Thank you so much! Here you go, this isn’t actually NSFW (sorry) because my mind went a different direction with the prompt.
History Lesson
By Misha
Disclaimer- I don’t own anything nor am I making any money off this, so please don’t sue me.
Author’s Notes- The idea for this was based on the idea of Liam being a descendant of Kenna’s and the events of The Crown and the Flame being a TV series very loosely based on a real historical figure. I also wanted the chance to tie two of my favorite Choices couples together. This was also partially inspired by the prompt, “We can’t do that here”.
Pairing- Liam/MC, minor Kenna/Diavolos
Summary- While visiting the Royal Portrait Gallery, Liam tells Eleanor about an interesting legend attached to his most famous ancestor.
Rating- PG
Words- 1445
I had a rare day without any scheduled events and after checking with Maxwell, I decided to explore the castle a bit and ended up in the royal portrait gallery.
I wandered through the hallways looking at the face of past kings and queens of Cordonia and asked myself if I could really see my portrait hanging there someday. I wanted to think so, wanted to believe that I had what it took to be queen and that I was the right choice for Cordonia, but really I wasn’t sure. I loved Liam, that much I was sure of. I also believed that I was the right choice for him personally, but it wasn’t that simple. He wasn’t just a man, he was a prince and soon he’d be a king.
I shook my head, I was getting ahead of myself. There was no guarantee that he would even choose me.
I moved down the hall, taking in the paintings and trying to remain a detached observer. I’m just a tourist visiting Cordonia, I told myself, a part of me wishing it was the truth.
Ugh, there I went again. No thoughts like that. Just concentrate on the paintings of old, dead people. I was still having mental arguments when I paused in front of a particular painting, the name on the plate underneath having caught my eye.
“Everyone stares at that one.”
I turned to see Liam standing behind me with a smile on his face. “What are you doing here,” I asked, “don’t you have official duties you should be attending to?”
“I found myself with a free hour and Maxwell was kind of enough to suggest that I check out the portrait gallery,” he explained, moving closer to me.
“Is that really Kenna Rys?” I asked, motioning to the portrait. “Like from The Crown and the Flame?”
“Well, not exactly like that,” Liam said dryly, “The TV series is based on a series of fictional books that were very loosely based on a historical figure, but yes that is the same Kenna Rys.”
“So Cordonia is Stormholt?” I asked curiously. I watched the TV show, or at least I had when I’d been back in the US, I hadn’t actually watched TV since coming to Cordonia, but I hadn’t researched the history behind it. I found that I enjoyed historical fiction more if I didn’t know the true story because otherwise, the inconsistencies drove me crazy.
“No, though this was once known as Stormholt castle,” he answered, “Cordonia is made of the entirety of the Five Kingdoms, though that was a title made up for the novels, and many of the current duchies of Cordonia are represented.”
I thought about my knowledge of the show. “Lykos… Lythikos,” I said slowly and then realized that Olivia had the same last name as the villains in the show. Well, that was fitting.
“Exactly,” Liam said with a smile.
“Are you a descendant of Queen Kenna then?” I asked him, looking at the portrait again. Kenna Rys was one of the coolest, most kickass characters on TV and a bit of a personal hero of mine and the idea that I might marry the descendant of the real Kenna was… A little awe-inspiring, actually.
“Yes, though many, many generations removed.” There was an odd look on his face as he looked at the portrait. “There is actually an interesting family legend about Kenna, one I’ve been thinking about a lot lately.”
“Oh, what’s that?” I asked curiously.
“While the story you know is very fictionalized, it is true that Kenna was a brave warrior who united several small kingdoms in peace,” Liam said quietly, “and the legend says that as a reward for her bravery that Kenna was granted the gift of true love and everlasting happiness.”
“That’s a pretty good reward,” I commented, my eyes turning to the portrait hanging next to Kenna’s. I studied the handsome man with strong features and a stoic expression. “I think you’re about to spoil the latest season for me though, because that’s not Dom or Raydan,” I joked, referring to the two main male love interests in the show, “unless the show got their casting way off.”
“No, Kenna’s husband was Diavolos Nevrakis, the son of her sworn enemy,” Liam said, still looking at the portraits, “according to legend, they both fell in love the moment their eyes met. It didn’t matter that their families hated each other, that they were trying to negotiate a very tenuous peace and that neither side approved of the match. They were apparently determined to be together and they somehow found a way and, according to the history books, they had a long, happy marriage.”
Liam suddenly took my hand and then turned to me, looking deep into my eyes. “And family legend says, that not only was granted a happy ending but that all of her descendants would follow in her footsteps and experience love at first sight.”
Oh. We were heading to dangerous territory here, things that probably shouldn’t be said yet, if ever, but… “Do you believe that?”
“I never used to,” he admitted, “I thought it was just a story, after all, I was raised to believe that as a royal I had no right to expect true love. Then Leo met Maya.”
“And it was love at first sight,” I finished, remembering the bits and pieces of the story that he’d told me. How Leo had randomly met his wife in Greece and within a few weeks had abdicated the throne and by the end of the summer, they had been married.
“Yes,” Liam confirmed, “he told me that that the moment she fell into his arm, he knew she was the one. My father recently told me that he also experience that type of love, once.”
I briefly wondered which of the King’s three wives that had been, but I knew it was none of my business. For his sake, though, I hoped it wasn’t the one that had left.
“Even after Leo’s experience, I still didn’t think it would happen to me,” Liam continued, “besides I knew that even if it did, my duty to Cordonia came first. Then I walked into a New York bar and set eyes on a feisty waitress and I knew the legend was true.” Oh wow. “But I still knew my duty, so I walked away and returned him to Cordonia to pick my bride like a dutiful Crown Prince should and then you showed up at the masquerade and I began to hope.”
“Liam…” I said softly, feeling a little overwhelmed.
“It’s ok,” he said softly, squeezing my hand, “I know it’s too early to have this conversation and that I shouldn’t be talking like this, but…” He glanced at the portraits of his ancestors one more time, “I’ve heard that story a million times, but it’s only recently that I really understand what they must have felt and how determined they would have been to overcome the obstacles keeping them apart. Because now I know that when you have a chance for that kind of love, you’ll do anything to keep it.”
I knew that nothing I could say would be appropriate, so instead, I rose on my tiptoes and kissed him deeply. He groaned and kissed me back, his arms reaching around to press my tight against him. After a moment he pulled away, though it obviously took considerable effort.
“As much as I appreciate the thought, we can’t do that here.” He reminded me, stepping back.
Oh, yeah, we were technically in public and if someone saw us, it could cause a scandal. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not,” he said with a smile, “you make me forget all the rules, Eleanor, and even worse, you make it so that I don’t care.”
I appreciated the sentiment, but we both knew it wasn’t strictly the truth. He did care, he had to care. I might make him forget for a little, but at the end of the day he was still bound by the rules of his country and that meant he wasn’t mine. Not yet, anyway, and maybe never.
But as we stood there, staring at one another underneath the portrait of his most famous ancestor, I couldn’t help but hope. Fate had put Liam in my path for a reason, surely it wasn’t just to torture us with the idea of true love and rip us apart? If our meeting had been destiny, and it certainly felt like it, then I just had to believe that our happy ending was just around the corner.
– End
