Hollow Kingdom

Alec couldn’t believe how hard Lily could hit. He was in pain, but he was impressed. He was about three times her size and she was still able to make him question his masculinity. He watched her as she crushed up some herbs and mixed them with water to make a sort of paste, which she then put on an old rag and pressed to Alec’s cheek. He instantly felt the cooling effects of the paste, but he was a little more focused on the feeling of Lily’s hand on his face, as well as how close to him she was sitting. He reached out to touch her free hand, but she pulled it away.

“No,” she murmured. “We can’t do this.”

“Why not?” he asked.

She gave him a look that shut him up almost instantly. He couldn’t blame her. He had been keeping quite a big secret from her. He awkwardly sat there a little while longer, until Lily broke the silence.

“If you’re hiding anything else from me, you best tell me now,” she said.

“Ah, well,” Alec cleared his throat, thinking. “The ferret can talk. Erwin. The rodent.”

“Talk?” Lily questioned.

“Like you and I,” Alec nodded.

“You and me.”

“Pardon?”

“Proper grammar would be ‘you and me’. Not ‘you and I’,” she explained.

“I just told you my ferret could talk and you’re focused on my grammar?” Alec smirked.

“It’s because I don’t believe you,” she said, wiping the excess paste off of Alec’s face and checking for bruising.

“I can prove it,” Alec insisted. “You’ll just have to-”

“Trust you?” Lily asked, raising a brow.

“Give me a chance,” Alec finished.

She went silent again, cleaning up the rest of the herbs and setting it all aside. Alec didn’t say anything anymore, letting her think it out. He didn’t want to ruin his chances by saying something stupid. She sighed and looked up at him, eyes scanning him for a moment before meeting his again.

“I can probably have you imprisoned,” she said softly. “Everyone you’re involved with.”

“But you won’t, will you?” Alec said, hesitantly testing his boundaries. “Not if you care about me the way I’ve truly grown to care about you.”

“No more lies?”

“Absolutely none,” Alec promised, sticking out a hand to shake on it.

Lily stared at it for a moment, then gave it a firm shake. She didn’t let it go right away, instead lingering there for a bit and leaning in to give Alec another gentle kiss. She was careful not to put any pressure on his bruised face or injured shoulder, but Alec didn’t even care anymore. Pain shot down his entire arm when he wrapped it around Lily and pulled her in by the waist. When she allowed him to do this, Alec figured he’d been mostly forgiven.

He wasn’t sure how long they spent in the greenhouse like that, but after a while, Lily suddenly pushed away from him with wide eyes. Alec was a little startled by the sudden movement, watching her get up and pull him up with her.

“It’s late,” she said. “Angie is going to wonder where I am.”

“I’m sure the Queen is just as preoccupied as we were,” Alec said dully.

Lily rolled her eyes and dragged him back on the path to the palace, much to his disappointment. He followed her back, but as he had predicted, Evan and Angelique were nowhere to be found. He’d never been to the upper levels of the palace, but Lily took him up there, where the more personal rooms were.

“Wait here,” she said, stopping him before ducking into a room that Alec imagined must’ve been hers.

Alec did as asked, leaning against a wall and waiting patiently for her to return. He caught a sort of glimmer out of the corner of his eye, glancing at a side table against the wall across from him. There was a decorative bouquet there, but on the table behind the vase was something else. Alec reached behind the vase and plucked out what was shining. It was a thin gold ring with a small engraving of a tiger in it. It looked very vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn’t quite place it.

He heard footsteps and quickly shoved the ring into his pocket, spinning on his heel as soon as Lily came out with a small parcel wrapped up in cloth. She handed it over to him with a small smile. Alec untied the parcel, looking at what was inside with surprise.

“Is this a collar?” Alec chuckled. “For Erwin?”

“I had it done when I thought he was a stray rodent,” Lily said. “See that little gold tag on it? That’s Angie’s family crest. At least, the family she married into. Anyways, anyone - or anything - wearing that crest won’t be troubled at the palace. Meaning that it will be easy to pass notes through him. For when what needs to be said can’t be said out loud. Or when I don’t want to see your stupid face.”

“Does that mean you’re going to help me?” Alec asked.

“No, of course not,” Lily snapped.

She plucked a small pen from her pocket and scrawled a little note on the cloth the collar had been wrapped in. Alec took it, smiling when he read the note.

Don’t push your luck.

Lily cracked a smile too, but they were both distracted when they heard voices echoing from down the hall. Alec opened his mouth to say something, but Lily shushed him, trying to listen. He recognized Evan’s voice right away, followed by the Queen’s voice. Her’s was silky and welcoming. That could have been what was so dangerous about her.

“Can’t you stay?” she asked.

“No, no,” Evan sighed, keeping his voice low. Alec didn’t need to see him to know that his friend probably looked very, very disappointed. There was also a tone of stress in his voice that slightly concerned Alec.

“Please?”

“Angie, you know I can’t.”

“Come back tomorrow, then? In the morning. The court can wait until after tea to-”

“No, Angie. This can’t continue. I’m really sorry.”

Lily grabbed Alec by the arm and suddenly tugged him into her bedroom, though they both continued watching through the crack of the door. Evan and Angelique just barely came into view. Evan tried walking past her, but she stopped him. Never, in his life, had Alec seen the Queen look so desperate and vulnerable. He was absolutely shocked at the sight of it. Even more shocking was how equally vulnerable Evan looked, like leaving was physically hurting him. Every muscle in Alec’s body tensed when Evan took both of Angelique’s hands in his own, and he realized that Evan was no longer acting. The way he gazed at her like he’d come face to face with the goddess of love herself was absolutely real.

“Why not?” she pouted. “Everything was so wonderful. Was it something I did? Was the perfume too strong?”

“No, no,” he assured her. “It’s… just me. I wish I could tell you everything, but I can’t. This has gone somewhere completely different than I thought it would.”

“Don’t leave me,” she begged. “Not after all of this. Not after all those things you said to me. You can’t just walk away like none of it was real.”

“Angie…”

Alec shifted to see if he could get a better look at Evan’s face. Evan looked completely lost and miserable.

“Whatever it is that’s holding you back from me, even if you can’t tell me, I know you can get through it,” she pressed. “We can. You don’t have to tell me. I trust you.”

“It’s not as simple as you think.”

“I haven’t always been able to take the easy route.”

Evan was silent, then took her face in his hands and gave her a kiss that was much too deep and passionate to be fake. He was a good actor, but no one was that good.

“I’ll visit you in the morning,” he agreed.

Angelique beamed and hugged him tightly. He held her a bit more gently, staring straight ahead with a worried look on his face. When they walked far enough away from Lily and Alec’s hiding place, they finally let out the breath they’d been holding and came out of their hiding spot.

“Alec?”

“Yes?”

“If you say you’re part of the rebellion,” she said slowly, “That means that Evan is, too. Right?”

“I… well… yes,” Alec awkwardly stammered. “At least, he was. After witnessing that, I’m not so sure anymore.”

“He’s not going to hurt Angie, is he?” Lily asked.

“An hour ago, if you’d asked me that, I wouldn’t be so sure,” Alec sighed. “Now? I’m a little more concerned for our side. If he gives us away…”

Alec looked down and saw Lily staring up at him with wide, concerned eyes.

“Nothing will happen,” Alec lied, giving her a little bit of ease. “Don’t worry about it, alright? This changes nothing. The Queen is safe with him.”

Lily nodded, and Alec pressed a kiss to her forehead before heading out. He met Evan at the gate, and was surprised to see him looking so calm and cool, especially after he looked so distressed less than a few minutes ago. As they walked on the path back to the town, Alec debated whether or not to mention what he saw.

“So, did you see or hear anything?” he asked Evan. “To tell everyone, I mean. Something useful for the cause.”

“No,” Evan shrugged. “Nothing.”

Alec stared at him, knowing now that it was a lie. It was also the same answer Evan had been giving for a little over two weeks now. It dawned on Alec that Evan knew much more than he was telling anyone, if he had told anyone anything. More likely than not, he was protecting the Queen as best he could. At the same time, he was protecting his friends from her. Evan had always been one to avoid conflict, but this was too far, even for him.

“I was thinking about Daniel last night,” Alec said. “He was a great man. He wanted nothing more than to have a family, remember? He wanted the best for his children, even though he had none. Didn’t want to bring them into a world like this, as he would say. I think about that when I feel dragged down by the revolution. It reminds me of why I’m doing it all.”

Evan said nothing, staring straight ahead and giving a slow, single nod.

“I just hope you remember where you came from,” Alec concluded with a shrug.

Evan pursed his lips together and kept his eyes on the dirt path. Silence.



Alec stared at the elegant paintings on the walls of Dominic’s home, which depicted epic scenes of a much younger General Withers celebrating glorious victories at gruesome battles. He was a quiet old man, but he certainly didn’t let his legacy as a war hero die out. The old man examined the ring with the tiger engraving with a furrowed brow, while Ale kept his hands to himself so he didn’t break any of the interesting trinkets on the desk.

“Where did you say you found this?” Dominic asked.

“Just on a table,” Alec repeated. “I told you, it was just lying around like garbage. I wouldn’t have cared if the symbol didn’t look so familiar. You know what it is. I can see that.”

“Can’t get anything past you, can I?” Dominic chuckled. “I was that sharp once. When I was younger.”

“What is it, then?” Alec asked again.

“The fathers of the revolution all wore rings like this,” Dominic said, holding it up to the light. “The tiger represents a rare, but fierce animal. There are only five of these rings around. Marie wears one around her neck, which had belonged to her late husband. I wear mine in place of a wedding band. The third left Aegara with your father.”

“And the last two?”

“Timothy and Samuel Denholm,” Dominic said. “Timothy was executed in the early stages. He was far too eager to revolt. Samuel left the kingdom, out of fear of execution. I can only imagine that this is his ring. It would mean he has returned.”

“Or it could be my father,” Alec suggested, a little too quickly.

Dominic gave him a sad smile, shaking his head. “Your hope is admirable, Alec. Tobias Spaulding wouldn’t have been able to get near the kingdom, let alone the palace. You know that.”

“Yes, I know,” Alec sighed, sinking back in his chair. “This Samuel Denholm, then. If he’s just leaving his ring lying around, does that mean he’s given up?”

“Well, Alec, if you ask me, it looks more like Samuel has found you before you found him,” Dominic said, handing the ring back to Alec.

“He’s hiding undercover in the palace,” Alec thought out loud. “He’s showing me that he’s there, without blowing his cover.”

“I think you may be right.”