CAN THIS DAY get any worse?
Anthony had kept his memories of his past in a locked chest in his brain. Never to be opened and never to be remembered. Except for some happy details. Other than that it's just locked away.
And now, his memories resurfaced. What had the previous Lord Timothy wanted from him now? Was it about Henry? Even though they were close, it was not like he was told any Royal secrets, and not like he would tell any if he knew any.
"Are you working together?" Anthony asked. If they did work together, it wouldn't do any good for them. It wasn't like Henry would save him. It wasn't like that. "The Royal guards must be after you Timothy and so are the police."
Lord Timothy scoffed. "Those cheap guards are easily swayed with just a small change, and the police make no difference." He smirked wider.
"So? What do you want to happen with me being your captive?" Anthony had to think of some way to warn Henry and fast. "And where are we?"
"Well, you might not be informed but your father still lives." Anthony internally shivered at the thought of his father. "He wants you to be the next King, not taking your leave as an abdication to the throne. And I'm sure the prince would come to save you." Brandon walked behind him, opening a window with no moonlight out. "We are in my home, the palace."
Fresh air made its way in, brushing past Anthony's wounds. He trembled. It was a cold and moonless night. "I thought your father lost to some warrior kid and left in shame? Does the kingdom still stand with you as their ruler? What a mystery."
"Shut your mouth, Anthony" Brandon roars. "I don't know who that brat was but I will kill them if I meet them. No one ends my father without warning him."
"He was assassinated, Brandon. Why would the assassinator warn their target?" Anthony felt intense pain in his stomach as he was being kicked by Brandon. He felt like crying with each kick. And with each kick, he felt like dying.
"Shut," Another kick.
"Your," Another.
"Fucking," And another.
"Mouth," And another. Anthony coughed up blood, his throat in pain. He held his stomach, bruises in his body responding and making Anthony feel stabs all over him. He crouched in a fetal position, hair covering his face.
Two men who came in together with Bradon, pulled him away from Anthony who was bruised. Brandon didn't retaliate.
"Can we place some lights in here?" Lord Timothy whined. "It's dark and not my type of place." Brandon huffed. He ordered the men to turn the oil lamps on.
"Remember your payment for getting you out of that prison." Brandon turned away from Lord Timothy. It was clear money and status were what they cared for.
"Yeah, yeah," Lord Timothy waved it off. "Only if we take the Prince hostage, his mother would do anything to keep her people from alarm and would yield to anything we wish for."
"But he's the Prince of Wares," Brandon argued. "He's obviously trained to fight and defend himself."
Lord Timothy rolled his eyes in disgust. "And that brat of a princess," Anthony froze. "All we need to do is immobilize her and keep her away from us."
"Why?" Brandon questioned. "She's a brat. Probably just like how other princesses are, she's an easy target." Anthony wanted to laugh at Brandon. Not only does he underestimate a Royal Family but he also doesn't do his research.
"She's the person who defeated your father and the one who shamed him," Anthony could feel the anger and menacing aura of Brandon when Lord Timothy broke the news. "Now, he should be here by now." Anthony tensed up.
"Ah, He's here." Anthony released himself from the fetal position, looking up to see who just arrived. The air felt heavy. The tension in the room multiplied. He could feel his heartbeat going faster. His mind ignoring the pain signals his body is sending and just completely frozen.
_______________________________________________________
Henry tensed on the way to the palace of Brandon's family. The Quartz Royal Family's Palace.
The King had been defeated by his sister as a child. She, who saw things clearer and different than any adults in the Royal Family, decided that he was not fit to be a ruler of his people, the whole kingdom of Quartz. Made him leave his kingdom in shame, making his only son, Brandon, lead his kingdom to either prosperity or hardship.
Henry's family kept tabs on the kingdom. Though Athena was wrong to accuse him of being wrong, he did lead his kingdom to failure, slowly but surely. Anyone with a great eye on how an economy could flourish would see how terrible their kingdom was. Signs of the economy failing were inconspicuous and whimsical.
Athena had only been 12 years old when she did defeat him. She tried to constantly offer her help to regain their profitability but was rejected constantly. The people hadn't known what she did was for their own good. The bums had suffered without the Royal family noticing and kept hiring soldiers to train and work for war. Funds were insufficient for the kingdom to improve and thus becoming deficient.
Henry was on the Royal Family's helicopter. The Queen, Elijah, Alejandro, Athena, Eric, and some of the most trusted fighters were all aboard. Ava, a fighter, had investigated how Lord Timothy escaped. He couldn't escape without anything to contact the outside world.
It turns out the guards were bribed by someone.
"What do you mean?" The Queen asked. "I thought we had captured all his minions, even those in his headquarters."
"He wasn't one of them, Your Highness." Everyone was confused. "It was a hired person. It looked like the person you asked me to get information about Sir Elijah." How could that be? As far as they knew, Lord Timothy worked with people who were devoted to him being the King of Wares. And Elijah investigated someone? That must've been serious.
"Hired huh," Elijah took the information in. He was the brains of the operation. Well, the second in command after the Queen, but he was still an important member of the family.
Wearing the noise-canceling headphones, he closed his eyes, entering his thinking zone. His right elbow resting on the back of his left hand. His forefinger covering his lips. Everyone kept quiet, even to those who didn't know what was happening. A few moments later, his eyebrows furrowed. More of a confused furrow. A few more moments later, he opened his eyes. Everyone was attentive. He started.
"It might be Brandon who bribed the guards," Henry had questions to ask but knew better. "I know this might seem really crazy but it must've been him."
"How are you sure? Support your suspicions, Elijah." The Queen continued to think about how it could've been Brandon.
"I know that the two have no connections whatsoever but ever since the King…" He trailed off. "I've been investigating what Lord Timothy had been doing before he attacked us."
Henry thought back to the days where Elijah worked his ass off while he was just cooped up in his room. But you can't blame him.
"I asked Ava to get any surveillance videos on Lord Timothy and 5 days ago, he met up with Brandon. I didn't know who he was so I asked Ava once more to investigate him. She came back to me with the information and I kept it in my mind, burned the file."
"Why did you burn the file?" Athena asked. "You could've proved something one way or another."
"When I was investigating how Lord Timothy got into the palace, two maids were passing by my study room. When they heard the commotion, they crept up to us getting captured in the dining room and so they hid in my room. Everything was calm for a few minutes they stayed in, one of them didn't want to risk their life going out so they stayed until two men came in. Lord Timothy's minions."
Henry indulges the information. Lord Timothy knew that Elijah had files that were confidential and only he could access them. He probably knew that he was being followed and watched.
"His minions burned everything and splashed water on them immediately. Luckily the maids who were in there hid well and were not injured. They apologized for not stopping them, but I couldn't blame them."
"So you lost years of research and information that night?" Alejandro covered his mouth.
"No, I kept lots of copies." He smirked and everyone sighed in chorus. He nearly killed Henry. "I placed one in the house, one in the car, one in the bathroom, and another one in the cafe." Elijah had always thought forward and that's what amazes and scares Henry.
"And so I didn't keep the file about Brandon just because I didn't think he was a threat. His kingdom was in a pinch and I thought he would try to improve it but I didn't think otherwise. I'm sorry for keeping it from you guys." He lowered his head. Alejandro comforted him, patting his back.
"It's fine, you had your reasons and I don't think any of us would have tried to listen or entertain you due to the circumstances." Athena smiled at him. "Let's just go and save Anthony and we can finally end this feud with Lord Timothy."
Everyone gave a nod.
"Let's run through the plan once again," The Queen called everyone's attention. The special team sat in attention, eyes, and ears paying attention.
"Alejandro, Eric, The Queen, and I will stay here," Elijah retold. "You guys will wear this earpiece and listen to our instructions and no you cannot take it off because it's bothering you." He turned to Athena who pouted.
"I just wanted to hear things clearer and better," Athena rolled her eyes, receiving a shoulder pat from Eric who assured her she would be fine.
"The rest of you will stand guard where we will be," Elijah continued. "Use any kind of force to get Anthony, capture Lord Timothy, and come back right away." Henry held up his hand to speak but was interrupted.
"No, you cannot take Brandon now and don't waver from your true purpose and what is it?" Henry met eyes with the Queen.
"Take Lord Timothy and save Anthony, don't kill anybody, and don't waste time," Henry repeated the purpose of what they were doing. Henry wanted Anthony safe and in his arms once again.
He wanted to… he wanted to kiss him once again. He wanted to feel his warmth on him. And this time, he wouldn't doubt it anymore. He wouldn't hesitate anymore.
"We are arriving, Your HIghness," Lia, the aircraft pilot, reported. We were separated by a wall from the pilot's seat and the back seat. "Landing in T-minus 10 seconds." Elijah had thought to land the helicopter by the tall tree forest, to camouflage and be hidden. We had to run to the palace which wouldn't take 3 minutes.
"Copy that Lia," The Queen responds. "Get ready now. It's time to save my son's boyfriend and capture that stinky Lord Timothy." Everyone gives a nod except Henry.
"He's not my boyfriend for goodness sake," Henry sighed. "We're just… friends."
"And I'm 6," Athena adds a snarky comment. "Just admit it, you idiot of a brother." Henry opened his mouth to talk back but interrupted by a shot. Everyone shifted in their seats, the special team equipped their guns, Eric froze, Elijah placed an arm in front of Anthony, Athena holding her knives.
"What's happening Lia?" Ava asked, cocking her gun.
"It's the welcome committee," Lia chuckled. "What's your order, Your Highness?"
"Land, and Athena," The Queen turned to her. "Do what you do the best." Athena gave a grin and stood up. Everyone's eyes followed her, reaching the door.
"Hmm, give me like 1 minute." She raised a finger. Henry turned to Alejandro and Eric who were confused and explained.
"Thought you could do it in less than a minute?" Elijah mocked.
"Yeah, but we are against another kingdom to who I tried to offer my help. It's likely for them to be more hostile towards me." She jokingly sighed. "Well, I'll be back." She slid the door open. "Toodles."
The door slid close as quickly it was opened. The special team relaxed and almost seemed grateful.
"Why is she the only one outside?" Alejandro spoke up. "Help her."
"Alejandro, she's the strongest of us all," Elijah smiled at him. "If we were there, we would just be useless. And it's fine, if something happened to her she would let us know with the earpiece."
Alejandro wasn't able to believe it easily but Eric did. Everyone stayed put for a little longer. Elijah stared at his watch, counting the time. Looking nervous.
"It's been one minute, we have to go now," Elijah stated.
"Something's wrong." The Queen agreed. "Lia, are you there?" It was silent.
"Go now," Henry lowered his voice at the special team. "Go under."