Chapter 3

The king of the Rainy Kingdom, Rob's husband, didn't attend the marriage. He sent a letter apologizing. He was busy, but welcomed Rob to the palace, despite everything.

The ceremony wasn't a big thing to begin with. It was the first time Rob wore a formal suit, and his hair was finally cut by a hairdresser, but they didn't let him eat the cake, because his majesty wasn't there.

"I am his majesty as well", he thought, but it was a lie. His coronation would be two weeks after his eighteenth birthday, which give him a month of being just an underage prince. His chambers were big and luxurious, but the bed was too small. He was informed the king would not share his bedroom for the time being

...

The truth is we need the Sun. We need the Sun to know what time is it. If not the sun, then at least a clock.

Rob had none of the two.

At Least I'm not dead. At Least I'm not dead.

He tried holding on that thought, but holding on any thought was hard. The corners of his vision were blackening, a black frame on everything he saw. He would like to scream. In fact, he screamed in the first hours of being locked in that cell. For freedom. For food. For the pure necessity of screaming.

How long can a human body live without food? How long can a simple human live in a cell made of rocks, with water dripping on their head?

How can he live now?

On the top of all that, it hurt. His mouth, his chest. It hurt, and Rob had never felt true pain before. He rewinded all his life on the memory. Prince times, King times, no pain, never.

At Least I'm not dead.

At some point, he got up and picked up his tooth from the floor. It was a nice tooth, he supposed. White, full of blood. He could make a necklace out of it. Rob's tooth necklace. He let a little smile out. It would be funny, not being tragic.

Was it tragic? He thought so. But there was comfort on it.

Rob, his name was Rob. He was wearing Rob's clothes. He was being Rob.

Being himself was the most important comfort of all times.

In a few days - or so he thought, with no conception of time - he gave up. At Least I'm not dead? Soon I'll be. Wanting to stay alive was a waste of energy, when you're so close to death.

He laughed with himself. Would his grave say "Rob"? He didn't think so. A grave with a big

Eleanor written on it. A pretty dress on him. Would his mother cry? Probably, for the sake of the drama. At least pretending to cry, she would. His father wouldn't attend the burial at all. The King of the Sunny Kingdom had more important things to do. What about his husband? It made Rob laugh more. He wasn't feeling his own heart beating.

Was it death? He hoped so. The faster, the better.

He fell into darkness with a smile.

...

Despite not being religious, Rob had the impression there would be a heaven, or maybe some kind of hell. He didn't think it would look like his own chambers in the Rainy Kingdom.

He woke up feeling pain. He wasn't supposed to feel a thing after dying.

He was on his bed, some food at his side, his clothes changed. Even the bands of fabric he would wear to bind his chest. It was all there, clean. Smelling good. He could feel his mouth again, and he breathing was relatively normal.

"You woke up"

It was a royal guard. Not one of the interrogations. Just a guard. Still, Rob felt the cold of the fear growing through his back.

"You slept for two days. We had to make you swallow your medicine"

Rob tried sitting down on the bed. His whole head hurt.

"Too much care for a murderer, if you want my opinion".

Rob didn't want it, but it gave an idea of where he was in the world. Still a murderer, not a prisoner in a dungeon. Still over a guard's watch, not being hurt.

"If you're awake, the King wants to see you"

Rob wanted to ask the king to come here see him. He was probably in a better state, it would be fair. He got up and the world shook. He reached some balance on the bed, and then stepped aside. One step, then another. He could do it, he could do it. The guard guided him through corridors until a small room. There was a desk, and some painting on the wall.

And sitting on a couch in the middle of the room, there was the kIng.

"You're here", his voice was cold. As always. Never warm.

At his side, the man he met on the dungeon stood still. Rob didn't know who he was, but part of him felt gratitude.

"I am here", he tried sounding less afraid than he was.

"Sir Wizard told us", his voice was full of despise, "there are not enough proofs to guarantee you're the murderer. Although", he crossed his legs, "I still think you're dangerous to us all"

That made absolutely no sense to Rob. How could he be a dangerous to anyone? How could someone think he was a murderer? How?

He looked at the man standing still. He had no expression, but Rob could tell, he just could.

The man was upset.

"We are not going to kill you", the king said and Rob left out some air. At Least I'm not dead.

"But we're sending you away"

"what?"

"King Rob, you're exiled"

This should be a terrifying situation, of course. Rob had never dreamed about going back home, with his mother and all the maids.

But at that moment, even his mother sounded better.

I'm leaving you all. Finally.

"So I'm going home"

The King smiled. A crooked smile Rob didn't know he could do.

"Your parents don't want you back".

Now, Rob knew his mother didn't like him. He knew his father despised him. He knew it.

But not wanting him back?

How?

Why?

"So… where am I supposed to go?"

"That's up to you. We will leave you in the border of the kingdom"

Rob must have heard wrongly.

"There is just a big forest on the border"

That crooked smile. The icy eyes, blue, so blue.

"We are aware".

Rob looked at the man, then at the king, then at the guards. That should be a joke. It had to be a joke. But again, he had his own tooth gap to prove they weren't kidding at all. He tried to say something, anything.

At Least I'm not dead.

...

The carriage shook and shook.

Rob closed his eyes and focused on the lack of balance. To the left, to the right. Never stopping. There was a guard next to him, a guarantee he wouldn't run away.

In front of him was the man. The one Rob didn't know. He wasn't saying anything. He wasn't blinking. Rob couldn't even tell if he was breathing at all.

They came close to the woods, where bushes were pretty and the trees were a light shade of green. It was a beautiful place. Then it slowly stopped being simple woods, and it became the forest. The big, dark and deep forest, where no light passed through the leaves.

He let the scent of trees fill his lungs.

"We arrived" The guard announced.

A big wall separated the Sunny Kingdom from the Rainy Kingdom. One was Prince Rob's home, the other, the house of King Rob. He had equal power in both.

Zero.

He breathed heavily and got out the carriage. There was no chance of running, there was no chance of doing anything.

"Your Majesty", the man got closer to Rob. He handed him a small necklace.

"You're not allowed to give him anything", the guard remembered.

"It's a necklace. You can tell the king that, I take full responsibility."

He got into the carriage again.

They left, slowly, but leaving anyway.

Rob's heart didn't even have strength to beat fast.

At Least I'm not in the castle anymore.

He didn't knew if it counted for the At Least game