Curse - Septiplier

32: Out in the Open

Jack's POV

I lie awake in my bed, waiting as the sun's rays shone through the window and wondering when the messenger would make his appearance. Tonight was the night, the night that Mark and I would flee, and I only had to endure one more day. I wondered what it would be like, just the two of us out in the wilderness. We had charted maps out there as far as we could make it without worrying our supplies or soldiers too much, but what was beyond that? Nothingness? Was it a vast ocean and Mark and I would be trapped against the seaside and my father? Or would we find ourselves in a giant jungle battling creatures we've never seen before to get through? My thoughts were racing, and they were endless. What could be out there? Beyond everything that we know, it could be anything. My thoughts were interrupted as I heard footsteps storming down the hallway, and I sat up, preparing myself for the messenger and his obnoxious demands. I let out a sigh only to leap into the air and off my bed as the door slammed open, the locks snapping in several parts and the wall cracking behind where the door was opened. My father stood in the doorway at his full height, his crown nearly brushing the top of the doorway and his glare focused on me in a daunting manner. His lips were drawn back into a snarl, and he looked like he would hit me at any moment. My chest flared out, fear swelling inside me and an unsteady anxiousness overtaking my body, sending shivers down my spine and my arms.

"What have you done, you traitorous scum?!" My father spat, advancing on me as I backed away from him. "Huh? What is it that you've done, Jack? You know, don't even tell me. Just explain to me how it is that a pretty princess with riches and fortune offers to marry you to create peace, but yet you choose to obsess over a soldier, a male soldier, Jack!" My father's voice was icy cold, and rigid as I stood. I felt shock and fear overtake me as I realized he knew, he knew everything now. "Why is that, huh? Is it because I wasn't a good enough father? Did I do something wrong somewhere?" He paused for a moment, and then he chuckled. "No, that's not it at all, its because you're weak." I glared at him. "That's right, all bark and no bite. If only your mother could see you now, and realized what a selfish fool of a cowards she had raised." I felt my lips twitch in anger, and my hands balled up into fists. I rounded on him now.

"Yes, I'm gay. That's right dad, that means homosexual." I spat at his feet, and his eyes seemed to glow with anger as he stared down at me, but I swept on. "I hugged Mark, I've kissed Mark, I've touched every part of him and I've felt his skin against my own. I've done things with that man that you wouldn't even considering doing to mother if she was alive!" I snapped at him, and before I could react, my father slapped the side of my face, hard. I felt a sting run through my cheek and down the side of my neck, causing my shoulders to twitch in return. I held my reddening face, and glared back up at my father who only looked regretful for a moment.

"That's wrong, Jack! That's wrong on every level, that's against God and everything we stand for in this kingdom. It's been just as outlawed as the whips that your mother banned, but I suppose if you're out committing crimes then the General might as well be too." My father's teeth were slammed together, and he was hissing through them at me. "This is wrong, and I forbade it a long time ago for many reasons. I told you when you were younger to specifically avoid it, and when you and Mark first started training. You blatantly disobeyed my orders to you!"

"That doesn't matter, we're in love." I told him from where I was sitting on the floor, cradling my injury. "I don't know if that word means anything to you anymore since you've replaced mother with repulsive spirits." My father's lips began to twitch into a snarl, but I swept on. "Mark is the only one I've ever loved, and I'll make sure that it stays that way. I'll marry that princess if you want me to, but she'll quickly be replaced by Mark. Once I am King, there will be nothing you can do to stop me. You cannot separate us, I will always be with him." I said the final words with emphasis, and I glared at my father, out of breath from arguing, but it didn't stop his angered rage.