Ziam oneshots ✔️

Your Majesty II

"You will not leave this castle, Liam!"

Liam sighed and turned around from where he had been packing some clothes into a linen bag. His mother was livid. From the moment Liam had told her about his plan, she had been insistent that he didn't leave, that he stayed with her in the castle to fulfil his duties as a King.

He shouldn't have told her. He didn't know why telling her would have been a good idea to begin with.

"You're the King!" Karen continued, pacing back and forth in Liam's room, her heavy skirts rustling as she did so. "Your place is here, in the castle walls, on your throne! And not on some dirty ship in the middle of the ocean!"

"Mother," Liam said calmly, placing his hands on her shoulders to stop her from pacing, "You will not keep me here. I will go, no matter what you say to try and keep me here. My decision has been made."

Closing her eyes, Karen shook her head. She took a deep, trembling breath, the tension in her shoulders softening under Liam's touch. "You're a fool sometimes," she said, more quietly. She looked back at Liam, her beautiful, baby blue eyes shining with unshed tears. "Just like your father."

As those words left her mouth, Liam pulled her into a tight embrace. Though he resented being compared to his father, he couldn't help to see the slight resemblance, anyway. For as long as Liam could remember, his father had been obsessed with these pirates. He would spend hours and days locked in his study, constantly talking and mumbling to goodness-knew-who.

It had eventually become his demise.

But Geoff and Liam weren't the same. Where Geoff was ill-tempered and liked to consume a tad too much alcohol during dinner, Liam was quiet, calm and desperately trying to not be the man his father once was. So, no, he wasn't going to become obsessed with the pirates as well. He was simply going to hunt them down and put an end to this ridiculous game they were playing.

Karen sighed in his arms, her warm cheek still pressed against his chest. "Is there really nothing that can convince you to stay?" She looked up at him with hope shimmering in her glassy eyes. "Please?"

Liam shook his head, a small smile lifting the corners of his mouth. "I'm afraid not, Mother."

"Alright, then," Karen said, defeated. She untangled herself from Liam's arms, wiping away a stray tear that was streaming down her flushed cheeks. "I'll leave you to it, then. When are you leaving?"

He could leave that evening still. He had ordered a few servants to prepare one of the smaller royal ships for him by nightfall. Though he couldn't leave his mother yet. Not without a proper goodbye and one last evening spent well together. "I'll leave in the morning."

Karen nodded once, her steady gaze meeting Liam's. "Good," she said quietly. "Will you join me for dinner, then?"

"Of course, Mother."

Satisfied with his answer, Karen nodded again and turned to leave Liam's bedroom. Though she stopped at the door, her hand hovering above the handle. "I'll await you in my quarters in half an hour for dinner."

And with those words, she left.

Liam sighed deeply, running a tired hand through his long, loose hair. He glanced at the heavy crown he had placed on the covers of his bed earlier. It had been in the family for generations. Each king had worn the heavy silver crown, decorated with emeralds and diamonds. Liam had never liked the crown. He always thought it made him look even more pale than he already was.

If he had any choice at all, he would never wear it again.

***

The sun was already peaking above the horizon by the time Liam made his way down the stone staircase at the back of the castle to the private dock of the royal family. One of the smaller royal ships was waiting for him, a few servants still loading the last bits of food and drinks on board.