Chapter 117: I Can Never Get Away From Rats

Vance

Vance sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the painting resting against his knees.

It was the portrait of the girl in the purple dress. He had painted it himself from pure, vivid memory alone, recalling every detail from the night he had caught a glimpse of her. His fated mate. He squinted slightly, studying the soft brushstrokes of her face. Looking at this canvas was the only thing that gave him any sense of calm now that his whole life was falling apart.

Malric was lying in a coma, on the verge of death. His sister had practically lost her mind in grief, locking herself away. His mother, Queen Posy, was just so damn angry at the whole world. Two of his fathers had marched off to war, and though Vance didn’t care much about them, he had an odd, sinking feeling in his stomach that they were going to lose this war. Meanwhile, his other two fathers were struggling to manage the royal court, and his remaining brothers had become so reclusive, distant, and cold. They weren’t close like they used to be.

Vance sighed, running a hand over his face as he stared at the purple dress. He was supposed to be in class right now. Not that he had ever attended class regularly anyway, but sitting here in the quiet made his thoughts run wild. He wondered what would happen if Malric died. Malric would have died before ever meeting their shared fated mate, someone Malric had wanted his entire life.

Footsteps echoed down the hallway outside his room. Vance flinched, quickly shoving the canvas back underneath his bed frame. He stood up, smoothed down his shirt, and stepped out into the corridor just as Theo came marching down the hall. "I’ve been looking for you everywhere," Theo said, stopping in front of him. "Where were you last night?"

"Oh, I went for a walk," Vance lied smoothly. "What’s going on?"

"Dude, you won’t believe it," Theo said, shaking his head with a look of pure disbelief. "We have a roommate. And Keali was right. His name... it’s Travis. Travis is our roommate."

Vance blinked, his eyebrows drawing together. "What? Him? Him out of everyone?!"

"Yes!" Theo threw his hands up in frustration. "I wouldn’t have believed it myself, but I saw him yesterday. Then we went down to the reception, and Mrs Gable said he’s officially assigned to our dorm. There is literally nothing we can do about it."

"You’ve got to be kidding me," Vance groaned, leaning his head back against the wall. "I thought I could finally get a break from Travis. He’s like a rat that won’t go away no matter what you do. I’m so tired of this."

"Come on," Theo muttered, turning back toward the main living area. "Let’s just go sit down."

They walked into the sitting room together. Just as Vance went to sit on the couch, the front door opened, and Travis walked in.

Oh, kill me now, Vance thought, staring at the boy. Kill me right now. I am so tired of this rat.

Travis froze when he saw both princes standing there. He looked at them awkwardly, clutching his strap. Vance crossed his arms, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "Hi to you, too. How long have you been staying in this dorm?"

"A long time," Travis muttered nervously. "Since I got here." Vance stared at him. "How have we never bumped into each other until now? This is insane."

"I don’t know," Travis said quickly.

Travis made a move to sneak past them and head straight down the hallway to his room. But halfway there, he stopped. He paused for a second, turned around, and looked back at Vance and Theo.

"As of now, it’s time we bury the hatchet," Travis said.

Vance and Theo both frowned at him. "What do you mean?" Vance asked. "What are you talking about?"

Travis fidgeted with his hands, looking between the two of them. "Guys, we have hated each other for more than a month now. Since I arrived at this academy, we have been nothing but at each other’s throats. Things are bad for everyone at this current stage. Like, really, really bad. I think that maybe we should just bury the hatchet."

Vance narrowed his eyes, but Travis kept talking.

"You’ve done some terrible things to me, and I’ve done some terrible things to you, though not quite as much as what you’ve done to me," Travis added hastily. "But anyway, I think we should move on. We can’t be walking around on pins and needles next to each other when so much is going on, you know?"

"What is going on, exactly?" Vance asked, raising an eyebrow, daring Travis to bring up Malric and see what happens.

Travis shifted his weight, looking down at his boots. "You know... exams are coming up and there is a war so life is tough for everyone. I just think that maybe... maybe let’s just pause the enmity for a while. Let’s just pause it. We’re all going through a lot here. I mean, you guys can just get back to bullying me when Malric is back."

Vance and Theo looked at each other in total silence.

Vance turned back to Travis and jerked his chin toward the hallway. "Scram."

Travis didn’t hesitate. "Don’t have to tell me twice. I’m out of here." He turned on his heel and ran down the hall to his room, slamming the door shut behind him. Once the hallway went quiet, Vance side-eyed Theo. "Should we bury the hatchet?"

Theo stared at the space where Travis had been standing. "I don’t know. Malric did bury the hatchet himself when he saved him. When he saved Travis from Jax."

Vance shook his head, frustration creeping into his chest. "I still don’t understand why he did that. Malric was the one who wanted to see Travis suffer the most out of all of us. But now... now he’s the one who saved Travis’s life. I don’t understand what’s happening either."

"I say we should just wait for a while," Theo suggested, sitting down on the chair. "If Malric and Travis came to an understanding and Malric never told us, it would be stupid for us to and when Malric beat our asses if we do something stupid"

"True" Vance agreed, even though he was struggling to believe, Malric and Travis were cool with eachother now.

"Anyways we can’t really do anything without Malric anyway. We’ll wait for him to wake up, and he’ll tell us what to do. He’ll lead us like he always does." Theo added. Vance looked toward the balcony window, a heavy silence settling over him. "Do you even think he’s going to wake up? I mean... it’s been a week, Theo."

SMACK.

Theo reached over and slapped the back of Vance’s head hard.

"Ow! What the hell?!" Vance yelled, rubbing his neck. "Don’t be negative!" Theo barked, glaring at him. "Of course he’ll wake up! You always have to say something like that."

Vance grumbled, rubbing his sore neck, but he didn’t argue further. "Fine. I’m sorry."