Reviews:
hannahsanna — Don't worry this is still very much a story about Carl and Rhys and their relationship. I wouldn't keep Carl alive just to separate them. However, there are two important reasons that they are currently apart. Firstly, it wouldn't make sense with the storyline of S9 and who they each are for either of them to be living in the same community right now. Rhys has a strong tie to Hilltop, and it wouldn't be true to this version of Carl to separate him from Judith, Michonne, and RJ. Secondly, from a meta standpoint... I didn't want Carl and Rhys to have a relationship in the time jump due to the sheer amount of it we would have missed out on seeing in those 6 years. BUT AGAIN, don't worry, this is still a Carl x OMC story. They will reunite fairly soon — it won't take as long as when they were separated in the Savior arc, nor as long as when they first got together. I want to show how characters have changed first is all :)
Mariiiiii001 — Thank you! The time jump is definitely a scary change to handle since so much is different. So I'm very happy to hear you're enjoying it!
SlumberingVoid — That's true, there should really be a group in the apocalypse going around and upkeeping historical sites... the Highwaymen could do it!
Election Day
It had been years now since Maggie left Hilltop with Hershel. It was the hardest day of Rhys' life. The day she asked him to go with him, and the day that he said no to her because leaving the person he was at Hilltop would be too much for him.
Today was a day that should be important but always ended up as predictable and boring as Hilltop potatoes. It was that day of the year when Tara and Sasha would count up the votes and roll their eyes at how pointless it was because Jesus always won. After all, no one ran against him. Maggie put him in charge when she left, only he hates the job, so Tara does most of the leg work around Hilltop. Rhys often helped her because he liked the kind of leg work Hilltop offered. Talking to people, helping out, settling arguments that weren't more important than the peace inside the walls.
And that's where they lived, behind their walls.
But not all the time.
"Halt! You have entered the sovereign land of the Kingdom, and trespassers will be met with—"
When Jenny saw that it was Rhys riding up to the rusted gates that separate the people of the Kingdom from the horrors of the wasteland, she lowered her spear, frowning down at him.
"Shit, you're early, dude."
"I know," Rhys said, waving up to her as he leaned forward on Downy Beardy, who groaned and huffed a little at the shift in weight.
The gates squeaked open, and Rhys was sure they sounded worse than last time. That wasn't too surprising, though. The Kingdom has aged the worst between themselves, Hilltop, and Oceanside. Cracks had started growing in walls around the Palace, and the pipes in them often rattled when facets were turned or toilets flushed.
Jenny tagged out with another guard so she could walk Rhys to the Kingdom's stables. She was older than them back then, so she hadn't changed much. The biggest change was that she didn't let her hair down much anymore, keeping it up in a braided crown most of the time. Rhys was glad to see Mateo, who was setting fresh hay in some of the stalls at the stable. Rhys didn't get to visit Kingdom as much as he would like to, but it was still at least once every few months. He commented on the scruffy black beard that Teo was growing out, noting that it was definitely longer when Jenny looked unsure.
Rhys wasn't sure where Jenny was taking him, and by the time the two had walked halfway across the community, he decided to just ask.
"Oh," Jenny smirked, "the Queen totally called that you would be early, so she said to just swing you by the palace when you got here."
Rhys hummed in acknowledgement but took note of the funny face Jenny was pulling.
"What?" he asked her.
"Okay, well... Jerry gave me the letter from the Queen that I gave to Teo so that he could give it to the rider that brought it to Hilltop..." She took a deep breath, looking flustered suddenly. "And I would never read a royal letter... because, y'know, it's official and private and royal and was addressed to you specifically... but since it was addressed to you... I figured—"
"You read it?"
She stopped. They were only a block from the Palace, and she was fiddling with her hands.
"I was curious! It was addressed to you— not Jesus or Tara. I thought that was weird... but felt bad, so I stopped reading halfway through..."
Rhys smirked at her, raising an eyebrow. "Don't feel bad. Tara read it before me, too. Only she didn't say sorry."
Jenny snorted. "I love Tara."
"How far did you get?"
Her eyes were on the floor, her fingers picking at one of her nails like there was dirt trapped under it.
"I read that she wanted to talk to you... that she didn't want the King to know you were coming..."
"Cool if I explain it to you over lunch?" Rhys asked. "I should go talk to Carol."
"Yeah," Jenny breathed out heavily like it was all too stressful anyway.
She wandered back towards the main gate while Rhys made his way past two school buses lined together with market stools set up alongside them. Rhys realised it must be for the trade fair. Kingdom was hosting it since it was the biggest and could fit all the wagons and traders from the other two communities. Rhys was getting excited just looking and imagining what it will be like to have everyone in one spot — almost everyone. His grin faded when he stepped into the royal garden— or at least, what used to be called that. The crops were black and rotten in the dry soil, barrels filled with soot from where they had been burning plants. Rhys was about to ask someone what happened, but his attention was caught by Carol, standing on the second-floor terrace looking out with her long silver hair that shone in the morning light, a cotton nightshirt draped over her shoulders. She saw him, and Rhys made his way up through the building, reaching the terrace in a few minutes, knowing the inside of the Palace intimately still.
Jerry was at the far end of the long terraced deck overlooking the royal gardens, cementing over cracked steps that lead towards the Palace library. Rhys loved it in there. Maybe it was the books. Maybe it was the fact Ezekiel named it after Benjamin in his honour. Maybe it was the comfy chairs.
"Hey, little dude!" Jerry barked, dropping his Bricklayer's trowel to charge Rhys and lift him from his feet in a bear hug. Rhys laughed hysterically, hugging him back as tightly as he could muster. When he was back on the floor, Jerry grinned at Rhys with bright red cheeks. "You need to stop growing, man!"
"You sound like Sasha," Rhys chuckled.
"Where is Sash?"
"She's back home. It's election day... so she's helping Tara with some stuff."
"Jesus gonna win again?"
"Obviously... no one else runs. Not that it matters. People like Jesus."
Jerry slapped his back. "One day you'll rock that seat."
Rhys shook his head and laughed at him, the both of them knowing full well that he will never have any intention of running for Hilltop president.
Jerry went back to his step in the corner and Rhys turned to look at Carol who had been watching the two with a soft smile on her lips. Rhys approached, standing beside her and smiling back.
"Hi, Carol," he said gently, looking out over the garden, the destruction even sadder from up here.
"Hey," Carol spoke softly, leaning into the handrails and watching him. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. Henry's no good at keeping secrets from his father."
"Of course." Rhys' eyes couldn't tear away from the blackened plots below. "You told Henry why I'm here?"
"No," Carol smirked. "Just that you were coming, and he couldn't tell Ezekiel."
"I tried bringing some tools for the place," Rhys told her. "But Earl's not a something-for-nothing kind of guy, and I didn't have anything to trade on short notice."
"Oh, no, don't worry about that." Carol smiled. "It's going to help just having you here today."
"I'm real sorry," Rhys said. "I knew things were bad here... but the garden is a big loss."
"It is," Carol sighed, her eyes falling to the garden as well, nodding her head.
"I wish Hilltop could help more..." Rhys grimaced. "Kingdom really helped us out a few years back— Hilltop almost didn't come back from that sickness. Maggie and I started to worry it might go the same way the prison did."
"This fair will help us," Carol insisted. "Hilltop can't give things away for nothing, and that makes sense. This trade will let all of us get what we need. I just hope Alexandria changes their mind."
Rhys shook his head. "I've spoken with Mikey."
Carol's eyes jumped to him, hopefully. "Alexandria broke radio silence?"
"No..." Rhys wasn't supposed to tell anyone that he and Jesus would sneak out to meet with Aaron and Mikey and trade news and just see each other when they could, but he knew that he could trust Carol with this. "We meet in secret. He told me Michonne's gotten even tougher on security recently. He pushed for the fair pretty hard... so did the other council members. Apparently, even Carl seemed to budge a little. But Michonne refused— another security risk."
Carol looked disappointed, but she nodded quickly. "It's okay, between Hilltop and Oceanside, Kingdom will find its feet. Just like Hilltop did."
"It will."
"It will!" Jerry added merrily, clearly listening in on the conversation from across the deck. "The garden will grow back."
"Is there any part of this place that's not falling apart?" Carol asked. Rhys knew that she had less faith than Ezekiel in things like this. But how couldn't she? After all the places they'd seen fall before.
Jerry grinned up at her from the steps. "Our loyalty to you, my queen!"
Carol frowned at him. "Jerry."
He pouted back, and she smirked.
"Married to the king, mother to the prince..." Jerry listed it off. "Gonna have to accept it at some point."
Carol glanced back at Rhys, rolling her eyes. He laughed, shaking his head and looking out at some Kingdomers moving a small trip of goats down the road past the garden.
"If I haven't after all these years," Carol sighed, "it's probably not gonna happen."
Jerry was about to give her more of his optimistic insight, but a loud and metallic boom shook the deck below them. Rhys grabbed the railings, worried about an earthquake. Another clank rang out, the sound of pipes groaning throughout the Palace.
"Oh, no," Jerry hissed. Then he and Carol started rushing inside, Rhys following despite having no idea what was happening. They raced down the theatre steps and out the main doors on the other side of the building, ducking under an orange tree and sprinting down some steps and through a small white door labelled: maintenance.
"Henry!" Carol shouted, rushing around a furnace to the far side of the small dusty room, rusted pipes snaking along its walls, steam and hot water spurting out of their cracks.
Henry was hunched over a box of plastic tubes, wrapping a handful together before sticking it over one of the spewing pipes and asking his mom for duct tape. Jerry tossed it to her and she passed it over, breathing deeply as Henry secured the tubing over the steam and water.
The hissing faded, and the pressure gauges on the old boiler slowly turned out of red and into blue.
"Jerry, how we doing?" Henry called over his shoulder, still wrapping tape around pipes.
Jerry checked the gages, watching as they turned to safe.
"In the clear," Jerry announced to him. "Nice work, dude."
"Wow," Rhys laughed. "Haven't had excitement like that in years."
Henry spun around at his voice, grinning. Rhys tackled him, dealing out the biggest, brotherliest hug anyone has ever either given or received. Henry was so much stronger now, and about the same height as him, but Rhys refused to let that stop him from being a dick.
"Still the plumber, I see," Rhys laughed loudly, slapping Henry's shoulder roughly.
"Someone needs to be," Henry sighed.
"It's good to see you, little man," Rhys chuckled.
"Is everyone all right?" Ezekiel skidded into the room, shoulders back, only to drop when he realised nothing was exploding.
Rhys stepped back a little while the others explained that Henry fixed it. The King congratulated his son, but Henry scowled at him.
"Dad, we're holding things together with plastic and tape."
"But we are holding things together."
"We need better tools!" Henry hissed, picking up the box of tubing and walking to his father. "Someone who's trained to use them."
"Henry, we've discussed this..."
"No, you've discussed it." Henry walked for the door. "I'll be late for supper. Don't wait for me."
Ezekiel caught his shoulder with a firm grip. "Henry, I appreciate your passion and your honesty, but you had best watch your tone, son."
Henry swallowed, nodding quickly. "Yes, sir. I'm sorry."
Ezekiel's arm fell to his side, and Henry left with Jerry. The King grimaced. But then he spotted Rhys skulking by the boiler. His laugh was powerful, the bark of a King's joy as he grabbed Rhys by the shoulders and held him tightly.
"You have gotten bigger, my boy! Stronger! Tell, were these shoulders not broader, though, the last time you came? Are they not feeding you well at the Hilltop Colony?"
Rhys laughed. "I signed off on the last crop yield when Jesus was out... so, yeah, pretty sure I'm eating enough."
That made Ezekiel laugh loudly again. "What brings you here without reaching ahead? You know you are always welcome... but a messenger is appreciated."
"I invited him," Carol chirped.
Ezekiel's eyes flicked to her, then back to Rhys. Then his smile faded.
Outside, the three stood watching Henry practice his staff exercises that Morgan taught him so many years ago. Ezekiel leaned against one of the market buses with a dark look on his face. Rhys stood back, arms folded in front of him while Carol spoke softly to her husband.
"Henry's not wrong. This place is getting older. He's getting older."
"I know," Ezekiel sighed.
The two started to walk, and Rhys wasn't sure if he should follow, but Carol glanced back at him and nodded her head, so he did.
"Surely, there are others who'd gladly train with Earl Sutton of Hilltop," Ezekiel said. "Assuming he's not retired by now."
"Earl's still working," Rhys said. "What with the fair coming up and the new farm expansion... he's always looking for people to help out."
Ezekiel shot Rhys a piercing scowl, so Rhys glanced anywhere else.
"This is Henry's home," Carol soothed. "He wants to fix it."
"As Rhys said," Ezekiel hissed, looking menacingly at him again, "the fair is right around the corner. We need our son here."
"You need him here," Carol told him strictly. "And after the fair, you'll need him for something else and then something else after that. You'll always need him."
"I just..." Ezekiel winced, biting his lip thoughtfully. "I want him safe."
Rhys felt like this was the time Carol wanted him to speak, so he did. "Hilltop hasn't had walker problems in over two years. Since the sickness passed we've actually thrived in our population count. And our crop yield is a year ahead of schedule."
Ezekiel nodded bitterly. "He'll be without friends there. He will have you, I am sure. But family is one thing, a boy his age needs—"
"There's plenty of people his age, I'm sure," Carol chimed in.
"Addey, Rodney, and Gage are all his age... we took two of them in during the war when they were kids."
The King took the Queen's hand, nodding gratefully to Rhys, if not a little sour at Carol calling for him to argue this point.
"Hilltop feels so distant," Ezekiel sighed. "More distant than it's ever been. Hasn't been the same since—"
Rhys felt his stomach sink.
"I know..." Carol pouted at him. "But sometimes you have to let the cracks happen to let the light in."
Rhys snorted at her, not sure if she's started getting quotes put up on Kingdom's walls or if she was stealing one of Zeke's. It made the King laugh either way. Then he nodded heavily.
Ezekiel helped Henry pack his bags, and when they walked down the Palace steps, out of the royal garden, and onto the street where Carol had a wagon prepared for the journey, Rhys could see the pain on the King's face— something he usually hid behind his royal mask of artifice was clear as day as he hugged his son goodbye.
"That was for the boy," Ezekiel told him, pulling away and offering his hand. "This is for the man you've become."
Henry shook his hand and bit back a smile that Ezekiel bolstered proudly.
"You're acting like we'll never see each other again," Henry giggled. "I'll be back before the fair starts, all right? Wouldn't miss it."
"As my father said to me once, upon my departure from home," Ezekiel called as Henry walked around the wagon towards where Rhys was tightening Downy Beardy's saddle straps, "you be respectful, be responsible, be kind, and be safe."
"I will, Dad. I promise."
Carol strolled over towards the King, and the two spoke their farewells softly with hands entwined and heads pressed close. Henry tossed his pack into the back of the wagon before punching Rhys' shoulder and asking him a question.
"Can I ride DB?"
"You're hilarious."
"C'mon, you and my mom never talk... it'll give you a chance to reminisce about the old days."
Rhys snorted. "How old do you think I am, dickhead?"
"Can I?"
"No."
Rhys had never told Henry much of before he arrived at Alexandria. He assumed that Carol must have at some point. But he knew from how Henry talked about her in front of him that she had not told him everything. Rhys was fine with that. Preferred it, actually.