(jaylor au) clandestine meetings in beautiful rooms

We're Getting Stronger Now

Taylor

I turn back to face my parents, and am about to lunge forwards, but both Alexander and Austin stop me.
"Don't," Austin tells me, taking my shoulders, and forcing me to look at him. "Two days, Taylor. Push it down and don't feel it just yet. I know you're mad, but you have to put on an act, okay? It's cruel and it should never have happened, but you're no help to anyone if you go an a rampage like a mad woman and end up being locked away. Think of Joe." Austin squeezes me, and I focus on his eyes.
"Think of Joe." Alexander tells me again. "Think of him and nothing but him until you're alone. Then let yourself feel it when you're home."
I clench my hands into fists at my sides. I am so angry, so upset and betrayed.
My mind is whirling at a million miles per hour, and I have to close my eyes for a moment.
"Taylor, let's go." My mother tells me, but I'm worried that if I were to move, I might pass out. And I can't afford for that to happen either.
"I'll be there in a minute." I murmur, and Alexander takes my arm.
"What's wrong?"
I shake my head. "I'm fine." It's just two days.

Guards escort us back to the car, forming a tight circle around us, ensuring that no one can get to us. Betty's blood is on my hands, on my dress. Just like Beatrice's was. Blood is so much darker, so much warmer than one expects. I've stopped walking now, looking down at the ruby covering my hands. They're trembling. With anger or sadness, I'm not sure.
"One foot in front of the other," Austin tells me. "You just have to make it home."
So many people have been killed at the hands of my parents. Beatrice is dead. Betty is dead. So much death. The town is starving. My parents... taking their food? Their money? Anger flows through my veins and it's all I can do not to explode. Because right at this moment, I am a grenade.
"Let's go home," my mother says so nonchalantly that it just adds to my anger.
I just have to make it home. And then I will channel my anger into planning for our great escape.

Joe is waiting in my room when I get back. He's sees the blood on the skirt of my dress, and immediately comes to my side.
"Are you alright? What happened?"
"There was a peasant girl who called them out for everything they were doing, and the Queen ordered the guards to kill her." Alexander explains as he comes into the room.
"How am I supposed to leave when this is what I'm leaving?" I ask, crying acid tears of fury. "How can I leave them here with them?"
"Taylor," Joe pulls me into him. "You can't do anything from in here. You can't fight with them. In order to help, you have to get out of here first. You're not abandoning them. You're not leaving them behind. You're making a choice to escape. You can help them so much more when you're fighting from their side. If you were to try and fight from here, it would be a losing battle." He cups my cheeks. "You have to get out of her before it destroys you. I know you want to help them right now. But there's so many things that we can do. We'll help them, but not right now." He brings his lips to mine, and my eyelids flutter closed. "For now, you have to think about yourself for once."
He kisses my forehead. "So, we make sure that we are all ready to leave tomorrow evening."
I nod. "I... I have everything we need stashed in the back of my wardrobe." I have be distracted.
I'm about to show him what I have prepared, when he stops me by taking my hand.
"When did you last have something to eat?"
"I... can't remember." I admit.
"Before we do that, you need to get the servants to get you something to eat. Abigail will help you to get changed, I'm sure. I know that Blake has been helping me today, and Selena has been arranging something to distract the rest of the palace." He kisses my forehead again. "And then we can all start working."
I nod - because I know that I have to eat food, I know that I haven't been eating properly, but there's been so much going on that there's barely been time.

After I have eaten something, we end up at the greenhouse, a place where my parents wouldn't dream of visiting. A place with several water features loud enough for our words to be silent.
The greenhouse is a place I have not gone for a long time. It's so unnatural compared to the orchard and I'd rather be outside than stuck in a glass box. We sit down on the edge of the water fountain.
"There's a group of... well, it's most of the people in the village, actually, but there's a group of rebels that are fighting against the reign of your parents." Alexander says in a hushed voice. We have already talked about our plans, about who's leaving when, about where we are meeting and how much land we must cover before dawn. Joe is sitting beside me, his hand around my waist.
"Obviously they want you to reign," Alexander adds. "But clearly, that's not going to be an option. We will be long gone before any of that happens. The important thing is, Taylor, that you can't forget that you are of more use outside the walls than in them. No matter what happens, no matter what they tell you." I nod. It's easy to forget that we are escaping when I think of the suffering that's being created in the village.
"I do not understand why New York is so valuable." Alexander stands up. Austin sighs, because I'm sure he's already figured it out. "Everyone wants the Kingdom. Everyone wants to get their eyes on the crown. But why? I can't put my finger on it. I mean, we've got access to the ocean... but that's it. I do not know why they want us."
Austin shakes his head. "It's got nothing to do with value," he tells us. "Nothing at all. They simply don't want New York to be reigned by our parents. I mean, they're corrupt. They are literally starving their people. It's happened before. There's going to be a point at which the peasants explode, and we don't want to be anywhere near here when that happens."
There's a noise from outside that causes all of us to jump, but Alexander is quick to change topics before he goes to investigate.
"Think about all the things we're going to do to change the world once we're in it."
Joe stands up and goes to join him, but I take his hand. "What if-"
"Do you have the dagger I gave you?"
I nod.
"I'll be fine. I promise."
But I don't believe him, because it seems that these days, nothing is ever fine.