This ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would be and taking longer than I thought it would. If there are any spelling or grammar mistakes I will try and get around to fixing them tomorrow.

Nathaniel groaned as he rolled over, the sunlight hitting his eyes an unwelcome wake up call. He waited a second for his brain to wake up before pulling himself into a sitting position and and swinging his legs off the bed with the same lack of enthusiasm as every other day.

Nathaniel pulled on a set of clothes he had left out the night before before heading over to the window that overlooked the city. The merchants were setting up their stalls along the main roads and people were slowly making their way out of their houses to start the day.

The walk to the castle's kitchen was long but familiar, another part of a well-rehearsed daily routine Nathaniel followed. Slipping into the kitchen unnoticed was easy when you knew all of the areas you could hide and the quietest doors to slip through. He snagged himself some bread and an apple before peeling out of the room again before the cooks could catch him and drag him into a long-winded conversation Nathaniel neither wanted or needed.

The bread and apple were finished long before he reached the throne room, his walk there intentionally slow and dragged out. Alas, he still reached the room long before he intended to, the men stationed outside the large wooden doors opening them without hesitation as he approached.

Nathaniel had barely crossed the threshold when his mother wrapped him up in a hug.

"Happy eighteenth birthday my darling!" She cheered, not letting him go until the sound of Nathaniel's father clearing his throat filled the room.

"You coddle him too much." he stated and Nathaniel had to stop himself snorting at the irony of that sentence. Nathaniel's mum let go, pulling away with a smile and making room for his younger brother to give him a hug too.

"Happy birthday son." the king nodded as Jackson pulled away from Nathaniel. His father was less affectionate with his congratulations, simply remaining a little ways back from the rest of his family and observing. The same strategy he used in battle when he was a knight.

"Thank you." Nathaniel replied, just as wooden.

"Have you thought about what you would like as a present?"

Was that even a question? All Nathaniel had ever thought about was what he wanted as a present, it was the only thing he ever truly wanted in life. He wasn't ever going to get it.

That didn't stop him asking for it though.

"I want to be allowed to leave the city."

"Absolutely not," the king stated, eyes filling with exhaustion as his son repeated the same phrase he had every birthday since he was six "You know it is too dangerous. What if you were ambushed?" the king turned on his heels, moving towards the throne in a show of authority "What else do you want?"

'Nothing.' Nathaniel thought bitterly but instead he responded "An empty book I can draw in."

"Done." the king agreed before waving his hand towards the door lazily as he sat on the throne "The lords are coming for a meeting, I shall see you at the banquet tonight."

Nathaniel sighed, nodding as he was dismissed from the throne room, leaving with his mother and brother who split down a seperate hall with calls of goodbye.

Nathaniel didn't care, not really, every birthday was like this and he'd gotten used to it long ago. Besides, he'd rather spend his time with Marc.

As expected, Marc was found crouched over the fire in the Physician's house just across the square from the castle.

"Hey," Nathaniel greeted as he entered, still causing the other boy to startle despite his attempt to be quiet.

"Hey!" Marc called, standing up to his full height and turning to face the prince with a smile "Happy birthday!" He beamed, rushing over to give Nathaniel a hug and a peck on the cheek since they were alone and could get away with it.

"Thanks!" Nathaniel smiled back as Marc pulled away.

"I have a present for you, wait right here!" Marc rushed into the side room he used as a bedroom and reappearing a second later with a square gift wrapped in brown paper, Nathaniel's name written in big letters on top "Here, I know it's not a lot but it's all I could afford, Almer paid me to do extra work for him but it wasn't quite enou-"

"I love it," Nath breathed, already done unwrapping the paper, the black leather of the empty journal now visible as the gift sat in his hands "I really love it! Marc, where did you get this?"

"A marketplace a few towns over, it was the largest and fanciest one I could get hold of."

"It's amazing, thank you." Nathaniel breathed, running a hand over the leather and looking up to meet Marc's eyes, struggling to mask the way his shoulders sagged when Marc mentioned a town outside of the capital cities walls.

Marc's eyes softened "I'm guessing he said no?"

"You guessed it." Nathaniel muttered, placing the heavy book down on the table next to him and flopping into the seat next to it "Where's Almer?"

"A man across town came down with something last night, one of his relatives came to get Almer and he hasn't come back since."

"So I take it you're manning the place then? No chance of going out?"

"Not until Almer gets back, I was meant to be allowed the day off." the Physician's apprentis murmured, sitting himself next to Nathaniel with a sigh.

Really, Nathaniel didn't understand why Marc was still treated like the young apprentice he used to be, he'd been working under Almer for 10 years, studied every book the man had in his library and knew the magical properties of every medicine ingredient there was. Honestly, Nathaniel thought the other boy was more than prepared to take the reigns himself.

"I just," Nathaniel started, letting out a sigh of defeat "I don't understand why he won't let me go outside and see more of the kingdom. I mean, I understand why but I don't at the same time. If I took a guard with me the risk of being ambushed by our enemies would be lessened right?"

"Yeah, you're right," Marc agreed, nodding "and you're eighteen now, you really should be allowed more freedom to explore your kingdom before you have to become king. I just… I wish there was a way I could take you out."

Nathaniel's eyes brightened and he straightened slightly "Why don't you?"

"What?! Nath, we talked about this, I have no idea how to sneak you out and then back in!"

"You'll think of something! You go out to collect ingredients right? Take me with you!"

"Nath, they have guards by the bridge, they'll see you an-" Marc trailed off, eyes slipping out of focus as they trailed to a spot on the floor "Marinette…" Marc whispered.

"What?" Nathaniel asked quietly, not wanting to break the other boy out of his thought but still wanting a tiny window into what he was thinking.

"I can go collect herbs with Marinette every night, she can wear her cloak with her hood up and hide her face and we can get them used to the idea of her being with me when I go collecting. Eventually they're bound to get used to the idea and stop asking to see her face to identify her, then we just need to get you into Marinette's cloak and then you can leave the city with me."

"That… might work." Nathaniel mumbled, trying his best to mask the excitement building in his chest "Can we trust her to know what we're planning and not go to my father?"

"Yes. Definitely." Marc stated, certainty in his voice.

…

It took two months of Marc and Marinette going out every evening before the guards seemed to accept that it was going to be a frequent thing and stop asking Marinette to take her hood down when they approached the bridge. It took a further two months for Marc to be sure enough no one would double check before he told Nathaniel they were ready.

Nathaniel had spent those four months eagerly awaiting his chance at freedom, rushing to see Marc every morning to check how things went.

Eventually though, they were ready. Nathaniel managed to sneak out of the castle and to Marc's in the evening with ease, although sneaking wasn't really necessary as Nathaniel knew every secret passageway the castle had. Marc had retrieved his horse from the stables and tied her up outside his house. It took three agonisingly long minutes to untie the horse, load her up with everything they needed to pretend they were going herb picking and start the ride to the bridge that left the city. Nathaniel sat on the back behind Marc, arm's wrapped around his waist, trying to keep the cocktail of nerves and excitement from showing.

They made it past the guards easily, the man simply waving them past the second he saw Marc. And just like that, they were off, the horse breaking into a gallop. It was entirely dark once they hit the forest, the only light coming from the little moonlight that broke through the treetops, but even so it took Nathaniel's breath away. The smell of nature instead of burning wood and stone, the sound of hooves hitting the forest floor instead of the sound of people, it was overwhelming in the best possible way.

The two rode in silence until the moonlight became stronger, no longer being blocked out by leaves, and Marc slowed the pace of the horse to a walk and then stopping entirely.

"We're here." Marc announced, looking over his shoulder at Nathaniel and smiling.

"Where?" Nathaniel asked, confused as Marc slid off the horse and moved to attach her to a tree on the edge of the forest they had just left.

"You'll see." He responded, pulling a small bag out of the saddle bag and swinging it onto his shoulder as Nathaniel climbed off the horse too. Once Nathaniel was on solid ground Marc took his hand and started pulling him up the hill they were in front of.

"Seriously Marc," Nathaniel complained between wheezes when they were close to the top "this isn't fun- whoa!"

The view on the other side of the hill would have been breathtaking if it wasn't for the fact both boys had already had their breath stolen by the long trek up the steep hill. A huge lake was sat in the middle of a large bowl of hills, being lit up by the moon which was reflected in its surface, stars twinkling in both the sky and rippling the water. The gradual gradient from where the boys were standing to the edge of the lake providing them with the best view of the natural beauty, completely invisible to everyone but them at that exact second.

Nathaniel squeezed Marc's hand, pulling the other boy closer to him so he could wrap his arm around Marc's waist "This is amazing."

"Isn't it? I found it a couple of months ago and I knew this is where I wanted to take you when you first got out." Marc smile shon in the moonlight as he looked at Nathaniel, the red haired boy not taking his eyes off the lake.

"I wish I had my book and some coal." Nathaniel whispered, eyes sparkling with wonder.

"I brought it along," Marc responded, pulling the bag off his shoulder and pulling the leather book and a stick of charcoal out of it and handing it to Nathaniel who now had his attention focused on Marc "I also brought a lantern so you can see properly." he added, sitting down and pulling Nathaniel with him so they were both sat on the top of the hill.

They sat in silence after that, Nathaniel drawing the lake in his book with the coal, Marc leaning against his side, head on Nathaniel's shoulder.

"I'm done," Nathaniel announced a little while later, smiling as Marc stirred from the light snooze he had been in "Want to see?"

Marc nodded, turning his attention to the book and beaming when he saw the work of art in front of him, the beauty of the lake captured perfectly on the page.

"It's beautiful." He stated honestly.

"Not as beautiful as the real thing," Nathaniel muttered, looking back to the lake "I don't want to go back, Marc."

"I know," Marc whispered, looking at his feet.

"I don't want to go back, be forced to sneak around behind my father's back to come out here. I don't want to marry the princess from two kingdoms over just to unite our kingdoms. I don't want to have to hide us anymore. I just," Nathaniel sighed, leaning more on his boyfriend "I don't want to be a prince anymore."

They sat in silence again, Marc not sure what he could say to ease the pain his boyfriend was feeling about the thought of going home, until;

"So I'm not going to be." Nathaniel stated, standing up and facing the lake, fists balled in determination "I'm not going back. Not now, not ever."

"What do you mea-" Marc started, only to be interrupted by Nathaniel turning to face him, holding out a hand as if offering to help him stand up.

"Run away with me Marc. To a different kingdom and a new life, for both of us."

Marc stared at Nathanael for a second, the fiery determination his his boyfriend's eyes making his stomach flip.

"Okay. But I do need to go back and pack my stuff first." he started, taking his boyfriend's hand.

Two days later the prince was found to be missing from the city, a note and a replica drawing of the lake on his bed the only sign he had ever been there.