King ◇ Phan AU

C20 [Epilogue]

Truth, noun: that which is true or in accordance with fact or reality

Anastasia sat on her throne, sobbing into her pale hands. Dan was declared dead a few hours ago by Marzia, the castle nurse. It hurt to know that not only her husband, but her step-son was dead. She had no one to run to, no one to ask for help, no one to love. She was alone.

Even though she had Tanya and Jim to talk to, they weren't around as much as they were before. Anastasia knew that they were very close to Dan, and to know that he was killed in the exact same way his mother was killed was hard to comprehend – especially for Jim, who witnessed it first-hand. Jim thought that no one else knew, but no person who was perfectly healthy and as young as Katie was could just die in her sleep. Anastasia knew this years ago, but kept it as a secret. She couldn't let that get out into the public.

Everything has been taken from her: her family, her love, her happiness; yet she still has that little bit of will to carry on, to make sure everything's alright. She knew that she would never be able to run Evernon on her own, she knew that the Sugg's would take over – but did she care? No. She was never one of royal blood anyway, she would never know what to do, seeing as she didn't grow up learning those sorts of things. She grew up learning how to sew, how to cook and clean, how to find the perfect man. She never needed those things, as she had servants to do that for her; but she knew that Arthur never truly loved her as much as she loved Katie. She married Katie because he loved her and she loved him; he married Anastasia because he was desperate and needed help taking care of Dan and the servants. She grew up having a normal life, but that soon spiralled into royalty.

There was a knock on the door. She looked up as two guards - Hemmings and Irwin – walked in, standing either side of a teenage boy which was around the same age as D...her step-son. Saying his name would just hurt her even more. The boy had brown, curly hair and gorgeous green eyes. He wore ripped clothes that were stained with mud, making Anastasia feel slightly sympathetic for the boy.

"Your Majesty," Hemmings spoke up, bowing in front of her in respect. "Mr Liguori would like to speak with you."

"He shall, then." She responded, before the guards spun on their heels in sync and exiting the throne room. "

"Your Majesty, my name is PJ Liguori, but you may call me PJ." He begun, bowing. "You seem pretty lonely at this point in time, and I can help you."

"Are you some sort of door-to-door matchmaking service?" he chuckled in response.

"No, my lady, but I have someone to introduce you to." He clapped, cueing a man around Anastasia's age to walk into the room. Her heart flipped at his defined muscles, perfect jawline, and cute laugh. He had deep brown eyes and tanned skin, long curly hair and was extremely tall. "This is Damian Fernandez, a man with a good sense of humour and a great eye for identifying beauty behind the blush. And the foundation. And the concealer. Don't forget the highlighter and the contour-"

"Ok, I think I get the point!" She laughed, Damian smiled.

"Hello, my beauty." He said, exploiting his flawless Spanish accent. "You look stunning."

"Damian is all yours, Queen Anastasia, all for one little thing."

"What is it? And can it be quick?"

"Sure, in fact I have the papers right now." PJ pulled out a feather pen, a jar of ink, and a document contained thousands of words. "Basically, if you don't know already, I am a member of the Black Enigmas, and our plan did succeed. You can have Damian, if you sign this paper, handing over the leadership of Evernon and the castle to me. We will run the Republic of Evernon fairly in a way where everyone – including specials – to have equal rights. You won't have to worry about anything before the revolution and you can run away with Damian to live a normal life together."