Long Live the King

The wound on Lightning's leg had healed and it was time for them to continue their journey to the South. They woke up at dawn the next day to prepare the horses and gather their things.

Stefan offered to take them to the next village, for he also had to go there to deliver wood and pick up a few other things. Reyna expected that they would spend the night at a friend's house or at least in an inn, but Stefan told her straight away that they would stay in a brothel.

The princess had never thought one day she would have to visit a brothel. But consider the fact that she had lost her first kiss and let the same man who'd kissed her eat her out, anything could happen at this point.

"But is there no other option?" Reyna asked as she rode Thunder side by side with Rowan.

Stefan rode his cart ahead of them as he turned his head and told the girl, "trust me, Willem's men won't be looking for you in a brothel."

"Why?"

"Why would a maid go to a brothel?" Stefan scoffed.

"Peach would," Rowan joked and Reyna immediately kicked his leg as he broke into laughter.

They travelled for an entire day without stopping and managed to get there before sunset. They left their horses outside and followed Stefan into the two-storey house which looked decent on the outside, but dark and filthy on the inside.

Reyna walked close to Rowan, hugging his arm and burying her nose into his coat. The foul smell of the place made her want to throw up, and she wondered how some men could spend every night at a place like this instead of home with their wives.

"How am I going to get laid if you keep holding me like this, Peach?" Rowan joked, smirking as Reyna punched his shoulder and shoved him away. She knew a joke was just a joke, but the thought of him with one of those women, or anyone other women for that matter, made her skin crawl.

She walked faster to catch up with Stefan. He headed to the long counter where sat a big lady whose breasts were so large and clothes were so tight, Reyna wondered how she could even breathe. This woman must be the madam.

"Russo! Zuko!"

"Wait, she knows you two?"

"Of course I know them, dear," the madam told Reyna while sizing her up. "Are you one of my new girls?"

"She's my friend. Her name is Rain," Stefan said. "Rain, this is Leslie, the owner of the place."

"Nice to meet you." Reyna gave a small smile, but Leslie was too busy eyeing her up and down to return a smile.

"Oh, well. If you change your mind, Rain, we'd be glad to welcome you to our family," Leslie said, making Rowan snort and Reyna smacked him again.

"Is this your first time in a whorehouse, love?"

Reyna nodded, already blushing.

"Aww, look at that puppy dog face." Leslie puckered up her thick lips and pressed her palms against her chest. "I like this girl. She's so shy."

"Not always," Rowan said, causing Reyna to shoot him a glare and he quickly locked his lips with an invisible key and tossed it over his shoulder.

"These boys used to come here all the time. They basically lived here for a while when they were fifteen, sixteen." As Leslie proudly patted the men on the back, they both groaned and begged her to stop, but she didn't. "Well, not here here. I used to own a brothel in Theros but I had to move away because of the war. It was bad for business. I'm telling ya, men would rather kill then pay to get fucked and I feel sorry for them."

Leslie rolled her eyes and leaned forward, her breasts nearly spilling out of her tiny corset. "Thank God, my boy Russo still visits me once in a while. Zuko, on the other hand, chose the boring life and stayed loyal to one girl. What was her name again? Candy?"

"Kenny."

"Whatever." She gave Stefan a wave. "Can you imagine? Sticking your dick in one hole for the rest of your life? Yuck."

Seeing how frightened Reyna was, Rowan stepped closer to her.

"Leslie is actually very nice," he whispered into her ear while stroking her back.

But then Stefan spoke, "Rowan and Kenny are not together anymore."

"Stefan!" Rowan cried out. "You need to stop telling everyone about my business!"

Despite Rowan's reaction, Leslie was overjoyed. She clapped her hands and shook her fists in excitement. "Perfect! There's no heartbreak a threesome cannot solve! I'll get you two best whores for tonight!"

"Actually, I--"

"Gerta! May!" Leslie shouted to the back and two beautiful women rushed out to meet their new potential customer.

"That's very kind of you but I'm not here for this," Rowan said as the girls pulled him away from Reyna, running their hands all over his body.

Reyna freaked out when one of them pushed Rowan onto a chair and straddled his waist as the other got down on her knees by his side to kiss his neck.

"Woah, woah, ladies!" he hissed when the girls removed his belt. The memories from two nights ago flashed before Reyna's eyes and she turned away, fuming with jealousy.

"What about you two?" Leslie asked, switching her fingers back and forth between Reyna and Stefan. "I'm not sure if any of my girls is into ladies but--"

"No, no, no, we just want to rent two rooms for tonight," Stefan said, giving Reyna a small smile as she seemed a bit terrified.

"No whore, just room?" Leslie asked.

"No whore, just room," Stefan confirmed, laughing nervously.

"Well, we only have one room so--"

"We'll take it," Reyna said and snatched the key from Leslie's hand before she could put it on the counter. "Thank you. And just to be clear, Rowan is paying for those girls. We have nothing to do with that."

"Oh...okay." Leslie widened her eyes as she lifted her shoulders in a half shrug and got up from her chair. "Come on, sweets, I'll show you the room."

.

.

.

It was late, almost past midnight, and they still hadn't heard from Rowan.

"Rain, go to sleep," Stefan said as he propped up on his elbow and found Reyna sitting on the bed, eyes fixed on the door.

The room was rather small and there was just enough space on the bed for one so he'd given that spot to her. She felt bad that he had to sleep on the floor while she got the bed and didn't even want to use it. But it wasn't her fault, it was Rowan's. It was all his fault for making her wait.

"What's taking him so long?" she asked while fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

Stefan lay back down, closing his eyes again. "Can't you blame him though? He hadn't slept with a woman in so long. Now he's got two."

"Well, I think he won't spend the night with them," Reyna said, but there was no response, and five seconds later she heard Stefan snoring softly.

She hugged her knees to her chest, still watching the door. Her eyelids felt heavier and heavier, and just before she was about to drift off, she heard footsteps ascending in the hallway.

That must be Rowan, she thought and quickly climbed off the bed and lay down on the floor next to Stefan. She snuggled up to his side and pretended to sleep. Though she knew it was childish and stupid, and if Rowan found out, she'd be so ashamed, she just had to know how he would react to her falling asleep with Stefan. She wanted him to be jealous, just like she had been.

She stilled as the handle shook gently and the door finally creaked open. Rowan stepped in. She closed her eyes before he noticed that she was awake and heard the door shut and his footsteps stop right beside her.

She tried to steady her breathing, but her heart was pounding as she didn't know what he was going to do. Surprisingly, Rowan bent down and picked her up. She kept pretending to sleep as he carried her in his arms to the bed and gently laid her down on her side. She thought he would leave her there and sleep on the floor with Stefan. But then he lay down behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her to his chest.

"I know you're awake," he suddenly spoke.

Reyna froze at once. Though she couldn't see his face, she knew he was smirking with his eyes closed. And dear God, she had never been more embarrassed.

She took a moment to calm down and finally broke her silence, "you smell like those girls. Did they let you use their perfume?"

Rowan responded with a quiet laugh. Why was he laughing? Was it because she sounded bitter? Did he think she was stupid? A thousand questions popped up in her head in that one split second before he answered, "that's why I need to cuddle you, so I could smell like you."

She could feel a smile in his voice and she tried to keep her composure by biting her bottom lip.

"I didn't sleep with them," he added. "I was drinking with Leslie."

"I don't care."

"Yeah, it's not like you were waiting for me to come and cuddle you or anything."

"I wasn't!" Reyna's mouth fell agape as Rowan released a low chuckle.

"Whatever you say." He sighed, holding her tighter. "Go to sleep, Peach."

While his chest was rising and falling steadily against her back, Reyna could feel his heart beating in sync with her own. She bit her lip to hold back a grin and turned her head slightly to look at his face, their lips were just an inch apart. She almost betrayed her own words and asked him to kiss her again.

"Good night," she murmured.

Rowan peeked with one eye, his dimples popped as he saw her face. "Good night, love."

.

.

.

In her dream that night, Reyna saw her and Rowan sitting in front of the fireplace, surrounded by complete darkness, no ceiling or walls or even a floor. It looked like they were just floating, and yet she felt warm and safe with his arm around her shoulders and him reassuring her that it would be all right.

When he kissed her, it felt so real, as if it was real. She didn't know it was a dream until she couldn't feel his lips or his touch anymore.

"Rowan?" she asked, pulling back to look at his face as it suddenly twisted, fear darkened his eyes.

"Wake up, Peach," he said, his voice echoing. "Wake up! They've found us."

"Who?"

"They've found us. They're here."

Her eyes shot open, and the first things she saw were the dark grey ceiling and Rowan's face looking the same as it had been in her dream.

"They're here, Peach. We have to leave."

"Who's here?" she asked when he pulled her up and hurriedly gathered their things.

"Willem's men. They're searching every room for us."

Reyna blanched at her father's name and suddenly someone banged on the door. She and Rowan froze, holding their breath as the banging got louder and more violent.

"Open the door! Prince Egon's order!"

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.

.

Three days ago...

Willem's sickness had only gotten worse since he received the news that his daughter had fled the kingdom with a prisoner. He'd sent people to go after her, find her, and bring her back, but it had been almost two weeks and the missing princess still hadn't been found. Prince Kavan and his retinue had cancelled the wedding and returned to Attwell, and the King of Attwell had been furious. He had broken the alliance with the North and declared to cancel military aid and political support when Isolde was to be at war again. Never had Willem thought his dynasty would crumble because of a woman, but now he was starting to believe in the prophecy.

Could Madam Maggie be right when she said the faith of his kingdom was entirely in the hands of his only daughter? Everything had gone wrong since she left, and if she didn't come back, if there was no wedding, if Egon became King, then Willem would lose it all. He had failed to be a husband and a father, and he might fail to be a king, too.

This morning when he woke up, the sky was grey. The castle was engulfed in dark clouds and the snow was falling so hard and thick that he could only see a white grey snow curtain when looking out of the window from his sickbed. Another storm was coming, one he had expected for a really long time.

"Josephine is here, Your Majesty."

"Send her in."

The guard opened the door for Jo to come in. She kept her head down and stayed close to the entrance as the door shut behind her.

"You asked for me, Your Majesty?"

"Come closer," Willem said, his voice was low and unsteady. Jo hesitated before walking towards him to stand at the foot of his bed and only looked up when she'd been given permission.

Willem had only allowed his subjects to see him when he was well, so when Jo was requested to come to his chamber, she thought there had been a mistake. But there he was right in front of her, white as a corpse, nothing but skin and bones. Most of his hair had fallen out and there were more wrinkles on his face than she could recall. He was dying, and he knew it.

"Jo."

"Yes, my lord?" Jo walked around the bed to stand beside him. Willem coughed while struggling to open his eyes.

"I asked to see you because you are the closest to my daughter. Did she tell you where she was headed?"

"No, my lord. Reyn--Um...Princess Reyna...didn't tell me that she was going to run away, but my guess is that she's heading to Theros."

"To see Edgar?"

"I think so, my lord. She had always talked about how much she missed her uncle."

Willem gave a low "hmm" and asked no more questions as he lifted his shaky finger and pointed to the desk facing his bed. "Bring me that envelope."

Jo hastened to get the white envelope with the red royal seal and bring it to the King.

"Keep it," he said, pushing it back into her hands. "Give it to Reyna. I might not be here when she returns and I need her to read this..."

"Your Majesty--"

"It's all right, my child. Everyone has their own time." Willem flashed a weak smile at the distressed maid. "I couldn't love her the way she wanted me to. But I know you did. And if you still do, please look after her."

Just as Jo opened her mouth to respond, a guard walked in and she hurriedly hid the letter behind her back.

"Prince Egon has arrived, Your Majesty."

Willem nodded and gave Jo a dismissive wave. She did a small curtsy before making her way to the entrance, following the guard and walking right past Egon without making eye contact. She brought the letter to her front before his eyes could catch it and just continued walking.

"Why did you ask to see Jo, father?" asked the Prince as soon as he entered the room and shut the door. He made his way to his father's bed and stood beside it with his hands behind his back.

Willem had his eyes closed as he sucked in a breath. "I asked her about Reyna. I thought she might know where your sister went."

"I already interrogated her as well as all the other servants in the castle. Nobody knew about Reyna's plan to rescue a prisoner and run away with him. And forgive me if I'm wrong, but I believe that is treason."

"She was scared. I was hard on her."

"She was weak and could not fulfil a simple task. It was her duty to marry Kavan Gennady but she failed, and not only have we lost our strongest ally from the West, we will also be fighting on our own if Theros--"

Willem put up one hand and Egon's mouth clamped shut. The Prince clenched his jaw as he inhaled deeply, trying to keep his irrational feelings of malice to himself.

"I didn't ask to see you so you could tell me the things I already know," the old King said. "Are they still looking for her?"

"Yes, father. I ordered our men to search every little corner on the main road through the towns, but we couldn't find Reyna and the thief. They must have taken the trail through the forests and the North mountain. They've been on their own for a week without food and water, so it's very unlikely that they are still alive."

"She's alive."

Egon froze as his eyebrows knitted. "Yes, father?"

"Reyna is alive. I can feel it," Willem said breathlessly as he started coughing. "Bring her back. And do not harm her."

Egon released a sharp exhale as he straightened his back and lifted his chin. He had been patient, thinking he had got Isolde in the palm of his hand, but it seemed more difficult than he'd expected as Willem was too stubborn to let Reyna go.

"Father," he spoke after a moment of silence, "you're already on your deathbed. So why don't you shut your whiny mouth and let me have the fucking throne?"

Petrified, Willem pointed his finger at Egon's face. "How dare you--"

"Speak to you like that?" Egon scoffed. "But I am. What are you going to do?"

"G-Guards!"

"Go on. Scream louder. I've sent all of your guards away for a reason."

Willem trembled as the last bit of colour on his face drained out and Egon stepped closer, smirking down at him, his nostrils flared and his eyes turning dark.

"You are a foolish man," he told the King. "For all your life, the only thing you've ever cared about was the crown on your head."

"Guards!"

"You spoiled me when you thought I was going to be your heir, and tossed me aside like a bone when you found out it was your precious daughter who would be 'the saviour'." Egon shook his head, laughing mockingly. "You were going to put the fate of your kingdom in the hand of a useless woman and a foreigner, and for what? A stupid prophecy that was told by another woman?"

"You are a disgrace!" Willem barked. "All you've done since your mother died was getting drunk and fucking whores. Anyone could be a better ruler than you!"

"Hmm, you might be right. Anyone could be a better ruler than me."

"What are you doing?! Stop--"

Egon shoved the pillow to Willem's face as he jumped on the bed, threw one leg over his torso and sat on top of his chest. The old King was unable to fight back as he was too weak compared to his twenty-year-old son.

"But. Only. I. Will. Be. King!" With every word, Egon pressed the pillow harder, using all the strength he had as his knuckles went white and his face was damp with cold sweats. It didn't take longer than two minutes for Willem to go silent and stop moving.

Egon removed the pillow slowly, his lips curved into a smile. He let out a joyous laugh and continued laughing for almost a minute before getting off the bed and fixing the duvets and the body's position.

Before he ran out to find a guard and announce the death of the King, he took one last look at Willem's face, admiring it for a second.

"See you in hell, father."