No one spoke during the early morning walk back to the castle. Everyone dragged their feet, exhaustion making for a much slower trip than it should have been. Still, they managed to make it to the edge of the city, where they were met with concerned civilians who sprang into action to help those who needed it.

Andrew stayed right by Elias’ side, allowing the prince to lean on him. When he woke up, he noticed Elias had grown pale, and that he didn’t do any sort of speech before they moved on. He simply told them it was time to go, and everyone followed.

“Y-your majesty, please, allow us to help you to the castle.” A lanky man with long, curly hair stumbled his way through the crowd. He wore one of the same uniforms Andrew had seen people have on in the castle, a burgundy shirt under a chain mail with a thick, leather belt around the waist. “We sent someone to inform your mother-”

“I can make the trip myself,” Elias huffed. “Thank you, for the offer, though.” He grabbed Andrew’s hand, tugging him forward. “All of your efforts should be spent helping the survivors. I want them seen by doctors, fed, clothed, and housed by the end of the day.”

The guard nodded quickly but didn’t move right away. “We will see to that. But… Your majesty, you look… Are you sure you two alone can make the walk?”

Elias’ face scrunched up, and he gave a low growl. “They need to be taken care of first.”

Andrew placed his hand on the prince’s chest. “Hey, I know you’re tired, hurt, and want to make sure everyone is taken care of, but yikes, man. You need help, too. C’mon, let them help us to the castle. There’s no point in letting yourself slowly bleed out while we walk.”

“Fine,” Elias grumbled. “But I stand by what I said. These people had better get the help they need as fast as possible.”

“They’re getting the help they need, so let’s get you home, Huffy the Angry Dragon.” Andrew chuckled at his joke, not missing the confusion and anger on Elias’ face.

There was no way he got even a wink of sleep, and neither of them had eaten for a while, so he probably needed breakfast and a nap before he would humor his jokes. Andrew, though, had become used to not eating or sleeping for a while, thanks to getting lost for hours online or working. In fact, the delirium sometimes put him in a better mood.

Several more guards came to help, and soon they had Elias and Andrew packed into a carriage heading to the castle. Elias stayed quiet, nearly falling asleep the second he got comfortable in his seat. His wound had bled through the haphazard bandages, and the more Andrew looked at him, the more he was glad that Elias wasn’t some normal guy. A gash that big would have killed anyone else.

Loud, vicious roaring could be heard before the castle came into view. Andrew could only assume the queen had heard that her son was about to be delivered to her, hurt, bleeding, and upset. Andrew had never put himself in the position of a parent until then, and the more he thought about the anger she must have been feeling, the more he feared facing the large woman.

The carriage came to a slow stop, the door nearly being ripped off its hinges as Amerilla opened it to get to Elias.

“Elias, oh, you look awful.” Her voice softened as she reached in to grab him, carefully pulling the prince out and cradling him.

Andrew could see her watery eyes and wet cheeks, so he stayed silent as he scooted out of his seat, not wanting to upset the woman who could easily hold the large prince as if he didn’t weigh a thing.

“Mother, please, I feel fine. I just need rest and-”

“Nonsense, the doctor is here and is going to look you over. You’re not going to slip away to your room until she says that you’re alright.” The queen pressed a kiss to Elias’ forehead, earning a loud groan from him.

“Mother, please. I love you, and I understand your concern, but-”

“I know, I know, you don’t want to be seen like this in front of Andrew,” she laughed. Amerilla’s intense eyes snapped over to Andrew, looking him up and down. A low growl came from her as she tightened her grip on the prince. “You didn’t have anything to do with this, did you? I know Sebastian was seen, but I swear if you had something to do with this, I will not be kind.”

Andrew took a step back while shaking his head. “I did what I could to scare Sebastian off, and it worked enough that we got away. That’s all I did, I swear.”

Elias wiggled his way out of his mother’s arms, though he didn’t stray far because he still had to lean on her. “If it weren’t for Andrew, I probably wouldn’t have made it home. Sebastian has… Done something to himself. I couldn’t do much to fight him. But Andrew could, and he rescued me and the others. He’s my hero.”

“Oh wow, I wouldn’t use that word,” Andrew laughed, looking away. “We should probably get you inside now. I think the doctor is waiting. Let’s go.” He began to walk away, able to hear that the queen whispered something to Elias, though he didn’t quite catch what it was that she said.

The pair followed him in, Amerilla handing Elias off to a guard. She tapped Andrew on the shoulder, stopping him from following after the prince.

“Elias is going to go ahead for a moment to have some time alone with the doctor.” Gently, she placed her hand on Andrew’s shoulder. “Thank you for bringing my son home to me, Andrew. After what happened with Sebastian, I… Well, when I heard the guards tell me that Elias was hurt, all I could think about was when I lost his father. I hope you didn’t also get hurt by Sebastian’s wrath.”

Andrew nodded slowly. “I’m alright, just tired. And yeah, he sort of told me about all that. I’m sorry for your loss.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking back in the direction Elias had headed. “I get it. Being upset with me, I mean. People from my… World? Dimension? I still don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t see many of us taking this sort of thing very well. Sebastian probably wasn’t stable to start with, and being sent here seems like it set him off. I don’t think I’m the most mentally stable person, seeing as my diet was basically chips and juice and I stayed in front of a computer all day every day, but I still don’t see myself doing that.”

Amerilla chuckled, her hand moving up to Andrew’s messy, sweaty hair. Despite how rough she appeared to be, her skin glided over his like silk as she smoothed the stray strands back for him. “There’s always room to grow from our old habits, Andrew. And I’m glad that you’re not like Sebastian. Elias is very fond of you, and I’m glad to see that he has a good judgment of character.”

“Fond, huh, that’s a fancy word.” Try as he might, Andrew couldn’t avoid eye contact with the queen. Like Elias, she had vibrant, piercing red eyes that stayed locked on his. He cleared his throat before speaking again. “We’ve definitely become fast friends, which I don’t have many of, so it’s been nice.”

“Oh, darling,” she laughed, taking her hand away from his hair. “Don’t be so naive. You must realize by now that Elias likes you more-”

“Wow, look at that, I think uh… I think I’m actually bleeding a little! Ouch, yeah, my… Leg is so sore, and I think the metal from this armor cut into it a little. I need to go take it off and maybe take a bath to clean it. This has been an awesome talk, though, I’m glad you and I can also be friendly. I’ll clean up then go see Elias.” Andrew turned on his heels, his jaw clenched as he robotically walked away from the queen.

“Feel better, Andrew,” Amerilla chuckled as he walked away.

“I will, thanks, bye!” Andrew made it around a corner and then bolted down the hall, trying to remember where his room was. Thankfully, his memory served him well and in no time at all, he had the door closed behind him.

The armor came off a lot easier than he expected it to, only needing a few clasps and ties to be undone. Andrew piled it all in the corner then found some new clothes, using the dirty ones to wipe away some of the sweat, blood, and dirt that stuck to him from their trip in the woods. When he was done and had the fresh outfit on, he plopped down onto his bed and let out a long sigh.

Life would be different from then on. Aldoun, wherever or whatever it was, would be his new home until they could figure out how to send him back. And based on what he had seen from Sebastian, Andrew didn’t think that would be any time soon.

With no idea how to feel about that, Andrew simply stared up at the ceiling for a while, allowing his body to get some much-needed rest. Maybe after a nap, he could do some self-therapy to figure out what the hell he was supposed to do and feel. Or, he could coast on confusion until things sorted themselves out. Whichever came first.