Hi friends! I'm back from Israel and rewatched both seasons during my plane ride which prompted me with a ton of ideas for next season (hurry up, November!). Let me know what you think, and give any suggestions on where you think the show will be heading too!
I'll be posting my other fic within a couple days, just finishing that one up.
Feels good to be back! Happy reading. :]
The joint makes a crackling noise as the flame grazes the end of it. Her mouth fills with smoke before slowly exhaling from her lips. The sun rays projecting throughout the room bounce off the blanket of grey smoke.
It was already sunrise, which meant that Eleanor had been lying wide awake in her bed for nearly 5 hours straight.
Ever since he fell asleep.
There was too much on her mind.
Reflecting on the events of last night, Ted Pryce was attacked by the mass form of thousands at the stadium for the King's Cup. From her aerial point of view, the crowd swarmed in on Ted like a pack of ravenous wolves and the chance of survival was minimal.
Seconds after exposing the video of her father's stabbing she thought she would have felt relieved. Alleviated.
But she was scared. Desperately frightened at that.
The only driving force which kept her stable in that moment was the warmth of his hand in hers. Even though she had convinced herself time and time again that his touch was destructive.
But it was all she wanted. It was what she needed.
The sheets tighten around her body as he rolls on his side facing her.
Eleanor rests her elbow on her knees taking another hit from the joint. Her eyes narrow as she watches Jasper's flutter open.
He pulls in a sharp breath before abruptly pushing his back against the headboard. His eyes flicker back and forth transitioning between her and the joint in her hand.
He's visibly perplexed.
Taking a casual glance at his wrist watch, he buttons his dress shirt with the other hand.
The awkward silence in the room is bound to drive her crazy. If the agonizing lack of rest wasn't going to push her over the edge, dealing with another Jasper Frost situation would certainly do her in.
And she was in no mood to discuss what happened last night. Or why she allowed him to stay. Or why she demanded him go straight to her room the second upon return last night.
She takes one last drag before flicking the roach in her bin and silently dismissing herself to the bathroom.
The room is empty.
Eleanor is wearing a comfortable black lace slip with the intention of staying in bed all day smoking weed and possibly popping a few Xanax.
"Princess," her security detail softly speaks opening up the door. "Good morning."
"Jesus, James," Eleanor snaps as she wrings her hair through a towel. "Have you ever heard of knocking? I could have been naked for bloody sake!"
"My apologizes. And did your highness get a good night of rest.. I hope?"
The smug smile on his face forces her to roll her eyes. Don't bring it up, Hill.
The tense 'I'm going to snap at any moment' expression on the Princess' face prompts him onto the next subject.
"The telephone is for you. In the head security's, vacant if I may add, office."
"Tell them to leave a message," she replies tossing the towel onto the ground arching her hip. "I could use a day without someone in my ear for fucks sake."
Eleanor walks toward her stash of drugs, kept in a neat and confined jewelry box thanks to Mr. Hill.
"My apologies, once again. To get between you and your drugs.."
Her head snaps up in his direction with narrowed eyes. James usually wasn't this pushy. He respected her 'alone time' whenever she needed it.
".. But they asked for you specifically.. said it was urgent," he talks slowly with his hands clasped together in front of him.
The firm grip on her bong tightens as she brings it to her mouth. She holds up her index finger with her other hand before picking up a lighter off the table and lighting the bowl.
James stays erect in his position with his head cocked to the side. He was used to having to pause mid conversation for her occasional bong rips.
"Okay," Eleanor smoothly speaks as she exhales the smoke and places the piece back onto the table. "Who is it?"
"They refused to disclose their name. Do you wish for me to accompany you?" he asks as she casually strides past him toward the door.
She spins on her heels placing her hand on the door knob.
"It's a phone call, Mr. Hill. I'm confident I've taken on more serious threats."
James raises his eyebrows in agreement.
Walking on the bright red carpet down the hall she can hear her Uncle Cyrus yelling at the top of his lungs for one of the maids to get him a pomegranate juice. He sounds particularly angrier than usual, which was saying a lot. Maybe fatherhood was already getting to the tyrant.
And yet she didn't hear the crying of a newborn baby.. apparently the new King was a good little boy.
Reaching Pryce's office makes her nauseated. Knowing that he was sitting in here, just yesterday, doing God knows what, is nothing short of.. haunting. Refraining from thinking too much into it she turns the knob and lets herself into the musky and dim lit room. The large clock display behind his desk hypnotizes her for a slight second.
"What're you doing in here?"
Eleanor lets out a yelp before spinning around expecting to find either the ghost of, or even worse, the real Ted Pryce.
But she knows the voice too well.
"Shouldn't I be asking you that, Jasper?" she demands trying to slow down her breathing and racing heart.
In the matter of time that she had bathed herself, he too had managed to shower and put on a new suit. With a freshly shaven face. And his hair gelled to the side just how she liked..
"No reason.. Well, I-"
Eleanor puts her hand up silencing him.
"Never mind you coming up with some bloody lie as you always do. Save it for another time. I have a phone call to tend to," she cuts him off regaining her composure.
Jasper furrows his eyebrows glancing over to the telephone and stands up from the chair. Not saying another word he stiffly walks toward the doorway and exits the room.
She lets out a sigh of relief before placing her hand on the dial telephone and putting it up to her ear.
"Princess here," she speaks into the receiver enunciating every syllable.
"Eleanor."
"Princess Eleanor. Who is this?"
"You need to stay calm. No one can know that we are speaking."
The connection is shitty and it's hard to recognize the voice on the other end. But she can make out that it's a man's voice.
She waits for him to speak again.
"Did you hear me?"
"Remaining calm and maintaining secrecy have become a part of my official resume, now what do you want? Who is this?"
"I'm stranded on an island. Somewhere off the coast of Scotland. I survived the crash.. Len, I'm alive."
Eleanor's vision goes dark for a quick moment blacking out of consciousness. She promptly sits down with her eyes wildly scanning the room. With her emotions on autopilot, tears rapidly trickle down her cheeks.
"Len.. Eleanor, are you there?"
Biting her lip she removes the phone from her ear and looks at it in dismay, as if she were in a dream. The tears in her eyes are replenishing so fast she can't see anything within a few feet from her.
"Eleanor!" the phone shouts. She places it back up to her ear.
"R-Robert?"
"Don't say my name out loud! This can't be known Eleanor, I'm trusting you."
The desperation in his voice is insatiable.
"How.. what-"
"Listen to me."
Eleanor wipes a few stray tears from the tip of her nose. The phone call must be a prank. With someone who just happened to have the same exact voice as her older brother.
Why else would he have not reached out to her family? Or want no one to know of his whereabouts? For over two years?
"Fly out here. I'll explain everything to you. The palace.. England is too dangerous for me to be spotted alive. But you need to know the truth.. to know that I'm okay Lenny, for now."
"But- but where do I bloody find you?" her hoarse voice cracks as she rises from the seat.
"Write down this latitude. I'll be waiting for you. Don't tell the pilot why you are coming here, do you understand? And you bail on any staff once you arrive. Everyone is a threat right now."
"BUT HOW AND WHERE WILL I FIND YOU?!" she shouts into the mouthpiece.
"The draft from the helicopter wings will be more than enough of a signal for me to come find you. Just trust me. I'll see you soon. I love you, sis."
"But!-" Eleanor is interrupted by the dial tone signaling that he had hung up on her. She repetitively slams the phone down onto the clutch letting out a guttural groan.
Was she really about to go on an undisclosed top secret mission to find her potentially alive older brother? Her brother that she deeply grieved over for two years? And after all of the recent events surrounding her family that had already taken such an emotional toll?
Of course she was.
Liam had gone radio silent. The only piece of information that she had been given on her twin was that he took the first flight out to the states last night, presumably to find Ophelia. She decided to keep this from him for now.
It was going to be a solo mission. She had come a long way over the past year and was confident that she could take this on her own.
Opening a large burgundy duffel bag, Eleanor frantically stuffs everything from her underwear drawer before walking into her closet. While pulling a few tank tops off their hangers, she can feel a presence slowly approach her from behind.
His presence.
"He's alive?"
Jasper brushes her hair from one shoulder onto the other one before lightly stroking the sides of her arms with his rough hands.
Eleanor pauses in her place. She doesn't even bother asking why he was eavesdropping on the conversation.. it was typical Jasper fashion to track her every move.
"I don't know," she lightly responds while turning to face him. "But I will not rest with the potential that my brother is still out there somewhere.. alive."
Jasper's light blue eyes are glossed over and his jaw is clenched tight. He reassuringly nods his head while placing his hand on her chin tilting her head back.
His eyes stare deep into her soul with the most sincere expression she has ever read.
"I'm coming with you."