FC – King Liam – Jenson Button (Pinterest image from google.plus for Hugo Boss)
FC – Lady Clara – Ciara – Pinterest image with no credits!
Hohenzollern Castle image from Pinterest (credit days Instagram!)
Dubrovnik, Croatia Darby Sawchuk (Dsphotographic.com)
Einstein quote Pinterest (canvas from bellahomeau on eBay)
Rating – This contains sensitive issues regarding Constantine’s death and Liam’s suffering following that. Angsty McAngsterson.
Disclaimer – Characters are Pixelberry’s, not mine, this is just for fun & I don’t make any money from it.
Writer’s Notes So there are a few recent TRR events that have happened that just don’t tie in with my Istvan and Viktoria writings… Basically they have now ended up in a really alternate universe lol – sorry you two…
Anyway the reason I’m wittering about this. I have a couple of fics I want to do, that do tie into the canon storyline. The first of which being Constantine getting a ceiling dropped on him. I get the redemption arc of him sacrificing himself to save his son’s life, but I feel like his poor son’s had enough to deal with over the years without harbouring guilt that his father died to save him… For shame PB, for shame. This is probably going to be maybe 3-4 parts long.
So after talking it out with the lovely @xxrainbowprincessxx, I have gone ahead and written this as Liam and Clara (MC) for the sake of differentiation between these and my two other main wee lovelies Istvan and Viktoria.
Hope that makes sense! And hope you enjoy friends – VP 💖
—
The palace doctor had looked Liam over, despite much protest: Liam was irritated that Clara had requested the doctor to come in the first place, he kept telling the doctor
“I’m not hurt, I’m fine.”
Clara had hung around listening to the conversation, he wasn’t ‘fine’. She could tell just by looking at him he wasn’t ‘fine’. Ok so maybe he wasn’t physically injured, but who could possibly be fine after what Liam had just been through? The doctor left something just to help Liam get through the next few days, to settle his nerves a little. Liam was adamant he wasn’t going to take those, he said he could cope, he didn’t need any pills, but Clara didn’t see the harm in taking one just to help him drop off to sleep, he was drained and exhausted. She was worried about him and she feared it could be an intense few days to come.
As they climbed into Liam’s bed together, a melancholic silence enveloped them. They lay side by side, fingertips touching, no words uttered; in a bad place but comforted by the others presence. Clara hadn’t realised how exhausted she was until her head hit the soft pillow. She was just beginning to drift off when she heard a soft sob leave Liam. She turned to face him, pulling him in close to her as she whispered,
“It’s ok Liam, let it all out…”
Tears streamed down Clara’s face as she held him, the rawness of his emotions too much for her not to cry alongside him. Clara wasn’t weeping for Constantine, she was weeping for her Liam. Her fiancé, who already had to shoulder the burden of a whole kingdom, having to deal with the guilt of his father sacrificing himself to save him… Clara swallowed hard as she thought about Liam and how much had been thrown at him to deal with. People looked at Liam and saw a king – a charmed life: jewels, riches, privilege, the best education, fancy parties and private jets… But losing his mother in such a cruel way, Leo’s abdication, the continued terror plots against the monarchy, now this: his father’s murder right in front of his own eyes, in a twist of fate to the end that was meant for him… Clara wondered how many people could get through the day faced with the same demons that haunted Liam, never mind walk around with a smile on their face. She hugged him tighter as her mind wandered; Liam was the walking personification of goodness, of kindness: he put Cordonia first, he put his friends first, all he wanted was to see people happy… How the hell was he not broken and damaged past the point of repair after all of this?
Liam wiped his eyes, regaining some composure he tried to justify his emotions,
“Clara, my Father was dying. I knew I didn’t have another ten years with him, but I never thought it would all be over so suddenly… I thought I was prepared to lose him… But now that it’s actually happened… I can’t seem to pull myself together… This isn’t right.”
He shook his head, sighing, his head a jumble of thoughts. Clara leaned up over him on her elbow, stroking his muscular chest lightly,
“Liam of course you can’t! You should all have been sat around his hospital bed saying proper goodbyes. It wasn’t supposed to end like this. It should have been peaceful and he should just have slipped away… How could you possibly be prepared for what happened tonight? God, you’re still in shock Liam…”
He started to sob again, his pain so raw it was palpable. Clara exhaled deeply, she didn’t know what to do to make any of this better for him, there was nothing that she could do except simply kiss his forehead and run her fingers through his wavy fair hair until the wave of emotion subsided,
“Liam I love you so much. You’ll get through this, I promise. Baby I will always be here for you…”
Minutes passed as the fit of grief calmed, ebbing away until Liam reached up and touched her cheek, clearing his throat, his voice terse and exhausted, his head aching from the strain and the pressure of his tears,
“Clara, I love you too…”
He pressed his hands to his eyes and forehead, trying to relieve some of the tension built up there,
“My head is aching…”
Clara ventured,
“Liam, I know you said no, but baby maybe you should take one of those sleeping pills, just one, just so you can get some rest?”
A heavy sigh left Liam,
“I need to have a clear head for tomorrow. I want to meet with security. I need to understand how this happened Clara, I need to understand how this was allowed to happen in my home. There will be justice for my Father… I need to show the people of Cordonia that we cannot be broken and destroyed by these animals…”
Clara took his hand in hers, “Liam I think you’d be better equipped to do all of that, if you manage to get some rest tonight.” Liam exhaled deeply before agreeing.
Pushing her long hair back from her face, Clara left the bed to get Liam some water and one of the pills left by the doctor. She was so concerned about him, he was flipping from being, understandably, an emotional wreck, to the full-blown prowess of ‘king mode’; he definitely needed to rest. His brain was working overtime. Clara feared this was only the beginning of a very difficult time for her sweet Liam.
—
What seemed only a few hours later, after a fitful sleep Liam awoke, his heart pounding, in a cold sweat. For a moment, just a split second in his mind, he’d forgotten the horrific events of the previous evening, only for them to flood back en-masse like an HD movie behind his eyes. His breath caught as the realisation that this wasn’t a sick dream dawned, he felt like someone had kicked him in the stomach, a hollow, empty sadness washing back over him, suffocating him. Clara was by his side, asleep. She looked like an angel lying there he thought, dark skin and long honey blonde hair strewn across the pillows and kissing her shoulders, cosy in his baby blue t-shirt. He didn’t want to disturb her; getting out of the bed, he made his way to the balcony. He stood breathing in the cool morning air, it cleansing him. The sun was low in the sky, he supposed it must be before 6am, the sun hadn’t been risen for long and the Cordonian heat had not yet started to build. Liam leaned his forearms on the balustrade, enjoying the stillness of the gardens below, quietly lost in his own thoughts. Liam had cried until he made himself feel quite ill last night, but this morning he felt that he was in some sort of daze as he stared out to the horizon. Unaware of how long he’d been standing there, Liam broke from his blank daydream when he felt Clara’s warm arms embrace his middle. He twisted to face her, brushing her silky hair away from her cheek as she reached up, arms twining around his neck, smiling questioningly at him,
“Good morning, beautiful Clara”,
Liam murmured quietly as he pulled her close to him, his t-shirt riding up her toned legs as they embraced. Clara kissed his lips gently, resting her head against his strong chest, voice quiet,
“Good morning Li. Did you manage to get some sleep?”
Liam nodded and smiled weakly down at her,
“Yes a few hours I suppose. I don’t feel particularly well rested, but I should expect that really…”
Clara took both Liam’s hands in hers and stared in his brilliant blue eyes,
“I’m glad you slept. Even if you don’t feel good, your body needed it Liam. Now, you need to eat something baby…”
Liam shook his head,
“Oh no, I honestly don’t think I could stomach anything Clara.”
She gripped his hands tighter,
“Liam, please, let me look after you. You need to eat, you need to sleep. These things aren’t optional – I am going to make some coffee and some toast and you need to try, ok?”
Liam opened his mouth to protest, but decided to let her because he just didn’t have the energy to argue about toast…
—
As Clara busied herself in the small but beautiful kitchen within Liam’s quarters, her mind drifted to Regina and Leo. Clara wondered how they were holding up… Her thoughts were broken by ‘ping ping’ of her cell-phone, she padded across the room to retrieve it from where she’ abandoned it last night. Drake.
“Hey Fitzpatrick, how is Liam? I checked in with Bastien after the palace was cleared, he said you were spending the night. I can’t believe what happened last night. Do you guys need anything? Is there anything I can do to help?“
She quickly text him back,
“Hi Drake, he’s doing ok, slept a little, I’m making him some food now. Are you guys all ok? He wants to meet with security in a bit, do you want to be in that meeting? I need clothes, otherwise I’m going to be doing the walk of shame back across the palace in a ball gown, could you tell Maxwell?”
She saw the bubbles appear on the little screen as she waited for the toaster to stop.
“We’re all ok, just worried about Liam. I’ll get with Bastien on the meeting details and see you both there. Maxwell will sort the clothing issue, don’t worry.“
Clara placed her phone on the counter and started to butter the toast, as another ‘ping ping’ rang out, Maxwell,
“Little Blossom – you hussy! 😉 One outfit on its way xx”
She smiled and rolled her eyes, sending him back two kissy faces.
—
Liam had drank his coffee and stomached a couple of mouthfuls of toast. It was enough to make Clara happy, but it felt like cardboard in his mouth, his throat so dry as he laboured to chew and tried to swallow it; choking him, making him feel nauseous… He stared at his reflection in the mirror as he dressed. He felt that he’d ages overnight, he wasn’t a good colour; so pale. His eyes looked sunken but swollen. He expected that the Cordonian media would have gotten wind of last nights events, so he needed to make himself presentable for the media. He pulled out his military dress from the closet, and dressed. Gold medals glinting in the morning light on the breast of his black jacket, the Cordonian crest over his heart. Liam stepped out of the bedroom and peered up at Clara for approval. She walked over to him, adjusting the collar of his shirt, smoothing the jacket across his broad shoulders, whispering,
“You look perfect, Li.”
Just then, the door knocked and Liam stiffened, his eyes widening. Clara touched his cheek,
“Hey it’s ok, it’ll be Maxwell… Max?? Is that you??”
A muffled ‘yes’ drifted into the room. As she opened the door, Maxwell pulled Clara into a tight embrace,
“Thank God you’re ok. Here.”
Slinging a bag off his shoulder Maxwell left Clara to investigate as he approached Liam, a nervous, sympathetic half-smile on his lips,
“Liam… I’m so sorry.”
Liam nodded wordlessly as Maxwell wrapped him in a strong hug. Clara quietly watched the two men, quite touched by their friendship. She was more than happy with Maxwell’s outfit selection; he’d brought her classic LBD, black heels and her royal blue silk jacket with the Cordonian pin on it. He’d also thought to bring her hairbrush, fresh underwear and her makeup bag. He was an amazing friend, to both of them. Just then, the door knocked again, with a deep voice booming through the heavy oak,
“Your Majesty, can I come in, we have a bit of a situation that we need to discuss.”
Liam moved to the door,
“Bastien, what now? What situation??”
Clara and Maxwell looked at each other and back to Bastien, worried expressions on their faces. Bastien cleared his throat,
“King Liam, before we begin the security debrief this morning, I’m afraid that you’re going to have to deal with the press first.”
Liam shook his head,
“No. The security meeting is the priority today Bastien, the media can wait for a statement until that’s done. I want to know what your team have been doing overnight to find the scum who did this!”
Liam’s jaw dropped as he listened to the next words that Bastien breathed,
“You don’t understand Your Highness, there seems to have been some sort of leak to the international press regarding last nights’ events. It’s not just Trend and Cordonian Channel 5 News. The ‘Media’ are arriving: the BBC are already camped outside, Reuters, CNN. There’s dozens more on their way inbound to Cordonia, it’s an international media furor. The world is wakening up to news bulletins about the ‘alleged terrorist attack’ on the Cordonian palace killing the King Father this morning. We need to get you out there to do a press conference and calm the panic that’s brewing King Liam. Urgently.”
—
TBC – VP 💖
