Swapped Crowns & Exchanged Words

Forever is always temporary.

Killian had packed his things and left,
he was gone by morning, on his way back to Xerea. He wasn't coming back anytime soon.
Achilles however, had extended his stay, he wasn't going to leave Alira alone, not like this.

After breakfast, Alira still hadn't left her room, so he came and knocked on her door.

"Alira? Are you awake?" He asked as he knocked.
All he got was a muffed 'Yes', so he opened the door.

Alira was sitting on her bed, her cheeks stained from all her tears, her hands trembling and her voice frail.
"What is it.." She managed to mumble, not wanting to be seen in this state at all.

Achilles didn't say anything, he shut the door behind him and rushed to her side, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. He hated seeing her so hurt, if he could, he wouldn't let a single thing ever upset her again. He wouldn't let anyone hurt her at all.
But if only it was that easy, that simple.

"I'm fine... Don't worry about me-" Alira says, as if all life has faded from her.

"Don't give me that, you're obviously not okay, my darling. I won't force you to talk but i'm going to be here for you.
Forever and always." He swears, meaning every word that comes from his mouth.
He won't leave her at all. He refuses to.

Just his words were enough to make her tear up, she wraps her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder as she slowly starts to cry, holding him close.

"Don't leave me.." She mumbles.
"Never. I won't ever leave you." He promised.

He places a little kiss on her forehead as he held her close, letting her cry as he comforts her, whispering sweet nothings into her ear, for only her to hear, words that he wouldn't ever speak to anyone else. Not ever.
This was something only she would ever hear from him.

Achilles went and got her breakfast, bringing it to her room, he made sure to get all her favorite foods and a nice drink aswell, since she hadn't eaten. He cares about her health, and she clearly had barely slept, nor eaten.

Once he made sure she was all okay, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Is there anything you would like to do today?" He asks sweetly, wanting to spend as much time with her as he can.

"Well....."

Alira and Achilles made all sorts of plans for the day, plans of what to do with eachother, things they would both enjoy and love, and decide to continue their day with.

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Meanwhile in Xerea, Killian is not okay,
and he's made sure that nobody else in the castle is. It's agonising.

He's been trying to keep busy, trying to distract himself, trying to ignore how he feels.
He's been duelling relentlessly, going on terrible dates, spending hours in that damn astronomy tower, her tower, his castle.
But nothing. Nothing will keep his mind off of her, not a single damn thing.
It is an absolute pain.

When he found that Achilles has extended his stay in Seraphim, he was absolutely infuriated.
That was his worst nightmare at this point,
because he knew exactly what Achilles was doing and it made his blood boil.
He ended up slamming his fist into the nearest wall, (made of stone and marble), bloodying his knuckles. But he couldn't care less about the blood, or the pain, or any of it.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go at all.
And he hated that.
He hated it more then anything else.

He stormed off to his room and took off his crown, chucking it into his desk with a thud.
The more he thought. the more he would rather simply drop dead.
Just the thought of what was going on when he wasn't there made him infuriated.

But there was nothing he could do.
Not a single thing.
He just had to deal with it.
To suck it up and deal with it.

And thats what hurt most.

Killian is conflicted, but he had to distract himself somehow. Something, anything, anything that will relieve the frustration and annoyance from him.

But nothing. Not a single thing. Nothing could take his mind off the situation. Everything he did reminded him of her, and then reminded him of what she's doing, and who.

So he suffered. He suffered in silence.

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Weeks passed, Achilles hadn't returned to Xerea at all, he had spent all his time in Seraphim with Alira. And Killian had heard nothing from anyone.
Not a single thing at all.
And it burned, it stung, it hurt.

He couldn't take it anymore. He can't.
He's started to isolate himself, at first he wasn't leaving the palace grounds, then he stopped leaving the castle, then he stopped leaving his room, and eventually stopped leaving his bed.

Nobody had seen or heard from him.
He was alone. Maybe it was better that way? Maybe thats what he needed.
But he didn't want to be alone, he wanted to be with her. Maybe be alone together.