Smoke And Mirror (Royal Angle l) S01 E29

Story 3 years ago

Smoke And Mirror (Royal Angle l) S01 E29

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 29

Flowers and losers”

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Daniel POV

“Happy birthday, Xavier.”

Darius walked into my room, his resting bîtch face suggesting anything

but happiness. He dressed like a king, spoke like a ghost and looked like a god.

And seeing as I’d woken up exactly six minutes ago :

I was in my underwear.

King or not, if you enter my sacred space without knocking, just prepare to be scarred for life.

“Please make yourself at home, Darius.” I muttered, running my hands through my hair. “I’ll just look for my pants now.”

There was a small crack in that icy exterior as Darius tried not to smile.

“Should I come back later?”

“Just wait outside.” I was still under the sheets.

The minute he turned his back on me, I got dressed faster than you could say “underwear”.

Because nothing is more manly than purple boxers with little paw prints on them.

“Come in.” I said. Darius came inside with caution this time. “And will you be mentioning this little incident again?”

“Yeah, I’d rather die, thanks.” He said, meaning it.

Darius sat down, and lit a cigar. He took the liberty of pouring me a glass of whiskey, despite it being 7 AM.

If his knuckles hadn’t turned white over his staff, I would’ve mistaken that gesture for companionship.

Darius was the only Royal I’d ever seen without bodyguards. That staff wasn’t just to make him look like a rich ässhole.

Although it did add some flair to the job description.

“I need to talk to you, Your Highness.” He said, evenly.

“As do I.” I replied. “I need to go home.”

See, a good friend of mine (whose birthday is coincidentally today) just trashed the most iconic building in Europe. So it would be totally awesome if I could go congratulate him for giving me a migraine again.

“I’m afraid you can’t. The city is under lockdown. No flights in or out.”

“Right.”

That wasn’t entirely true. I knew some of the other royals who’d flown in had left.

The simple truth was that Darius wanted me here. And there was nothing I could really do about it.

“Now who is that friend of yours and that lovely lady with red hair?” He asked, accusingly. “She looks an awful lot like the assassin we presented at the trial.”

I was hoping we wouldn’t have this conversation.

“He’s my financial advisor, Andrew Hilton.” I said, lying as best as I could. “And I don’t know her. He brought her to my house as a visitor.”

Darius looked at me for the longest time.

“So you don’t know anything about this?” He asked. “Answer me honestly if you value our countries’ future at all. You don’t know anything about my father’s murder?”

“My advisor is a good man, Darius.” I said. “He told me he only met her two weeks ago. He hadn’t known anything about her and neither had I.”

Loopholes were pesky little things.

Xavier had met Victoria two weeks back and we hadn’t known her back then.

Darius didn’t entirely believe me. But I was giving him no choice. He couldn’t touch me without a fair trial and he didn’t have a shred of proof on me.

“So.” I said, extending a hand. “Are we good?”

After a long time, he finally shook it.

“For now.”

I took a deep breath. Good enough.

“I’m sorry I didn’t buy you a gift.” Darius said, relaxing a little. “How old are you again?”

“Twenty seven.” I said, knowing I was the worst person in the universe for not calling Xavier today. “And it’s alright. Just mail it to me for Halloween or something.”

“How about I mail you two chicks in a sexy nurse costume and we’ll call it a bachelor party?”

Shît. The wedding.

“I prefer doctors.” I said, absently. “When is the wedding, by the way?”

“Alexandra wanted a white one.” He was clearly uninterested. “So I’m assuming before Christmas.”

Three months to go .

“I need to be somewhere.” Darius looked at his watch suddenly, getting up to leave. “Alexandra wanted to see you, by the way. To discuss themes.”

The vampire King distinctly shuddered. I couldn’t help smiling.

“She’s been planning this wedding for a long time, hasn’t she?”

“Hell, yeah.” He grimaced. “Ever since she was eight. I’ll give you the Sparknotes version – say yes to the white elegant crap and no to the pink flowery crap. It’s all ultimately crap but she’ll fall in love with you.”

And my wife falling in love with me is oddly the last thing I need.

Darius left, giving me time to complete my day’s work. I decided to pay a visit to Alexandra after all, but when I got there, she wasn’t home.

Having downed half a bottle of liquor before noon, my judgement wasn’t too clear.

So naturally, I went to her sister’s place instead.

Like I needed an excuse.

I knocked on the door and waited for a good fifteen minutes.

When she didn’t answer, I should’ve taken the hint and left like a pathetic loser.

But no, I did something far worse, cringeworthy of the president of the pathetic losers club.

I turned the knob of the door. It was open, so I headed inside.

Like a professional stalker.

Adriana’s house was a lot like her, a variety of mismatched things that worked amazingly well together. The furniture ranged from patched up beanbags to glass desks with pieces of simple modern art gracing them.

I suddenly heard a sound from upstairs. I’d assumed she wasn’t home –

There was a muffled cry of pain.

I ran up the stairs and followed the voice to her bedroom. I realised how big of an idiot I’d been in coming here when I saw her through the open door.

Adriana was kneeling on the ground, her hands stained with blood, a kitchen knife on the ground. Her arms were exposed showing deep gashes that were already healing, but the tears kept running down her cheeks.

She’d cut herself.

Because of me?

I felt like something snapped inside, a flood of pain filling my chest. I felt hollow and broken like some part of me died.

I’d never hated myself more than I did right then.

“Please leave.”

She wasn’t looking at me. She didn’t have to.

She knew I wasn’t going to listen.

I went to her slowly, taking the knife away. It was all I could do to cover her with a blanket and wipe the blood off her hands with a towel.

“Promise me you’ll never do that again.” I said, stiffly.

“It hurts.” She said, quiet.

“If it hurts, talk to someone. Anyone.”

Adriana was silent.

“I used to talk to my sister.” She finally said, not looking at me. “But well, I can’t. Not anymore.”

That’s it. Just go find the tallest building in Vetresca, set yourself on fire and jump off, and maybe then you’ll be worthy of being in the same room as her.

“If you want to hurt someone, punch me in the face or stab me, anything you feel like.” I said, meaning it. “Because I deserve it. But don’t ever hurt yourself.”

“See, that’s the thing.” Adriana smiled sadly. “You don’t deserve it either. You’re hers. You’ve always been hers.”

I took a deep breath. This girl I’d hurt in so many ways in so little time when we knew barely anything about each other. All I needed to know was that we both didn’t really fit in here and we didn’t really have much of a choice in any part of our lives.

It was about time I changed that.

I got down on my knees, joining her on the floor. I held her hands in mine, marvelling at how fragile and dainty they were.

“If I promise to take care of you forever, to take time to know you and fall in love with you the right way and treat you like the queen you’re born to be, will you let me, princess Adriana?”

Adriana looked at me in shock.

That would make two of us.

“Are you asking my hand in marriage, Your Highness?” She was stunned. “And what of my sister?”

“Your sister deserves a perfect person. A good King.” I said, meaning it. “I know I can never be that guy. But I can promise to try. For you.”

She pursed her lips and closed her eyes, her voice so faint I had to ask her twice if I heard it right.

“Then I’d love to see you try, Your Highness.”

***

Daniel : “WEDDING CAKE FOR EVERYBODY WHO LIKE” XD