Buckingham Palace, England
Rain drizzled outside in a mad storm, dark clouds blocking out the sunlight that should be shining. A hunched figure sitting in a chair behind a desk was the only one in the study, the servant with the news having been dismissed seconds before. The man tried his best to control his breathing as best he could, if she was here with him, she would be holding him tight, whispering to him. Whispering it wasn't his fault, whispering there was nothing that could have been done at all. It was nature's course, she would have said.
The young man got up from his leather chair, shaky hands moving like his shaky legs to the window pane behind him. He clenched his fists together before screaming and running to his desk, throwing papers and books anywhere, everywhere. He couldn't think straight, his chestnut hair falling in front of his eyes.
The young man froze. He had had the same exact shade of hair. The same exact shade of blue for his eyes. The man's anguish and anger was long forgotten, tears now streaming down his pale face like the English showers outside. He suddenly felt dizzy and fell into a crumpled heap on the floor, hearing the door to his study creak open slowly, more whispers filling the room as several people rushed over to him, grabbing his shoulders, his arms, his hands. They all whispered the same thing in hushed tones.
"Anxiety attack...get the royal medic...needs a transfusion...no, get iron therapy...move him to his bedroom...find a vein in his arm..."
His breathing became shaky again as he realized how close everyone was, his claustrophobia setting in. They were too close, he couldn't breathe, he was going to die--
And then warm arms wrapped around him, a familiar scent of lilacs calming him down as she shoved everyone away. A soft kiss was pressed to his temple before the soft voice he craved whispered something different then he expected into his ear.
"Come to bed, my brave king. You must be exhausted."
♡ Odette's POV ♡
Zayn seemed troubled by something as we sat on the porch of the beach house outside our bedroom eating breakfast, a newspaper in hand, not from the Empire, but from England. His brows were creased, his mouth frowning as his eyes quickly read an article from the front page. I reached over the table to grab the small pot of sugar for my tea, adding a small cube before slowly stirring the drink.
I did the action with my left hand, and Zayn's eyes watched before starting to turn back to his paper. However, his eyes soon locked on my wrist, immediately dropping the newspaper. My wrist was taken in his grip, and my heart stuttered when I saw what he was looking at.
Seamus' spade hadn't completely washed off yesterday.
"What the hell is that?" Zayn asked, his grip on my wrist tight and his eyes glaring at me. I didn't answer right away, fearing his response.
"Marker. Seamus thought it would be a good way to disguise me since the real me isn't Marked." I bit my lip, waiting for Zayn's angry reaction.
I waited, but it never came. Zayn seemed to scrunch his eyes closed, mentally reminding himself of what frightful things had taken place to me yesterday. He took a deep breath before looking at me again. It surprised me how he could control his temper so well.
"Why is it Deeney's Mark?" He seemed disgusted to even speak Seamus' name.
"Because he was with me, and I couldn't go around with a crown on my wrist, now could I?" I jokingly remarked, and Zayn's lips formed a hard line.
"I don't like him. Make sure you wash that off." He muttered, releasing my wrist to return to his paper.
"You don't like anyone who isn't Zayn Malik or me." I joked with him, but Zayn was in no mood for it.
"I have a bad feeling about him." Zayn spoke, eyes returning to scan the tiny text on the newspaper. "I consider myself a good judge of character."
I didn't answer him right away. I had a feeling Zayn was only upset because he hadn't been the one to save me yesterday, to comfort me and be the hero for once.
"What's wrong?" I asked, trying to take the conversation somewhere else. Zayn sighed before setting down the newspaper, pushing it across the table to me. He shook his head as I hesitantly grabbed the paper, it must have been important for him to be this upset. Either that, or he was still cross with me (or Seamus) for yesterday.
The headline of the newspaper read "Eldest Heir to English Throne Dies in Battle". I stared at Zayn in silence, was the English heir a close friend of his? Zayn took another deep breath before explaining.
"The King and Queen of England only had two children, the Queen miscarried many times before finally giving birth to twin boys, Elliot and Elijah." Zayn smiled faintly, chuckling softly as he continued. "You would have thought angels had appeared before the King and Queen, they were miracles in their eyes. Elliot was older by two minutes, and was the heir to the throne." I absentmindedly stirred my tea spoon, now fully engaged in the story.
"But he died in a war against another country, so the throne falls to his identical younger brother, Elijah, who is nineteen now." I didn't say anything as Zayn explained, the story was quite sad, I felt bad for the King and Queen, not to mention the brother.
"Elliot and Elijah were close friends of mine growing up, Elliot was the more athletic and courageous one. Elijah was more sickly and weak, always tripping over his feet and scraping his knees. Many times when my parents took my sisters and I to England to visit them, Elijah was sick or not feeling well, especially as we got older. Eventually we got the news that he was diagnosed with iron-deficiency anemia, and had to get a ton of blood transfusions and take pills to keep him strong."
I saw Zayn visibly go paler, and I offered him a weak smile before gripping his hand that rested on the tablecloth-covered table. An idea suddenly came to me, maybe it would make Zayn feel better.
"Why don't we visit him? See if he's okay?" I spoke softly, and Zayn stared at me before he bit his lip. He nodded slowly before getting up from our little table, holding his hand out for me to take.
"We better get packing. Have Falene pack something warm for you, I hear English winters are the worst."
***
After a long plane ride, Zayn, several servants, and I touched down at a private airport in England. Ivy stayed behind to take care of military business, she claimed she needed peace and quiet, but to offer Elijah her condolences.
I had attempted to change on the plane ride into something nicer than a pullover and jeans to greet Elijah with, but Zayn insisted that changing wasn't necessary. Elijah wasn't too keen on fancy parties and luxuries, more often then not he was just happy to have someone to keep him company since he was alone while he was treated for his anemia at the hospital.
The car ride to the palace was short, and I stared out the window in wonder at London. I had always wanted to go to London, and I was finally here. Unfortunately, it was under different circumstances than I would have liked.
The palace was huge, the gardens even bigger. Dark clouds loomed over us as we walked through the grounds, reflecting the depressed mood the family must be in. We were led in through a back exit by some guards, and my jaw almost dropped to the floor in amazement at the elegance of the interior. It was like a palace in a fairy tale, golden decorations and jewels were everywhere, fancy paintings lining the walls. Zayn asked one of the guards if Elijah was in his room or study, and the guard informed him that the poor guy hadn't left his room all day. Zayn thanked him before taking my hand and walking through the halls and up several flights of stairs, just like he must have done when he was younger, and when Elliot was still alive.
We reached Elijah's room relatively quickly, his room being one of the easily accessible ones to prevent him from straining himself. A huge mahogany door had a crown carved into it, as well as an E. No noise was heard through the huge door, and Zayn pressed a finger to his lips, silently telling me to keep quiet. I nodded, and Zayn knocked politely on the door several times.
Seconds later the door opened just a crack, revealing a young lady with chestnut curls and warm eyes. She was dressed in a simple sweater and jeans like me, but the look in her eyes was one that held much more depth, more emotion. She had slight dark circles under her eyes, but she didn't hesitate to let us in. She offered us a small smile.
"You have a special visitor today, isn't that nice?" The girl called out behind her, but heard no response. It didn't faze her as she shut the door behind us, leading us further into Elijah's room.
It was pretty big, navy and silver seemed to be the main colors of the decor. There were apparently two different rooms that functioned as Elijah's bedroom, a living room, and his bedroom itself. Paintings of wildlife and the outdoors hung on the walls of the living room, bookshelves holding countless novels looming over our heads. The floors were a dark wood and ivory colored armchairs were placed around the room. The shades of the windows were closed, making the room very dim and dark. As we approached the room with Elijah's bed, and presumably Elijah himself, the girl turned around, holding a finger up to politely tell us to wait.
I noticed Zayn seemed a little impatient with the girl, tapping his foot on the floor as she smoothly moved over to the wooden bed with a canopy of navy hanging above it. Elijah must like his privacy, as the drapes were pulled closed, hiding himself among the ivory sheets and navy quilt.
The girl got down on her knees before opening the drapes just a little, a small groan of annoyance being heard from inside the bed at her action. The girl ignored it, whispering words to the figure before leaning in and pressing a kiss to them. The girl got up right after and began to pull the canopy apart, revealing a pale teenage boy with chestnut hair hidden among the sheets, with quite possibly the brightest blue eyes I have ever seen in my life. He was wearing what looked like a regular white t-shirt and pajama pants, despite it being around two in the afternoon.
But the thing that frightened me about this boy was the deeper purple and blue bags under his eyes, and the fact that he was actually paler than the ivory blankets wrapped around him.
"Z-Zayn, I didn't know you were coming." The boy spoke, his British accent soft and smooth. He rubbed his eyes, possibly to get rid of the sleep that remained in them before throwing the covers off him, turning his body to get out of bed. The girl immediately rushed over to him, trying to push him back into bed. The boy gave her a hard stare before pleading with her to let him go, and with a sigh, the girl complied. The boy smiled faintly before shakily getting to his feet, a bandage of gauze wrapped around the inner crease of his right elbow.
"I wanted to surprise you, Eli. Telling you beforehand would have ruined it, wouldn't it?" Zayn joked, and Elijah laughed softly before starting to walk over to Zayn. Zayn didn't make the poor boy walk the entire way, meeting him more than halfway in a hug. Eli was shorter than Zayn, but not by much, I noticed.
"Still, I could've gotten dressed and greeted you by the door, not in my pajamas and in my room." Eli weakly countered him, releasing Zayn and smiling at him.
"It's fine, Eli. I think you deserve to have a little rest after what's been going on." Zayn carefully spoke, but it didn't help the hurt on Eli's face from appearing. His eyes dimmed as he stared at one of the many paintings on the wall, sighing softly.
"Wasn't much of a break. I had a...stressful reaction to the news and ended up needing a shot of iron in my arm." Eli gestured to the bandage before ruffling his hair. "At least that's what Erica told me this morning, I don't really remember a lot from last night."
The brunette girl must have been Erica. She came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her chin on his shoulder. Eli played with her slender fingers before turning his gaze to me. I was frozen as his gaze stayed locked on me, his eyes almost piercing through me.
"Is she...?" Eli didn't finish his sentence, but Zayn seemed to understand since he nodded before holding his hand out for me to take. I accepted the gesture and let him pull me in front of Eli. Eli seemed to look me over before smiling and holding his hand for me to shake. I smiled before taking his hand.
"I'm Odette, nice to meet you." I introduced myself, and Eli smiled softly.
"I'm Eli, crown prince of England."