Astoria

f o r t y

It had taken only his words of kindness, his offer to bring her entire family here to his own palace to keep them safe, to unleash her tears. Tears of sorrow. Tears of gratefulness. She supposed, perhaps, that she had acted on impulse yet again: surely it was not appropriate for her, as a servant, to be in such a position of closeness with the king and yet Antony did not seem upset with her. Rather the opposite, in fact...He seemed to be returning her embrace, doing his best to comfort her.

After a few moments, when she had enough control of her emotions to worry about what he might think of her, she pulled away and simply stood before him. She swiped at her eyes a few times, and returned to looking out the window, wishing that she could turn around directly and take his hand once more, for had he not initiated at least that comfort? And she had felt so much better just knowing that he cared.

She was confused, however. What if she did fall in love with Antony? What if she already had? Would that be alright? She had too many secrets, too many parts of herself that she kept hidden. If she revealed them...Even if she kept them secret, surely it would be wrong to allow herself to get to know him more closely, all the while presenting to him a false front of who she really was? Aside from that...was John right? Would Antony never be anything more than her friend? Was he even really her friend? Or was he merely a friend as an extension of his cousin's friendship with her?

There were too many questions, too many things that remained unsure.

She turned to glance at Antony, as he cleared his throat. He was standing exactly where she had left him, hands held behind his back.

"I will be leaving immediately with a squadron of the army for Hampshire and Dunkirk. When I return, in several days time, I will bring your family with me...If, of course, it pleases them and you?"

She nodded, and forced a smile, turning back to face the window, afraid of how much she wanted to return to his arms, where she had felt safe for only a few moments. She couldn't. He didn't care for her like that. She'd only be hurt, just as John had said.

"I'll leave then," he said, hesitantly, after a few moments. "Unless there is anything else you have need of?"

"No," she said. "You're already doing enough for me."

She remained facing the window, looking out over the grounds, while all the while listening to his footsteps retreat across the room and then the soft closing of her sitting room door. Moments later, she heard the door to the outer parlor close.

Kade looked up at the sound of a knock on his office door.

It can't be any worse news than has already been delivered... he thought, standing and going to open the door.

Isabella stood before him, hands clasped before her in worry.

"Kade?" she said, her voice quiet. "What's happened? Antony said...But he didn't tell me..."

"My father has been captured," he said, quietly, his voice hollow. "I don't know where he is, nor even if he is alive."

"Oh Kade..." He felt her put her arms around him. "I'm so sorry..." she said. "Do you have any leads about where he might have been taken?"

"I do not," he said, wearily, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close to him, burying his face in her hair, loose around her shoulders for once, rather than up.

"It's going to be alright," he heard her say, whispering into his ear, her voice full of quiet confidence. "I promise...and whatever happens, I promise I'll be here for you."

He closed his eyes, allowing her presence to give him strength. He never thought he'd be as lucky to have someone like Isabella love him. She wasn't just a princess by title, she was princess by her actions and the way she cared for others.

"Thank you, Isabella," he said.

She stood slightly back from him. "What are you going to do next?"

"I'm just waiting for Antony to get back to have a meeting with his advisers. We'll discuss then what needs to be our course of action."

"I saw Antony; he went to..."

"Talk to Meredith," he finished. "I know." He sighed, looking down at the ground before looking up and meeting Isabella's eyes once more. "Her brother has also been taken."

"What?" whispered Isabella, looking at him wide-eyed.

"Nash," he said, nodding.

He watched as she shook her head in disbelief.

"Meredith will be so distraught..." she said, her voice tinged with worry. "What about the rest of her family?"

"I don't know," said Kade. "Antony went to give her the news."

"I trust my cousin to give it to her plainly, but gently...However, if you're going to be in a meeting anyways, I should probably go to her and give her what comfort I can."

She pulled back gently and stood straighter, watching him. "Are you going to be alright, Kade?" she asked, quietly.

He nodded and managed a smile. "I'll be fine...as soon as we have some plan in place to put these people in their place and rescue the ones they've taken. We're going to end this threat, somehow."

She smiled at him, then stepped forward to give him one last kiss. "You're going to get him back," she said. "I know you will. You're brave, Kade, and determined. It's why you're general. I'll see you later."

She turned, and with one last backward glance at him, left the room to go and find Meredith.

Kade watched her go, before turning back to the map behind his desk, his gaze hardening.

This needs to end before more lives are lost or more people are taken.

He exited his office and made his way to the throne room, where the advisers were already gathering before Antony's throne. The only one left to arrive was the king, and Antony had, indeed, told Kade that he might be slightly late. Kade made his way to the front of the room, and caught the advisers attention.

"Thank you all for coming. As you may have, by now, heard, we have matters of the kingdom's safety to discuss here today. King Antony will be here momentarily and we will begin. For the record," he continued, nodding to the scribe who poised his pen to write. "We know only that Hampshire and Dunkirk have been attacked. The king is in possession of a list of names of the fourteen dead and the two missing. This information is all we have at the moment, other than that the attack occurred late last night."

Kade stood to the right of the throne and looked out over the advisers, most of them looking rather thrown together as the majority of them did not rouse themselves from their beds until rather later in the morning.

He, and all of the advisers, looked to the doors as they began to swing open.