The Bastard (Darling #2) [ongoing]

Chapter Three

H E WAS uncertain of what he was doing in Louelle's bedchambers, but he found himself there anyway. Thatcher was aware of the torment he'd cause himself being there. It did not matter to him, though. Not at that moment. He needed to be close to her, although she was so far away. Being in her bedchambers surrounded by her belongings seemed to be the cure for his racing mind.

In the quarters above him slept Dane and Maryann. They had done their best to keep their eyes open as they waited for news of Louelle's whereabouts, but alas, to no avail.

Dane took the sofa Queen Dione and Mister Albernathy were perched on (for what seemed like hours). William escorted the queen to her own quarters so she was able to rest, and then he'd conspire with other guards he trusted. He reassured them all, mostly Thatcher, they'd find Louelle before she'd done anything more reckless that night. Although Thatcher wished to believe him, he hardly had hope left at all.

She was gone.

Queen Dione gave her eldest son the tightest embrace he'd ever been captured in. He felt his ribs crack. His mother's comfort often would have brought him a sense of tranquility, but not then. He didn't think there was anything that could have calmed him. His heart was more broken than he ever thought imaginable.

Ruby turned herself in not too long after Queen Dione and Willaim left. There was a lot to be done, she said, before Louelle returned. Thatcher had to bite on his tongue to not extinguish her hope as his own had been. She may not return, was what he wished to say. He offered her a tight lipped smile and wished her well rest, instead.

After it was only Dane, Maryann, and Thatcher left behind in silence in the brother's apartment, Thatcher mentioned they also were allowed to leave to get their own sleep; it had been an awfully long night. They both declined, stating they were not even close to being exhausted - even though their constant yawning appeared to say otherwise. And their statement was found to be untrue after Dane fell asleep on the sofa with his forearm covering his eyes, and Maryann falling asleep on the chair Ruby earlier occupied with a blanket draped over her lap.

The quietness of the room - aside from Dane's wretched snoring - caused Thatcher to be alone in his own thoughts. There was nothing left to distract him from overthinking far more than he already had been. It was late. He knew he also should have retired to bed, but he wanted to bask in his aloneness and misery for a while.

It was when Maryann began to snore when he decided he needed to leave the room. Dane's snoring he was able to handle. He had lived with Dane as children and the last couple of months Dane had been home. Although the walls were thick, Dane's sounds of sleeping were still able to be heard from Thatcher's bedchambers. But when Maryann began to snore worse than a man, he became overwhelmed and needed to escape it.

He retired to his own room and paced for a while. Being in his own four closed walls was no different than being trapped in between the noises coming from Dane and Maryann. He had the noise of memories left. Just outside of his balcony door was the lattice used to secretly see Louelle at nightfall. Then was the time he really wished to see her - speak to her and get her advice on heartbreak. Except, she was not there and it was she who was causing him the grandest of pain he'd felt in his entire life - and he had been whipped and abused by the king.