I don't own the Royals. And I'm pretty sure anyone can get tired of me saying this.
Then let him know that hatred without end
Or intermission is between us two.
Alexios froze and in a single instant, so did the whole world which turned to a new Ice Age it seemed.
"What?" He said, unable to comprehend for once in his life, as if from a great distance.
"The princess," the soldier gasped. "She's... Dead."
Alexios stood still for at least two seconds before shoving his weapon into the soldier's arms and charging inside as fast as he could.
There, inside the safe house, lying on a bed, was Aglaia. Her beautiful face and form still and cold as ice. She looked like she was sleeping except...
In an instant, Alexios was there falling to his knees, gathering up his motionless baby sister in his arms.
"Aglaia," he said desperately, his heart thudding wild as a hummingbird's wings. "Aglaia."
He shook her. Helplessly, he watched himself press a finger onto her pulse and felt...
Nothing. She was dead.
"No," he found himself saying. "NO!"
Cries of agony, anguish and heartbreak ripped through the air, shattering what little silence had descended towards them. Outside the Greek soldiers heard this and paled.
Inside, the normally reserved Duke of Sparta had broken, shattering and howling his grief to the stars, holding his sister's body.
One of the other Greeks- not soldiers- took off his ski mask. It was Dimitri and his face was white as a linen sheet.
He ran inside as fast as he could and soon the air was filled with his cries and grief.
The Greeks looked stunned and numb. Liam remembered what this girl had meant to them and her family and now...
Her body was taken by stretcher outside by the awaiting Greeks.
They had no more time to lose.
Numb, cold and struck to the core, Dimitri watched her go with a breaking heart.
He hid it rather well, as he was supposed to do.
But he never forgave easily. And he never forgot.
He moved forwards and the stretcher came to a halt. Fingers as cold as ice, he peeled back the sheet.
His sister was there. Aglaia with her beautiful face, her eyes which always sparkled and danced when she spoke, always shining and glowing so brightly when she was happiest, that would never open again.
Dimitri sank to his knees. Nearby, Alexios watched, just as numb.
Slowly, gently, his fingers brushed Aglaia's face. Her skin still felt smooth and soft as silk, like when his mother first gave Aglaia to hold. Pale as a pearl with a tint of pink like rose petals. A rosebud mouth like the one she had as a baby. Slowly, he brushed her hair away from her forehead and broke.
Suddenly, Alexios charged forwards, grabbing Liam by the collar and slammed him against the wall of the safe house.
The MI6 and MI5 officers, and the security detail, instantly drew their weapons. Queen Helena and Eleanor cried out in alarm. At the exact same time, the Greek soldiers and spies all had their weapons pointed at them in case they fired one at their prince.
"Surprised," Alexios snarled. "Or happy? She's dead now, all because she felt she needed to warn you." He pressed Liam harder against it.
"I swear, this wasn't what I wanted, this wasn't what we meant to happen," Liam protested, though he was cut off when the Crown Prince's hand pressed against his throat.
"She should have left you to rot or burn and suffer as you wish," Alexios hissed. "And it's a pity. She wanted to save your brother, and to save the rest of you because you might have been innocent. But it's too late, oh no, it's far, far too late." He said dangerously. His grip tightened.
"I swear to you, an international diplomatic crisis is the least of your worries now and forever," Alexios warned. "You selfish, stupid boy. You've enjoyed the royal treatment long enough without paying something back. But now you're responsible for my sister' death. My sister!" His voice cracked.
"And now you must pay."
Liam kicked Alexios around the shins, but the Greek prince was expecting that catching his leg and hooking it with one foot, while when Liam attempted to aim a blow, he blocked it and twisted his arm, yanking it hard behind his back, wrapping his hand around Liam's throat.
"Stop- please!" Eleanor's face was streaked with tears. Whether from the fact that somebody- who apparently meant so much not just to her own brother- or that her twin was being threatened.
Liam struggled not to groan in pain. Prince Alexios' grip was... Strong to say the least. His hold spoke of a lifetime of hardship.
"I didn't kill her," he grunted.
"Then who did?" Alexios hissed.
"The junta," Liam managed. "Ted Pryce."
"Impossible," Alexios hissed. "Pryce is dead, everyone knows that! His body was recovered by your intelligence services and as for the junta, do you think they're stupid enough to go to a foreign country far from any support, without any intel or backup? To attack a foreign palace belonging to royalty? The people remained standing after the junta fell were either arrested or they went into hiding, possibly captured. Unless your security was especially lax, then it's not likely that they could even go close to your palace!" He growled.
"You did this. Your enemies, your allies and friends, your schemes. The whole world now knows your dirty secrets, they see behind your filthy lies, your show as the wonder-prince who was oh, destined to save the monarchy after Big Brother and Father-Dearest were dead." Alexios snarled. "Or the stupid, spoilt party prince without a single hint of responsibility who f***ed whoever he fancied that went around in a skirt. You don't think they don't see past that?" Alexios laughed harshly. He grabbed Liam's arm, turned him around and threw him back, nearly toppling him over.
"You," he spat. "Are a coward. Who wants nothing more than girls and attention. Just like your uncle. You dress in a military uniform in military parades and balcony appearances- but it's nothing! It's all for show! Have you ever picked up a gun? Soiled your hands in war? Killed someone- to save your friends, your family, your people and your country? Of course not! You're no king! You're not even worthy of the title of prince! Have you fought to keep your family alive, or are you just interested in trying to pummel your brother in the boxing ring to prove that you were better than him- to tear your own family apart because you felt, oh-so-woefully inadequate! You've never even enlisted to save a single life! You've grown soft, and fat and rich, in your drugs, alcohol and sex. You've never paid for anything a day in your life, but you will now. I will make you pay."
"Your incompetence, selfishness, greed, callousness and more... You'll all pay for that." Alexios' eyes blazed. "From now on... I will make you pay."
It was suicide, but Jasper had heard and seen everything.
He had taken some in-depth research on the Greek royal family.
They could not be more different from the Henstridges, the files were less of that of royal princes than, well.
Prince Alexios. Excellent. One of the best soldiers in the world, Jasper admitted to himself. He'd read countless military files but none of them ever came close to matching this one. This wasn't ceremonial duties, this was hard-core, deep stuff.
Prince Alexios had gotten a hard introduction to military life when he was a kid. During Greece's civil wars, he had been there- witnessing everything and then been taught basic defence. Well, actually Alexios had learned to fight as soon as he could walk it seemed. With knowledge over countless martial arts throughout the world, including but not limited to, Pankration, from the ancient days of Greece, Shaolin Kung Fu, Taekwondo, Judo, Karate, Aikido, kick-boxing, complete with natural marksmanship and all the skills of one of the world's top Special Forces soldiers, Alexios had gone deep into the operations, battles and strategizing of several wars, including in Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and more. He was more hard-core, more dedicated and more skilled than the best of them.
Prince Dimitri was no less excellent. His classified files showed that he was a spy. A spy. How in the world did you become a public figure- a royal no less, and a spy was something Jasper could never understand. Few- if any of the files he had read on members of the CIA or MI6 could come close to matching this guy. After the same Special Operations training he had endured with his brother, the public believed that Dimitri had retired and gone into a successful business. But in reality while he did maintain such businesses, reading the files, Jasper recognised he used it as a public face- a way for agents to sneak in and do whatever, thanks to his international diplomatic immunity. The businesses certainly fuelled the Greek economy much further than they expected but the prince also used them in his duties as a spy. Gathering intel from rubbing elbows with the highest of the high. Tea with the elite. Seducing women even or cozying up to gangsters in order to sell them out. They thought he was being sociable. In truth he was just as, if not more dangerous than his elder brother. He had been the cause of many terrorist, mafia, drug and prostitution rings, human traffickers and more international criminals' assassinations, arrests or executions all without a single trace on him to point out the suspicions of anybody. Even with the media.
He had also gone undercover as assassins or in various counter-terrorism operations. And the two brothers had all but declared war on the Henstridge family.
Their grief would turn into rage. They wanted revenge.
Heart pounding, Jasper knew that he had to get to Eleanor- fast. But he needed help.
Willow got up, frowning. What in the world was that?
Who on earth would be knocking at this time of night?
She opened the door.
There stood a very handsome young man with sandy-coloured hair and blue eyes stood in front of her.
She blinked. "May I... Help you?"
"I'm sorry, but are you Wilhelmina?"
"Willow," she automatically corrected. "That's me."
"Willow, um... My name is Jasper Frost... And I think I'd better explain things to you," he said apologetically. "May I please come in?"
"So let me get this straight," Willow said, in disbelief. "Prince Robert has been having this... Relationship with this Greek princess but he couldn't marry her because her family doesn't approve of our royal family."
Jasper nodded. "That's right," he said.
"And that she somehow got scared he was going to die, or get discredited like Liam, so she needed to put him on the throne and then she managed to persuade her brothers to dig up some trash on King Cyrus, who turned out to be corrupt, and with a whole lot of MPs in Downing Street and the Privy Council either taking money illegally from trade agreements or just taking them straight away, the king allows all this to happen, so that they would keep supporting him, or he pays them off himself. And he's been killing a lot of people, including the guy everyone thought was the twins' father. And when the Greek princes found out they just told about everyone outside of Britain and now the royal family are in serious trouble with the EU, UN and various international organisations, all except for Prince Robert who appears to be innocent."
"Apart from King Simon," Jasper agreed.
"But when the princess found out about this, she snuck back to England and warned Prince Robert because she loved him and she was scared that there was going to be an all-out revolution and that people would try to harm his family." Willow continued. "So Prince Robert blew a gasket, marched to his mother and demanded to know if this was true, if any of them knew about this and took part in it."
"That's what he did," Jasper confessed.
"So when they were confronting King Cyrus there was an explosion and things blew through," Willow said slowly. "Some people who were responsible for a civil war in Greece made an alliance with Ted Pryce, King Simon's killer who's apparently alive, shot the Greek princess and while Prince Robert stayed behind to fight, the rest of the family fled. But the princess died," she said quietly. "And her brothers found out, along with Greek spies and Special Forces and now they want the Henstridges to pay." She finished.
Jasper sighed. "Yeah, that's about it." He admitted.
"Are... Her brothers... Good at making people pay?" She asked hesitantly.
Jasper shrugged. "I'd say they're about some of the best in the whole world." He admitted grudgingly.
"Great. So they're doomed." Willow stated. "Wait, no, they can't be," Jasper said dubiously.
"Look, the reason I came here... Was because I need your help." He admitted. "The queen... Yeah, the royal family is messed up. The queen thinks power is an aphrodisiac, she loved clothes and lingerie and jewellery. Prince Liam falls madly in love with girls, time and time again, or he just... Bangs them. Princess Eleanor is wild, she's unrestrained, they're not perfect, but they're trying the best they can. They're not responsible for her death or for the corruption, or the murders and they shouldn't be held responsible for that. But the whole world won't know that, they won't see or believe them. They won't give them a second chance. They're going to blame them and hold them responsible for the princess' death along with many others and the corruption. The whole country will be overturned and everything you know about Britain, won't exist anymore. Everything will be destroyed.