I'll Protect You (Re-Edit #2, 2016)

This kingdom is ours.

Up ahead, Flynn and Archer were holding a quiet conversation with a doctor. Flynn's lips were tight as he nodded along to whatever the doctor was saying. His hands were shoved into his black pants and he kept glancing towards the door to Alec's room, his shoe tapping against the linoleum. Archer would nudge Flynn every second so that Flynn's attention would revert back to the doctor, though his eyes kept on straying. 

We entered the waiting area, where Minnie and Zen rose to their feet, their faces tired but cheerful. 

"Hey," Minnie greeted in a soft voice, taking my hand. "How are you feeling? Do you feel stressed? Do you want to lie down?"

"Minnie, she's not a piece of china," Zen said, making a face. "She's not going to crack every time she faces pressure."

"I'm being a good and concerned friend, Zen, unlike someone here."

"I am a great friend," scoffed Zen, who plopped himself onto the seat next to mine. "How'd the trial go? Did it feel great listening to Abigail admit to all the crimes she's committed? Do you feel better now that she's gone?"

He patted himself on the chest immediately, whispering, "I bring emotional support and attention, Minnie. Beat that."

Minnie flipped him off. 

"The trial went fine," I interjected, pushing Minnie's hand down when a mother and her child walked past, both of them staring at me as they made their way. 

"Though," added Elijah, "it did get a little strange around the end. I could've sworn from what you've reported to me, Park, that Abigail couldn't have been the one to organize the assassination attempts. We even discussed it during the Court meeting--a lot of people are firm believers that Abigail is protecting someone." 

"There's a strong possibility," Logan chimed in. He, Jasper, and Elijah had sat across from us, and Logan had abandoned his normally straight posture to slouch in his seat so that his feet could kick my unharmed ankle. "Nathaniel kept his mouth shut on the details of Halloween and the incidents similar to that one. He wouldn't name anyone, not even Abigail."

"Wait," I spoke up. "Sophia left the country after the afternoon with Vincent, didn't she?" She's with her parents in London. If she's not in the room, Nathaniel doesn't have anything to encourage him to talk."

"I can give it a shot," offered Archer, who arrived before us, a distasteful look about him. "I haven't been in an XYZ interrogation for a while--remind me, future brother-in-law, are physical blows allowed?" 

"How is he? Alec?" I asked, trying to stand up, but Minnie yanked me to my seat, her eyes flaring as she glanced down at my sprained ankle. Archer took the seat between Logan and Jasper, grinning at Logan's pink cheeks from Archer's nickname. 

"His vitals are fine and his recovery is still on the track the doctors predicted he'd be on, so he's alright. He was kind of freaked out when he woke up, from what Flynn and I heard--there was a lot of screaming and punching until the idiot calmed down. We're giving them a moment." He lowered his voice and looked over to where Flynn had stood earlier, except now his figure was gone. "The two never really got a chance to talk out their differences back in Easkey." 

Everyone could tell that Alec was beyond happy to see his brother, judging from the oh-so sweet tones emitting from his hospital room. Everyone within earshot--nurses, doctors, visitors, patients--winced every single time it was Alec's turn to speak. And it wasn't as though his words were discernible. If anything, Alec sounded like an outraged raven squawking at the top of his lungs. 

When Sevastian and Iris showed up, Sevastian glared in the direction of the yelling for a good minute before asking, in all seriousness, "Can I knock him back into a coma?"