"Hey!" Virgil said, stopping short of running into his friend. "Sorry I'm late." Patton shrugged, scrunching up his nose.

"It's fine." He mock-glared at Virgil. "You promised you wouldn't get any taller."

Virgil shrugged and took his basket from Patton. "I lied. Did I miss the announcements?"

Patton nodded. "But unless you're a Rag-And-Bone Man, you don't have to worry about it."

"Raised the tax again?" Virgil asked as they walked into the market. Patton shook his head.

"Lowered it, actually. Now they don't have an excuse to pay as little as possible for their wares." Virgil nodded.

"Huh. Guess that's good for us, then." He said. He shook his fringe out of his eyes and Patton sounded like he was trying not to gasp.

"Virgil, what happened to your head?" He asked. Virgil gave him a side-long glance but didn't react other than that. Patton noticed he did starts walking faster, though.

"I fell down the stairs, that's all." Virgil said, brushing it off quickly.

"Let me guess, one of your step-siblings acted as the force of gravity?" Patton asked bitterly. Virgil shot him a sharp glance.

"Not out here, Pat." Virgil said quietly.

"Why not? You seem perfectly fine talking about it when we're in the woods or at my house." Patton said accusingly. Virgil sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"I don't know who's out here to listen in." Virgil almost whispered. "So can we just... not?" Patton huffed but didn't press the subject. He knew that Virgil was sensitive about things like that.

"Any news from the castle?" Virgil asked eventually. "About the princes or anything? Aren't they turning 17 soon?"

Patton shrugged. "Supposedly. I mean, obviously Prince Remus is."

"What about his brother?" Patton raised an eyebrow.

"You still believe in that?" He asked. Virgil shrugged.

"I guess?" Virgil hedged. "Why?"

Now Patton shrugged. "Because it's a legend, Virge."

"Why would the castle make up a legend like that?"

"Because they didn't want their son to become king so they made up a reason?" Patton guessed.

"That's horrid." Virgil said, swinging his basket.

"It makes sense."

"So does the legend." Virgil protested. Patton raised his eyebrow again.

"Why would the king and queen keep their eldest son from leaving the castle?" Patton asked. Virgil shrugged and rubbed the back of his head.

"Lots of reasons." He said defensively.

"Like...?" Patton egged.

"Maybe they didn't want him to meet a cute girl and run away with her." Virgil said quickly. "That could be a reason. Or he just didn't want to leave." Virgil looked up and shielded his eyes as he looked into the sun. He could just make out the tallest turrets of the palace. "If I lived there, I don't think I'd want to leave either."

"Must get kind of boring, though." Patton said. "You know, living in the same four walls all your life, never seeing the outside world. Never going to the market, never meeting your friends."

"I bet you that if he wanted to, the Crown Prince could order a whole market to be built in the palace grounds, just for him." Virgil nudged Patton with his elbow. Patton laughed.

"Okay, let's say that the Crown Prince is a real person." Patton said. "What d'you think he'd be called?"

Virgil thought, biting the inside of his cheek. "Something regal." He said. "He can't just be any other Tom, Dick or Harry. And something that's similar to Prince Remus' name. Like... Romulus." Virgil laughed. "Nah, I don't think anyone would be cruel enough to saddle their kid with that name. Maybe... Roman. Or something like it."

This chapter was fun.
Bye,
Blaize