🌹Emerald Rose🌹

Chapter Eleven

        

Arthur couldn't seem to find Alfred anywhere.

It was a small port town, there wasn't a chance his lover couldn't have gotten far. However, he had looked everywhere he had been sure Alfred would be. That's not to say he knew the town top to bottom, because he didn't. He wasn't that good. He really had been just wandering the streets. To be frank, this was the first in quite a long time that Arthur had visited this town, the streets were practically foreign to him.

That didn't mean he couldn't immediately adapt to his new surroundings. Sooner or later, it began to become drilled into his mind what buildings were most likely to be where, and what would lay in between. Small port towns like these always built small inns, shops, and even pubs closer to the decks, right where tired and starving sailors could see them. Shops that sold things that catered more to town citizens were always further in, the buildings older and less work put into them. The rest in between were all kinds of things, houses, and personal property, domain that the town officials owned and so on.

He had been searching for hours. Arthur had decided to treat his new lover, or simply, perhaps the better phrase was "spoil him rotten". He had felt almost guilty that the last time Alfred had stepped foot on land, he had been kidnapped. The initial fix was to not let him anywhere out of his sight, of course, but then Arthur had also wanted to make him happy. It made his day to see that smile, especially when he was the cause of it.

Then, around noon, Arthur had been asked by his first mate about the specifications of the supplies and materials they needed, meaning Arthur had to turn his attention away from Alfred for a small amount of time. The second he was done with this small errand, Alfred was gone.

Arthur did immediately panic until he remembered there was no way any of his closest enemies could even know where he was.  Alfred should be safe, at least. Or, he wouldn't be, if something else got him. Street thieves, human trafficking, Francis-

No. Arthur, you're getting ahead of yourself. None of that could actually happen to him. He was still in the city, he probably just saw another one of those cheap stables shops and got distracted. That was all, he just had to track him down. If there was anyone who had hurt Alfred, however, it simply meant he would have to kill someone today, that was all.

While planning a random person's gruesome murder, he came upon the place he had started. It was directly where he left Alfred, requesting for him to stay put while he and Allistor went to the main company building in which their negotiations would take place. It was right next to a small food shop and a post office. The shop was the first place he checked. It was very predictable for Alfred to have gone inside there, but he wasn't in there, nor was he now.

Arthur folded his arms in contempt careful to hide how frustrated he actually was. He took a glance at the post office, the wind blowing his hair in his face as he did. Perhaps Alfred had been there all this time? No. He had no business in there, that was truly stupid. He walked on.

He glanced again at the space next to the post office. It was a small pathway, a shortcut of sorts to the massive docks that accommodated the town. Perhaps it was time Arthur finally looked around In the docks. It could even be possible Alfred simply got bored and went back to the ship. It did mean no one would die, today, which would be good. Killing in such small towns usually led to town citizens making wild accusations and causing large panic, and it would mean Arthur would have to leave sooner, unless of course, Arthur hid the body. The ocean always did nicely.

After a moment of consideration, Arthur began to walk towards the docks, his boots now clacking against wood rather than stone. He ignored all passerby, seeing as all they did was stare. The stares were always a bit of a amusement to the Briton, seeing as he always knew what they were thinking.