All The Kings Men {Peaky Blinders} (Completed)

Six

Spring faded slowly with light storms and uneasy nights. Summer passed with a blink of the eye, with pretty girls in the soft moonlight. Autumn turned sour with handsome boys who drank too much. And winter was just around the corner, teasing nothing but harsher storms and bad ideas.

Lily sat alone in the Grey household, a warm cup of tea with a splash of whisky in her hands. She sneezed loudly, as the fire was burning, and the lights were on. She turned to the entry hall as the door opened, allowing a gust of wind and light snow to follow whomever was entering.

Michael nodded at her, before pouring himself a glass of whisky. "How was work?"

The two had finally made light of their situation, and had mostly warmed up to each other. He shrugged, taking off his overcoat that was splattered with droplets of rain and small snowflakes. "Same business as usual. John is pissed because Esme is hooked on Tokyo, and with the kids it's not going so well for them." Lily sat quietly as he talked, her record had finished, and they sat in silence until Michael got up to replay it.

He sat back down, the mellow jazz filling the large hall. "You've barely left this house in weeks."

Lily sipped her tea and moved her legs so her feet rested in Michael's lap. "Winter's harder for some reason." She looked up at him. "Makes me think..." She trailed off, ignoring the silence between them.

*

A week later, Lily was back to London. It was jarring, for the girl, to suddenly be in a vastly different environment to what she had been in for a while. She stood in front of Ada's apartment, and waited for the door to open. Ada Thorne smiled down at her, they hugged and Ada let her in. "Would you like a drink?"

"Tea, yeah." Lily sat at the table and grinned as little Karl came charging at her. He was growing big now.

"Auntie Lily!" He climbed on to her lap, and gave her a hug. He had mostly grown up without his father due to a few reasons, and since Freddie had passed, Ada had been living alone with Karl. Every now and then Polly or Lily would drop in for a cup of tea, or drop of some supplies for the mother and son.

"He looks like his father." Lily commented as Karl disappeared into his room. Ada smiled sadly, she was not yet over the death of her husband. "Little munchkin."

"Freddie would be so proud of him." She set the tea cup down in front of Lily and sat opposite her. "What brings you to London?"

"I was hoping you could do three things for me, Ada." The two women regarded each other for a second before Lily continued. "I have to go out at some point, do an art piece in Camden, I was hoping, you would cover for me if Polly called, tell her I'm asleep or something." She sipped her tea. "And I was hoping I could spend the night, and the third thing would be if you could tell me a little bit about communism."

Ada was a communist because she believed what Freddie believed. And Freddie believed in equal rights. Even if equal rights came with a compromise and a price. Ada nodded, the political stance was a guilt trip and they both knew it, but Ada agreed nonetheless.

"How will you get to Camden Town? It's halfway across London." She pointed out. Lily drank more of her tea.

"This fellow, he said he would pick me up a few streets away." And Ada understood.

"Business. Did Tommy put you up to this? Push you to London to do his dirty work while he lives like a King in that mansion?"

Lily sighed. "No, Ada. This isn't-"

"I may be a Thorne but I was raised a fucking Shelby too. I know business when I see it."

"I thought you weren't either anymore."

Ada struggled to find the words. "I used to be. The way it's run, the family, the business, it's embarrassing to think about." She became quiet. Neither spoke a word as they finished their tea.

Lily stood up, and gathered her art supplies. "Just so you know, this is not for Tommy's benefit, it's for mine." Ada raised her eyebrows at Lily, but left the comment alone.

She stood, and gave Lily a hug. "It's good to see you."