Royal Revenge

"Fuck you, Adelaide Preston."

   Leo swallowed roughly, his adam's apple bobbing with the movement. Scanning Adelaide's face he saw nothing but cold hatred. Hatred directed towards him.

   "Well?" Adelaide taunted, raising an eyebrow, "no ideas."

   "Honestly I'd prefer you didn't harm me but that doesn't sound so likely, does it?" Leo mumbled.

   "No it doesn't." Adelaide turned studying her weapons. Weighing her options, she stalked towards an array of beautifully crafted knives. Grabbing one with a sage green handle she faced Leo once again.

   A mischievous grin slowly spread on her lips. Walking forward, eyeing Leo as if she were a tiger and he were meal prey. Adelaide grabbed the prince by the hem of his shirt. Shoved him up against the wall. And lay her dagger across his neck. Leo's eyes went wide as he processed what had just happened. The woman before him carried herself with such poise, it was clear just how much training she'd had.

   The dagger was cold against Leo's very hot skin. Sweat dripped down his temple at the thought of his life ending. Adelaide showed no signs of letting him walk out of here alive.

   "Adelaide, you don't have to do this!" Leo said out of breath. "Put down the knife and we can talk about this."

   "I have to do this, you have no idea how long i've been wanting to"-

   "Put the knife down!" Archer shouted looking furious.

   Adelaide dropped the knife and stepped back immediately suddenly ashamed. Leo threw his head back and let out a sigh.

   "What the hell were you thinking?" The leader of the Assassins Assembly said glaring at them both.

"I was just doing my mission." Adelaide countered.

"Your mission was to follow him around, not bring him to your chambers and try to kill him," Archer was pacing around the room, his hands pulling at his hair. "You'll have to take him back to the palace discreetly."

Archer then looked at Leo. "You'll have to come up with a lie explaining where you were, if you tell them the truth, i'll kill you myself, understood?"

"Understood." Leo nodded.

Adelaide was staring at the floor. She looked completely broken. In that moment, she was just a girl, calling out for help with nobody to answer. She took a deep breath and held her head up high.

"I'll get him back to the palace immediately." Her voice was strong even if her eyes held a storm.

Archer seemed satisfied with her response, he took one final glance around the room, turned and strode out. Adelaide grabbed Leo's arm and started heading for the door. Neither said a word the whole way out of the "Assassins Assembly". They walked on and on in silence. Leo was carefully constructing a good excuse as to why he was missing the entire afternoon. When they reached the castle grounds, Adelaide spoke.

"You will go in through the front gates, give the guards your explanation and head straight to your room. Do not speak to anybody else unless you absolutely have to and if you do make sure your story doesn't waver." She said never once looking at the prince.

Leo studied her face, wondering why she'd reacted as she had when Archer had disciplined her. Finding nothing but a stone-hard mask, he slipped his arm out of her grasp, and moved towards the gates without looking back.

The guards perplexed faces entered the princes view. He sidled up next to them and told them that he had to use the bathroom and ended up going for a stroll. Needless to say, they were pretty upset. Once in the palace, Prince Leo went up to his room and lay on his bed. Not long after, Delilah came rushing in. Her face obscured by worry. She took one look at the prince and that worry turned into fire-hot rage. Leo was slightly uncomfortable seeing her this way, due to the fact she never revealed these feelings in front of him.

"A stroll, you decided to take a stroll!" Delilah scoffed. "You can't honestly expect me to believe that!"

"Why not. That's what happened." Leo said with a shrug.

"Don't you lie to me, young man." She scolded.

The prince had to admit he felt a little bad lying to one of the only people who actually cared about him. Although if he didn't, his life might come to an end quicker than he originally would have thought.

"I'm sorry." Leo said pulling at a loose thread in his sheets.

"Are you alright, did anything happen to you?" That anger was gone, concealed by the concern she held for him.

"Yes, I am now, I wish I could tell you but I can't." Leo desperately wanted to confide in Delilah, the person he trusted most.

She let out a sigh. "If you need anything, i'll be here." Her long brown hair was tied in a knot resting at the nape of her neck. Multiple pieces were free, possibly by how frantic she'd seemed when bolting into the prince's room. Green eyes were filled with sorrow as she took in the prince in front of her. "You look so much like your mother." Delilah whispered heading out of the room. Leo heard her anyways and peered through his eyelashes at her, tears threatening to spill out.

His mother had died four years ago. Since then, his father, the King, had become a cruel person. He would strike Leo for the smallest mistake. Delilah would always tend to those wounds. The assassination of his mother would forever live in his head. His family were standing on the stage. Leo's parents were giving a speech about Leo. It had been his birthday. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out through the auditorium. His mother dropped dead. Leo remembered screaming and crying, his father panicking as he stared at his dead wife.

The room went in a rush, everybody was clawing their way out, desperately trying not to be the next victim. Another shot never came. Delilah had dragged Leo away and pulled him into a hug. She then had fallen asleep holding him to her chest, as a mother would. Since then, Leo's had nothing but love and respect for the woman.

Ever since that night, the prince wouldn't speak to many people. If he did he would appear uninterested in the conversation, causing people not to speak to him often as well. On the outside, he seemed like a jerk. On the inside, all he wanted was to feel whole again. A part of him had been lost on that night. He so desperately wanted to find it again. Adelaide Preston had made sure he never had the chance to. After his mother had been killed, Preston wanted nothing more than to make his life a living hell. She would track him and kidnap him and threaten him. He hated her. He wished nothing more than for her to disappear from his life.

   "Fuck you, Adelaide Preston."