The Destitute Queen || h.s. au

58. Alec

     "You nearly gave me a heart attack yesterday, Ben," I let out a shaky breath as my little brother looks at me with his wide, brown eyes he got from our father. Lena was fortunate enough to get our mother's grey eyes. There's probably someone in my lineage who had blue eyes, I had to have gotten it from somewhere.

     "I'm sorry," he says weakly, closing his eyes. "Alec, could you please get me some more water?"

     I fervently nod, standing up from the side of his bed. "Of course, I'll be right back."

     I hastily make my way to the kitchen area and quickly pour him a glass of water from the pitcher I bought earlier today. Not wanting to be away from him for too long, I almost jog back to his room.

     "Alec..." Ben's voice strains. "When will Milena come back?"

     I let out a quiet sigh. "Soon, Benny. Soon."

     Ben huffs. "I told you not to call me that. I'm not a little kid, you know."

     "Yeah, I know," I smile. Then, I sit back down on the bed. "Is there anything else you need?"

     He shakes his head, tightly clutching Mila's old doll. "When's Niall going to be here? Doesn't he usually close the-"

     Ben breaks into a fit of harsh coughs, and I quickly aid him in sitting up a bit. He can barely move on his own anymore, and yesterday's incident just worsened his condition.

     My heart nearly stopped yesterday when I noticed that he wasn't breathing. I shook his tiny body frantically as I called out his name a numerous amount of times. After a few seconds, he started coughing and I had never felt more relieved. I couldn't bear the thought of losing Ben, too. I've already lost everyone else.

     I don't remember every single detail about my parents' deaths, but there are some things that stay in my memory vividly. When those soldiers pounded on the door, frightening Momma. When the tall man with three boys next to him and a crown on his head demanded money from us. When Momma told me to take Ben and go find Milena, and keep them out of the house. When I saw them on the ground, and I had to hold Milena back. And finally, when I went with the Watcher back to my house for the very last time, before it was burned to the ground.

     I remember vowing to kill the man who did that to them. The crown on his head told me that he was a Royal, but he couldn't possibly be the King. He rarely leaves the palace, it seems highly unlikely that he would come here for such a small matter of payment. I remember his face clearly, along with the boys who were with him. One of them was giving me strange looks.

     That was years ago, and I've found a way to bury it deep within my memory, so it rarely ever resurfaces. I was only ten years of age when it happened, and now I'm twenty. I took over Papa's bakery a few years later and was too busy working hard to keep me and my siblings alive to find a girl and get married like all of my friends. I know I'm one of the few unmarried people over eighteen years of age in the village, but I just don't have time for that. My priorities are to take care of Ben, not find a spouse.

     "A- Alec," Ben whispers once he's stopped coughing, bringing me out of my thoughts. "Why isn't Niall here?"

     "He had to work today," I tell him. "He couldn't take the day off, but he said he'll stop by after the work day is over."

     Ben nods, closing his eyes. "What time is it?"

     "It must be around three in the afternoon or so," I say, although I'm not entirely sure. Our clock broke and I have yet to visit the village clockmaker.