My loyal, royal subject - Kingbury

Chapter 14

A/N: Me? Posting a chapter? It's more likely than you think.

Samuel was asleep at his desk, his head resting on an unfinished drawing of a horse that he had been working on all night until he ended up passing out.

He slowly and groggily woke up, blinking until his eyes adjusted to the light shining through the window and sitting up. His drawing stuck to his face, and Charles snickered across the room, looking up from his book. Sam grinned, laughing slightly as he removed his drawing from the side of his face.

The ink was all smudged, and the picture was completely ruined. But Samuel didn't care all that much, since he was pretty content with everything else in his life, for now anyways. He stood up, walking to the mirror. His face, strangely enough, didn't have any ink on it. He shrugged, walking over and sitting on the bed next to his friend.

"Hey, Sammy! What's up?" Charles greeted enthusiastically, his face lighting up.

"Not much. I'm gonna head out for a bit, okay?" Samuel tilted his head slightly as he spoke. Because of Charles's still healing wound, he was always worried that something bad would happen if he left him alone. But Charles always reassured him that everything would be fine.

"Yeah, okay! Stay safe, buddy!" He said, and Sam stood up, grabbing his key to the room and heading out. He was going to get groceries, but he decided that he might as well stop by the post office while he was out. When he got there, he asked if he had any mail.

And he did. A letter from the king, in a fancy red envelope with a royal seal on it. Sam jumped up and Downe excitedly as he took the letter, deciding to head back home and read it before getting the groceries.

He skipped all the way home, bursting through the door with a grin on his face. Charles flinched back for a second before realizing it was just Sam and relaxing. Sam bounced over to the desk, but instead of sitting on the chair he flopped onto the floor next to the desk, wanting to open the letter as fast as possible. He tore open the envelope, carefully pulling out the paper inside.

As he read the letter, he felt a mix of emotions. Excitement and childlike happiness at seeing the king - his king after so long, but also sadness and guilt at leaving Charles so soon, especially when his friend was still recovering.

"Um, Ch-Charlie, can I...talk to you, for a second?" Sam stuttered, his heart pounding. He didn't even know how to explain that he would be leaving in a few days, and he didn't want to upset Charles.

"Uh, sure! What's wrong?" Charles put down his book once again, frowning.

"Um, so, y'know how I'm suplosed to be here for six months?" Sam exclaimed, regaining his confidence, though he anxiously fiddled with a loose part of the bandages that covered his arm.

"Yeah?"

"Well, um, after my duel the king is really worried about me and I'm heading back to England in a few days, I'm so sorry..." Samuel said quickly, without taking a breath. Charles stared at him, a blank expression on his face, though Samuel could spot a hint of sadness and longing in his eyes.

"Sammy?" He finally said, and the ginger-haired boy met his gaze.

"Y-Yes?" Samuel smiled hesitantly.

"Can you do one last important thing for me before you go?" Charles asked, smiling giddily and sitting up fully so he was close to Sam.

"Of course! What is-" Sam was cut off as Charles pulled him in, kissing him passionately. Frozen in shock for a few moments, Samuel didn't kiss back, but then he pushed Charles away, falling off the bed and landing on the wooden floor with a thud and scurrying backwards away from the bed.