(ARKHAM 3 DAYS LATER)
It was three days since the Duke had left, the Princess still didn't understand why the Duke rejected her. Slade smiled to himself as he went over the plans for yet another charity ball – when the Princess was upset she really threw herself into her work – taking a sip of his wine he stared at the blue prints of a particular area of the kingdom. The Gas main.
The Princess loved taking care of her people, she had the kingdoms main gas pipe line running close to the palace (but not to close) so that she and the main operators could keep an eye on it. Nothing had gone wrong with it – yet.
The ball would be a beautiful night filled with dancing, drinking, good food and if everything went to plan the lovely display of burning houses and screaming subjects as the Gas main frame exploded from built up pressure. Slade knew nothing like that would happen, there would be a warning sounded first to panic the people and then Slade would come in and, just when everything seemed lost, would release the pressure and save the kingdom at the last second.
The Queen and Princess would be so grateful to him that they would forget all about the Princess marrying that drunken oaf Prince Oliver and together Slade and Felicity could use Arkhams technology to create a new world!
The only problem that Slade could see was that the Princess had invited entire royal family of Starling to the event. Oliver and Felicity would meet and plans for the wedding would probably start being planned that very night! He needed more time! Slade would have to distract the Prince long enough to get rid of him but how? Then Slade thought of it! Women! Prince Oliver had a weakness for women.
The advisor smiled to himself again and made a call to the perfect woman for the job. She was smart, slender and beautiful with brown hair by the name of Isobel.
"We're invited to Princess Felicity's charity ball tomorrow night!" Prince Oliver tried to look at the invitation that his mother was waving in front of his face "and no excuses this time Oliver! You will go and you will meet your bride-to-be"
"It's not that I don't want to meet her mother it's that…" The prince tried to think of an excuse, he and Diggle still hadn't caught Adam Hunt yet and if he left now he might never get another chance "…I have plans tomorrow night and –"
"Reschedule them" Moira stared her son down making the point that her word was final
Oliver didn't mind meeting Princess Felicity again after all these years, her picture still gave him butterflies but meeting her again had come at the worst possible time. Seeing as he couldn't fight his mother on this one he agreed he would go, signalled Diggle to follow him and went outside into the sunlight. A short car ride later they were in their secret lair below Starlings most popular club "This really couldn't have come at a worse time!" Oliver strolled passed the fighting dummy and punched it
"Just one night Oliver. You can give the criminals a break while you spend the night with your intended, right?" Diggle asked with the slightest grin on his face "you will be the envy of every royal in the world with her on your arm" their computer screens were loaded with images and information on the Princess "it shouldn't be that bad. Although, it says here that every suitor she has ever had has found some reason or another to break it off with her in the past" Diggle made the Prince look at the photos "what do you think of her? There's got to be something wrong with her?"
"Dig…I'm not denying her beauty and her charity work with her people have earned her love and appreciation that I couldn't get simply by being 'Prince Oliver' she did it all on her own" this marriage would simply be one of convenience since their kingdoms both needed each other by who's to say that over time it wouldn't become something more? Oliver hid his smile by punching the dummy a few more times "together we could do some real good in our kingdoms but while there is still crime in my kingdom I can't be anything more than The Arrow" Oliver hated the truth of it but maybe someone to come home to after a long night of patrol wouldn't be such a bad thing? Sure he would have to lie to her every day and she didn't deserve that.
"On the chat forums there's talk of why she doesn't marry any of her suitors" Diggle got his attention again and pulled Oliver over to look "it's just talk among the commoners now, hasn't yet reached the Princess, but it says here that her advisor is to blame" a picture of Slade with the Princess was pulled up and Oliver immediately felt something tighten inside of him – the Prince didn't like the look of how close he was to Felicity, the way he was leering at her and his hand hovering just over her waist.
"I can't do anything about Adam Hunt now" the Prince had a plan forming in his head "we'll go to Arkham early, speak to some of the people and find out all we know about the royal advisor. Something about him just doesn't sit right with me"
The next night, the ball started off without a hitch. The royal gardens were lit up with tiny lights, smart looking waiters were offering various glasses of wine and champagne along with all kinds of food. Princess Felicity was raising money tonight for the poor in her kingdom again and had degreed that all the food not eaten tonight would go to the homeless. Everyone cheered for their Princess.
Queen Donna was more than proud of her daughter and hugged her tight saying that she would make a great queen someday "with the right husband" Slade chimed in with a warm smile and gracefully kissed the Princess's hand "I do believe the royals from Starling are here" he looked to the stairs and saw with an internal frown that Prince Oliver and the King and Queen were in fact here.
The Prince and Princess locked eyes for the first time in years.
Felicity suddenly had the desire to fix her hair even though she knew it was perfectly styled in golden waves down her back. Maybe her dress wasn't right? The Princess quickly looked down at herself as Prince Oliver got closer and closer to her, the dress she was wearing was picked by both herself and her mother. It was a stunning dark blue floor length gown, a sash around her middle pulled it in to show off her curves and from there down tiny silver stones set into a light flowing mesh caught the light and gave off the illusion that she was like a beautiful shining star.
Prince Oliver smile a rare genuine smile at the Princess, bowed and kissed her hand "Your Royal Highness" he stared into her eyes again "thank you for inviting me and my family"
Princess Felicity smiled and curtsied "You are most welcome Your Highness" she now looked at the King and Queen and curtsied to them "I am honoured that you came Your Majesties"
Slade was watching the polite exchange with mild annoyance and an itching to get his plan underway, to get the ball rolling he bowed to the Prince and said smartly "Yes, so happy that you were able to pull yourself off the most recent woman to come and meet our Princess"
"Mr Wilson!" Princess Felicity glared at her advisor "apologise to the Prince right this minute!" Felicity looked apologetically at Oliver "my advisor just…umm…had a little too much food this evening and his stomach-ache is getting the better of him" again she turned to Slade and nodded toward the palace doors "maybe you should go and lie down, Mr Wilson"
"I am most sorry if what I have said offended you, Your Highness" he bowed to the Prince and left them for the palace doors, thankful that he could go and get ready, he found Isobel near the door and nodded for her to watch the Prince and strike at the best possible moment.
Apart from the Princess's advisor being a dick, the rest of the night seemed to be going without a hitch with the Prince and Princess never leaving each other's side. Prince Oliver noted that every so often a waiter would whisper something in the Princess's ear, she would then smile and thank them as they went away "You like keeping up with the happenings in your kingdom Princess" Oliver noted as he sipped his champagne
"I always try to keep on top of things, if I'm to be Queen one day I need to know all I can of my subject and they need to know that I care about them" Felicity smiled brightly "but tell me about yourself, what's happening in your kingdom?"
"Sadly enough crime is still high but the police are working around the clock"
"Along with The Arrow" Felicity said pointedly
"You know of him?" Oliver felt his insides go slightly cold at the mention of his alter ego and knew he had to tread lightly here "yes, yes he has been good to my kingdom"
"Just good? He has helped a lot more than the police, if you don't mind me saying" Felicity couldn't help but smile as she talked about the vigilante "stopping all those criminals and when the police had given up? Iron Heights is nearly full thanks to him"
"If I didn't know better darling I would say that Prince Oliver here night have some competition" Queen Donna said in passing as she saw her daughter was yet again talking of the silly green hooded figure "be careful to hold tight of my daughter" she smiled at Oliver
"Nothing would please me more" Oliver noted Felicity's fierce blushing
"Don't let the women of Starling hear you say that, you're quite popular among them aren't you?" Felicity hoped that her joke would come off well but knew as soon as she said it that it was crossing a line and quickly tried to make amends "I mean…every royal is popular among subjects…you're so…and I…"
"It's alright Princess, I know I have made…mistakes in the past that I am not proud of but I plan to straighten up and fly right to make this work" Oliver said sincerely
"I'm sorry to interrupt Your Highness but I need to speak with you" a waiter bowed to the Prince as he led the Princess away and explained what was going on "there has been an abnormality with the gas main frame in the Arkham network, we're trying to fix it but…"
"Get me to a computer now" Felicity ordered and was taken to main security room in the palace "tell me what's going on now please" she hacked into everything to see that everything was going smoothly but noticed that the numbers in the gas main frame were not right "…but…the gas main frame was right just a second ago!"
"We're trying to set it right Princess" a guard next to her sat at his computer typing furiously "should we issue a warning for the people to evacuate?"
Felicity was looking from screen to screen knowing that if this wasn't set right in the next few minutes the gas main frame could explode and blow up three square blocks.
"You're not lonely are you Your Highness?" Oliver looked up from his glass and into the eyes of a sultry looking young woman "let me keep you company" she smiled "I am Isobel"
"It's nice to meet you Isobel but the Princess is due back any minute now so…" Oliver didn't like the look of this woman, she gave him the same chills as Slade did with the Princess
"While you wait allow me to give you a tour!" Isobel took his arm and guided him towards the palace and began talking nonstop facts about when it was built and by whom and how long it took to build. Any other night and Oliver would know how this would end – with Isobel's legs wrapped around him screaming his name – but he needed to find Princess Felicity; something wasn't right here and he tried to get the attention of Diggle.
"Princess, the pressure isn't going down and we're doing everything we can"
"Sound a warning and get as many people evacuated as you can but try to keep the party calm, I don't want a panic" Felicity typed faster and faster trying to stop the pressure from building. Security cameras showed her that the party was still going on but one screen showed a woman in a red dress with her arm linked around a tall man seductively "someone tell them that the tours are called off! Warn them now" she had no idea who it was with that woman but she didn't want them hurt.
Isobel knew where the blind spot on the cameras where and pushed Oliver against the wall and out of sight "I have heard a lot about you Prince Oliver" she grinded herself against him "are the tabloids telling the truth on what they say?" she pulled him into a hot kiss and felt Oliver stiffen against her clearly in shock
"Should…shouldn't we…get back to the party?" Oliver needed to think straight, something was wrong but with Isobel expertly kissing and nibbling at his pulse point was clouding his mind
"We can have a party of our own" she pulled the zipper down on her dress and pushed her full breasts against him.
"I can't see them now!" Felicity tried to move the cameras but she lost sight of the pair "I need to go get them and tell them to go to a safe area. Keep trying to release the pressure!" Felicity got up from her seat and ran out to find the couple, signalling to her mother to keep everyone calm outside.
Moaning behind a pillar told felicity she had found them and she angrily walked closer "Excuse me but do you not hear the warning alarm? All tours are called off now would you please –" Felicity felt her face drain of all colour as she saw the woman in red with her breasts out, legs around her man moaning his name. Oliver.
Felicity covered her mouth as he gasped but Oliver heard it and looked at her with broken eyes, pushing Isobel off of him he tried to explain but Felicity slapped him across the face proclaiming the engagement was off. Another suitor another heartbreak.
"Get back to the party" Felicity couldn't fight the tears as she turned away slapping Oliver's hand away as he tried to console her "don't touch me! There are more important things to worry about, there could be an explosion in a matter of minutes and I need to stop it!"
A loud rumbling drowned out her words and the whole palace shook, Oliver sprang into action and covered Felicity with his body as parts of the palace rained down on them. The lights went out momentarily, giving Oliver the time he needed to find Diggle and go into Arrow mode. Felicity watched Oliver run outside and was oddly happy that he was going to be safe but right now she had to see what she could do about getting to the gas main frame.
No one was around to drive her so the Princess kicked off her shoes and got into the nearest car in the large underground garage and put her foot down on the accelerator. It was only one block to get the main frame but every second counted.
The Arrow sailed through the air and arrived at the building in minutes. Pulling his arrow with the rope connected to it out of the concreate he jumped down on the ground and went inside. Diggle and downloaded the blue prints and was guiding him to the main room from outside.
A voice hit The Arrow's ears and he readied another arrow, turned the door knob and shouted "Freeze!" the man inside turned sharply making the hooded vigilante nearly drop his weapon
"The Arrow in my kingdom?" Slade Wilson asked faking innocence
"You're responsible for this! Tell me why!" The Arrow ordered
"Since we have a few minutes I think I can tell you why, you see the Princess is to be –"
"M-M-Mr Wilson?" both men turned at the sound of the soft voice and Oliver felt his heart drop when he saw Princess Felicity standing there looking dirty, confused and scared "what are you doing here?"
"Saving the kingdom obviously" Slade smiled at the girl "all for you my darling"
"You were the one that started this!" The Arrow roared now standing partly in front of the Princess
"You did this Mr Wilson? Why?" Felicity asked "I trusted you with my life!"
"You'll give me more than that Princess, after this you'll be mine!" The Arrow took a step and now stood full in front of the Princess as Slade laughed, The Arrow wanted nothing more than to skewer him for that comment
"Release the pressure NOW!"
"Please Mr Wilson!" The Princess cried but only squealed when Slade stepped away while looking at the numbers on the frame "Please or we're all dead!"
"This wasn't meant to go like this! It was meant to be easy! I would save the kingdom and you would be mine Princess" Slade stepped further away seeing that it was no use, it had been too long and the pressure was beyond relieving "you are the downfall of your own kingdom!" he snarled at the Princess before running away as The Arrow sent his arrow flying in his direction. Not knowing if he hit his target or not.
Felicity stepped around The Arrow and tried to release the pressure "come on and help me!" she begged
The Arrow spoke softly into his ear piece and grabbed the Princess "It's no use, we have to leave now!" he pushed her towards the exit, wrapping an arm around her as he shot a cable arrow into the sky "hold on to me tight" with one last cry the Princess held on as they were lifted into the air.
The explosion was like nothing she had ever seen or felt. The heat felt like it was cooking her skin, the blaze burning into her eyes and forcing her to shut them, The Arrow let loose another cable arrow and they were lifted into the air again narrowly avoiding the collapse of another building.
They fell on top of a large sky scraper finally away from the worst of the destruction; The Arrow made sure to land with the Princess on top of him to shield her from most of the pain but knew that she was hurt when she didn't get off of him right away.
"Slade…Slade was my advisor…my friend! He did this!" Felicity got up slowly and stared at her burning kingdom, it was only a small part of it but still her heart broke. The Arrow stood up and wrapped his arms around her blocking the fire from view and stroking her hair as she cried willingly in his arm "he did this…he did this"
"It'll be alright" The Arrow soothed her "you're safe, that's all that matters" he couldn't stop himself from saying the last part aloud and when he finally set it free he felt lighter than air "…to me" he didn't know if he was imagining it or not but it felt as if the Princess was holding him tighter; he didn't mind at all.
A/N: WOW, WOW AND WOW! This chapter had me at the edge of my seat! I didn't know if I should have split it into two parts so I wrote it all out in one great big chapter for you all. I love this chapter! Please keep in mind that not the whole kingdom was destroyed just a small part of it.
The engagement was called off but now that her kingdom needs Starling more than ever will Felicity forgive Oliver and marry him or will she find some other way to save her kingdom with The Arrow helping her? STAY TUNED!