The Swan Prince {Sanders Sides Analogical AU}

Chapter 11

Hrothbart burst open the craggy old doors of the crumbling castle, strutting inside with a confidence rarely seen outside of cats.

"Talyn! Talyn where are you?!" he shouted into the stone structure.

A head of multicolored hair popped out from behind one of the walls, a rather unamused expression on their face.

"The fuck do you want?" they asked, walking out with their arms crossed.

"Someone's cranky. Well, I need your help to keep our little feathered friend from finding his prince," said Hrothbart.

"Oh, for fuck sake... can you just leave the kid alone?! Just because the king kicked you out for, frankly, being a maniac doesn't mean you have to fuck up his kid's life too!" Talyn said, throwing their hands in the air in exasperation.

"I'd watch you tongue if I were you," warned the man.

"Oh, boo-hoo! Gonna cast one of your spells on me if I speak my mind? Oh, great and powerful asshole?" Talyn mockingly bowed at him, rolling their eyes with enough passive-aggression to kill a man.

"Oh, shut up and do your job! Since when were you taking his side?" said Hrothbart.

"I don't take sides. I only do what is morally right. Now what's this stupid job you want be to do?" the sassy non-binary huffed, hands on their hips.

"I'm going to have you impersonate Virgil and go to Prince Logan's ball tomorrow night. That way, the little prince will make the vow to the wrong person, and Virgil will be no more," the man explained.

"I'll have you know, I'm only doing this because I have full confidence that if that does happen, Logan will murder you," Talyn said with a slight smirk.

"Fine! Whatever!" Hrothbart said, stopping off.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Logan ran into the kingdom, a new spring in his step as he pushed open the doors to the ballroom.

"Father have you s—" he started, but stopped when he noticed his father's choice of flora for the ball.

"Oh, Logan!" Patton greeted, a dainty flower crown of red roses (probably made by Deceit after Patton gave him the Patton Puppy Eyes ™) resting in his curly dirty blond hair.

"What might these be?" asked Logan.

"Roses," Patton smiled.

"They're red," Logan said, stating the obvious.

"Of course they're red. Would you like them blue, or white?" asked Patton.

"No, dad, I don't care for red roses. I would rather a black dahlia. Like a black swan. Have you seen Roman?" Logan said, walking away from his father.

"Uh, no. Is something wrong?" asked the king, but his words fell on deaf ears.

"Has anyone seen Roman?" Logan asked, receiving only 'no's' and head shakes from the staff.

"No, no, no, no, no, Deceit, hold it," said Logan, walking over to the lord.

"What's wrong now, Logan?" Deceit asked with a tiny smirk.

"Tonight the music must be played rubato, soft and graceful, like a swan," said Logan, holding his arms out to display his thoughts.

"A swan?" Deceit tilted his head.

"Have you ever seen a swan, Deceit?" Logan used his arm to act as a swan, his hand nipping Deceit's sleeve to toy with him.

"Of course I've seen a swan," said the snake loving man.

"If you could play a swan, what would it sound like?" Logan asked.

Deceit flicked his baton and the tuba player blasted a note, getting a chuckle from the conductor.

"Soft and graceful, Deceit," Logan told him.

"Logan, a swan is just a pretty goose," Deceit deadpanned, but it fell on deaf ears once again.

"Has anyone seen Roman?" Logan shouted.

"No one has seen him, Logan. What's so important?" Patton asked, walking over to his son.

"Then who's going to be my best man?" said the prince.

"Best...? You mean? You – oh – Logan! Oh!" Patton squeaked, bouncing up and down with excitement.

"There you go, Deceit, well done," praised the prince once the music changed tempo.

"Don't be so secretive, Logan, tell me who he is," Patton begged, earning only a laugh from Logan.