Divided Throne

Rhett was in a completely different world. The longer Alec watched him, the further away the young man seemed to get. He turned to look at Lily. She had that same look, for other reasons. While Rhett was tormented over Holden's capture, Lily was facing the torture of knowing she had a mother all those years. He couldn't imagine how it might it felt. He hadn't been able to talk to her about it, either. The last few days, they'd been sleeping in separate beds. She stayed with Lucian, but avoided everyone else unless she absolutely had to meet with them. Gwendolyn, especially. They sat silently around the table with the Elbian officials and King Hamilton, now joined by Prince Joshua as well. He’d only just arrived, and even the handsome prince had bags under his eyes already.

Alec was about to say something, but a loud slam as the hall doors opened and someone stormed in. He stood suddenly and everyone’s attention turned to none other than Marie Graham marching into the room, looking beyond infuriated. Samuel jogged after her, shooting Alec and apologetic look.

“She wasn’t going to wait,” he explained. “She demanded to see you now-”

“Shut it, Denholm!” Marie snapped at him before turning to Alec and grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, forcibly yanking him down to her eye level. “Now you listen here, twerp. You’re going to get my son back. Don’t think you’re some high-and-mighty king and you can sacrifice him to that army. I knew you when you were still drooling on yourself and shitting in your pants. You are nothing but a child to me, Alec. You’re going to get my son back.”

“Of course I am,” Alec said, holding up his hands in surrender. “We’re not leaving him behind. We just need a plan to-”

“Every minute you idiots sit around, thinking of a ‘plan’, my child is being tortured!” Marie yelled, tears forming in her eyes now. “You don’t know the struggles of a mother, Alec! You cannot begin to imagine what being a mother is!”

Lily suddenly shot up from her seat, excusing herself and leaving the room. Alec would’ve followed her if Marie wasn’t standing in his way. Rhett set a hand on his shoulder, still staring off into space as he nodded.

“She’s right. We have to get him,” he said in a flat tone.

Alec sighed, rubbing his temples. “You’re right. We will. Rhett, you and Lance will come with me. We don’t want a lot of people, or we’ll be noticed.”

Rhett and Lance both nodded, and Alec dismissed everyone else. Samuel had to slowly coax Marie out of the room, offering her some calming tea or heavy liquor to try and relax her. Alec sat down hard in the nearest chair, putting his face in his hands. He wasn’t sure how long he sat there before some new footsteps entered the room. Alec lifted his head to see Belle and Princess Annemarie standing before him. Belle was holding Lucian, who wasn’t looking so well. Alec turned about as pale as the baby, taking Lucian from her and cradling the limp child in his arms.

“What happened?” Alec said, voice cracking.

“There was something on his toy,” Belle said, tears dried on her cheeks. “The one he chews on. It was the spy.”

Alec brushed Lucian’s hair out his face, feeling the child tremble just slightly, and the only thing he could think of was how much he’d let this get out of his hands. He looked back up at Belle, who looked as if she was on the verge of tears again. After all, Lucian had been in her care.

“Does Lily know?” Alec asked.

“Yes,” Belle nodded. “Daddy is with her. He says Lucian will recover with proper care, and that he’s lucky it was just a taste of whatever was on that toy. It may take a few days. Lily is completely hysterical. He’s trying to calm her down.”

“I have to go,” Alec said, gently cradling Lucian as he stood up, picking his cloak off the chair to wrap it around the boy.

“Alec, there’s one more thing,” Belle said. “The spy… it’s not Thomas Merle.”

“What?” he frowned.

Annemarie bit her lip, holding out what she had clenched in her hand. It was a gold hair comb shaped like a rose, with small gems decorating it.

“It’s a woman,” Annemarie said. “We didn’t see her ourselves. One of the servants did. Queen Lily’s servants.”

“Myron,” Lily nodded. “He yelled when he saw her and she ran. They’re too new to know who she was, and I didn’t see her. But this must’ve fallen out of her hair when she ran.”

Alec took the comb, examining it. It looked vaguely familiar. He nodded, moving past Belle and Annemarie with Lucian still wrapped up in the cloak. He was terrifyingly still, and Alec was quick to move back to the bedroom, where he could hear Tobias mumbling things to Lily. When he opened the door, she looked about as pale and limp as Lucian, letting Tobias put an arm around her so she could cry on his shoulder, similar to how he treated Belle when she was distressed. They both looked up at Alec, and while Lily’s tears had stopped, it looked like they were going to start all over again. Tobias stood and took Lucian from Alec, giving him a slight nod before leaving the room. Alec slowly sat down beside Lily, going to touch her shoulder, but drawing back again.

“I’m going to get Holden,” he said quietly. “With Rhett and Lance.”

“You realize that this is Rufus’s way of drawing you into his trap,” Lily said.

“And it worked,” Alec said. “I’m getting ready to go now.”

“I’ll come with you,” she mumbled.

“No, you can’t come with me,” Alec said, taking her hand.

“No!” Lily yelled suddenly, startling Alec. “I’m not just going to sit here like a weak little wife waiting for her husband to come back from the war.”

“You’re not going to come with me,” Alec repeated, putting the comb in her hand, “Because I need you here to find the spy.”

Lily stared blankly at him, not having expected that response. “I recognize this.”

“Take one or two people, find this spy,” Alec said. “Marie is right. I don’t know the ‘mother’s struggle’. That’s why you need to do this.”

Lily nodded, fingers curling around the comb. Alec cracked a smile, pressing a kiss to her forehead before standing. He was halfway out the door when she suddenly grabbed him and turned him around, pulling him down and kissing him hard. Alec felt dazed when she pulled away.

“I love you,” she said softly. “Be safe.”

“You too,” he said.

When he left the room, he came face to face with Lily’s new servants, who’d been right outside. They looked sort of nervous, looking at each other before Myron addressed Alec.

“I’m sorry about the kid,” he said quietly.

“Sorry isn’t going to help him right now,” Alec said.

“Listen… uh… your highness,” he mumbled, clearing his throat awkwardly. “We want to help. In the fight, I mean.”

Alec raised a brow, crossing his arms over his chest. “Oh. Do you, now?”

“We really do,” he said, the others nodding behind him.

“We have this covered,” Alec said slowly. “Though, perhaps, you could help Lily. She could use it.”

“She’d never allow us,” Zachary piped up. “She won’t take us seriously.”

“Have a little faith in her,” Alec said. “Maybe she’ll have some faith in you, too.”

He shrugged, brushing past the men to continue on his way. Alec met Rhett and Lance at nightfall. They were both waiting anxiously, speaking in hushed tones. Alec had never seen the Aegaran and Elbian officers get along so well. It seemed that mutual grief and terror brought men together in ways they never thought it would. Rather than the white uniforms, they wore darker clothes, skipping the metal armor and replacing it with thick leather. It would be easier to move in.

Rhett knew were the camp was, leading the three. He was the most determined out of all of them. He’d been rebellious against everyone when he first became a military man, including Holden, but it seemed the two had become close friends. Rhett wouldn’t rest until he was safe again.

The Jalecian camp was as scary as Alec thought it would be. They had set up tents in the woods outside Little Aveling and had their campfires blazing, large and burly soldiers everywhere. They seemed to already be celebrating victory, laughing and chugging down hard liquors. Rhett snuck around the outskirts to the larger back tents. They waited until the guards were distracted before sneaking to the back of the second-largest tent. Lance handed a knife to Rhett, who proceeded to tear a hole in the fabric large enough for them to fit through. He looked around the inside to make sure the coast was clear before leading them in.

Holden was tied to a wooden post, looking so battered and beaten that Alec would’ve thought he was dead, had he not looked up at them weakly. For a moment, he looked happy. Then he looked terrified.

“You’ve got to get out of here,” he said hoarsely.

“We will,” Rhett promised, cutting him loose of the restraints.

“Well, well. Look who we managed to catch. Can’t believe that worked.”

They looked towards the front entrance of the tent at a smirking Rufus. Alec was sure that the man had gotten more muscular and more frightening since the first time he saw him. He looked smug, flanked by two equally terrifying Jalecian soldiers.

“I’ll fight you right here,” Alec said, standing up. “Right now.”

“No, no,” Rufus shrugged. “I’m a little bit more civilized. Besides, things are a little… complicated now.”

“Complicated?”

“See, I had a friend keeping an eye on things in that palace of yours,” Rufus said. “And a certain someone got nosy, and now the whole thing is a big mess.”

Another person entered the tent, and Alec felt his heart skip a beat. It was Clarisse. The meek little maid who had put the blame on Thomas Merle. However, she didn’t look so timid anymore. Her choice of dress wasn’t exactly modest, and she shared his smug grin. To Alec’s horror, she kissed Rufus, slipping a hand around his arm.

“Good to see you again, your highness,” she said. “You too, Alec.”

“You were the spy the entire time,” Lance said in disbelief.

“You caught me,” she giggled. “Well, you didn’t catch me. None of you idiots did. Until queenie got involved.”

A couple more soldiers entered the tent a few moments later, one of them holding onto a frazzled looking Belle and the other holding on to Lily as she kicked and yelled. She flailed wildly, but despite her efforts, these men were significantly bigger than she was. They threw both of them on the ground by Alec, Rhett, and Lance, who quickly helped them to their feet.

“Unfortunately, if won’t be a clean fight,” Clarisse said. “Once she figured it out, Queen Lillian here decided to inform the armies.”

“So we’re keeping you here,” Rufus finished. “Until they get here, at least. We want them to see their king fall. In a fair fight. However, something is still missing. Literally.”

“Missing?” Alec asked.

“Yes, missing,” Rufus nodded. “There is a missing baby, and a missing Elbian princess. I have to believe they’re together. And someone here knows where they are.”

Everyone remained silent. Alec snuck a glance to Lily, who kept her expression hard and cold. She and Belle both seemed to know that Lucian and Annemarie were hiding, but genuinely didn’t know where. Rufus sighed shaking his head.

“Alright, play it that way, then. Strip them of weapons. Tie them all up together, like a big bundle of idiots. We’ll deal with them when their precious army arrives. I like to have an audience.”