but he began crying. Vic was whispering words of reassurance to him. Telling him he was there now and that it was all going to be okay, saying he loved him and how he'd never let anything happen to Kellin ever again.

When Kellin stopped crying, he puled back from the embrace just to look at Vic's face. He looked tired and weary himself, like he hadn't been sleeping either. Kellin wrapped his arms around the prince again, never wanting to be apart from him.

"I missed you. I missed you so much," Kellin said quietly, breathing in the scent of Vic that he missed so much.

"Kellin, why were you-"

"Ask questions tomorrow. Please. I'm so tired," Kellin said weakly, his hold on the prince tight.

"Okay," Vic said simply. He kissed the younger boy on the lips and he muttered against them, "I'm gonna take you back to the palace now." Kellin nodded and they climbed through the arc together.

But when they saw the person on the other side, they kind of wanted to get back in.