Tangled Crowns

Apologize

Derek woke to the sound of his mother's chastising tone.

"You are not to leave his side. That is your job. I'm strongly considering relieving you of that job altogether."

Derek saw Boyd standing stoically, taking the reprimand with a grace he never could carry when dealing with his mother.

"It's not his fault," Derek said weakly. Despite his mother being near the door, he knew she would hear him.

Talia's head snapped toward him.

"It's my fault. I slipped out without telling him." Derek winced, pushing himself up into a sitting position.

"Easy does it," Dana said, helping him.

The wounds were mostly healed,  but the areas were tender as he pressed his fingers to where the wounds had once decorated his torso.

"Derek, honey, how are you feeling?" Talia's tone dropped to a softer lilt. She had abandoned her chastising in favor of being at his side once more.

"Boyd," Derek called, ignoring Talia.

Boyd walked over, his eyes darting to Talia briefly.

"Yes, Your Highness?" Boyd asked, giving a gentle bow of his head.

Derek grabbed Boy, pulling him into a hug.

Boyd grunted at the sudden movement, almost toppling him into the bed. He let Derek hug him for a moment before deciding he'd take whatever punishment Talia doled out for being too close to Derek. He wrapped his arms around his waist gently and burrowed his face in Derek's shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Derek apologized.

"I'm just glad you're alright."

"No thanks to you," Talia hissed.

Derek and Boyd parted. "Mother—"

"No," Boyd cut in. "She's right. I allowed you to be put in danger. I should have been with you."

"I didn't want you there. Stiles and I snuck out. We wanted...quiet."

"You were meant to be with Princess Lydia," Talia snapped at him.

"She was tired. She wanted to rest. Stiles and I agreed to meet her and Cora later."

Talia ran a hand down her face. "I knew bringing you two was a bad idea. Whoever attacked you  knows what we are."

"I didn't know them." Derek shrugged.

"You saw their face, though?"

Derek nodded.

"So they won't likely try again in a public place at least. You'll be safe here. You're not to leave the grounds under any circumstances. I don't care who's with you. Understood?"

Derek would normally have argued, but he was fortunate that she was only this upset, so he gave another nod.

"And you, I have yet to decide what to do about." Talia pointed a stern finger at Boyd.

"Mother, please. Let this be a lesson learned. I'm okay."

Talia scoffed. "Hardly. You're fortunate that Queen Claudia knew of us and that King Noah is as good a person as his wife. Though I can't imagine how he'll react to this. His son was attacked by someone who wanted you. I doubt Prince Stiles would have been scathed had he not intervened."

Fear spread through Derek. "Do you think the king will blame us?"

Talia straightened her shoulders. "I'm afraid I don't know. Not that I would fault him. I might blame them were the roles reversed."