Divided Throne

Lily had disappeared and turned up covered in dirt and blood. This was the last thing Alec needed. And to top it all off, Lucian wouldn’t stop crying. Belle desperately tried to hush him, though she looked like she was on the verge of tears herself. She hadn’t been herself since Lily yelled at her. Alec sat there with his face buried in his hands, trying to tune out the sound of Lucian’s crying and Dominic’s footsteps as he paced back and forth.

“Belle, take him into a different room!” Alec snapped suddenly.

“What difference will that make?” Belle asked, voice cracking. “Everyone is upset and his mother is nowhere to be found. Of course he’s going to cry! Maybe his father should try comforting him!”

Alec pursed his lips and took Lucian from her. He quieted for a blissful few seconds in the arms of his father, but began crying again when everyone refused to take him to Lily. Alec desperately rocked back and forth to try and quiet him down, softly muttering a lullaby that Lucian wouldn’t even be able to hear over the sound of his crying. Finally, Gwendolyn emerged from the room with a smile.

“She’s awake. And she’ll be just fine,” she announced.

Everyone rushed to the door, but Gwendolyn blocked it, holding up a hand.

“Her husband and child, only,” she said. “For now.”

“I’m her sister-in-law,” Belle whined.

“As her primary advisor, I think I should be allowed inside,” Dominic said.

“Oh, that sounds important,” Gwendolyn said, smiling at him. “However, I think it’s for the best if you wait a little bit. You know, I’ve heard much about you, General. A hero, I hear. I don’t think I’ve heard that story.”

“Please don’t,” Belle begged.

“Oh, it’s not that good of a story,” Dominic chuckled, holding his hands behind his back and straightening up proudly. “Very boring… but if you insist.”

“It sounds fascinating,” Gwendolyn said.

“So there I was,” Dominic started, an ominous tone in his voice. “I’d abandoned the carriage so my men could get away, running on foot as hundreds of enemy soldiers chased me. I had nothing but a slingshot with me…”

Everyone groaned as the story they’d heard a billion times started up again, sort of backing up and letting Alec take crying Lucian inside. As soon as Lily saw her crying son, a look of heartbreak spread across her face. Though as soon as Lucian saw her, the crying stopped, and he reached for her so suddenly that he almost pushed himself out of Alec’s arms. He gently set him down on the bed, and Lucian didn’t hesitate to crawl onto her chest and bury his face into her hair.

“Oh, sweet thing,” Lily murmured, letting Alec help her sit up.

Lucian rested his head on her chest and would just whimper now, hiccuping every now and then from all the crying before. Alec sat on the edge of the bed in silence, watching as Lily comforted Lucian as best she could. He looked at the bandage around her head, which was just lightly stained red with blood. She seemed to be avoiding eye contact with him.

“Lily,” Alec sighed. “How many heart attacks are you going to give me before you’re content?”

“I don’t do it on purpose,” she said. “I just needed to think. Is… Belle upset with me?”

“Belle is upset,” Alec admitted. “Not with you. She’s actually very worried about you. She’s upset with everything else. I think the constant paranoia might be getting to her. You can understand that, can’t you?”

Lily nodded slowly, gently smoothing out Lucian’s curls. “Yes. You can let her in.”

Alec gave her a reassuring smile and stood up, moving to the door and only letting a worried Belle back inside. Dominic seemed busy telling his story to Gwendolyn, while Samuel and Tobias looked like they would rather be dead that listening to the story again. Alec tapped both their shoulders as he walked by, and they seemed more than grateful to follow him out of the situation.

“Samuel, I need you to find that maid that was in the room with Lucian,” Alec said.

“I don’t know who she is,” he frowned.

“You don’t?” Alec asked, stopping in his tracks and looking to his father.

“She’s new,” Tobias said. “She and another maid joined the staff about three months ago. The other is more experienced, and is teaching her the proper manner of housekeeping.”

“Get them both, then,” Alec said.

They nodded, collecting the two maids and bringing them both before Alec. He recognized the maid who was in the room, because the poor girl was trembling, looking like she was about to cry. The other, not so much. She seemed annoyed, crossing her arms over her chest and rolling her eyes at the meek maid’s terror.

“Your names?” Alec asked.

“Eliana,” the bold one said.

“C-Clarisse,” the other stammered.

“You two are new to these parts, are you?” Alec questioned.

“I’ve lived in Aegaera my entire life, as has Clarisse,” Eliana sighed. “I know what this is about. The queen thinks we’re out to get her baby.”

“I’m not accusing either of you,” Alec told them. “I merely wish to ask if you know anything.”

“Well, we don’t,” Eliana said.

“Clarisse, do you have anything to say?” Alec said, raising a brow at the trembling girl.

“N-no, your highness,” she stammered.

“Clarisse…”

“I’m so sorry!” she suddenly cried out, breaking into sobs and falling to her knees. “I can’t keep it a secret anymore!”

“You did it?” Samuel frowned, stepping towards her.

“N-No!” she sobbed. “B-But he made me promise not to tell! He threatened my family!”

“Calm down, child,” Tobias said, kneeling down beside her and placing a hand on her shoulder. “Tell us everything you can. Who threatened you?”

“I d-don’t know his n-name,” she said. “He works as a blacksmith in the palace, I know that much.”

“Thomas?” Samuel frowned. “Thomas Merle?”

“I don’t know,” she sniffed. “He’s tall… he has brown hair… brown eyes…”

“That’s Thomas,” Samuel confirmed.

“Who’s Thomas?” Alec asked.

“I don’t know much more than you do,” he shrugged. “The man is a rather new blacksmith. He’s mysterious in his ways, but he is skilled in what he does. In fact, he made that sword on your hip.”

Alec’s hand instinctively moved to the hilt of his sword, brow furrowing.

“Why haven’t we spoken to him, yet?” he asked.

“Thomas works on commission,” Samuel explained. “He’s only here when we ask for him.”

“Please don’t let him hurt me,” Clarisse begged.

“You’ll be safe within the palace walls,” Alec promised her, turning to Samuel and Tobias. “Someone fetch Belle and tell her to wear something bland. We’re taking a trip into town. And no one tells Lily.”



It had been a long, long time since Alec had been out and about in the street, wearing simple commoner clothes. It was refreshing. He felt like himself, rather than a man hiding behind a king’s costume. He and Belle both wore hooded cloaks to obscure their faces, but no one paid them much attention anyways. Especially when it was just the two of them, and they weren’t dressed in flashy clothing and surrounded by guards. One woman shoved Alec right out of her way when he didn’t move fast enough, glaring at him.

“Get out of the way, stupid peasant,” the blonde said. “I have things to do.”

A young man trailed after her, giving Alec an apologetic look and patting his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” he said, shrugging. “She’s having a bad day. I’m sure you’re not stupid, and- Scarlett! Will you slow down, already?”

The man brushed past Alec and jogged to catch up with the woman, and Alec just stared at them in shock. It had been a long, long time since he’d been treated with disrespect by a stranger, and this came as a shock. Belle just burst out laughing, nudging him to move along.

“Come on, peasant, let’s go,” she giggled.

They continued on to the blacksmith’s shop, where they were told they’d be able to find Thomas Merle. Unfortunately, the shop was boarded up when they got there. Alec tried peering through the cracks of the boards, but it looked like the interior had been completely abandoned.

“It appears that this Thomas Merle has gone into hiding,” Alec said, stepping back. “He couldn’t have left Aveling without someone noticing. No one has been allowed to leave without specific permission.”

“What now, then?” Belle asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“We can’t sent guards out,” Alec sighed. “It’ll cause a panic.”

“What, we ask around?”

“No.”

Alec pursed his lips, mixing back into the crowd. The busier the marketplace was, the less likely people were to notice them. Alec and Belle were both bumped around, but it wasn’t anything that was new to them. They did live here most of their life, after all. It was just strange, after living in the palace for so long. One figure crashed straight into Belle, sending them both to the ground.

“I’m sorry,” the man apologized. “I just- Oh my goodness. Princess?”

Belle’s hood had fallen off, and the young man stared at her in shock. A few people stopped and gasped, not sure whether or not to bow.

“I, um,” Belle scrambled to get up, letting the man help her up. “Thank you-”

“Call me Caspian,” the man said, flashing her a charming smile.

“Now is not the time, Caspian,” she growled, making that smile fall right off his face.

At this point, people had noticed Alec and Belle, and were starting to whisper.

“Come on, we gotta go,” Alec told her, grabbing his sister by the wrist and running.

Looking for Thomas Merle would have to wait.