We Were Born To Lose

I was falling asleep on my horse. We were in safe territory now but I couldn’t stop nodding off. You couldn’t really blame me though because we’d been riding since daylight and now it was probably around two in the afternoon. I felt really floaty and I started to drift off when suddenly I felt myself lose balance and almost fall. My eyes shifted to see if anyone saw but it looked like only Sir Merrick saw and he gave me a look of understanding.
“Sire?” He called.
“Yes.” The Prince replied.
“Can we take a break? I’m about to fall asleep on my horse!” He said.
“We need to get this message delivered.” He said, doubt lacing his voice. I couldn’t stand to be on this horse for much longer so I found the nerve to speak up.
“Please Sire?”
Everyone seemed surprised that I’d spoken. The Price turned and looked at me with his eyebrows raised before sighing and saying,
“Alright.”
We all rode to a shady clearing in the trees and tied the horses nearby. Everyone sat down and started talking but I found a log and used it as a pillow. I didn’t sleep much, I mostly just closed my eyes and rested. I listened to the knight’s laughter and their conversations when suddenly the laughter stopped and turned into yells. My eyes shot open and I saw them fighting a bunch of bandits. I quickly got up and grabbed a sword. I did so just in time because there was a sword being swung at my face. I parried the blow and gained my composure. The fight was quick, he probably figured that since I was a servant, that I wouldn’t know how to fight. As soon as he figured out that I can handle a sword, he ran off. What I didn’t see, was the person behind me who slashed a deep cut in my upper arm. I cried out and fell to the ground. It hurt like a son of a bitch and my sword had been knocked out of my reach and I lay on the ground completely at the mercy of the man before me and watched he raise his sword, ready to bring it down and kill me, when he was suddenly tackled to the ground. The Prince was straddling him and he sunk his sword into the man’s chest. Then, the Prince abandoned the man and his sword and rushed up to me.
“Jack?” He asked, taking my face in his hands.
“Yeah?” I replied in almost a whisper. Talking took a lot more effort than I thought it would.
“Don’t fall asleep.” He said but that was easier said than done. Exhaustion gripped me tight and was dragging me under as I tried to stay awake.
“Okay.” I whispered, my eyelids dropping.
“Hey!” He barked, slapping my face. My memories filled with being hit my my master and clients as my eyes shot open and my breathing because fast and ragged.
“Stay awake. Get a grip and get out, you’re safe.” He said soothingly. I nodded, his words and gentle eyes made me calm down and refreshed me with determination to keep my eyes open.
“Zack get me a tourniquet!” He demanded. Soon I felt people tying something very tight on my right arm. Then I felt myself being lifted off the ground making my arm coil in pain. I looked up to see the Prince’s determined face. He pushed me up onto his horse making me clench my teeth from the pain shooting up and down my arm from the effort of keeping myself upright. I was about to fall off when he got on behind me and let me lean against him. I noticed that they had removed the saddle on his horse and put it on mine. I went completely limp against the Prince and just let him support me. Every step that the horse took shook me making my nails dig into my palms in pain. I distracted myself by thinking about the Prince behind me. How much bigger he his, how strong he had to be to handle me completely leaning against him for god knows how long, how my body melted into his…

“JACK!” His voice screamed. and my eyes shot open. Everyone was staring at me.
“Damn you scared the hell out of us!” Sir Dawson sighed.
“What?” I asked, the pain returning.
“You weren’t waking up. I thought I’d lost you.” The Prince murmured in my ear. I realized we were still on his horse, stopped in the middle of the trail.
“Sorry.” I whispered.
“We’ve gotta keep going. We’re almost through bandit territory.” Sir Merrick remarked.
“You’re right, let’s go. Jack, don’t fall asleep.” The Prince said. The rest of the journey was pretty uneventful but I did accidentally give everyone a few scares as I fell asleep twice more. Finally, we were met at the border by a group of Cenrid’s guards on horses. They led us into his territory and up to the castle while watching us very closely. Normally I would be scared but as soon as I remembered the Prince was with me, I wasn’t afraid. We got to the castle and the prince carried me since there was no way in hell I could walk in the state I was in. There were eight guards watching us four as we walked into King Cenrid's throne room. While fighting to keep my eyes open, I saw the knights bow but the Prince didn't do anything. I admired how brave he was while being faced with such a powerful enemy.
"Alexander good to see you! Last I saw you, you were this tall!" He brought his hand down to his knee.
"Last you saw me you hadn't tried to kill my family." He remarked.
"It was very unwise to personally come here and reject my offer of truce." He tutted.
"I didn't come here to refuse." The Prince said through gritted teeth.
"So you're accepting then?"
"Yes."
"And You've agreed to my terms?"

Terms? What terms?

The prince sighed before answering.
"Yes."
"Wonderful!"
"I do have one request." The Prince spoke.
"What is it?"
"My servant is hurt. Will your physician treat him before we leave?" He asked.
"Of course, Alemier?"
Then everything went fuzzy. I remember being put on something hard, probably a table, and feeling excruciating pain in my arm while I clung onto another person’s hand. I remember beautiful brown eyes then nothing.

“What are you doing?” I asked as my usually kind friend pushed me to the ground.
“Shut up!” He slapped me, “ I’m your master now. You will do everything I say, the moment I say it.”
“No I won’t!” I cried, getting up and staring at him defiantly.
“Yes you fucking will!” This time he punched me to the ground. He hit me again and again, every pound causing me to see flashes of light. Then when I couldn’t move anymore, my master got off of me and two men walked in. They both handed small bags of money to him.

Notes

Title cred: One Hundred Sleepless Nights by Pierce The Veil

Wow okay I heard One Hundred Sleepless Nights like five min ago and I LOVE IT SO MUCH

I've had Love Like War stuck in my head all day idk why I told you that it just seemed worth noting since it's a fucking fantastic song