The clicking of heels on stone told Delancey of someone's approach long before she could see anyone coming around the curved corridor. She straightened up and let her hand settle on the blade strapped to her hip.
"Eyes up, at attention." She barked quietly. Across the set of double doors, a corporal clad in full armor snapped to attention, his lance held at the regulation twenty degree angle in his left hand, the tip pointing away from the door. Delancey didn't know his name, and right now she didn't care.
The echo finally starting to die down as it dissolved into two pairs of heels, the tall and elegant frame of Catherine Lightshield turning the corner as she stepped into view, moving along the corridor. Behind her, the black and white uniform of a maid followed in her wake, the glasses and blue eyes of Noel coming into view from behind her as she slowed to a stop in front of the doors. Lady Catherine reached towards the handle of the door, but the corporal slid the lance across his body and held it in front of the door.
"Apologies, ma'am!" He barked. "The prince has been allowed no visitation rights while under house arrest. I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
"But I simply want to visit my son." Lady Catherine said, a frown marring her face. Delancey frowned as little wrinkles formed on Lady Catherine's face, but she sighed softly and nodded. "I understand your orders, young man, but can you not allow a mother to visit her only child after over two years of his absence?"
The corporal hesitated for a few moments but he shook his armored helm in the end. "Ma'am, I'm sorry but-..."
"You will have you remain under armed guard." Delancey said, opening the door. "I hope you do not mind, but we must maintain a solid security screen at all times."
"I understand..." Catherine said softly, nodding. "Thank you." Delancey nodded curtly and pushed the door open, allowing Lady Catherine and Noel to enter the outermost room of Jarvan's suite. Inside, another guard was posted at the closed doors to the study, and Lee sat on the edge of the table, his arms crossed over his chest and a thoughtful frown on his face. He looked up and stood as Lady Catherine approached.
He raised a hand to keep her from coming any closer. "Sorry, ma'am you can't-..."
"Drop it, Lee." Delancey growled. Lee shot her a questioning glance but Delancey shook her head and Lee snapped his mouth shut. "Private, take the post outside the doors and await further orders."
"But sergeant..." The solider began to protest but Delancey's glare silenced his qualms. He snapped off a brisk salute and then stepped around Delancey and the queen, heading out the door. As soon as they closed behind him, Delancey's shoulders sunk and she shook her head.
"How's he doing, Lee?" She asked, gesturing to the door.
"Well the banging and crashing stopped about half an hour ago." The sergeant said with a dark frown. "But I'm honestly afraid about what happened in there. The silence is more ominous than the sounds of destruction."
"Destruction?" Lady Catherine repeated, worry showing in the lines on her face. "What happened?"
"Well..." Lee said hesitantly. He traded a glance with Delancey and set his jaw.
"I don't think I've ever heard the prince this angry, ma'am." Delancey said cautiously. "He was in a fit about the encounter with the king this morning and he hasn't gotten over himself quite yet. He... uh, well, he swung at the king when he was … ah, provoked by the king. While I don't think he will face the normal punishment, it is still a very serious crime he has committed."
"He swung at Trey?" Catherine said, covering her mouth with a hand, trying to hide the shock she felt. "He's not to be executed, is he?" She said hurriedly.
"No, no, of course not." Delancey said, trying to calm the woman down. "We have yet to hear of any punishment being levied yet, but we were ordered to keep him here, no visitors, no contact, no food, nothing."
"That's barbaric." Catherine said, aghast.
"Orders, ma'am." Lee said, tightly.
"I would like to see my son, now." Catherine said, taking a deep breath as she pulled her cloak tighter around her. The chill of the room was noticeable, and the fireplace lay empty and dormant.
"Ma'am, I can't allow that." Lee said, frowning, moving to stop her as she approached the door to Jarvan's study.
"I'll see to it you're thrown in the dungeons, sergeant." Catherine said softly. Though there was no anger or threat in her voice, the underlying menace was more than enough to send ice coursing up Delancey's spine. She shivered as the queen stood up and glared at Lee.
"And the king would see my head removed from my shoulders otherwise, milady." Lee said, trying to keep his composure under her withering glare.
"I shall deal with the consequences later, now open this damnable door!" The queen snapped. Lee's mouth feel open and it took him several seconds to close it and wipe the stupid look off his face. He frowned and raised his arms before him apologetically.
"Ma'am..." Lee tried to protest again.
"Just open the door, Lee." Delancey said, shaking her head. "She's not going to listen to two lowly sergeants. Anger crossed Lee's face but he groaned and waved the other sergeant off.
"Fine, but this is on your head, Del." Lee bit back. Delancey only rolled her eyes and then unlocked the door using a key on her belt. She pulled the door open and allowed the queen to enter. Delancey waited for Noel to enter as well, but the maid didn't not move, merely clasping her hands in front of her, content to wait in the outer room. Delancey shrugged. She followed the queen into the room and locked the door behind her, but when she turned around, she was not ready for what she saw, her mouth hanging ajar.
Books and tomes were strewn everywhere, pages and papers laying crumpled and ripped across the room. Sheets of parchment were tossed everywhere like a thick blanket of snow, and ink stained more than a few of the pages, a splatter pattern leading up the wall to the ceiling. An entire book case had been ripped from the wall, and a neat, fist shaped hole marked the wall. The stone behind the drywall was bloody, and splatters of blood marked several other indentations in the wall. Shattered glass and a number of broken pieces from picture frames stuck from the walls at odd angles. Only the subtle flicker of light from a wall lamp that had been spared the destruction lit the room. Silhouetted by the darkness of the room and the light that shown through the windows, Jarvan was shrouded in darkness. His hair was unkempt and he shifted slightly, the upturned desk creaking as he lowered an armored boot to the ground from atop one leg.
"Oh my god..." Delancey said softly, looking around the room. Only hours before she had woken up in a chair that now sat shattered and broken in front of the fireplace. The heavy wooden table was broken clean in half, and the books around the room formed an impenetrable ocean of clutter that covered the floor.
"Who goes there?" The prince croaked, his voice broken.
"Jarvan, I..." Catherine begin to say but the prince pulled himself to his feet and turned, moving slowly through the sea of destruction to the window, letting his back face the room.
"What can I help you with, Lady Catherine?" Jarvan said, his voice was dull and flat, void of life or emotion. There was no anger or sadness. Simply nothing.
"I came to check on you..." She said softly, her eyes wide as she surveyed the destruction. Her voice was quiet and reverent, the awe evident in her voice. "I wanted to see how my son was doing after this morning."
"I am well." Jarvan said, his voice still void of emotion.
"This is hardly well, my son..." Catherine said, looking over the destruction. "If you would like to talk about it, I could listen and help?"
"What is there to listen and help with?" Jarvan said quietly. "I've calmed myself after my shameful outbursts this morning. I realized the error of my ways."
"Jarvan..." Catherine said softly, tears beginning to well in her eyes. She wiped them away with the sleeve of her dress before they could roll free, trying to put on a brave face. "I suppose this mess needs to be cleaned up, does it not?" Catherine said aloud, trying to hide the pain she felt with a smile.
"Ma'am, I can't let you stay but so long..." Delancey said gently.
"It won't take me but a few moments." Catherine said, nodding, turning away from her son. Delancey could see her hands shaking with grief though. She was obviously rattled much more than she wanted to let on. "It's been a while but I believe I remember the charm." She raised her hands in front of her and closed her eyes, the quaking becoming more controlled. Her lips moved as if she were chanting an incantation. She began to glow with golden light and wind began to whip around her, gusting paper into the air as if it caught in a tornado. Catherine's long brown hair flared in the air above her, battered and whipped about by the wind as tomes and paper began to dance through the air.
"Ma'am..." Delancey began to say, taking a half step backwards, but she nearly slipped and fell as a tome she had stepped on was tugged from beneath her feet. She yelped and jumped as tomes and papers whizzed past her head. The table began to violently shake and then pulled itself together, the sound of ripping wood filling the air, creaking and cracking echoing about as it mended itself. The chair shook for a few seconds and then bounced onto it's feet, meeting the snapped legs in the air and then settling on the ground with a clatter. Picture frames mended and glass seemed to coalesce into solid sheets, flying through the air to where they had originally hung on the walls. The holes in the wall seemed to simply puff out to form a solid surface and the blood disappeared. The shelf settled back into its place against the wall and books started crashing onto the shelves one by one, in rapid succession. Tomes began to neatly pile up and ripped pages slipped back into place, the seams reaching out and knitting together where they had been ripped. They formed neat stacks as spilled ink drained from the pages and then flowed back into its bottle like a glossy ribbon. The desk tipped up onto its feet and crashed down with a muted thud. The contents of the top of the desk slid down like birds landing on the beach as the wind finally began to die.
Silence filled the room.
"That's much better." Catherine said as she moved towards the wall and turned on another hextech lantern, letting the soft orange light flicker about the room, mixing with the dim light of the overcast sky. She paused next to a picture frame and adjusted it slightly so it was level again. "Now, dear, won't you please come over here and let me take a look at your hand?"
"Why?" Jarvan said softly.
"It's bleeding still." Catherine said as gently as possible. "I would just like to take a look at it." She moved to a corner of the table and picked up some papers and set them aside, clearing a bit of space.
"I'll fetch some medical equipment, milady." Delancey said, but the queen waved her aside.
"That won't be necessary, but thank you." The queen said, giving Delancey a warm smile. "Please Jarvan, if nothing else, just let me take a look at your hand." He remained despondent for a few moments before he turned and sat down at the table, laying his hand out for Catherine to see. She sucked in a breath and held it, blackened blood struggling to scab across his smashed knuckles. The wounds were red and bloody, and it looked as if several knuckles had been completely broken. "How are you feeling, Jarvan?" Catherine said as she carefully examined the wounded hand. He flinched when she tried to gingerly bend one of his fingers.
"Numb." Jarvan said quietly, not going any further into his state of being at the moment. Catherine could see that inside, Jarvan was torn up about something, and she suspected that it was the fact the king was forcing him to choose between his love and the woman he held dear and his family obligations and country. She sighed as she gently laid her son's hand upon the table. She held her hands above his and closed her eyes, her lips moving again in a silent incantation.
"You know that your father and I love you very much, correct?" Catherine said as a soft green glow began to emanate from her hands, falling upon Jarvan's hand like a blanket of green mist. The bloodied hand began to bubble and foam and pain played across Jarvan face. "I'm sorry, I haven't used healing magic in many years... I may be a bit rusty."
Jarvan said nothing, a thousand yard stare shooting straight over her head.
Catherine felt a pang on grief in her heart, but she push on. "Your father only wants what is best for you. He cares deeply about you... he wants you to be happy."
"He cares about his legacy and his nation." Jarvan said dully, closing his eyes and exhaling sharply as the wound on the first knuckle closed, and the bone shifted back into place. "He has no place in his life, heart, or nation for a son who doesn't follow orders or fit his plans. He doesn't know the meaning of happiness."
"That's not true." Catherine said, still having to concentrate on her healing. She could feel tears welling in her eyes but she did her best to blink them away. "He cares about you more than you know."
"He has a wonderful way of showing it, then." Jarvan said, a bit of venom sliding into his voice. Catherine's fingers twitched as the comment cut deep in her heart. Her hands began to shake.
"He doesn't know how to show it..." Catherine said softly, her voice beginning to waver. "But he cares about you more than anyone else in the world, Jarvan. He loves you with all of his heart and he wants to help you. He wants to prepare you for what is to come, so you can be happy in life."
"He seems content making sure I'm as miserable as possible." Jarvan said, the venom gone again, his voice despondent and hollow.
"What makes you happy then?" Catherine said softly, exhaling heavily, her breathing a bit strained as she lowered her hand to sit on Jarvan's healed hand. "What is it you want?"
"I want Shyvana." Jarvan said, slipping his hand out of her grasp and standing up. "He refuses her because of what she was, not of who she is. He is content to separate us and torment me, to try and use her to bend me to his will. He wants me to be the perfect little prince. Loyal, smart, and obedient." Jarvan clenched his fists. "That part of me died when I led one hundred and thirty-nine men and women to their deaths. Blind ambition and stupidity cost me the innocence of my humanity, and I refuse to view soldiers as pawns like the king does."
"Jarvan..." She said softly.
"If he wanted another animal, a meat grinder to simply chew up Noxians and Demacians and spit out propaganda, he should have looked somewhere else." Jarvan said angrily. "I want to do good by at least one person in my life. I can't deal with the thought of throwing more lives away into that meat grinder. I refuse to turn the crank that chews them up... I'd rather die then submit Shyvana to a fate like that."
Catherine worked her jaw for a moment, searching for something to say. "Jarvan, I-..."
"If you wouldn't mind, mother, I'd like some time alone please." Jarvan said, stepping up to the window.
"Very well." Catherine said, nodding, her hands still quaking. She stood up and moved to the door, hesitating. "I love you, Jarvan."
He stood looking out the window, his hands clasped behind his back, and remained silent.
"This way, ma'am." Delancey said softly, opening the door for her.
"Thank you, sergeant." Lady Catherine said heavily. She paused in the outer room, but didn't stay long.
"Ready, milady?" Noel said with a soft voice, her tone neutral.
"Yes, Noel." Lady Catherine nodded, letting the maid lead her to the door. Delancey escorted them out. When the sergeant returned to the room, she sighed heavily and shook her head.
"How'd things go in there?" Lee asked glancing over his shoulder towards the door.
"Well I don't think things got any worse, but I don't think they really improved either." Delancey shrugged. "I get the sinking feeling that the royal family is a bit more dysfunctional that appearances would have us believe. And Jarvan seems to have all but shut down emotionally."
"I don't think any royal family was ever really forthcoming about their issues." Lee said shrugging. "My parents didn't exactly approve of many of my life choices, I can bet on how hard the prince must have it with his father running an entire country."
Delancey snorted. "You feel sorry for him? That's a first."
"I mean..." Lee's voice trailed off and he sighed. "Yeah, I can understand what he's going through to an extent. My parents didn't approve of me bringing guys home. They wanted me to get an education that they scraped together enough just to get me through, and in return they wanted me to take care of them and give them grandchildren. Well, choosing to be a career soldier doesn't pay much and being gay doesn't exactly prove indicative of children. Jarvan's looking at something similar, but he's under the microscope of the entire world because he's a crown prince."
"And here I though my rebellious phase was bad." Delancey said, shaking her head. "Brought home a few delinquent boyfriends, died my hair odd colors, joined the army, but in retrospect I was a good kid." She said laughing. "Not something I ever expected to say."
"Don't kid yourself, Del." Lee said with a thin grin. "You're a fucking angel."
She shrugged and sighed. "I think Jarvan is having a bad time though. He really seems shaken up by what happened this morning." She clenched her fists. "I can't blame him though, to think his own father would says something like that..."
"He's a prince, Del." Lee said, shaking his head. "He's not like us. He's got so much more he has to worry about, and if he's too obsessed with his dragoness companion, well, what does that say about what'll happen when he comes to power?"
"I guess..." Delancey said, shaking her head, blue forelocks bouncing around. "I would socked that old bastard in the jaw something fierce if I'd been able to, though."
"If you do, just let me know so I know to send some flowers to your funeral." Lee said shaking his head. "Jarvan's getting off easy though. Xin Zhao stopped him before he managed to get to the king If he'd actually made contact, he'd probably be facing a tribunal right about now, and who knows what would have happened after that."
"Yeah, I guess." Delancey said, shaking her head. "I just don't get it though. Why is this such a big deal, this business with the dragon girl?"
"There are so many different things, not least of which could be any number of security issues." Lee said shaking his head and leaning heavily on the corner of the desk. "There are only two people alive right now that know who she is, and that's the prince, who seems madly in love with her, and the corporal who is now the only remnant of the princes old company. While I feel sympathy for the prince, I can't fault the king for being suspicious about it." He pushed himself up and moved to where a massive portrait of Jarvan and his mother and father hung on the wall. The prince was probably only ten or eleven in the picture. "He was gone for so long after a number of traumatic experiences. I wouldn't be surprised if the prince is suffering from depression, PTSD, shellshock..." Lee's voice tapered off.
"So what do we do, then?" Delancey asked, frowning.
"Nothing at the moment." Lee said, holding up a hand to forestall any comments. "We give them time to work their issues out. Jarvan isn't down and out yet, but I think he's starting to realize he can't fight some things head on. The queen showing up here tells me that she sees it too, and while I don't know what was said in the room, I think the course of action to fixing this situation has already begun to play itself out." He shrugged.
"I hope things work themselves out." Delancey said, shaking her head. "I don't like being stuck in this position."
"Me either." Lee said nodding. He frowned as he glanced towards the door. "Unfortunately, only time will tell."
"Noel, do you think me a bad parent?" Catherine paused at the top of the stairs, the maid stopping just behind her.
"Ma'am?" Noel said tepidly. The queen turned to face her, a frown marring her face, the pain she wore exaggerating her age.
"I don't know what to do right now." Catherine said softly. "When we had Jarvan, I was so much busier with the council politics, with helping Trey run the country and trying to control relations within the Institute of War. I let—no, I asked you to help me raise Jarvan, but in the end I barely had anything to do with his upbringing." She paused and shook her head. "I feed so useless even now, I don't know how to help my own son."
"Ma'am, it might not be about helping him directly." Noel said softly. "But being there for Jarvan if he needs you, showing support of his feelings and trusting in him. That can show that you care about him as much as any parent would care about her children."
"I guess." Catherine said hesitantly, looking to the ground. Her eyes sought the ground as if it had answers, but she took a deep breath and sighed. "I'd like for you to set up a meeting with Shyvana, please Noel."
"Ma'am?" The maid raised an eyebrow, her glasses shimmering.
"I'd like the chance to meet the woman my son is so enamored with." Catherine said, pausing momentarily. "Something casual, and soon if possible."
"I'll get right on it, ma'am." Noel said bowing. "If you'll excuse me?"
"Of course, Noel." Lady Catherine said, nodding. "Thank you." The maid disappeared down the steps, her heals clicking behind her as she made her off to carry out the queen's request. Lady Catherine started to take a step down, but paused, looking over her shoulder, down the corridor towards her son's quarters. She leaned heavily against the wall, and felt a heavy weight upon her shoulders. She tried to keep her footing but she slowly sunk towards the ground, tears clouding her eyes.
"I am sorry, Jarvan." Catherine said quietly as sobs began to shake her shoulder. "I am so sorry... I hope you can forgive your father and I for what we have done..."