A/N: Helllllllllooooo everyone! In this chapter (previously chapter 2, now chapter 3) we return to our regularly scheduled whiny prince POV to continue tackling the housing crisis. Everyone will get to meet a handful more of the Quarantined as well! Thank you for reading, forever and always! Your reviews and responses on the discord make my heart do flips! (I had a lot of people say the last chapter reminded them of Downton Abbey...would you believe me if I said I've never seen it? But I will definitely now!) Please enjoy!
Quarantine: Day 1 Part 2
Avery didn't remember how he got to bed.
He could have passed out. He distinctly remembered the word 'quarantine' and thinking his life was over before the darkness crept in.
Now, the sun shone through the open curtains. The clock on his bedside table read 11:15. Had he really slept in so late? The lack of an alarm was itself alarming. Usually there were meetings to go to even if he did normally end up daydreaming through them.
"Good morning, Your Highness," came a voice from the opposite end of the room.
Seth, his butler, was standing by the wardrobe, steaming Avery's suits. Avery had made no noise to suggest that he was awake, but Seth had a freaky sixth sense when it came to him. It was like Seth could anticipate all of Avery's moods and needs, which most of the time was pretty awesome, but sometimes was kind of invasive. Avery had no idea how long Seth had been in the room, doing chores, while he slept.
Still, Avery got out of bed and pulled on his robe, walking over to where his breakfast sat on the coffee table. The silver dome shone like a beacon, drawing Avery in with the promise of something delicious. There were newspapers and magazines placed to the side of the tray, most likely Seth's subliminal way of letting Avery know he needed to catch up on what was happening in his country, but Avery shoved them aside.
Bacon first, politics second (or never).
However, instead of the sweet smell of bacon grease, Avery was met with crippling disappointment.
"Ugh, it's cold," Avery complained, poking at the congealed eggs.
The vein in Seth's forehead bulged, but his expression remained neutral. "Yes, well, if Your Highness had woken at the usual time, breakfast would still be warm."
"Well, whose fault is that then?" Avery countered, pouting. It wasn't like he was the one who set his alarm clock.
"Forgive me, Your Highness. There were other, more pressing issues at hand. Like the quarantine."
There it was, that nasty word. Quarantine. Ruining what was supposed to be the best year of Avery's life. Why was life so unfair? What did Avery do to deserve a punishment like this?
Avery knew exactly how to brighten his mood: music! He turned the radio on to his favorite station, hoping to hear some classical music from Billie Eilish and Zedd. Instead, all the stations wanted to blather on about was the bombing in Waverly! How annoying! Didn't the radio hosts know there was more to life than a stupid virus? Avery turned the radio off with a huff.
Guess he would have to busy himself with actual work.
"What's on the agenda for today, Seth?"
"His Majesty King Henry has requested everyone gather in the main foyer for an emergency meeting in one hour. It is of the utmost importance that the whole royal family be in attendance to present a unified front."
"Yes, yes, yes, Illéa has to show we are big and strong. I get it," Avery sighed, rolling his eyes at Seth's reflection in the mirror. Seth was always so do-or-die, like every little decision meant the world. The guy really needed to learn how to lighten up. It was hard enough maintaining a good mood between breakfast and the radio; Avery didn't need Seth bringing down the mood. "Help me pick something to wear?"
The butler grimaced, like he would rather shove pins in his eyes than help Avery pick out his outfit. Now that Avery thought about it, Seth always looked like that. Maybe it was IBS or something. Avery made a mental note to ask about it later...when he actually cared.
What they settled on (after much deliberation and hair-pulling), was a navy blue pullover atop of khaki slacks. The color really brought out the bright blue of Avery's eyes, making him look pretty damn handsome if he did say so himself. After a bit of hair gel and a dab of Prada Luna Rossa, he could have kissed his reflection.
"Don't wait up for me!"
Avery opened the door, stepped out into the hallway, and immediately tripped over two small children.
They giggled as they ran past him, tiny feet carrying them down the hall and around a corner before Avery could give them a piece of his mind. He really disliked children, always screaming and crying and hogging all the attention. And now he was stuck with two inside the palace? Literal nightmare fuel. He would have to speak to his father about this. Unacceptable, completely unacceptable.
The halls were frustratingly crowded with people. Granted, the majority were rich and famous and gave him respectful nods and bows as he passed, but it was irritating that he had not even an arm's width of personal space. The crowding only got worse the closer he was to the main floor. Thankfully, the stairwell emptied into a large, open foyer. Most of the faces were still as unrecognizable as they had been at the ball last night.
One face, however, shone as bright as a beacon in the night.
"Rori!" Avery cried, rushing over to the actress with dramatics that could rival her on-screen debut. "Thank God! Someone I can tolerate."
She was still wearing her party dress, because of course she was. She was Aurora freaking Winfield, eighteen years old and already skyrocketing to fame (the fact that her fame mostly came from her parents was irrelevant). Rori was a star. The floor-length train billowed as she strutted Avery's way, a long slit exposing one perfectly toned leg and her classic black patent leather Louboutins.
A kiss was placed to each of Avery's cheeks - Rori's signature greeting.
"You know, this may be the last time my parents let me come over to your place," she said, the playful edge to her voice belying the seriousness of the situation. At least she knew how to make light of a situation instead of drag it down. Avery knew hanging out with her was a good choice.
"But you know the ball was worth it."
"That ball? Worth my life?" Rori asked, incredulous. She remained quasi-shocked until her lips curled up into a half-smirk. "Maybe a little. The food was decent and the music was alright, but there was absolutely no one in attendance worth remembering."
"Ugh, I know, right?" Avery complained. Finally, someone who understood! "That is the last time I let my parents put out the invites. They so do not understand the meaning of A-list."
"What am I, chopped liver?"
Both turned to see another familiar face standing behind them. He stood somewhat awkwardly, like he wasn't sure he was invited to the conversation but had taken a risk anyway.
"Nikolas," Rori greeted, all smiles and charm. Instead of kisses, she extended one perfectly-manicured hand out for the German Prince to take.
"Aurora," he replied, eyeing her hand like it might slap him, before caving in and placing a brief kiss to her knuckles.
"You still know how to treat a woman, I see," she teased, one perfect eyebrow arched and taunting.
Niko and Rori had dated for three weeks last summer. The whole thing had been such a fever dream that Avery had blocked it out entirely until now. Just the memory of seeing his two closest friends stick their tongues down each other's throats was traumatizing. The relationship ended as quickly as it started, both Niko and Rori parting on good terms. But sometimes when it was the three of them in moments like these, with Rori looking at Niko like she was enjoying a particularly good joke at his expense, Avery felt like he was missing something. He hated it.
"And you still know how to make things awkward," Avery said Rori's way as he hugged his twin. You know, if his twin was taller...and broader...and German...and five years older. But hey, they were both blond! That was something! "I'm so glad you're here!"
"You're glad that I'm going to die with you inside this prison house?"
"No one's going to die, Niko." Avery rolled his eyes. Normally Rori was the dramatic one. "But even if we did, you should consider it an honor to die alongside me."
Rori tossed her head back and laughed. Avery wasn't sure if she was laughing at him or with him. And Niko, the traitor, looked like he wanted to laugh too.
Already a little fed up with them, Avery looked around to see if there was anyone else he knew.
Addison and her best friend/mentor/keeper, Talis, were lounging about on one of foyer's only couches like they were the models in some Vogue photoshoot. From the looks of it, Addy was rambling on and on about something while Talis dutifully nodded along. They flipped through a magazine, letting their white-rimmed glasses fall perilously close to the edge of their nose. Talis was big on fashion; judging by all the strange angles and cut outs, both Talis and Addy wearing some of Talis' creations. Maybe Avery wasn't too far off on the whole photoshoot idea.
He left Niko and Rori to talk about...whatever it was they talked (or more like viscously bantered) about. They didn't say goodbye to him, so maybe Avery had done too good a job at sneaking off. Yeah, that was it.
Addison and Talis were not as receptive to Avery's company as Niko and Rori. Addy straight up refused to look at Avery. Ah, the alcohol and following hangover must have worn off and she had gone back to hating him. At least with Addy pretending he did not exist, Avery had no fears of another life-ruining baby photo slideshow.
"Run along, darling," Talis said, shooing Avery away with a flick of their wrist. "The adults are talking."
Avery remained firmly in place. He didn't take orders from Talis, no matter how highly Addy relied on them to do nearly every daily function.
"Talis, why is he still hovering?" Addy asked, her voice taking on that annoyingly nasal quality it got when she didn't get her way.
Avery crossed his arms over his chest. Two could play at this game. "I'm not leaving until you talk to me."
"Fine," Addy huffed, her glare sharp as daggers. "What do you want?"
"I was wondering if you knew what was so serious that Dad dragged us out of bed for this emergency meeting"
"Do I look like Daddy's keeper?"
Addy was so close to the edge that Avery couldn't help but tip her over.
"Sorry, I just thought that since you were, I don't know, the heir apparent that you'd have a freaking clue about what was going on."
"Remember what we talked about, love. Breathe in, breathe out," Talis coached Addy, breathing with her until her face stopped resembling a tomato. Talis cut Avery a withering look. "She is positively distraught about her fiancé."
"And I'm stuck in here with you - " Addy glared Avery's way, resentfulness brimming alongside tears in her eyes. " - instead of going out there, risking my life to find him!"
There were a thousand different reasons why Addy's statement was stupid, and Avery didn't have the time nor the willpower to list them all.
"Your sacrifice is so brave," Talis sympathized, one hand braced on Addy's knee. Avery didn't know if Talis was serious or just faking it for Addy's benefit, but Avery was pretty sure that Addy would be dead by now if both she and her best friend shared less than one collective braincell. "But you have to be strong, love. You're the Crown Princess of Illéa. Everyone here looks up to you, and they need to see you looking fierce, not weeping like some damsel in distress. Can you do that for me? For the greater good?"
Addy nodded, wiping at her eyes. "Oh Talis, what would I do without you?"
They made moony eyes at each other. Sickening. More sickening was that they both had forgotten Avery was standing right there. He stomped his foot.
"If you love Talis so much, then why don't you marry them?"
"Because, Li Jun is my sun, moon, stars, and universe," Addy said with complete seriousness. "And he won't CALL ME BACK! I've tried seven times and no response! Something could have happened to him! He could be dead in a ditch!" Addy tossed her head over the edge of the couch and covered her eyes with a dramatic swoop of her arm. "My poor, poor baby!"
Talis glared at Avery some more, like he had just ruined all their hard work. Avery would have felt bad about it, but if put the other way around, Addy would probably just kick him in the shin and tell him to 'get the fuck over himself'. So, Avery walked back to Niko and Rori and left Talis to deal with the crying mess that was his sister.
Besides, Mom and Dad had just shown up, and what they had to say was far more interesting than whatever Addy was whining about.
"Thank you all for gathering at such a short notice," King Henry addressed the crowd, everyone settling down at the sound of his calm, steady voice. "I understand that these are stressful, unprecedented times, and so greatly appreciate your cooperation. Unfortunately, I stand in front of you to say that, until we have complete understanding of the scope of this New Asian threat, for everyone's safety, we will remain under quarantine. No one is to leave or enter the palace under pain of death."
Grumbling and protests erupted from nearly everyone in the hall. No one seemed to keen on sticking around the palace for what looked to be forever. Even Avery had to bite down on a whine at the idea of having to experience crowded stairwells and halls every day. How was he supposed to have his me-time if there were hundreds of strangers always pestering him for autographs and selfies?
King Henry rose a hand, silencing all the dissent. This couldn't possibly get worse.
"Due to rooming shortages and the increased number of guests, many will need to share sleeping spaces."
It got worse.
The dissent rose to an all time high, voices all shouting over top of one another. The room was five seconds from imploding from high levels of enraged entitlement, and that was Avery alone.
"I need everyone to grasp the severity of the situation. New Asia has good as well declared war on this nation, which means, Illéan or not, everyone in this room is at risk of harm, and I will do everything in my power to ensure our safety," King Henry continued, projecting his voice across the chaos. Avery could hear the slightest hints of frustration cracking through his normally composed demeanor. "Now, given the origin of the threat and possibility of counter-intelligence, I would like to call for the segregation of all New Asian residents - "
"That's racist as fuck."
All heads turned in Addy's direction.
"What?" she asked, bristling at all the strange looks. "I'm sorry Daddy, but it's true, and I won't stand for such a discriminatory policy. Just think about how Li Jun, my fiancé, would feel if he found out his father-in-law-to-be felt that way about - "
Addy's phone rang loudly, an obnoxious k-pop love song blaring through the foyer. Even louder and more obnoxious was her following squeal.
"OH MY GOD! BABY!" she screeched, and that was all Avery or anyone else understood as she continued to squeal all her emotions into the phone. Addy ran out of the hall, thus ending her short career in social justice.
"Right. As I was saying..." King Henry sighed and tried to compose himself, but it was evident that he had no idea how to take Addy's outburst, and when he was caught off guard, things tended to go...poorly. Thankfully, Queen Deirdre stepped forward and laced her hand into her husband's giving a comforting squeeze. The red tint to the king's ears lessened (Addy had to get her angry tomato-face from somewhere) and he took a steadying breath, finding his words. "As I was saying, the need for cooperation in the rooming process is essential. If you have any questions, please see Jonathon Easting, the Head of Household, as I am placing him in control of the matter from here on out. The Council and I shall continue to keep you afloat of any and all quarantine proceedings. And remember, we are stronger together than at odds."
That was it. King Henry and Queen Deirdre walked away and left everyone to it. No one mentioned the abandoned segregation idea. It was probably for the best anyway. Like, counter-intelligence...what even was that? What a dumb thing to worry about.
"So," Avery said, turning to Niko and Rori to focus on the real problem at hand. "Wanna be roommates?"
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Venice Kang shot one hand out to silence the infernal alarm that was ringing right next to her ear.
Ow, her ear.
For more reasons than one, Venice's head ached. But, that was bound to happen when you fell asleep on a keyboard. She could feel the key-shaped indents on her cheek and along the sensitive ridge of her formerly-smashed ear, wincing when too much pressure was applied. That was going to hurt for days. She really should learn not to take her work home with her.
Except...Venice wasn't at home. She was sitting in a small closet surrounded by computer monitors, hard drives, and all kinds of other machinery that her caffeine-addled brain would know once it finally rebooted.
Her converse-clad foot kicked and empty aluminum can, which then ricocheted into two other aluminum cans. Of high-concentrated energy drink. Well, that would explain the pounding in her head that accompanied the keyboard-induced pain. She must have crashed on the job - not very professional, but unfortunately not out of the ordinary. That was what her mom got for dispatching her all the way to the palace at freaking midnight. She had a blissful night full of Avengers movies and fanfiction planned but noooooo, apparently the top of the line security systems the palace installed last year had glitches. Which was how she found herself waking up in a security closet.
The fact that no one had bothered to check up on her all night was just plain rude.
Leaning back in her chair, Venice felt her spine pop in a satisfying way, allowing the stiffness to exit her body. Her wrists still throbbed. She had stayed up as long as she could trying to make sense of the mess that was supposed to be a firewall. It was like someone had taken all the code and put it in a blender. There were encryptions suspiciously similar to randsomware that Venice didn't remember keying in the original and the whole thing was running super slow. How it still worked was a miracle...a very fascinating, impossible miracle that she had apparently passed out trying to solve.
Now, instead of layers of firewall, all Venice had was error command not recognized repeated over and over and over again from where her face had decided to take over computing for the night. Her wrists ached some more at the thought of just how much of her own mess she would have to sift through now on top of the mess she already landed.
Her stomach rumbled before she could lose herself in the madness. When exactly had she eaten last? There were vague memories of chips that went along with the second can of energy drink, but otherwise, nothing. Her stomach rumbled again, more persistent.
Venice picked her phone back up, certain it would not start beeping again. The time read 11:15, usual class time. Her heart stopped temporarily. She had really slept in.
Seriously...no one had checked on her?!
There were also messages on her phone, the familiar names making Venice smile as she read her notifications.
Gummy Granny: Hope the cookies made it to you in one piece!
Callie_The_Witch: Did I hear...COOKIES ? !
Gummy Granny: Hahaha none for you!
Callie_The_Witch: :_(
WonderWhatThatIs: Guess we all know who mom's favorite is...
Venice would have to reply to all hundred messages later and thank her friend for the cookies. Right now, even thinking about cookies made her stomach flip in knots. She really needed food, and she needed it yesterday.
The closet emptied into a narrow hall that connected to another hall, and another. She must have been deep in the non-royal part of the palace; nothing grand or beautiful adorned the walls or floor or ceilings. In fact, it looked like just another hall in any other building. However, the further she ventured from her little closet, the more ornate and decorated everything became, until finally she passed through some doors, ascended a few steps, and boom! There she was - in the palace proper.
There was a cart full of half-eaten food just sitting out in the hallway with no one guarding it. And while some people might think her gross, Venice felt no shame in pilfering two slices of untouched bacon from the topmost plate. It was cold, but still tasty, and there was a lukewarm biscuit cut in half right next to the bacon. Amazing. This whole looking for food thing was even easier than trying to stumble and find the kitchens.
In the middle of her heist, Venice heard voices coming from down the hall. A large amount of voices. Did the palace staff usually have group meetings or something?
The noise grew louder and Venice could no longer ignore that something was happening. As much as she did not want face a large group of people, the need to know trumped everything. She followed the voices to a large foyer where what looked like hundreds of people had gathered. Oh, and the King and Queen were there too. Casual.
Venice stuck to the back of the room, close enough to the mouth of the hall so she could sneak away if needed. She had a feeling it would be needed.
The King was talking, just as sure of himself as he sounded on television. To be honest, it was a little surreal to see royalty up close and personal. Venice thought she was dreaming...until she actually heard what he was saying and the dream turned into a nightmare.
Quarantine?
She would be stuck...here...in the palace...with all these people?
And then the king was talking about roommates?
Oh no. Oh no no no no no No NO!
Venice ran back down the hall to the safety of her closet and tried to think of the upsides.
Well, at least now she had more time to work on her Pepperony slowburn.