Summary: Alone after his father’s assassination, Leo struggles to deal with the absence of his wife and daughters when he needed them most.
Based on the (music) prompt: Blue
A heavily inebriated Leo stared at the ceiling of his old room trying to sleep after another attack to the Cordonian Royal Family. What seemed to be a pleasant visit his family night ended the worst way possible. And all he could think about was his daughters. They loved traveling to Cordonia, they had a way to make everyone laugh and they enjoyed running around the halls of the Palace. If only they knew what was really expecting them once they landed there on the following day.
The Palace was quieter than usual, but he could still hear voices outside, hurried paces on the hallway. The police were probably still investigating. He thought about going back outside and trying to help, however, the thought of walking around the palace made him nauseous. He really thought that night couldn’t get any worse. But he was wrong. On his nightstand, his phone began to buzz. He turned to the side and reached for it. “Hey…”
“Leo! Oh, thank heavens! I tried to call you so many times! Where were you?” Katie asked.
“Sorry, I left the phone in my room during the ball.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Like I was hit by a concrete wall while the ceiling almost fell on my head. Oh… no no. That was my father trying to save my little brother,” he replied in a monotonous tone.
“I’m so sorry, babe. I can’t even imagine what you’re going through. He didn’t deserve to pass away like this. It’s so cruel…”
“Yeah…” he shrugged. He didn’t know what else to say. Nothing could possibly make the situation any better, except for seeing his daughters again. “Hey, how come you’re calling me? Aren’t you on the plane?”
“No.”
“Are you already here?”
“No… Something came up.”
“What?!?” He yelled as he sat up.
“Leo, let me explain…”
“Oh, this better be really good,” he sneered as he got out of the bed.
Katie flinched as she sensed his tone. But this was important. To her only. “Congressman Grant wants my catering service at the party he’s hosting for other politicians on Monday. And this means I have to stay to organize it.”
Leo closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Every time he felt this angry, he remembered his stepmother’s voice telling him to breathe because anger could him say things he would regret and that was clearly one of these moments.
“Baby, I know… And I’m sorry for what happened to your father, but this is huge. If this goes well, I can start catering all over the country.”
But as much as he tried to stay calm, the more he listened to her talking unceasingly about herself and her work, the more furious he’d get. “You’re staying there to work? You chose to work over me again?!?”
“What? No!”
“Yes, you are!” he bellowed and began to pace around the room.
“You’re the one to talk. You always choose work over me! You choose your friends, you choose that stupid bike over me! You’re there for anyone else but me! You think my work is boring and you NEVER support me!” She shouted back.
“Oh my fucking god! Are you hearing yourself saying these things? I work with that stupid bike, my friends are my crew. I never thought that way about your work and I do not put you in second place. I just tolerated that party with your friends while you were working again because I wanted to be with you!”
“Going to one party with me doesn’t make you the husband of the year, Leo!”
“With you? I was alone most of the time! I’d never endured with a boring party like that if I wasn’t wasted.”
“You what?!? I can’t believe you! Here I thought you were being a good husband and now I learn that you were stoned in front of my friends! You’re so selfish, and reckless–”
“You know what? I’m done with this. My father died, my brother almost died too, a bunch of people got hurt in an assassination attempt, it’s two fucking A.M. in the morning here and I am done with you scolding me because of your frivolous ideas of kind of a husband I should be,” he ran a hand in his tousled hair. “Pack my daughters’ suitcases. I’m picking them up on Sunday so they can attend their grandfather’s funeral.”
A shiver coursed through Katie’s spine. This was getting way out of hand. “You don’t have to do that. I’m flying with them to Cordonia on Monday at night.”
“I do. I’m taking the Royal Jet tomorrow and flying back to pick them up. You do whatever you gotta do.”
“Leo–”
“Have a good night, Katherine,” he snapped and hung up the phone letting it fall aimlessly on the floor.
As Leo walked to the window to shut the drapes, he watched Liam sat on a bench near the hedge maze, looking down the grass. His fiancee was seated right behind him, holding him close, her legs on each side of his and her face resting on his back. Their hands were laced together, pressed to his chest. They didn’t say a word to each other. They didn’t have to. He needed her and she was there. And it was all that mattered.
Leo heaved a sigh and shut the drapes. His phone buzzed on the mattress. There were three missed calls from Katie. And she kept calling. Turning off the phone, Leo put it back on the nightstand and once again tried to sleep.
…
One week later
Grey thick clouds covered the morning sky as the funeral procession approached the meadow near Thorngate river in the back of the Palace, where the monarchs of Cordonia were buried. The Queen Mother Regina walked in the front, along with King Liam and Prince Leo, each one of them carrying the potential heirs to the throne, Princesses Ava and Emma, in their arms. Lady Katherine Rys and Lady Jade Bourbon of Valtoria walked behind them, followed by the Duke of Ramsford, the Duchess of Krona and the Duke of Karlington, The Duke and Duchess of Castelsarreillan, the Duchess of Lythikos and the others nobles. The private ceremony lasted one hour and every noble paid their respects to the Royal Family.
The Queen Mother, King Liam, and Duchess Jade returned to the palace right after the ceremony ended. Prince Leo, however, couldn’t seem to leave the meadow. He sat on the grass, leaning against a tree and stared blankly at the calm waters of the river.
Katie had never seen him so broken. His strong figure became slender, he wore sunglasses to hide the dark circles and bloodshot red eyes. They haven’t said a word to each other since the fight and she was terrified of the consequences, but she had to try.
“Leo?” she cautiously approached him. “It’s almost time for lunch. We should join Regina and Liam.”
“I’m not hungry,” Leo replied without looking at her, his eyes fixed on the river.
“We have to go. I’m going back to The States this afternoon.”
“Have a safe flight.” The apathetic tone in his voice gave her chills.
“The girls can’t stay here anymore, they have to go back with me. They missed too many school days. Come back with us,” she begged.
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“I promised Liam and Regina I’ll stay until Saturday, when the Unity Tour will arrive at the festival in Lythikos.”
“It’s just one day. Come with us. The girls miss you. I miss you.”
“I can’t go now.”
“You can’t?!? Leo, what the hell? Don’t you think you should at least drive us to the airport? God, I can’t believe you…”
As Katie ranted, Leo tilted his head up and stared at her. The muscles in his jaw twitched and his lips were tightly pressed together. After everything they went through, there were so many things he could say to her, but this wasn’t worth a fight. Not anymore. So he simply heaved a sigh and looked back to the river.
“Leo! Are you listening to me?”
“No.”
“Leo!” Katie yelled.
“I’ll see you on Sunday. Have a safe flight, Katherine.”
Katie bellowed a few more things to him and left. A few minutes later, Leo went back to the palace to say goodbye to his daughters and ask the driver to take his wife and the twins to the airport.
On his way to his room, Leo found a bouquet of white and pink lotus in a crystal vase with a small note attached to it. He bent down to pick up the flowers, got into his room and sat on the bed to read the note.
He left the note on the nightstand, lied on the bed and stared at the exquisite bouquet until he fell asleep.
