Taro climbed the stairs two at a time. A guard kept his pace and stood outside the bedroom door while Taro retrieved Sage's things. He also left his phone charger, so he bundled it in his silk pyjamas and wedged it under his arm. "I think that was everything," he said to the guard, who nodded and followed him back down the hallway.
They barely stepped a metre from the bedroom before Oxley's door opened, and he entered the hallway. Everyone paused. Oxley looked at Taro with sunken tired eyes. Taro looked at Oxley with rising anger. "Where's Sage?" Oxley asked.
"Why? So you can take another photo and sell it to the press?" Taro didn't hide the venom in his tone.
"Where is he?" Oxley repeated more sternly.
"Leaving." Taro tried to step around him, but Oxley stepped in his way.
"This little runaway won't last. He'll realise what he's missing and come back before the year is out."
Taro's eyes trailed him up and down. "What he's missing? There's nothing here for him, you made sure of that." Taro tried to step around him again, but Oxley stayed in his way.
"All that could change if you weren't around," Oxley threatened with a taunting gaze, wanting Taro to get angry. He didn't like being talked to as though he wasn't a prince. "Twice, you almost lost your life. I could easily aim for a third."
"You think you can threaten me with no consequences?" Taro asked, matching his cold, calm tone.
"What are you going to do? You're a fucking plant."
Taro could now smell the alcohol on him. "Yeah," he agreed, rolling up his sleeves to show off his vine tattoos coiling his forearms. "That's exactly what I am." His tattoos started moving, closer and closer to the tips of his fingers, until vines protruded towards the floor.
Oxley watched with a mixture of wonder and a scowl. "Sage will get bored of your little green show. He'll-"
Taro didn't let him finish. He lifted his hands and his vines looped around Oxley's neck. He tried to grip them and rip them off. Taro pushed him into the wall and to his surprise, the guard stood with him too, pushing Oxley's head back against the stone. "You have no power here," Taro spoke through gritted teeth. "Your guards are greens, and they will turn on you if anything happens to me. See how easy it is for you to be silenced?" he tightened the vines, and Oxley's breath rasped and heaved from his closing throat. He stayed like that, until tears streamed from Oxley's burning eyes.
Taro eventually let him go, and Oxley sank to the floor, clutching his throat and gasping for breath. "Bless him," Taro said, pulling his sleeves back down. He picked up Sage's belongings and descended the stairs as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "I hope that scared him enough to keep his threats to himself."
"Yep," the guard added, bouncing down the last two steps. "I made the right decision to come with you and Prince Sage."
"You definitely did. Sage will always be on our side. Oxley however . . . alcohol will ruin him." When he returned to the car, Sage smiled happily, and for a moment, Taro didn't want to tell him about his confrontation with Oxley. Taro wanted Sage to enjoy the moving process, despite all the heartache. He also wanted a relationship built on truth an honesty. "I just choked your brother with my vines," he admitted. Judging by the shock on Sage's face, he hadn't expected that.
They had now set off and were leaving the Palace as Taro explained what had happened, and how he had meant to scare Oxley, but now that he thought properly about it, he might've overreacted.
"You didn't overreact, though," Sage said after thoughtfully watching the streets roll by. "Oxley was threatening you, and you showed him you weren't someone who could be threatened. I'm glad it scared him. Maybe he'll leave us alone because I've been worrying about his threats ever since you came back to the palace."
"I'm just glad that so many guards want to come with us." Taro looked behind them, and to the long line of royal cars following them on their long journey to the mountains. "It's going to be cold for months. If there's snow already, I think we're in for a long winter."
"I guess that'll make spring even better, when it eventually comes."
Taro smiled and sank in his chair, so he could rest his head onto Sage's shoulder. He would risk any type of weather if it meant that they could be together as often as possible.
On their journey, they talked often about what type of garden they would have. Sage was convinced that he would have the perfect rose patch for the guards in spring, trailing plants who climbed the side of the building, so many vegetables, lemon trees that would grow fruit after a few years of living there, an apple tree, and maybe a cherry one too. He wanted wildflowers, a perfect shed to keep all their tools, and a nice area where they could hang out and entertain guests and host barbeques.
Taro watched while Sage spoke. His passion oozed from his mannerisms, his voice, and his eyes that burnt with excitement at the idea of having his very own garden. He also talked about making little indents on the floor, so guards could have their very own spot to sit in their plant form. He wanted a conservatory built as soon as possible, with heaters and lots of shelves for plants.
Taro saw his vision as clear as if he was already standing in the room. "I'm so excited," he said before kissing Sage's knuckle. "But I think I'll get a job. Maybe we can use the money from your family to start a plant shop."
Sage's grin widened to where he could barely open his eyes. "That would be perfect! And then if it's successful, and after the cottage is renovated and the garden is done, we can cut ties with my family's money. I want to be financially independent. Especially if-" Sage lowered his voice. "If I'm going to abdicate."
Taro nodded. "We'll get there. It'll be worth it for your freedom."
Sage soon settled to the soft drum of the car's engine, and the long straight road of the motorway. Sleep also tempted Taro. His head was nodding down and down, until he rested his head into Sage's curls, and slept on and off for hours.
The bending roads woke him. When he opened his eyes, all around them was white. The storm had visited early, but the sight of snow meant that they were almost there. "How long?" Taro whispered because Sage was snoring softly against him.
"Fifteen minutes, si- um, Taro." Other guards chuckled. Taro was very adamant that he was no sir, no lord, and certainly not your royal highness.
The incline to the cottage was already covered in a thin layer of snow. It had been cleared that morning by other guards who had travelled ahead to make sure there were no intruders, and no gaps in the fences around the many acres they would now own.
Taro woke Sage by softly smoothing the back of his hand down the side of his face. Sage sat up, rubbing his eyes. "We're here?" he asked- eyes turning wide when he saw the large snowflakes floating silently passed the window.
"We're here." He opened the door and flinched at the bitter air. Hand in hand, they ran through the snow and into the building, which was just as cold as outside. "Light the fireplaces," Taro ordered. "I'm convinced it's colder in here."
Sage wore his coat and didn't take off his boots until he was sitting in front of a warm fire with a large bowl of vegetable soup and crusty bread. Taro left him to eat, and put the fireplace in the bedroom to good use. He wafted up the bed covers and moved all the cushions, finding only one spider that he savagely threw out of the window and into the snow. He hated when they made webs against him in the night. He could only imagine the scream of terror from Sage if the beast had scurried over his face while he slept.
Sage arrived before the suitcases did. He rubbed his hands together and trailed a hand around the balcony door, and the window. "There's a draft. We'll have to look at that tomorrow. Though I don't think I want this as our bedroom. I think I want the one the King or Queen usually stays in. It's south-facing, with a balcony that has room for chairs and maybe a tiny table."
"Our bedroom," Taro repeated with a smirk. He wrapped arms around Sage and leaned his chest into his back. He planted soft kisses onto the side of his face, until Sage turned towards him, so he could kiss his lips.
"We'll get you a really nice stand for your plant pot," Sage said, circling his face with hazel eyes- golden against the firelight.
"You're so thoughtful." Taro kissed him until they were interrupted by guards bringing up the suitcases. He decided that they could tackle Sage's things together, in the morning. Sage had yawned twice while standing together. He would have loved to kiss him more, but they were both tired, and he felt an aching in his chest to be in his true form for a while.
The night was the calmest one Taro had slept through since going back to his parents' house. The cottage was mute, especially at the darkest hour of night. He changed back into a human at around four in the morning. Sage was tucked deeply under a thick duvet. Wind whistled softly through the draft in the window, and the small fire crackled quietly.
He drank lots of water and slipped under the duvet too. Sage slept on his side, facing him. Taro watched his chest rise and fall until Sage rolled onto his stomach, half laying on Taro, and nuzzled his head into his shoulder.
Taro woke again when daylight spilled through the window and the balcony door. Sage was already sitting up in bed when he rolled onto his back, smiling down at Taro with a notebook in hand, and chewing on the end of a pen. "Morning!" Sage beamed, graced with a newfound love of life.
Taro sat up too, and kissed him on the cheek, loving how something so simple still made Sage blush and stutter. "What's on your list?" he asked, stretching.
"Things for the house. Though first, I want to go out for breakfast."
Taro loved Sage's productive attitude that had been drilled into him from birth. "Are you sure? Reporters might have followed us here."
"I'm sure. They might've, but I've been looking at the tabloids and already, they're obsessing over Oxley, and making him look like the villain."
"Because he is."
Sage closed his notebook, and chewed on his bottom lip, rather than the pen. "It's going to be hard to watch this happen to him."
Taro saw his good mood fading fast, so he leapt out of bed and pulled him up too. "Let's get the suitcases open. You'll need warm clothes for the walk into the village." One suitcase was like a jack in the box; clothes exploded from the moment the lid opened. "Wow Sage, I'm actually impressed you managed to get this one closed."
"I made one of the guards sit on it," he laughed, rummaging through his big pile of jumpers.
The walk to the village was icy. They had both almost fallen at least five times before reaching levelled ground. "No reporters," Sage whispered, too afraid to say it aloud in case they were hiding between shops.
Most of the shops were still closed, but a coffee shop with a big display of pastries seemed to be the place for a morning-gathering. They entered and the doorbell rung above them. The shop was almost at full-capacity, and the chatter was loud when they first entered, until people looked their way, and saw Sage Greenthenor, and Taro Vinea standing in the doorway.
Taro was used to watching people stare awe-stricken at Sage. Nothing had prepared him for when those starry eyes aimed at him too. He felt exposed, very exposed, like he had stumble in naked, or his vines were protruding from his hands.
To avoid any awkwardness, he guided Sage to the nearest empty table, which happened to be right by the freezing window. The guards lingered around outside, wrapped warm enough for Sage to enjoy his breakfast without worrying about them.
Sage anxiously looked around, and then down to the menu, and then over to the small till with a wide-eyed owner staring at him. He started to fidget, and to nervously rub his lips together. He's probably never been in a café where he has to go to the counter to place an order. Taro felt sorry for him, so he reached over the table and touched the back of his hand. Sage leaned closer too. "Have a look at the menu, tell me what you want, and I'll go get it for you."
Sage looked both relieved and embarrassed, but he nodded and stopped fidgeting. When Taro weaved through the tables and placed the order, the way people looked at him was odd. Taro had risen to fame in a single day. Though he had done nothing other than date someone who was already famous, and Sage had done nothing other than be born into a royal family.
Taro turned to see if his boyfriend was okay, and he was busy forcing smiles at people who were caught staring. I wonder how he ever got used to this. Taro returned with one cappuccino, an apple pastry, and a bottle of water. The anxiety slowly faded the longer they stayed in the café. People soon stopped staring, and Taro had noticed that not a single person was trying to take a photo, so he relaxed too.
"I'll talk to my parents today," he said after a while of watching strangers walking past the window. "I'll see what their plans are."
"And I'll talk to-" Sage paused when his phone made a noise in his pocket. He snuck a peek, and double glanced, suddenly hunching over it.
"What is it?" Taro whispered, leaning over the table to get a better look.
Sage slowly met his eyes. A smile dared to flick at the corners of his mouth. "My dad just sent me an email. Attached to it is all the information he found out about the . . . " Sage glanced around but everyone was now more interested in their breakfast. "About the Prophecy."
The End
A sequel to Roots and Oxygen will be out at some point, but if you're wanting anything different to read in the meantime, check out my NEW story called: Convoke. You'll find it on my profile! Or click here-Â sianaghgallagher
This was a long ride. Thank you for being so loyal and devoted to this story! And if you're thinking of rereading this, then please please pleeaaase don't put spoilers in the comments!
I hope you all have a lovely day :)
- Sian