Philip paced angrily beside the throne room, frowning fiercely at the floor. Since learning of Adrianna's deceit, he had hardly been home, unable to face her without losing his calm and giving away what they knew. But now a summons of some importance had come for him and now he awaited the arrival of Adrianna and her advisor for a meeting.
The click of heel sounded in the hall and Philip turned sharply, swallowing a grimace at the sight of his step-mother coming towards him.
He managed a slight bow, and something that wasn't a scowl.
"Philip, thank you for meeting, I know you've been busy," her eyes sparkled with amusement, and Philip intentionally swallowed and looked away. Word of how he had spent the Kingdoms Ball had reached Andrianna, that he had danced in a corner with a mystery girl that wore King Marcus's crest. For once Philip was grateful for gossip, his frequent visits to Marcus's castle had disguised themself.
"Still won't give me details, I see," she laughed, and all Philip could hear was the sound of the Enchantress laughing over his father's corpse. His fists clenched and he fought to control his anger. Calm, calm and they could defeat her. Anger now meant losing everything.
"Oh, alright, no need to look miffed, I won't press." She took a seat at the table in the center, her advisor beside her, grave and silent as ever. Acting rulers were required to have advisors, and Philip suspected she had chosen the older man because he hardly ever had anything to say.
"As you know," she began when Philip grudgingly sat down, "The months allotted to you are almost up. Come next week you will have to have made your decision on whether you want the throne or not." She smiled as if in compassion, and Philip looked away, the hands clasped beneath the table shaking. "I know this is hard for you, and we could never wish that these were the circumstances under which you would take the throne. Your dear father-"
Philip stood up abruptly, knocking his chair back, and Andrianna jumped a little, alarmed.
"Forgive me," Philip said, regaining control, "But you are correct, this has been a difficult time. I can give you no answer right now."
"But the ceremony-" Adrianna began. And Philip waved a hand,
"It must happen, I know. Next week a ruler must be crowned. I will give you my answer then."
He turned on a heel then, and strode purposefully to the door. He heard Andrianna speaking lowly with her advisor, no doubt wondering at his behavior. Let them think he could not handle the pressure, or that he was ill prepared to be king. Let them think whatever they wished. He would find a way to end this. He would find a way to end her hold on this land.
He called for his horse the moment he stepped out of doors and saw the stable hand already had it saddled and waiting, knowing his Prince's habits sometimes better than himself. Philip took a moment to thank the man, realizing with some chagrin that he did not know his name. He had lost touch these past months with his people, his place here, been so distracted by everything he had let things slide. His father would not have wanted that.
"Thank you...?" he let the question hang, and the man blinked a little as if in surprise,
"Williams, sir."
"Williams," Philip nodded in greeting, "Thank you, Williams, you're always well attentive at your station. You should be proud."
The man stuttered a thankyou at the compliment, and Philip nodded his goodbye, frowning. His people should not be so shocked hearing something like that from him. He rode for Marcus's at a quick trot, arriving as twilight came, and knocked loudly on the door. It opened a moment later, and Belle stood there, bouncing Snow on her hip.
"You're back!" she exclaimed, stepping aside and letting him enter, "We did not expect you again tonight."
He ducked out of his cloak and hung it by the door. Belle would have offered to take it, but her hands were obviously full. Philip looked at her, suddenly realizing something.
"It wasn't always Andrew at the door, was it?" he asked, referring to all those times he had all but barged in, caught in the heat of some anger. Her brow quirked at him, but she smiled slightly.
"Not always."
"I'm sorry I never saw you," Philip answered, she shrugged lightly as if it did not concern her, and went to lead him to Marcus's study, but he remembered the almost scorn in her eye when they had spoken at the ball, and reached out to lay a hand on her arm, stopping her.
"Truly, Belle," Snow bounced a little as Belle stopped, and reached out to him with a squawk. Philip happily took her, not minding the interruption as he smiled at the baby. Belle studied them a moment, before asking.
"If you had known I was just a servant, would you have danced with me?"
Philip's brow rose a little at the direct question, and he took a second to settle Snow against him as he thought.
"I'm beginning to realize there's no such thing as "Just a servant." I would like to say that yes, I would have, but honestly, I don't know."
He expected her to be miffed with his response, but she looked thoughtful instead.
"Marcus is in his study," Was all she said, reaching out to take Snow back, but Philip just turned and headed towards the kitchen stair.
"Is Chip in the kitchen?" he asked over his shoulder,
"Well, yes," Belle called after him, and Philip looked down at Snow, a grin on his face.
"Why don't we see what treats we can sneak before Miss Potts catches us?" The baby gurgled in response. Belle opened her mouth to reprimand him, before stopping. If Philip was willing to mind Snow for a time, there was plenty that needed to be done. She heard Philip in the kitchen, chatting to Chip as he searched for treats. He cheered when he found them, and she heard Chip giggle. Shaking her head with a begrudging smile, Belle turned and headed down to her library.
"Those were for the master!"
Marcus stepped out of his study to the sound of Betty's scolding. He crossed the hall in time to see Philip being chased from the kitchen by the irate cook. She took the baby from him before slamming the door, telling him the last thing she needed was him influencing the children.
Belle stepped out of the library across from him as Philip turned and spotted them both.
"Pastry?" he asked, holding out one, and Belle scowled at him.
"How many did you, oh never mind." she shook her head, giving up the thought. Marcus just rolled his eyes.
"I see your meeting with Andrianna is over."
Philip sobered a little at that, coming forward he followed them into the library to talk.
"The ceremony is happening next week. She will want total control of my kingdom, and once she has it, she will grow that much more powerful even without magic. I can not let her take the throne, and I think she believes I don't intend to contest her reign. It may be our best chance to stop her."
"But how?" Belle asked, "We don't have enough forces. If you take the throne, you will have command of your armies."
"But she will be appointed my advisor. She will hear of every decision, and if I refuse her for the position, she will suspect something is wrong."
"But we can't stop her yet." Marcus interrupted reasonably, taking a seat at the table, "Without my magic all we had is a small force from Eidel, and they can't march into your palace unseen."
"But you can," Philip said, "As my guests for the ceremony, we will have her in arm's reach, completely unsuspecting."
"But there's nothing to stop her from using her magic the instant we try." Belle reasoned.
"About her magic, isn't there something we could do? You were severed from your magic, Marcus, can't we do that to her?"
Marcus looked at his friend, "My connection was broken when it was forced under a dark spell. There's no way to cast such a spell on her, and even if there was, she has strengthened her bond through practicing magic, it will be that much harder to force down."
"And there's no other way to break the connection?" Philip demanded.
"Not if it's natural." at Philip's blank look, Marcus continued. "My connection to magic has been here since birth, it has been passed down through blood, tied to this land. Some magic isn't natural, it's borrowed or stolen from places of natural magic. But we have no way of knowing which magic she has or where she is getting her power from."
"The sea." They all looked up as Eric strode in the door, "She's getting it from the sea. I hope you don't mind," he flashed Marcus a grin, "I let myself in."
"How are you here?" Belle asked, coming forward, as Philip demanded.
"You're sure?"
Eric smiled at Belle, "Ariel says hello, and yes," he looked at Philip, "We are certain. I don't have a lot of time, so listen. Ariel has asked her father if his forces will join in a fight against the Enchantress. She has been draining magic from the sea, and must be stopped. He says he will use his forces to defend his home, and he will help stop her in any way he can, but he will not expose his people to the world. They guard the shoreline, and will help discreetly, but you can not count on an open force. He won't risk it." He looked at Marcus as he said it, knowing this king shared the same concern of his own kingdom, and would understand, "I'll be at the docks at sunset each night if you need me. Now I must go."
He squeezed Belle's hand, and ducked out the door as abruptly as he had come, still unable to remain from the sea for great periods at a time. Philip stood blinking after him,
"It's nice to see you too, " he muttered before turning to Marcus, "Well?"
The king frowned, "If she's using the sea, it can not be a natural bond, she must have forged a connection, likely a charmed item she wears to connect her to it, like Aurora's amulet."
"And if we find it, and destroy it?" Belle asked eagerly, cutting Philip off from saying that very thing. She ignored his annoyed look.
"Destroying it wouldn't even be necessary, or maybe even possible. Without it her connection would snap and her magic would soon fail."
"So we find it, and take it." Philip said, pacing in thought as plans formed in his mind.
"I will need my magic first, Philip," Marcus sighed, knowing his friend was itching to get this done, "We won't be able to identify the charm without it."
Philip opened his mouth, then closed it. He leaned on the table a moment. He knew how much Marcus hated having his magic torn from him, how frustrating it was that it would not return. He didn't need Philip complaining about something they couldn't change.
"We will just have to hope it's out before week's end," he said, a little too brightly, before shoving back from the table, "I'm going to go free Snow from Betty, maybe take her in to see Aurora," he called over his shoulder as he headed out of the room.
"He's a strange man..." Belle muttered, staring after him, and Marcus gave a brief chuckle
"He has his moments, I'll admit."
Belle looked back at him, and sudden image of him transforming back from a monster filling her mind and her brow rose, "You're hardly any better."
He barked out a laugh at that, before standing. "I'm going to go for a walk." He said it simply, but Belle wasn't fooled. He had taken to walking the grounds, the gardens, trying so hard to force the connection back. She had seen him, each time he came back from a failed walk, standing in Aurora's doorway, solemnly watching as she slept.
Belle wasn't sure if Philip had noticed yet, the connection Marcus had formed with his sister, but Belle had seen it coming from long off, and it broke her heart a little watching his silent torment.
He wasn't loud and expressive as Philip was, he didn't wear his thoughts for all to see, but if you looked hard enough you could find them, at the edge of his eye, the slight tenseness of his jaw. She had learned to read her master, just as Betty and Andrew had, and she wished more than anything that Aurora would awaken, as much for his sake as her own.
