No Words
By Misha
Disclaimer- Not mine. I’m just borrowing them for a little while and will return them when I am finished.
Author’s Notes- This is a short, very angsty fanfic set directly after the Book 2 finale. If you’ve read my previous stories, you know that Eleanor’s parents were killed in a random shooting 2 years prior to the events of Book 1. With that in mind, I knew I had to write a reaction piece to the finale dealing with the trauma Eleanor would be experiencing.
Pairing- Liam/MC
Rating- PG-13, mentions of violence and past trauma.
Summary- In the aftermath of the palace shooting, Eleanor relives the worst day of her life and wonders exactly what she had gotten herself into.
Words- 1208
As Eleanor fell to the ground, Drake’s body on top of hers, the world froze for a moment. All she could think was no, no, not again.
This couldn’t be happening. This was her happily ever after and now… Now she had plunged right back into the nightmare she had worked so hard to escape. As Drake’s blood covered her golden gown, Cordonia and the royal ballroom disappeared, instead, Eleanor was transported backward in time.
She was in her apartment, getting ready to go out for the night when there was knock on the door. That was weird because the buzzer hadn’t gone off and she didn’t know any of the neighbors well enough for them to be knocking on the door.
Oh, wait… Karen was hooking up with the guy upstairs, right? It was probably him.
Eleanor sighed and opened the door, ready to explain that her roommate was out when she froze at the sight of two police officers.
“Eleanor Sloane?”
“Yes…” Eleanor said slowly wondering what the police wanted with her.
They exchanged glances. “May we come in?”
Eleanor stepped back. “Of course.”
“Eleanor! Where’s Eleanor?!”
Eleanor was dragged back into the present by the sound of Liam’s frantic voice. She felt Drake being lifted off her and then she was being helped off the floor by a familiar face. Bastian.
“You’re safe, Lady Eleanor,” he assured her in a gentle voice but she barely heard him, just like she barely registered the chaos, because she was still locked in the past.
“There was a shooting…” “Your parents…” the words that had destroyed her world were playing over and over in her mind.
It had taken almost three years for her to put herself back together, to get to a place where she thought she was ok and now… Now she was right back where she had been. Once again, gunshots were tearing her world apart and threatening to take the people she loved most away from her.
Eleanor felt herself being ushered out of the ballroom and assumed she was being taken somewhere safe. It occurred to her that she could be being kidnapped and probably wouldn’t even realize it, but even that thought wasn’t enough to make her focus. After a moment, they stopped moving and she found herself in a room she’d never been in before.
“King Liam and Lady Eleanor are secure,” she heard Bastian announce.
That one word was enough to bring her back to reality.
“Liam?” She asked desperately. Where was Liam?
As soon as she had thought, She felt his arms wrap around he and his face bury in her hair. “I’m here, Eleanor, I’m right here.”
She clung to him. She had so many questions, like who would do this? But she also doubted he had answers. Was there ever an answer when it came to senseless violence? She’d spent three years asking herself why someone would shoot up a mall, at least this she could almost understand. She and Liam held power and people in power were always a target. Her parents had been unfortunate bystanders, she had brought this on herself.
That knowledge made her stiffen in Liam’s arms. Of course, he noticed. “What’s wrong, Eleanor?” He asked gently, stroking her back.
Eleanor opened her mouth, but no words would come out. Her mind was racing a million miles a minute, but none of the thoughts were coherent and besides, they weren’t ones that she could share with Liam.
Then a thought did occur to her, something she could say out loud. “Drake,” she said desperately, suddenly remembering what had happened in the ballroom and whose blood coated her dress. “He was shot.”
“He’s on his way to the hospital,” Liam assured her, “it’s being locked down as we speak and then you and I will head there to be with him.”
Eleanor nodded because it was the reaction he expected.
“I’ll make sure nothing happens to you, Eleanor,” Liam promised and she could hear the sincerity in his voice.
She stayed silent because her words would only hurt him. You can’t, she thought instead, no one can. But especially not you, not here. But she didn’t blame him. It wasn’t his fault.
“Hana?” She asked instead, after a moment. “Maxwell?”
Liam looked grave. “They are still trying to secure them. The ballroom was chaos. We’ll find them, I promise.”
He kept making promises but she didn’t want to hear them. This wasn’t a time for promises, because not even a king could guarantee that this would turn out ok. Of course, she didn’t say that instead she nodded again, still clinging to him.
“Your Majesty?” Bastien asked respectfully.
Liam let go of Eleanor and turned towards the head of security. “Yes?”
“The roads have been closed and the hospital has been secured if you and Lady Eleanor would like to head to the hospital.”
“Thank you,” Liam told him and then held out his hand to Eleanor, she took it and followed him out of the room, reacting on instinct. She still felt numb inside. She needed to know Drake was ok, needed to find Hana and Maxwell, but part of really wanted to run away.
She wanted to get on a plane back to the States and get as far away from this horrible place as possible, but that wasn’t an option. She had made her choice. Eleanor shot a look at Liam and saw the anguish on his face and felt that familiar rush of love, but… It wasn’t enough to drive away the apprehension or the desire to flee.
“Eleanor?” Liam asked once they were in the car. “Please talk to me.”
I can’t, she thought, staying silent. I don’t have the words and the ones I do have, I’d regret saying.
“We will find Hana and Maxwell,” Liam told her, “and Drake is getting the best medical care possible. We’re going to find the people responsible and fix this.”
Eleanor stayed silent, biting her tongue because she wanted to ask him if they found the people who’d shot at the royal family the last time or who had poisoned his mother. She thought of what she’d been told over the last few months about just how dangerous life in Cordonia was and how many enemies the royal family had. She’d been told, but she hadn’t really heard any of it because she had been too caught up in her own personal fairytale to listen to any warnings.
Liam finally stopped talking and Eleanor could see the agony on his face and the way he kept gazing at her. She stayed silent, but she squeezed his hand, needing him to know that she didn’t blame him.
And she didn’t. If she blamed anyone, it was herself. Because she was the one that had ignored the warnings, she’d ignored her own fears and doubts and plunged ahead without ever thinking about what marriage to a King would really mean.
She had chosen this life, but she wasn’t prepared for it, she wasn’t prepared for this. As the motorcade approached the hospital and Liam continued to hold her hand there was only thought running through her mind: What have I gotten myself into?
- End
