Forbidden ~ Marcaniel Royal AU

chapitre trois

Marc blew hair from his mouth. Just having woken up, he found a small bunch of hair in his mouth. Luckily, it was his own hair and not the sleeping prince's. Still gross, though. He rubbed his sleepy eyes lightly, sitting up on his elbows. Tracing his eyes across the darkened room, he stared out of the window. Seeing that it was still dark out, Marc slowly stretched across the bed to pick up an obsidian pocket watch from the bedside table. Quickly flipping the cover open, he read the time as 4:50. Marc hushed his tired whine so not to wake the sleeping Prince.

Gently setting the pocket watch on the table, he carefully slid out from the covers, laying them back down over Nathaniel. He waited a moment to see if he had woken up in the movement, silently exhaling after a few seconds. He sat on the wooden floor, putting his socks. Sliding his brown boots on next, he noticed that they were starting to wear out. The quality wasn't bad, though, for the price he got them at. He quickly knotted the laces, quietly moving to the desk. He took a small paper from the drawer and dipped the quill in the small container of squid's ink, tapping the tip against the container's rim. Gliding the quill across the paper's surface, he wrote a note for the Prince. Marc left his signature as a simple cursive 'm'.

Folding the paper in half, he lifted Nathaniel's palm, setting it down in the center. Gently setting his hand down on the bed, Marc smiled softly at the sleeping Prince. Nathaniel's hair that was usually tucked behind his ear had fallen over his face, shielding any light from creeping into his eyes. If he hadn't already looked so beautiful, his state of grace could easily be compared to that of an angel's.

Marc left a soft kiss on his forehead as a goodbye, going to the hidden passageway. Tossing his hooded cape around his shoulders, he latched the button into it's designated loop. Marc pushed two bricks in and pulled one slightly to the left, revealing a small opening. Pulling on the edge of the opening, the rest of the door heavily sliding open. He silently entered the passageway, making sure to fully close the opening behind him.

Traveling down the hidden halls, he heard indistinguishable chatter and noises coning from rooms that he passed. The halls had been abandoned as far as anyone knew. Marc had been using them for quite some time then and never saw another soul in these halls, so he assumed they were shut down or forbidden for some reason.

They were also the reason as to how he got to know the Prince on a more personal level, aside from his job as the royal scribe.

Marc heavily sighed, hand resting on his black leather messenger bag settled against his hips. He stood outside the General's castle chambers, already knowing how badly the General would take this. Though, he knew delaying it would have worse outcomes. Hesitantly knocking on the closed door, he took the General's letter from the bag.

"General D'Argencourt?" He called through the door.

There was a brief silence.

"State your reason of presence." An older, male voice called.

Marc nervously fidgeted and took a breath. "I am the royal scribe... I have a message for you."

The sound of feet thudding against the floor quickly filled the silence, the door suddenly swinging open. A tall, thin, older man had opened it, but sprinted away immediately after. He gestured for Marc to come inside while periodically swinging a fencing sword at a target. That really didn't help Marc's teensy bit of confidence.

General D'Argencourt glanced over at him, raising a scrutinizing eyebrow at him. "Well? Read it."

Marc swiftly opened the letter, reading over it in a rush. Just like that, his last bit of confidence diminished at the crude writing. "Um, this seems more of something you would want to read yourself, General."