Jasper stands in the royal garden surrounded by roses and vibrant green shrubbery. It's rather chilly outside and he regretted not grabbing a sweatshirt before leaving the bedroom. The garden was a place he frequented when he truly needed to clear his mind and get away from the mess that is the Henstridge family. It was really the only spot in the whole god damn place that was completely and utterly quiet.
"Mr. Frost."
Well, that lasted a mere two seconds.
He lethargically moves his head to the side knowing who he would be faced with. Realistically he'd rather be standing next to the devil himself than the King in this very moment. But then again, was there much of a difference between the two?
"Robert."
Jasper turns his neck so his vision is set straight ahead as it was previously. He can see out of his peripheral that Robert is gazing in the same direction appropriately decked out in a full suit and tie.
There's an unusual long pause of silence between the two. Jasper knew his time was limited in avoiding the tyrant, it was bound to happen at any moment. But now? Right after he had been essentially gutted by Eleanor with her hurtful words?
"I've noticed your absence, along with my little sister," Robert says coolly arching his head toward him. "Did you two kiddos take a nice trip to Disneyland?"
"You have no idea buddy," he replies shaking his head. The smirk on his face seems to amuse the King.
"Actually I do."
Jasper nonchalantly looks at him. Robert leans toward him with his signature snarky expression. "I'm the King of England. I know everything, Mr. Frost."
This makes his heart rate rise a bit. Surely he was referring to the royal wedding and the disastrous failed coup. But the fact that Jasper wasn't sitting in prison on death row for treason at this very moment showed Robert's cards. He wasn't going to let him get away that easy, prison would be too simple. Predictably he would take his time by slowly torturing him under his own roof to his own liking.
Prison in the moment sounded better.
"Mr. Hill really is on his last legs here. Old man has a lot of fight in him to blatantly lie to the King. Especially on the whereabouts of his little sister."
The way Robert repetitively spoke of himself in the third person makes him want to gag.
"This doesn't concern James. If you're bored and feel the need to punish somebody, I'm right here," Jasper shoots back turning his body fully toward him. The way that his personal security regularly stood up to Robert only seemed to fuel the fire. It pleased him.
Jasper was in no mood to play this verbal game of tug-o-war with the King so he gets straight to the point.
"Look, you can throw me in jail, have me exiled, but you will never get between me and Eleanor. You may be King, but you still breathe the same air that I do. You're still human. So, man to man, let me tell you something." He nears a few steps toward the royal who stood at around the same height as himself. The King raises his brow and smirks in amusement. It was almost as if he got off on this shit. This taunting only makes Jasper angrier. "You don't scare me, you never have, so you better stay the fuck out of our relationship or I'll take you out if I have to myself."
"Is that a threat Mr. Frost?"
"It's a promise."
Robert has a light chuckle to himself folding his arms taking a glance at his watch. "I'll see you in an hour, I believe that's when your shift begins if my memory serves correct?"
The guy was a maniac. Jasper is blown away by his unpredictable, provoking, insane tactics. It makes his blood boil. He watches him casually stride toward the castle unphased.
"And Robert," he calls after him. The monarch turns on his heels with his hands in pockets and a curious expression. "I married Eleanor on Tuesday. It feels great to officially be apart of the family, brother."
Of all times for him to not be answering his phone Liam had gone completely MIA. Eleanor sighs throwing her phone to the side. Maybe he was upset with her for up and leaving pretty much immediately after their brother's wedding. She hadn't really put much thought into that..
Jasper enters their bedroom causing her to instantly sit up in bed. She watches him walk into the bathroom without a word.
"So are you not talking to me now?" she challenges him.
"Your brother's a dick."
The unexpected off topic comment throws her off. The shower starts and the sound of the sliding glass door indicates him entering. She trails behind.
"You spoke with Liam?" she asks while undressing herself. "He won't answer me."
"What?" Jasper snaps turning to look at her, his hair lathered shampoo. "No, Robert. Why the fuck would I be talking about Liam?"
"I don't bloody know.. why would you be talking about Robert?!" Eleanor aggressively slides the door to the spacious shower before turning on the other shower head.
"Maybe because the manipulative fuck couldn't wait a mere two minutes since our return to get under my skin."
The attitudinal exchange between the two causes immense tension. Eleanor furrows her eyebrows as the water spills over her head, her vision readily set on her naked husband. Jasper doesn't realize that she's watching him closely. She folds her arms purposefully waiting for him to turn around once he was curious as to why she hadn't given a retaliating response.
This takes a matter of seconds.
"What?" he asks rinsing the remaining soap from his body, careful to avoid the gun wound.
"This isn't about Robert, is it?" she states with a passive expression. "No, no, no. It's about you and I not being able to communicate once again."
"You know what Eleanor?" he irritably turns off his side of the shower. "Maybe you should learn how to communicate with yourself first. After that, give me a call." He wraps a towel around his lower half before smoothly exiting the bathroom.
Her jaw literally drops at her defiant husband. She wants to say something. She wants to lash back so badly. But unfortunately he was right. And she was mature enough to accept that for the moment.
"Where are you running off to now?" she hollers after him.
"Duty calls," he mumbles throwing on a dress shirt.
After getting fully dressed in his suit and tie he silently walks back in to the bathroom to Eleanor. She's wrapped in a towel with soaking wet hair stuck to her face and running mascara. She is visibly not pleased but unfortunately for her, Jasper was in no mood to entertain this negative energy any further. He silently places a peck on her cheek before readjusting his jacket and exiting their room.
Eleanor walks into Helena's room. Without Liam being around and Jasper moodier than ever, it resorted the Princess to find comfort in her royal mother.
It is 11 AM and Helena is wearing a bath robe, barely any makeup, and fuzzy slippers. It made Eleanor slightly uncomfortable seeing her normally fashionably clad mother so 'scrubbed down'. She clears her throat catching her mom's attention.
"Oh, I didn't hear you come in darling," she says closing a book in her hands. Her nose sounds stuffy as though she had been crying.
"What're you looking at?" Eleanor takes a seat on the floor next to her. She delicately hands the photo book over. It doesn't take long for her to notice that her mother just happened to be looking at baby pictures of she and her brothers. Eleanor instinctively places a hand over her stomach before accepting the booklet. It immediately sends a sickening chill throughout her body.
The page that was last opened was a photograph of an infant Eleanor and Liam, approximately a few days out of the hospital. She has a harsh swallow trying to fight back any nerves.
"Why- why are you looking at these?" she asks trying to hide the level of paranoia in her voice.
"I- I was just reminiscing, that's all," Helena replies sounding equally on edge. Her eyes are puffy and her breath reeks of bourbon.
Shit. Was it actually possible that her mum knew of her pregnancy? There was no way that Jasper would be thick enough to tell anyone the news. Especially with the pending unsteady predicament between the two.. They themselves barely had the chance to discuss the situation. It would be stupid to think that Jasper would ever-
"I always did want grand children, you know," Helena interrupts her thoughts.
Oh, that son of a bitch.
"But uh, mum- maybe it's just too soon for grand children," Eleanor quickly replies unable to mask her nerves at this rate. It's hard to decipher whether she was more distressed over the fact that Jasper would go behind her back and speak to her mother about frankly her business.. or the fact that Helena was acting so indirect with this critical information. That simply wasn't her style.
Eleanor balances herself on her knees bringing her mom in for a hug. Her arms are lightly shaking. "I'm so sorry mum. I wish I could give you a grand child, but I'm simply not ready-"
"What did you say?" Helena backs away shooting an unexpected look of confusion, her eyes studying her daughter's face.
Her heart flutters as her mother looks back at her like a deer stuck in headlights. It doesn't take long to realize that Helena certainly was not referring to Eleanor..
"Oh, nothing," she is swift to reply viciously shaking her head. "I was just speaking hypothetically."
Later That Day
'Killing your unborn niece or nephew- just when I thought you couldn't become any more reprehensible', Simon states taking a seat next to Robert.
Robert pensively stares straight ahead making it a point to not look his father in the eye.
"I had to protect my brother from procreating with that common whore," he calmly replies slowly rotating his pinky ring with the other hand. His eyes are drawn to the fireplace across from them. The dimly lit room projects the reddish tone from the flame.
Simon makes his way toward a window he used to frequent whilst in deep thought.
"Plus, I did not drive Kathryn off that road," Robert reassures himself out loud. His father lingers beside him gazing out the window with both hands clasped behind him.
'Just as Ted Pryce dug the knife 3 inches deep beneath my chest bone.. and not you, is that correct my son?'
Robert has a light chuckle trying to keep the nervous tension at bay. Deep down he begged that the ghost of his father would spare him with another one of his lectures. But on the contrary Simon would reappear at the most inconvenient of times.. the scariest of times.
The times when Robert Henstridge doubted himself most.
"I will NOT speak with you any further!" he suddenly booms. "Get out of my head!"
Jasper turns the corner entering Robert's study room. He hears the King talking to someone and hadn't noticed his presence. He stops in place backing up a few feet in an attempt to remain unseen for the moment.
'And what of your baby brother?' Simon asks with a sympathetic light smile while placing his hand on Robert's shoulder. His friendly blue eyes taunt his eldest son. They remind him of Liam as most traits of their father's did.
"I already told you. I am protecting him, father."
'You are doing quite the opposite. You've left him with nothing, my son.'
"Nothing?!" Jasper hears Robert boastfully question the inanimate objects surrounding them. "At least he has a god damn roof over his head and isn't currently on death row for treason. I wouldn't consider that nothing. He owes his life to me for that."
Jasper's voice hitches in his throat. Perhaps Robert was referring to himself whilst on the phone with someone. He decides to make a bold move entering the room in plain sight. To his surprise, Robert is staring directly next to him on the sofa as if he was speaking with someone invisible.
Another few moments of silence pass causing Jasper to rolls his eyes. It was only a matter of time until Robert completely lost his mind and exhibited signs of schizophrenia. The maniac could only hold his composed facade for so long.
"Have you heard of Liam?" Robert calmly asks without looking to Jasper.
"No.. I've kind of been busy if you know what I mean," he sends a light jab. This causes the monarch's eyes to match with his, fully ablaze.
He stands to his feet aggressively knocking shoulders with Jasper as he storms out of the study room.
"Whoa there cowboy," Jasper hollers after him throwing his hands in the air. The lack of response causes another dramatic eye roll before partaking in his usual game of hide and go seek with the King.
Liam enters Cyrus' estranged bedroom. He makes a quick bolt toward the bathroom. Opening up the medicine cabinet he empties its contents entirely into the sink. His hands shake as he hastily rummages through each pillow bottle.
Each label on the medication was a word he had never heard of, or even realized was in the English language, but he took a shot in the dark gripping on to a random few. He slams the cabinet shut being faced with his reflection in the mirror. His eyes are blood shot, a light mist of sweat spread across his face. Puffy grey bags had formed underneath each eye ball. The uncontrollable shaking of his whole body is visible as he stares back at himself.
Liam hated the person he saw before him. He was unrecognizable. He was weak, he was exhausted, he was defeated. Without a second thought he throws a firm first at the mirror shattering it to pieces. His knuckles begin ferociously bleeding but in the moment he didn't feel a thing.
He makes his way back in to Cyrus' common room. Pills scatter across the coffee table as he carelessly disposes its contents before forming them in neat lines. Next he pours himself a hefty glass of bourbon. Taking a seat across from the burning fire place, the flames captivate his attention bringing him in to deep thought.
Liam mentally goes down the list of his family.
Robert.
Robert had succeeded at taking everything from him. The throne, his family, Kathryn, his unborn baby. No matter how hard he tried to come to terms.. he truly found no reason to live any longer. Liam's former great friend tricked him into thinking the she was one of the few genuine people on this planet. But Willow was now Queen of England and would remain beside his eldest brother on the throne unscathed.
Helena.
His poor excuse of a mother could clearly give a shit what Liam's beliefs or endeavors were in life. On the contrary she exhibited the same characteristics as her perfect, eldest, son leaving her youngest behind to trip at the finish line. And this is how it always was. Helena may have lost her ranking in the monarchy, but she certainly held her title as the 'Queen' of the dark side that she and Robert inhabited.
Cyrus.
Cyrus had Violent. Sure, he would have quite the shock finding his youngest nephew sprawled across his expensive rug soaked with vomit and who knows whatever other bodily fluids. But Cyrus was strong. In fact, he was the strongest male figure he had had in his life since Simon passed. This thought put Liam at peace. He truly was grateful for their unexpected friendship/alliance and the times they were able to share together.
Everyone would be just fine.
Eleanor.
... Eleanor.
Liam crosses his hands beneath his chin intensely peering in to the flames roaring before him. His previous determined expression had changed to thorough doubt and sadness. The Prince wasn't there for his sister when she needed him most. He was too busy and selfish to stay in touch with her over summer. He was too preoccupied to visit Jasper, the love of her life and his genuine friend, in the hospital after being shot.
Eleanor would undoubtedly be the most devastated of all. After their 25 plus years together, they truly stuck by each other's side. Through thick and thin. And not in the stereotypical, forced, twin-like way. It was genuine. She was his female counterpart. No one mattered more to him than his sister. But she had Jasper now. And unfortunately no amount of unconditional love for his twin would be enough to save him from the misery that seemed never ending.
No amount of love left within would change the Prince's mind. He rips a page from a soggy old book off of Cyrus' coffee table ripping a page out. His hand still trembling, he grabs a pen and begins to write a good bye note to his family.