"People of Westminster!" Prince Charles stood on the main balcony, projecting his voice to the crowds down below, "King Kurt has gracefully stood down from his position to look after my mother the Queen, and it is with both a heavy heart and gratefulness to my step-father, that I assume the role of ruler."

The crowds all whooped and cheered, none of them caring about why King Kurt had stood down, only that he had.

From behind the curtains that led onto the balcony, Erik peered through the gap, his stomach twisting inside him as he listened to Charles make his speech.

He didn't think he could ever do something like this.

He didn't know if he could ever lead the royal life.

….

"Look at them…" Kurt sneered, "… cheering for him like that!"

He never felt the killing shot to the back of his head.

…..

The shot echoed throughout the palace and the courtyard, with the majority of the crowd falling silent, all eyes turning to the tower.

Charles felt his heart seize in his heart when he realised that he could no longer sense his stepfather's presence. He'd been ignoring the sheer wave of hate and anger directed at him for his entire speech but now it was just… gone.

Oh god… he hadn't done something drastic, had he?

He then froze as guards poured into the courtyard, guns out and aimed at the crowd to keep them under control.

"What the- "

His arms were grabbed and pulled behind him, as Shaw stepped out from the shadows, an odd helmet on his head.

"The king is dead." He chuckled, "Long live, the new king." He held his arms out wide, smirking when Charles narrowed his eyes at him, clearly trying to get into his mind, but finding that he was unable to.

Silently, he tapped on the helmet, as Charles's eyes widened in realisation.

"Now, now little Prince." Shaw muttered, "What would these nice people say if they knew that their beloved prince was a mutant?"

"If it means that I'll stop you- "

"- Enough." Shaw straightened up, "Bow to me young Prince."

"Never!" Charles yelped when he felt the guards kick at the back of his knees, "What are you doing?!" he pleaded with them, as Shaw chuckled.

"Sorry... somebody else is at home right now."

It was then that Charles saw Emma standing there, a look on concentration on her face.

Fine.

If she wanted a battle of the minds, he would give it to her.

Hearing Erik and the others fighting behind the curtains, (which was probably why Emma was struggling to keep everyone under control), Charles focused on them, hoping that it would give them the chance to make a run for it.

He would survive this.

Shaw would kill them though.

He felt Erik's confusion when the guards dropped to the ground before he had the sudden thought of 'CHARLES!'

'Run.' He calmly projected, 'Get away from here as quickly as you can.'

'Charles, NO! You- '

That was the last thing Charles heard, before there was a BAMF-ing noise, followed by a blow to the back of his head, that made everything go dark.

…..

They landed in a heap on the ground, Azazel losing consciousness quickly, despite them only being on the outskirts of the city itself.

Teleporting himself and four other people drained him in a way that couldn't be explained.

"Scheisse…" Erik growled, slamming his hands under his armpits, "…Scheisse, scheisse, scheisse!"

"Agreed." Logan grumbled, "What the fuck just happened."

"The King's advisor took over the kingdom, by killing the king, brainwashing the guards and kidnapping Prince Charles." Jean-Luc answered, getting to his feet and cracking out his back as best he could, "And stole one of our guard helmets by the look of it."

"… Charles said he couldn't sense me when I was wearing it."

Jean-Luc glanced over at Erik, a frown on his face, "Then the Prince is in grave danger." He looked over at Azazel, who was still unconscious on the ground, "Is he going to be okay."

"He needs rest… and we need to come up a good plan."

…..

"Ah!"

Charles winced as his sister collapsed onto the ground, hands clutching at her head, her shape flickering from blue to every shape she'd ever taken on since childhood.

"AH!"

If he weren't restrained by these shackles, and didn't have this metal ring around his head, that acted like a make-shift crown, he would have leapt to her defence.

He would have ruined Emma's mind to the point where she wouldn't ever dream about doing this again.

"Stop it!" He pleaded, "Leave her alone!"

Shaw glanced over at his assistant, who rolled her eyes, Raven collapsing to the ground as the mental assault finally came to an end. He then gestured for Charles to pick up a piece of fruit from the bowl, grabbing the chains and pulled the young prince forwards.

"It pains me to see you reduced to this Charles…" Shaw mused, scanning the Prince from head to toe as he took a bite of the fruit.

Charles tensed, resisting the urge to shield himself from view. He was unused to showing so much skin, the only piece of clothing that he had on, being some short shorts that didn't leave much to the imagination.

"… Someone as stunning as you should really be on the arm of the most powerful man in the world." He tapped at the metal ring around Charles's head, "Maybe, we should get a proper crown for you."

"I would rather die." Charles snapped, grabbing the wine from the side table quickly and throwing it into Shaw's eyes. The helmet blocked most of it, but not all as Shaw yelped in pain.

The victory was short-lived as Shaw lunged forwards, causing him to fall backwards with Shaw preparing for a back-hand.

"You little- "Shaw stopped, a sly smirk flashing across his face, "… No. Emma, I have another task for you. I want you to make Prince Charles fall desperately in love with me."