Chapter 29 - The Bold and the Broken LIAM

Liam stared at the small wooden box in his hand. The police chief had handed it to him almost an hour ago, Cecilia having excused herself once Esme had given her one too many dirty looks.

The heavy wooden box had proven empty when the police had broken its delicate lock. On the top of it, a large rose was carved, taking much of the space up. He ran his hand over it, tracing the leaves until he reached the center. There, he noticed that it wiggled slightly, something the police had likely not taken into account, seeing it as a default.

Liam pushed down slightly on it partly out of curiosity and partly on instinct. He felt more than heard a small mechanism tick into place. The bottom of the box fell out, revealing a secret compartment that the police had somehow missed. In it, a note sat on heavy parchment paper, written in elegant cursive and dark black ink.

Liam,

So happy to see you all grown up! The last time I saw you, you were but a baby, fresh out of your mother's womb. I knew you would be smart enough to figure out to figure out this little box. Too bad that your dear Leiani didn't. Thank me for her costume later…

-ROSE

Liam waved a police officer over, thoroughly scolding him for not having found the hidden compartment sooner. What had the note meant? As far as Liam knew, anyone who had been in that room the night his mother had been killed was dead. And who was Rose?

Liam sighed before ordering over the nearest guard, handing the police chief the note and the box. "Make sure no packages enter the palace without being thoroughly checked." He whispered and the guard gave him a sharp nod before going back to his post. Liam got up, his thoughts scattered and went towards his room.

Women and men whirled around and around, their faces cloaked and hidden by masks. The world seemed to spin as Liam made his way towards her. The closer he got, the further away she seemed, and the more people got in his way, pushing him further back. The world tilted, spinning along with the people that danced. Laughter sounded all around him. He had to warn her! He pushed his way through the crowd. If he didn't warn her… Someone grabbed his arm, spinning him around. The girl that held his arm was faceless, yet seemed to have features from all of his selected.

"Dance with me." The girl grabbed him around the waist, pulling him into a grand sweep of the ballroom, but more importantly, away from her. He tried to pull away from the dance but found himself stuck, unable to move other than to complete the steps of the dance. Tears streamed down his face even as he wore a smile forced onto his face, stuck there by the mysterious puppeteers behind this ball.

A clock appeared on the wall in front of him, the ticking sounding from it filling the room. No one else seemed to hear it. Yet, somehow, Liam knew that if the clock struck twelve, it would be too late.

But, he was powerless as he remained stuck in the dance, his only option being to watch the clock as the minute hand slowly crept towards the twelfth tick mark, and listen as the clock chimed. He heard her scream, just as he had before.

Her name was still on his lips as he finally broke free from the dance, only to see her collapse.

Liam woke up in a cold sweat, gripping his sheets tightly. He panted a bit as he threw aside the covers, his heart aching as walked to his mirror. A bump grew on the side of his head, likely from having banged his head on the headboard. His hair was a mess and his eyes seemed dull. It had been like losing him all over again.

TAMARA

Tamara paced her room, thinking over the last few days. She clutched a pillow from her bed to her, not having bothered to change out of her nightgown and silk morning robe. Cecilia had swung by last night to tell Tamara about her date with Liam.

Tamara couldn't help but be worried. She had gone to see him, hoping to help him, but had failed. Cecilia had gone and succeeded and had now already been called by Liam for a date. Was Liam mad at her? She didn't know why, but perhaps she had said the wrong thing

She hit the hilt of her palm repeatedly on her forehead. How could she have been so foolish to think that Liam would trust her enough to let her help him when he had needed it the most. She threw herself dramatically onto her bed, half inclined to smother herself with a pillow. She groaned just as a knock sounded on her door.

Her maid that had previously been cleaning the bathroom walked over to the door, opening it slightly.

"Lady Tamara? It's the Prince." Tamara lifted her head up from her pillow to see him standing in the doorway, looking extremely disheveled. His eyes had the same haunted gleam they had had right after he found out about Leiani's death.

"Thank you, Julie. I'll call you if I need you." The maid luckily understood Tamara's dismissal and quickly excused herself.

Liam gave her a nod as she stepped beside him. Tamara watched as he slowly entered the room and closed the door quietly behind him.

"Hey, Tamara. Can we talk?" Tamara suddenly became too shy to talk and settled for just nodding, patting the bed next to her, indicating that he should sit down next to her.

They had somehow made their way to the garden and were now holding hands as they walked.

"I don't know what the dream meant. Could it be that I'm broken." Tamara paused, reaching across to grab his other hand, pulling them towards her.

"As someone who knows what it's like to be broken, trust me. You are far from broken. You're healing."

"You've been broken." He ran his thumbs over the back of her hand. The way he said it… not a question. More like an invitation to speak.

She nodded. "My parents. They weren't kind people. They would blame me and my brother for everything. We were too young to understand that that wasn't normal, that other kids didn't have to feel that way when talking to their parents. Some nights, it wasn't that bad. Just some shouting and yelling. Nothing we couldn't hide in our rooms from.

"Other nights, it would be worse. They would hit us. Saying that if we hadn't misbehaved, then we wouldn't be punished. Somehow, it was always our fault. When we were old enough, we figured out that it wasn't normal. But, they were our parents.

"So, we tried our best to cover up the bruises and pretend that everything was normal. When my brother was finally old enough, he moved out, got as far away from them as possible. I was seventeen before he came back to get me." She now spoke between sobs, not having realized when Liam had pulled her against him, gently cradling her head in his hands. Tamara lifted her head from his shoulder, wiping her tears away with her palm.

"I'm so sorry. We came here to talk about you. Not my broken family life." When she finished speaking, she barked out a laugh, staring at the ground. Liam pulled her chin up, tugging her face along with it.

"Hey! Listen. If I'm not broken, neither are you." In the heat of the moment, she brought her face to his.

His hands dropped to wrap around her waist as she threaded her hands through his hair, both of them kissing one another through their tears. Ironically enough, the rain clouds that had been threatened all day let loose and poured its contents down upon them, thoroughly showering them. They laughed as they continued.

"Never again." Without asking, she knew what he meant.

They walked back in, dragging water along with them until they bumped into Esme.

"Liam! Why is it that all your dates end up with me storming throughout the palace to find you?" She tossed him some heavy papers, with photos printed out on them.

Liam sighed and brought his hand up to his head, massaging his temples as he handed the prints to Tamara.

She almost gasped as she caught a glimpse of her and Liam, kissing in the rain. She filed through them. A picture of them hugging, of them, laughing, of her crying. Taken out of order, these told a different story. One that suggested her and Liam breaking up.

"You're also lucky I got this." Esme held up a small tin box that looked completely harmless. However, when Esme pressed the side of it, Tamara heard her and Liam talking, as well as her entire confession.

"Esme. What do you want?" Liam said through gritted teeth, pushing out the words.

"Nothing. Just warning you to be more careful." She dropped the tin box, along with an SD card. "Those prints are the only copies. Do with them what you want. Frame them for all I care." With that, she used the heel of her shoe to crush them.

Esmeralda turned and left, her gown trailing behind her dramatically.

A/N: Hey, guys! I hope you enjoy this update... I know that fry was really waiting for it ;) . Can't wait to read your reviews. I think I've narrowed down who I want in the Elite and am super excited to get into them, but I still have a bunch of chapters before.