Gone

Chapter 14-Crying

TW: Crying, Repressing Emotions, Mentions of Injuries, Mentions of Death, Blood, 

Janus yawned as he pulled his eyes open and caught sight of the mossy cement wall that separated his and Remus's cell from the empty one next to them. Janus and Remus were being kept completely separate from the rest of the captured citizens, the leader of the attack thought that if they hadn't been separated then the two might try something. They thought that keeping leaders away from the people they govern was a smart move that would mean avoiding a revolt. So far they were right, none of the citizens have tried anything in fear that their prince might be killed for it and Janus couldn't do anything alone, nor would he as that would risk everybody's safety.

The crown prince sighed as he placed his hand to Remus's head. In his sleep, the other prince sank into the touch, a small smile appearing on his face. Janus smiled back, Remus's fever had broken. That was good, Janus would just have to keep doing what he had been doing and hope that it would be enough for Remus to keep healing.

Janus slipped out from underneath the thin blanket and let Remus take the cot completely for himself, not to upset about it at all as it would hopefully mean that Remus got better sleep than when they had been sharing the narrow bed. Janus smiled weakly as he sat against the wall next to the bed and ran his fingers through Remus's hair, pushing it away from his eyes and making the other wrinkle their nose as the loose hairs began to tickle their skin when they fell back down. He stopped when Remus swatted his hand away and sleepily mumbled for him to stop.

"Sorry Love," Janus whispered as he pulled his hand away and placed them back in his lap. He looked down at them, wincing when he caught sight of the bandages on them. They were poorly bandaged and the bandages hadn't been replaced since they had been captured. Probably the only reason they were bandaged in the first place was that Janus threatened that if Remus died he'd do whatever it took to get out of here, and when the medic came in they had seen no reason not to look at his hands.

Wizards like Janus, Virgil, and Logan couldn't do magic if their hands were hurt too badly. During the attack, his magic had backfired on him after he tried preforming to difficult of a spell, and he ended up burning them real bad. It didn't help that his left hand was covered in scales and it had made that damage to that hand much worse and more painful. 

He probably would benefit from some medicine but the leaders of the attack had told them that if Janus got medicine for his hands than Remus wouldn't get any for his injuries. Janus would rather lose his hand and never be able to do magic again then have Remus die from his injuries. So he didn't get any medicine and was forced to deal with the pain on his own. 

He sighed as he held his hands close to his chest, never being able to do magic again might soon become a reality if his hands didn't heal correctly. Janus's vision became blurry, and chest felt tight as he let out a sob. His shoulders shook with fear, anger, and sadness as he broke apart, not being able to hold himself together anymore. 

Remus was sick and could die. He might never be able to do magic again. He was an orphan now. His kingdom had been attacked and torn apart. Citizens had been torn away from their homes and families just to become prisoners in some sick unasked for war that had never even been given a chance to negotiate away. He didn't even know if the citizens were okay or not. He wasn't allowed to be the leader he was supposed to be. He was just supposed to sit here and be a good little obedient prisoner, a life to hold over his people's heads. Because his people wouldn't do anything if it meant that the last known royal could be at risk. Virgil was missing! He got away but he could still be dead. He may not have survived the woods or what if he ran into some bandits or if he hurt himself while running and couldn't move? 

Janus didn't know.

He didn't know what he'd do if really was the last surviving member of his family.