Divided Throne

With news of a spy within the palace walls, things got tenser than they already were. The entire staff was paranoid, scared they’d be accused of the crime they didn’t commit. It wasn’t unheard of for innocent people to be killed in the hands of an angry monarch. Alec did his best to calm Lily down, but she was pushed far past her line. She refused to let Lucian go. If she absolutely had to meet with the council and couldn’t bring him inside, only Belle was allowed to take him.

Since the incident with the ceiling caving in, Lily insisted that there was plenty of room between her and Alec in their bed for Lucian to sleep. She had the crystal chandelier in the bedroom removed out of fear that it too would fall on them in the middle of the night. Alec wasn’t sure every idea of hers was great, but he was afraid to question her at this point. She held Lucian until he fell asleep in her arms, but even then, she refused to put him down next to her on the bed.

“Lily, you’ve already moved the crib right next to us,” Alec sighed. “I don’t think he needs to sleep in the bed with us.”

“Yes he does,” she said simply, her gaze not moving from Lucian’s face as he slept.

“It could be dangerous,” Alec said slowly. “One of us could roll over in the middle of the night.”

“Alec, you’re a dead body when you sleep,” Lily snapped, careful not to wake Lucian. “You wake up in the same position you fall asleep. There’s plenty of room between us. There’s room for a full grown adult. A baby is not a problem.”

Alec shrugged lightly, watching as she laid Lucian down in the empty space. He created a sort of barrier between them. Lily faced Lucian where she laid, eyes watching the sleeping baby. Alec hated to see her like this. He knew she wouldn’t be sleeping.

“Lily, close your eyes and try to sleep,” he said gently.

“Alright,” she said, half-heartedly.

“I love you,” Alec added.

Lily’s eyes flit up to him, and she cracked the best smile she could before closing her eyes and trying to sleep. That night, Alec was the one who didn’t sleep. Starting the next day, the search for the traitor had intensified. At this point, no one really felt safe. Everyone was quiet around the dining table for breakfast, only the sound of Lucian’s giggles being heard as Raz snuggled up to him. For such a rough, scaly creature, he was surprisingly gentle with the baby. Erwin sat up on a shelf, looking somewhat jealous of the miniature dragon. There was a constant competition between them for Lucian's attention.

Once everyone was finished, they sat there until awkward silence, until Tobias stood up and cleared his throat. He bent down to whisper something to Belle, who nodded and ran off as Tobias turned to address everyone.

“Things have been a little… difficult,” he said. “As of late, there has clearly been a state of tension in Aegaera. We didn't even get to finish celebrating poor Lucian’s birthday. Belle and I had gotten a special gift for him, but we've been holding on to it for the time being. We think that now is a good time to present it.”

Lily's head snapped up as she heard this. She and Alec had completely forgotten about gifts. They'd even forgotten about their own gift for Lucian. Luckily, their son was too young to know that and hold it against them. Alec and Lily exchanged a look, knowing that they had to step up and figure it out. King Hamilton was acting like an excited little child, waiting for Belle to return with the gift. Lily picked up Lucian and let him sit in her lap, watching the door as Belle returned with a small bundle. At first, it just appeared to be a lump with a red bow around it. Then it lifted its head.

“Oh, my,” Lily said, breathless.

Belle turned to show the puppy’s face, who stared right back at everyone with a fascinated look on her face. It was a fluffy white thing that could probably fit in the palm of Alec’s hand. It's fur was so soft and fluffy that it looked like a tiny little cloud with a couple black dots for eyes and nose. Even Alec was speechless with how adorable the tiny thing was. Belle set the puppy down with Lily, who made a soft cooing sound like she didn't know what else to say. Lucian seemed afraid at first, especially when the puppy moved into his lap and sniffed his face. However, as soon as he felt the fur and saw how soft the puppy was, he let it lick his nose, hugging his arms around the puppy.

“Her name is Snowball,” Tobias said, a warm smile on his face. “We decided that maybe Lucian needed a playmate his own age, so here she is.”

“Oh, she's perfect,” Lily said, cooing at the puppy and making sure Lucian didn't squeeze her too hard.

“Father, a dog?” Alec asked.

“If you can keep a ferret and a dragon, Lucian can keep a dog,” Tobias shrugged.

Alec glanced over his shoulder to look at the shelf Erwin was perched on, with Raz now sitting beside him. Both creatures were speechless, staring at the puppy as Lucian lovingly played with it, completely forgetting about them. The puppy was a baby, like he was, and actually had the energy to play.

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” Erwin said. “I think you and I need to call a truce, heathen. We now have a common enemy.”

Raz sort of snorted in agreement, with an angry hiss.

“You two stay away from that puppy,” Alec warned. “I will personally out you both in cages.”

“The pup has won the heart of our king,” Erwin said, grimly. “There is another war we must face, Razeth.”

Alec rolled his eyes and looked back to Lucian and his delighted shrieks as the puppy jumped all over him on the floor. Even King Hamilton had moved to sit beside Lucian and play with the puppy, his hearty laugh echoing through the dining hall. It lightened the mood, that was for certain. Alec turned his head to see that Lily was staring at the maids as they cleaned up the table, quickly while everyone was distracted. He reached over and laid a hand on hers, giving her a reassuring smile. She took a deep breath and looked back at Lucian and Hamilton.

Soon after, Gwendolyn entered the hall, moving past everyone to Hamilton, whispering something to him before standing up and smiling. Out of the corner of his eye, Alec noticed Dominic fidget, smoothing his hair back and fixing his shirt. Alec gave him a look, and he seemed confused.

“What?” he asked.

“What was that?” Alec asked.

“What was what?”

Alec mocked Dominic fixing his hair and clothes, and Dominic punched his arm in a less than friendly way.

“Stop that,” he snapped. “I didn't fix myself for Gwendolyn.”

“I never mentioned Gwendolyn,” Alec pointed out, cracking a smile. “You don't like her, do you?”

“That's absurd.”

“You old dog,” Alec chuckled. “Mr. I'm-Too-Busy-For-Women.”

“Shut it before I shut it for you,” Dominic growled.

The expression changed to a bright smile as Gwendolyn acknowledged Alec with a deep bow, then smiled at Dominic.

“Good morning, King Alec,” she said. “And to you, General Wither.”

“Good morning,” Dominic answered, before Alec even got a chance to respond.

When she walked away, Alec looked back at Dominic and deepening his voice to mock Dominic’s stern tone.

“That's absolutely absurd,” he said, sweeping a hand over his hair. “No feelings, whatsoever. She's just a woman-”

“You're really pushing it, boy.”