Hey everyone.

So sad that Kings has been canceled, though I suppose that's what fanfiction is for, isn't it? To keep going where TV failed us?

This takes place right after the end of the series, so if you haven't seen it you may want to finish watching it first before you read on.

David Shepherd, on the advice of Reverend Samuels, has fled Gilboa to find sanctuary in Gath. Little does he know, Queen Rose Benjamin has exiled her daughter out of Gilboa under the charge of treason, though the truth stems from Michelle's pregnancy. Meanwhile, Rose also begins damage control across Shiloh, hoping to restore the people's face in King Silas, who has taken refuge in the Royal Palace of Shiloh.

Prince Jack Benjamin has been placed under house arrest ("a living death") with his fiancée, Lucinda Wolfsen, who he finds repulsive. He will find no reprieve until he produces an heir for Silas to place on the throne of Gilboa, though Jack's sexuality and his sheer hatred for Lucinda stands in the way of this approach.

Reviews are welcomed and encouraged. They tell me that you're enjoying my work, therefore making me strive to complete chapters more quickly. Fewer reviews usually mean a longer wait to the next chapter.

I don't own Kings, so that's my disclaimer.

Enjoy.

_________

: The Republic of Gath - Outskirts of the Southern Border :

Captain David Shepherd couldn't stop running. Wouldn't stop running. The risk was still too high. He could almost hear the tanks treading across the roads only a couple hundred meters from the woodland. Any failure now would get him shot - or worse - captured. The latter would destroy the delicate peace obtained only hours before when Silas retook Gilboa. He could be considered a spy or a saboteur. Then again, Silas had probably already conjured up false evidence against him. He would be considered a turncoat or a traitor. As ridiculous as it would all seem, he would find no sanctuary there. The only faith he had was in the words of Reverend Samuels – that he would be safe, somehow, in Gath.

He ran as far as he could and then some until his legs could carry him no more, barrelling into a dense thicket of decaying bushes situated around a dense old oak. He tried to control his breathing, but the air in his lungs escaped his mouth in gasps. Reaching into his backpack, he brought a canteen of water to his lips and drank. The cool water was refreshing and helped to slow his rasps.

Civilization was miles away. It would take too much of him to try and get there tonight. He'd have to camp outdoors beneath the stars, alone with his spectrum of emotions. They had come in waves. One moment he was angry, cursing himself for trusting Silas again and how blind he had been. Then came loneliness. Having to say good bye to Michelle in the chapel. Having to say good bye to his home. But he had to stay calm. Panic would get him nowhere. The cool steel of Michelle's ring across his finger gave him hope. Hope to survive this so he see her again.

The dusk was beginning to settle, casting a mist across the bleak forest. This place would be as good as any.

David Shepherd closed his eyes and allowed sleep to overtake him.

***

: Austeria – Unknown :

"Her Excellency Rose Benjamin sends her regards, Lady Ghent."

Those were the words the marines had said to her just before the explosion. She had initially thought that the small platoon of marines along the highway back to Gilboa were a formality. Perhaps they were Gilboans there to welcome her back to the homeland, or maybe they were Austerians ensuring she had paid export taxes on her numerous souvenirs. Regardless, her armoured car stopped for them and she had listened to their words before a marine standing behind one of their vehicles pulled out a rocket launcher and let the explosives fly. She had no time to move, no time to scream, but could still feel the car rolling down the mountainside before plummeting into a tree jutting from the earth.

Katrina Ghent was alive, albeit barely. Austerian civilians had found her unconscious body some time later. Vague memories of being pushed through a hallway on a hospital flowed across her thoughts. She had heard the paramedics say that she had been discovered alone amongst the wreckage. They had not known who she really was. She knew this when they brought her to the civilian hospital on the outskirts of the little mountain village. White Willows, they called it. If they had known who she was, chances are she'd be some place more exclusive and surrounded by a hive of press.

A doctor stood over her now. An older man with short dense hair with a few peppery strands lost amongst the salt. "You're lucky to be alive, Ms. Doe. Second degree burns, four broken ribs, a fractured leg, punctured lung, and a broken wrist. Anyone else would have been dead ages ago. A fighter, are we?"

She made an attempt to speak, though all that escaped her was a burning sensation in her throat and a dry rasp from her lips. "Now, now, Ms. Doe. Best not to speak just yet." She gave him an irritated look, only to receive a rather stupid, condescending smile in return.

It was so typical of Rose Benjamin to do this. She cursed herself for not expecting it, though assumed her armoured car and the three Gilboan soldiers she had brought with her as an escort would be more than adequate for whatever thugs that the Queen would have sent their way. But no, the Queen sent three military-issue jeeps, half a dozen marines, and a rocket launcher designed to take out tanks, let alone armoured cars.

The ring she had acquired in Austeria for her marriage to Jack Benjamin was still on her finger. A huge rock of a diamond upon a platinum band. Its beauty was somehow reassuring to her. She was as hard as that diamond. She had to be to survive this. Of course, the ring itself had come off the Gilboan Royal family's line of credit. The doctor saw her looking at it. "Poor girl. Your husband is probably worried sick, whoever he is. Obviously someone well off, eh?"

A TV mounted in the center of the room was spewing news about the new peace between Gilboa and Gath. She couldn't make out the words through the bandages around her head, save for muffled sounds, but Katrina Ghent could make out the images of the Benjamin Palace surrounded by Gath tanks. There were momentarily changes in the scene, quickly changing to images of King Silas and Queen Rose, both standing on a podium, though she found it odd that Michelle and Jack Benjamin weren't there with them. Had so much changed in her absence?

She glared at the old man again and raised the arm that didn't hurt as much as the other, wiggling her fingers in writing motions. He stared at her for a moment, seemingly unsure of what she meant for a moment before grinning broadly. "Oh, I see. Yes, here you go." He passed her a pad of paper and a pen.

Must. Speak. Need. Phone. Emergency.

"My dear, you almost lost a lung. Be glad you can breathe at all. You have nothing. No ID, no life. Give it time," he took the pad away from her before she could write anything else, smiled stupidly at her again, and then swished the curtain behind himself as he left.

***

: Gilboa, Shiloh - Benjamin Palace :

Rose Benjamin stood by the window overlooking the gates to the Royal Palace of Shiloh. She watched in silent solitude as the black car drove through the gates and disappeared down the concrete streets. She watched as her only daughter, Michelle Benjamin, disappeared from her sight for a single year. Or perhaps more. Who could say?

Naturally, Queen Rose would keep tabs on Michelle during her absence from court. She would expect nothing less. Though the conditions of her daughter's exile would be a year of solitude, it made her heart churn with grief, but her face would not betray anything. It was the right thing to do. Michelle would be fine as long as her people did their jobs and Michelle didn't try anything stupid.

A light rap on the door came with the presence of Thomasina, the family's head of security. It was in this woman that Queen Rose invested a great deal of trust. She had served the family for years and she hoped that Thomasina would serve many more, though the events of late had visibly shook Thomasina's conscience. She could see it in her eyes. Breaking her gaze away from the window, she acknowledged the new presence with a faint, sad smile. "Michelle is gone. For a year. If anything has made this year more difficult, it's this."

Thomasina's own eyes harboured a silent sadness as she quietly closed the door behind her. "For the good of the Kingdom, I'm sure."

Approaching a near-by cabinet, Rose retrieved a bottle of wine and two glasses. "These times are hard, but they are no doubt times that will usher Gilboa into a new century of peace. These challenges have only made us stronger. Fuelled our resolve. The alliance with Gath has been sealed with the blood of those who would seek to bring this kingdom to its knees," she poured the deep red liquid into both glasses, handing one to Thomasina.

Thomasina had never shared wine with the Queen before. Her task was to ensure the safety of the royal family as opposed to indulging in their pleasures. Nevertheless, she took the wine anyway, hesitantly raising the crystal glass to her lips. It was smooth, the earthy tones reminded her of autumn. "I did what you asked with Jack. He's been placed under house arrest until a trial is set. With his wife."

Lucinda Wolfsen. A spring daisy trying to be part of the rose bush. She was young, stupid, and agonizingly clingy. Jack could not have chosen a more convincing actress to play the role of his loyal wife, though in the end it was a choice that would develop into a thorn in his side. She had grown infatuated with him and felt only misery for her husband. Jack could hardly stand the sight of her, and now they were locked in a chamber of a distant mansion together for the foreseeable future. Rose steeled her face and hid any incriminating evidence that the news affected her. A sore disappointment her son had turned out to be. He had earned this punishment.

"Good. Keep them that way," she sipped deeply. It was a good vintage. One she had been saving for several seasons. She had two more bottles of it hidden away.

"What about Andrew Cross?"

Her nephew. Once exiled for his birth that came without the King's permission. "We will keep him in court for now. I want an eye kept upon him anyway. To ensure he is not a weed planted by a frenzied farmer before the frost. We do not know what William's plans were – if they involved this child. We'll wait this one out."

Thomasina set the wine down on a side table. She had only finished half the glass. "Of course," she inclined her head politely and stepped back towards the door before Rose finally turned to face her again.

"How is the King?"

"King Silas is still in his chambers. Preparing a statement for Gilboa."

"You may go then. Get some rest. You look terrible."

Her bodyguard took her leave, the lacquered wooden door closing quietly behind her. Queen Rose turned back to the window, gazing out across Gilboa. Staring out toward the tanks of Gath scattered along the streets. Her eyes finally rested on a flag of the Gilboan butterfly, flapping wildly in the afternoon breeze atop a building down the block.

Stepping out of the sitting room, Rose Benjamin made her way through the palace. Her black heels made a soft sound against the golden marble beneath her feet. She headed to her own study. To do what she had always done.

With the return of Silas, Gilboa would flourish again. She would see to it herself.

***

: Gilboa – Western Coast of Gideon, Benjamin Villa :

"I was so scared, Jack! So scared that Silas was going to kill you. Thank God. Your mother must have done something," she clung to him as if he were her life raft in the middle of an ocean. He couldn't find the strength to push her away, though he didn't make any effort to embrace her either. Instead he just stared out the window into the ocean. His eyes were like the ocean itself. Pools of emptiness. Wet. Lost.

Jack Benjamin had been here for two days, though he could no longer gather himself to fight it. The coup was over. Silas had won. He had crossed his Father's line for the last time. The first time had been his sexuality, the second when he defended David Shepherd's charge of treason, and the coup had been the last. He didn't know how long he was going to be here. There were whispers of a trial, but otherwise he was blind and deaf to whatever was happening in Shiloh.

"Say something. You haven't talked since I got here. Barely eaten. Talk to me. Please," Lucinda Wolfsen raised a hand to his cheek, though he swatted away her touch as if she were an undesired insect.

"Get away from me. Just stand over there and be quiet," he broke away from her, his eyes watering up again with tears he couldn't shed for the sake of his pride. He wouldn't break down in front of her. Anyone else maybe, but not her.

Her expression was that of an abandoned puppy. The majority of her make-up had flushed away the day she was brought to him. Her tears smeared mascara down her eyes and her lipstick was splotchy. She looked like a whore until he finally forced her to wash it off, though her eyeliner still clung to her eyes and made her look awkward. Neither of them had changed their clothes. The wardrobes were both empty. Her red dress was creased with wrinkles while his own suit was in no better state.

Thomasina's words echoed through his head. "Her part she'll be glad to play. Your father wants for you a living death. To break you into a wall with someone who loves you. Who you can't stand the sight of until you produce an heir which Silas will take and raise right this time."

"Why won't you speak to me?" Lucinda had crumpled on to the bed, hands weak across her lap. "I thought you loved me. When you asked me to marry you, it was a dream come true. Me? A young girl, marrying the Prince of Gilboa. To be a Lady of Shiloh and then your Queen."

"I told you to be quiet," he snapped at her. God, she was annoying.

"I won't! I want to know what's wrong. You can tell me. Please!" She had risen to her feet again, though this time she was smart enough not to try and take his hand again.

He turned towards her with a look of hatred, his eyes like a pair of icy daggers. "Fine. You really want to know what's going on? You're a nobody. I don't even know you. I never wanted to know you. You were just supposed to be the pretty woman that all the little girls in Shiloh would aspire to be most like when you were Queen. Do you think I'd care? No. I wouldn't. You were a scapegoat to keep my mother off my case. So sit your ass back on that bed and stay the fuck away from me."

Lucinda Wolfsen said nothing. Her hands fell limply to her sides and she crumpled back on to the side of the bed. Her voice was weak and tired. "I knew there was something wrong about all this."

"Took you long enough," he turned back towards the window and pushed his arm against the wall, resting his forehead against a forearm. "Whatever. My mother will eventually come for us. Or my father."

"The woman said this was to be your living death until you produced an heir. Is someone really coming for you if the King wants you to be alone with me?"

Even though he hoped so, Jack Benjamin knew it wouldn't work that way, but he kept making excuses to hide himself from the truth of it. He could say nothing else.

For the second time, Lucinda Wolfsen rose to her feet. She began to rub out the creases in her dress before taking a place beside him. A glance revealed a tear tracing down her cheek. "If you won't love me, Jack, I can't do anything to change that, but I will always love you. And I want to make you happy as best I can. I want to get you out of this place."

"The only way that's going to happen is if you're pregnant, which is something that's definitely not going to happen." He had to smirk at her. It was a trademark he had developed for himself over the last few years. The smile of a playboy who'd take you, use you, and then throw you away.

She didn't seem to have an answer for that, but she looked out the window with him anyway. "We'll think of something."

The awkward silence was broken by a guard. This one was new. It was a refreshing change from the old Sergeant that had served them yesterday. This one was young, with emerald eyes and shortly spiked blonde hair. He began to feel the flower of lust blooming deep inside his chest, but remembering Lucinda's presence made that flower wither quickly. The soldier brought them a meagre meal: trays with a bit of meat, green peas, bread, and water. Enough to keep them alive, but not spoil them in any kind of luxury. He lingered a moment at the door, turning to face them on his way out. "The King says you will be given something heartier when news of a heir reaches his ears."

Jack merely smirked at him. Forced patience. Now get out, you beautiful thing. The soldier did so, the door behind him locking.