#and ariel got distracted and goes wandering around and finds belle

[seventhea]

lil testing starter call, accepting. ⟢ ( @witch3rie, belle!)

                she’s  completely  lost,  wandering  around  the  warm,  elegant  castle,  threaded  with  age.  her  shoes  have  been  gone  for  a  long  time,  most  of  the  time  she’d  been  here,  actually.  she’s  never  been  inside  one  that  was  so  closed  off  to  the  outside  world.  even  eric’s  castle  had  open  windows,  balconies  and  terraces  that  held  rooms.  it  makes  it  hard  to  feel  her  way  around  without  the  breeze  of  the  sea  to  guide  her,  but  she  doesn’t  mind.  it  feels  like  a  game,  hide  and  seek!  except  the  seeking  is  all  of  the  lovely  things  she  finds.  golden  things  she  had  used  to  hold  dinglehoppers  back  at  home  now  holding  the  biting,  jumping,  dancing  fire.  the  next  thing  she  finds,  just  as  enchanted,  is  a  room  lined  with  books.  she  lights  up  with  recognition,  a  library!  like  eric’s,  but  more  books  and  less  things  from  her  home  and  much,  much  bigger.  and  not  so  devoid  of  anyone  else  as  his  is.  nestled  in  soft  cushions,  next  to …  something  she  wasn’t  sure.  the  idea  of  the  other  woman  slips  from  her  mind  as  she  nears  the  object,  gazing  at  it  curiously.  wide  eyed,  she  approaches  it  from  its  own  level.    “  what  is  it?  ”    she  asks  after  several  beats  of  silence,  examining  the  curve  of  the  object,  the  tiny  designs  splayed  across  the  front,  facing  the  woman.    “  i’ve  never  seen  one  before!  ”

[aworldoffandoms]

Runaway - Chapter 2

Chapter 2: New Clues

Pairing: Liam x MC [Ariel], Drake x Olivia

Word Count: 1, 857

Rating: T 

Warnings: None

Summary:  Drake and Olivia contemplate Liam’s state of mind while Liam receives more information that could help find his wife.

MASTERLIST

Tag list: @hopefulmoonobject, @annekebbphotography, @am-i-invisible777, @blznbaby, @khakie4, @lauradowning29, @blackcoffee85, @captain-kingliamsqueen, @moneyfordiamonds, @super-secret-fandom-blog

Please let me know if you want to be added or removed from the tag list! [Some of the tags wouldn’t work...sorry]

A/N: Here is the second chapter! Let me know what you think :)

Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Pixelberry and all characters belong to them. The plot is all mine.

 “Is Liam alright, Drake?” Olivia says, leaning forward and running her hands over his shoulders. To her relief, they relax, the knots loosening under the taut skin.

Drake sighs, closing his eyes as he leans into Olivia’s touch.

“I’d like to think he is, Liv, but he isn’t. He thinks that he can hide from me but I know better. It’s still tearing him apart after all this time.”

“Well, I don’t blame him. His whole world revolved around . . . her.”

The only response was another heavy sigh, and this time the resignation and defeat was all too obvious. His soft side was showing again, she noted. Few people saw it, and fewer still saw the true flurry of emotions hiding within. It was enough to tear anyone apart.

“And it’s because of that…that Liam is falling apart and taking his country with him. It’s not healthy, Liv.”

Olivia stopped her ministrations on Drake’s shoulders and shifts, facing her boyfriend and admonishing him with one of her famous glares.

“Perhaps, but Liam is coping in his own way. You can’t put a clock on grief, Drake. If it takes Liam another year or even five years to grieve his wife, he has every right to.”

Well…when Olivia said it like that, it made all the more sense. Damnit. She was too smart, even for him.

Great. Thanks for making me feel like an ass, Liv.

“Well…when you say it like that it makes sense.”

Olivia smirks, shrugging her shoulders.

“Of course it did. It’s right because it came from me.”

Her expression darkens at the thought of her parents, and instinctively, Drake leans over to embrace her, weaving his fingers through her long red hair that cascaded down her back when unpinned. Olivia tucks her head underneath his chin, wrapping her arms around his waist in return.

“You can’t just keep telling Liam to get over it. You have to be patient,” Olivia says before pausing, pulling away to look him in the eye. “And that also goes for telling him to stop searching for her.”

Drake’s eyes widen as she says those last words. How did she know he’d mentioned that?

“I knew you’d say it to him because it’s a year since the last time and I had to nurse you back to health because of it. He might be your best friend but he’s a husband grieving for a wife that left without saying goodbye. That is the sort of thing that affects a person deeply, probably too deep for us to even see.”

Drake nods and kisses the top of her head, taking in a moment to breathe in her perfume. A faint scent of gardenias still lingers. Or was it camellia? He’d find out later.

“You’re right. I just . . . Liam’s going through hell and what can I do?” Drake exhales, absently rubbing his partner’s back affectionately. “Thanks for bringing me back to earth…just like you always do.”

Olivia squeezes his waist in response. “Of course. Who else can keep you on your toes?”

Drake chuckles as he pulls back from the embrace and leans down to meet Olivia in a kiss as they slip beneath the covers.

One last thought runs through Drake’s head before he falls into a deep slumber.

Where are you Ariel and what the hell have you done to Liam?

***

Liam rubs his eyes as he leans back against his seat in his study and releases a violent yawn. When he finishes he glances at the clock.

2AM.

He’d been at this for five hours straight and he didn’t want to stop but knew he had to. Drake had expressed his worry a week before, the day of the second anniversary of the worst day of his life. The day that his world stopped spinning. The day where he felt the colour bleed from his life only to be left with the dismal grey that had been demanding his world since.

He wasn’t sure if it’d ever be the same again but he had to try. He had to try and find her.

It was his purpose now. If he was sure about anything right now, it was to find her.

It might have been irresponsible and foolish at this moment in time but in his mind being King came second and finding his beloved was his top priority. He would only stop until his last breath or until he actually found her.

This cannot be the end. It can't.

His eye wanders to his right desk drawer. Not knowing what possesses him to do it, he slides it open and grasps at the stained letter that had to be opened more than a hundred times. He knew he was unwise for doing so, but he reasoned with himself that it was the last piece of his wife he could hold on to or at least draw some sort of clue from. Could he not give himself that?

If it wasn’t for this letter, he’d think that Ariel left because she didn’t love him anymore, but he shakes his head at that notion. She’d always proved to him how genuine their love was. He surely couldn’t doubt it now.

God, he missed her so much. The ache in his chest throbbing as he brings up a hand and clenches at the skin to stop the pain.

He felt it hard to sleep nowadays without reading that letter before bed. Maybe he liked the pain, since reading it now still broke his heart and brought tears to his eyes. Maybe after two years, he enjoyed it. Enjoyed the pain because it made him feel something. He loathed feeling this empty. 

There were always questions which arose. Night after night, they flooded in.

Why did she have to leave? Was there a reason? What made her do it? How could she do it when they were so happy? How could she just leave him? Leave Cordonia when they were just getting started with their reign and their forever?

All these questions plague Liam and he can’t seem to get rid of them. Even in his daily meetings with everyone, from the common people to the haughtiest noble, he was almost always distracted.

Liam sighs and folds up the piece of paper, his eyes clamping shut as he closes the drawer with a slam. His fists clench instinctively as he feels the sting of tears pushing past his eyes.

He had to keep it together. He couldn’t fall apart now even though that would be the easy option. He had to be strong. He had to be competent.

Liam sighs as he stands up, sorting through the documents and the few leads that he’s gotten with Bastien’s help. He was running out of options, and hopefully, Ariel wasn’t either.

Just as his hand hovered on the light switch, a notification lit up the screen with the little ping noise he’d grown to dread. Liam sits down, neatly squaring the documents away as he opens the icon.

His eyes widen and the breath in his throat automatically hitches. His heart thunders in his chest as his stomach rolls around violently. Taking a deep breath, he forces himself to continue to scan the email from his American contact.

The day after Ariel had vanished he had correspondence with a contact that he had used a few years prior to save Leo’s ass from another royal scandal when he got into a compromising position with a Vegas stripper. Honestly, Leo was so incorrigible that he had to have his little brother clean up his mess for him.

Liam’s hand comes up to his mouth and rubs against the five-day stubble that had formed.

To: Liam Rys [liam.rys@cordoniaroyal.com]

From: Damien Nazario [d.nazario@nazariopi.com]

Your Majesty,

Upon your request, I have surveyed and dug into the few leads that you asked me to look into in New York and I believe that I have found something of use to you.

I know it has been two years since your wife vanished without a trace as to where her whereabouts are. Yet, I believe the information that I have included in this email will be important.

I remember you telling me that Queen Ariel had a workmate Daniel and as far as we were both concerned, he didn’t lead us to anything. Well…I did a little more digging and found some information about Daniel’s father, Gregory, and his alliances and long criminal record.

It seems that he has connections in Cordonia...something to do with the Sons of Earth? Does that ring a bell?

Oh, it certainly did.

One of the many underground organisations that wanted both he and Ariel off the throne. They both had to fight tooth and nail to defeat Anton. Liam wasn’t sure he could do it by himself, given the instability of the crown right now without a queen at his side.

He continues to read with bated breath.

Well...the Sons of Earth have been flaring up all over Cordonia and some have been spotted in America and my guess, considering your history with Anton…it’s quite possible that they have been liaising with some high powered people over here and because of this it’s possible that Ariel could be involved. How much? I don’t know.

My hunch says she must have had something of value to them because from the research that I have taken and the evidence that you have provided for me, this organisation? They don’t make their dealings public and they don't like outsiders knowing their business.

This is all I can give you at the moment, your majesty. Be sure to look at the attachments.

But, I trust my instincts, and I trust that your wife is still alive.

I believe that we can get to the bottom of this and bring her back.

Until next time, King Liam.

Sincerely,

Damien Nazario

P.I. at Nazario Investigations

Liam’s heart almost stops as he reads the last of Damien’s email. Ariel had to be alive. He hopes against everything that Nazario’s right and not just saying it to appease him.

Liam groans, running a hand through his hair as he stares at the clock at the corner of his computer. It’s hit three am. There was an eight o'clock morning meeting the next day calling his name. Better to retire now.

Taking the time for one last thing, he opens the attachment that Damien had sent with the email. He prepares himself for a few extra materials and surveillance on The Sons of Earth. What Liam didn’t expect to see was the sole person which made his and Ariel’s lives a living hell, stepping out of a black limousine in the busy Manhattan streets.

Cursing under his breath, he snatches the phone off his desk and dials the King’s Guard, heart racing.

“Hello?”

“Bastien?

“What is it, Your Majesty?”

“Meet me in my study,” Liam growls. “We need to discuss something in concerns to the Queen.”

“Is everything alright, my King?”

“I have reason to believe that Anton Severus is back.”