Divided Throne

Once again, Alec was standing on a platform, a rope tied around his neck. This time, however, Belle stood behind him, next in line. Behind her stood Rhett and poor, dazed, barely conscious Holden. She gave a sort of nervous laugh, looking at Alec while Rufus and his soldiers weren't paying attention.

"How many times are you going to end up at the gallows, Alec?" she asked.

"This may just be the last," he mumbled, eyeing the crowd of soldiers gathered in front of him.

Rufus suddenly blocked them, standing before Alec with his head tilted the side and a look of pity on his face.

"You tried so hard," he sighed. "Aegaera's mistake for choosing a boy king."

Alec said nothing, looking directly into Rufus's eyes. Belle whimpered softly, and Rufus turned his attention to her, giving her a gentle smile and touching her cheek.

"You know, it's not too late for you," he quietly said to her. "Your looks live up to your name. I could make you very happy."

She flinched away from him, and Alec couldn't help but feel a little smug about it when Rufus sighed and turned away from her. Aegaeran women were rejecting him left and right, and he was sure the brute wasn't used to that. He turned back to Alec, about to say something when someone shouted that the queen was dead. Alec felt his blood turn to ice and the color drain from his face. They were talking about Lily, and whatever they'd done to her in that tent. Rufus frowned and glared at the man who was giving him the news, moving to the edge of the platform and kicking the man in the face, breaking his nose at the least.

"What do you mean the queen is dead?" Rufus roared.

"C-Clarisse killed her," he stammered. "The Aegaeran troops are here."

"That foolish whore..."

Rufus jumped down from the platform to see for himself, leaving Alec in charge of a guard he couldn't see. He heard Belle squeak softly, and was about to turn to comfort her, but then Rhett chuckled in disbelief. While the Jalecian troops scrambled to fight off the enemy, Alec felt the rope around his neck come off, and the binds around his wrists get cut open. When he turned, he came face to face with none other than Fredrick and Zachary. They were disguised as Jalecian soldiers, and despite their size, did well to blend into that mess.

Alec didn't hesitate to run from the platform to the tent Lily was held in. To his horror, there was blood everywhere, and it looked like a body had been dragged out because there was a trail leading to the entrance.

"There's no way," he whispered, feeling his heart shatter to little pieces.

Everything had been so perfect. And in a single day, he had lost his wife, and his son was on the verge of death. He fell to his knees weakly, burying his face in his hands. He could hear the Aegara-Elbian army arrive and the clash of steel against steel as the battle began. There were cries of pain and sounds of bodies hitting the ground as the death toll steadily rose. Alec felt a hand on his shoulder, and nearly had a heart attack. He turned to see Holden there, looking even more battered than before. One hand held his eye, where blood was dropping from underneath, and the other held Alec's sword.

"Found this...," he mumbled. "Thought... You'd like to... Avenge a few people..."

Alec stood, feeling every emotion in his head turn to anger as he stood and took the sword from Holden. He started towards the exit, then stopped and looked back at Holden.

"Don't fight anymore," he said. "You'll die."

"If I die now, I'll die with honor," Holden smirked, picking up a bow and quiver of arrows from Rufus's things inside the tent. "If this ends badly, I'll see you on the other side."

Alec watched him go, moving to higher ground to let arrows rain down on the soldiers below him. Alec followed him out, though he ran directly into the fight. People charged him, but he cut through them like they were nothing. And to him, they were. He cared about one man, and one man only. He found Rufus on higher ground, eyes aflame with adrenaline as he destroyed the Aegaeran soldiers that came for him. He had a sick grin on his face, like it was all a game. When he spotted Alec, his grip on the sword adjusted and he turned to him.

"So here we are, finally," he laughed. "I've been waiting for this."

Alec said nothing, charging first. He'd been trained in the art, but he'd never actually used that training in battle. To his disappointment, Rufus easily blocked the attacks, with the same skill as Alec, if not more. After all, he'd once been an Aegaeran Prince. He'd been shaped for this since birth. That skill and the personality of a Jalecian King was a dangerous combination. He slashed at Alec, and though he leapt back, he felt something wet on his shoulder. The adrenaline kept the pain away for the time being, and Alec kept fighting.

Rufus seemed surprised by Alec's skill, but confident that he'd lose. Of course, Rufus didn't feel how Alec felt. He wasn't feeling the pain and heartbreak of loss, and for Alec to lose his family in one day meant he wasn't going to rest until Rufus suffered the way they did.

"Not bad, shrimp," he laughed. "King Alex has been practicing! I'm sure your wife is proud! At least, she would have been proud!"

This pushed Alec over the edge. He blindly stabbed the blade forward, his hair falling in his eyes and obscuring his vision. To his own surprise, he hit something. He flipped the hair out of his eyes to find that he'd skewered Rufus right through. Even Rufus looked like he was in a state of shock. As Alec pulled the sword out of him, the fighting around them seemed to slow as everyone turned to see the warring kings. Rufus fell to his knees, holding the wound. As he fell, however, he pulled a dagger from his belt and plunged it into Alec's side. He pulled it out himself, ignoring the pain as his vision went in and out, and he clenched a hand around Rufus's throat.

"What's my name?" he growled.

"Long live King Alec," Rufus said, a mocking tone in his voice, before going completely still.

Alec stared at him for a few moments, holding the wound in his side and looking up. The fighting had stopped, and everyone was staring at them. One by one, everyone dropped their weapons. Alec didn't hear much else. The last thing he heard before he went unconscious was the sound of Lily's voice.