Sorry, Captain

resurfaced

Bruno stared up at his straw ceiling in the darkness of the night. Charles, his German Shepherd, rested his head on the boys chest.
"Charles, there's supposed to be some big speech tomorrow. We aren't allowed to go though.. I didn't want to tell you because I knew it would hurt your feelings."
The black canine yawns before licking the boy's cheek. Bruno smiles warmly before petting Charles's head.
"Brother gets to go, we might be able to sneak into the crowd and watch the prince deliver his message. Wouldn't you like that?"
Charles wags his tail when the prince is mentioned, he barks excitedly.
"Good, I was going to take you anyway."
Bruno giggles and jumps up when he hears the front door open. He runs up to his older brother and gives him a tight hug. Jordan smiles and picks Bruno up, returning his embrace.
"How was work?" Bruno asked eagerly.
"Well," Jordan chuckles nervously, "I may have made the captain quite angry this morning."
"I think you always make the captain angry." Bruno giggles as Jordan sets him down.
"Not always, just most of the time. I almost got him hurt today, I scared the horse and the wagon flipped over."
"Are you hurt?" Bruno frowns with a worried expression.
"Eh, just a little scratch is all."
He removes his guard attire starting with his red and gold jacket. Once removed and hung up, Bruno immediately asked, "then why is your whole arm bandaged up?"
Jordan coughed lightly before changing the subject.
"What would you and Charles like for dinner?"
As he spoke Charles's name, the dog made its way over to him and sat by his feet before lifting his paw for a hand shake. Jordan gladly shuck the dogs paw, smiling warmly.
" It's good to see you awake tonight."
Jordan exclaimed happily as he stared into Charles's brown eyes.
"You keep changing the subject.."
Bruno pouts lightly and Jordan turns his attention back towards the twelve-year-old.
"I'm sorry," Jordan frowns lightly, "I just don't want you to worry about me."
Bruno trails the wooden floor planks with his eyes, looking down at all the dirt and dust gathered there.
"Okay.. Well for dinner I want green beans and pork."
Bruno looks over at Charles making eye contact with him.
"What would you like, Charles?"
Charles barks twice before walking over to Bruno and brushing up against him. Bruno smiles lightly again before petting his dog.
"He'd like the same."
Jordan nods, "well I'll be heading to the store."
Bruno quickly scrambles to get his shoes on after shouting that he was going with him, Charles too tags along. Once they were at the store, Jordan asks them what cut of pork they would like. They eventually decided on the fatty part of the pig's belly to go with the green beans. Jordan also purchased some potatoes and cheese to go with the meal. On the walk back, they noticed something that caught their attention. There was a large silhouette of a massive ship coming forth from the horizon. There shouldn't have been a ship out at hours like such so Jordan told Charles and Bruno to hurry home. Bruno refused to leave Jordan in a situation that could possibly be dangerous therefore Charles had to force the boy back to their home. They stayed there, under Bruno's bed, for what seemed like years but was really only a few hours. As dawn broke, beams of light highlighted his small room. Hues of pink and orange rose up from beneath the ocean and colored the black sky. The stars began to vanish and the moon was fading slowly. Charles was still alert, waiting for a danger that never came. The sudden creaking of the front door opening startled the shepherd and he sprinted into action to stop the intruder from getting to the boy. He acted without thinking and sunk his teeth into the flesh of the older brother. After realizing what he had done, Charles's eyes filled with sorrow as he released Jordan's calf. He lowed his head with his ears back as he continued to look up at the guard. Jordan frowned, looking down at Charles.
"It's okay, bud. You were just doing your job."
He reached out to pet Charles and the dog flinched badly as if thinking Jordan was going to strike at him. Afterwards Jordan left to the bathroom to check out his newest wound, he limped the entire way. Charles kept his tail tucked tightly between his legs as he followed Jordan.
Jordan sighed lightly, "Great.. It'll definitely need stitches."
He looked back over at Charles.
"I don't know what language you and my brother speak in but.. Please don't tell him about this."
Charles nods and he eventually perks his ears up again.
"Tell him to use grandma's recipe book to find out how to cook what was supposed to be dinner. I have to go to the doctor's again. I hope this doesn't take to long.."
He mumbles his last sentence under his breath before leaving the house once again. After Jordan had left, Charles barks loudly as he approaches the sleeping Bruno to wake him. This works and Bruno yawns as he stretches and crawls out from under the bed. He scratches his neck as he asks his four-legged companion what it was he wanted. Charles wags his tail excitedly before running into the kitchen, Bruno follows behind. He watches his dog pull an old dusty book off the counter top before carrying it over to him. Bruno takes the book from him and opens it to the exact page that features the green bean recipe. Bruno smiles and thanks Charles but then frowns as he begins to worry. Why hasn't his brother come home? Charles did as told and didn't tell the boy about his encounter with Jordan that morning. Bruno managed to finish the dish and shared it with Charles but also saved some for Jordan.
"I hope he's okay.. What do you think was on that ship, Charles?"
Charles whines before pressing his head against Bruno's hand. Bruno nodded and stood quickly.
"You're right, let's go find out!"
He changes into a pair of homemade jean shorts and a loose white tee-shirt before putting on his running shoes. He opens the door for Charles and sprints in the direction where they last saw the ship. It was relatively close to an old, closed tunnel entry. The underground tunnels had been closed years before Bruno was even born. They were used by the ring of assassins before the past guards and king put a stop to the group. All members that were caught were hanged for public display but there were many that were never caught. No one is permitted to enter the tunnels so it would make it the perfect hideaway for criminals. Charles goes ahead of Bruno and crouches low to the ground as he approaches the entry way. After making sure the coast was clear, Charles barked and they both entered the tunnel. It wasn't long before they discovered the boxes and crates full of knifes, swords, coins and other supplies all marked with the words 'Ring of Assassins'. This shocked and confused Bruno. What was all this stuff doing here? Charles twitched his ears when hearing approaching footsteps. He pulled on Bruno's shorts as if telling him it was time to go. Bruno put the knife he had in his hand into his pocket before quickly fleeing the tunnels with Charles at his side. Instead of going home, they went to town in search of Jordan.
"He's probably at the castle. What do you think, Charles?"
Charles barks agreeing with the boy.
"We have to tell him about what we saw."
Charles barks again and soon they make it to the castle. They were at the back of the large stone building, in the garden which surrounds the courtyard. They didn't find Jordan but they did find a beautiful young lady with her white shepherd. In place of the dog's collar was a lovely piece of jewelry, it was decorated in many gems. The lady was dressed in a luxurious white dress which was lined with lace and diamonds. She wore high heels that matched her dress and gloves, which reached up to her elbows, as well as diamond earrings. The princess's blonde locks caressed her face and shoulders, her blue eyes glistened like a summer lake in the sunlight.
Before the princess noticed them, her brother came outside as well. He ran up to her, yelling out her name. His hair was slightly darker than hers and his eyes were more of a forest green and full of worry and anxiety. He was definitely in a rush and badly troubled.
"What is it, brother?" Marry asks with a look of worry.
"Please, Marry, I need your help. No matter how hard I try, I can't write out a good speech. It needs to be perfect but I am far from that!"
She approaches him before lacing her arms around his body and resting her head against his chest.
"Calm down, brother.. You don't need to write down anything. Just speak your mind."
She releases him and looks up at his sharp features.
"But-"
"It's what every good Prince would do. You will be fine and amazing."
Jay looks down and swallows hard as his chest tightens and his heart begins to race. He had awful stage fright, his speech would sure be a failure.