The Rose's Thorn

Chapter Six

Nathaniel Aecroston

August 3rd, 7:24 AM

After breakfast, Vincent rose hastily, calling the kitchen staff in for cleanup. He then turned to his sisters, a blank expression on his face. "I may not be present for lunch." His voice was flat as he took Nathan by the arm, leading him back into the corridors of the castle.

Vincent was deadly silent as they retreated to the southern wing of the castle. The silence was unnerving to Nathan.

Vincent's grip tightened on Nathan's arm as they approached an unidentified door. How exciting. Nathan's body tensed up as the door was opened. But behind the door laid a fairly normal study. A wooden desk in the center, with a map laid out across it. There were two cushioned chairs at the desk, and a large bookshelf lined the left wall. A bear's head was mounted to the wall across from the door.

All normal.

Vincent released Nathan's arm, motioning to one of the chairs as he moved around the desk. "Sit," he commanded, with a calmer voice than Nathan had expected.

Nathan obeyed, stiffly sitting down in the chair. He tugged nervously at the collar of his shirt, watching as Vincent sat down across from him. His mouth suddenly felt very dry.

"Take a look at this nap, Nathaniel. Do you know what this is?" Vincent placed a finger on the map, narrowing his eyes at Nathan.

A quick look at the map told him all he needed to know. He stayed silent as he stared at the multicolored flags. The no-longer-so-secret garden entrance was marked with a white flag, and so was Nathan's bedroom. In fact, there was a flag on each of his brothers' bedrooms. Samuel's room was tagged with a blue flag, and the stables stationed nearby his tower were also marked in blue. Elliot's bedroom was marked with a green flag, and another green flag was placed on the outer castle wall nearest Elliot's tower. William's room was marked with a red flag, but there were no other red flags on the map.

"Why..." He looked back up at Vincent, who was smirking slightly. "Brilliant, isn't it? Samuel is next. I'm going to strip your father of everything he loves."

Nathan sighed heavily. "Absolutely brilliant." He paused, drumming his fingers on the table. "But why me? He won't care that you took me, he's only going to be pissed that you managed to breach the castle. And you won't be getting back in."

Vincent chuckled darkly. "You'll soon find, Nathaniel, I always get what I want."

Nate kept his gaze down, staring at the table. He heard Vincent's footsteps approach him, and his body tensed up. A cold hand grabbed his chin, and he met Vincent's eyes. His expression was impossible to read.

"I wanted you, and now I have you. And you're not going anywhere, my prince."

A chill ran down Nathan's spine. Vincent's hold on his jaw tightened, and he was forced to hold his gaze.

"Do you understand, Nathaniel?" There was a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. Nathan shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He didn't like how much Vincent was enjoying this.

"I... I understand." His voice was quiet and shaky. He didn't understand. He didn't understand any of it. Why Vincent chose him, why he was here, or what was happening right now.

And he was just terrified of Vincent.

"Good." Vincent released his chin, but stayed standing close to him. He pointed to the blue flags on the map. "Now then.. What can you tell me about Samuel's area of the castle?"

Nathan stared down at the map. There was a lot he could tell Vincent, but almost nothing he wanted to tell him.

"You.. have the stables marked." Nathan pointed this out quietly, picking his head up and looking up at Vincent. "So you must already know about the passage from his study to the stables.. which also leads to the outside of the castle walls."