Quest | A Fantasy TMF AU ~ Paused

Chapter 3

Jake's POV

I folded my arms and tapped my foot impatiently, looking down at Gabriela and Alexander. I was in no shape to give them a lecture, so I waited for them to speak first. However, judging by their awkward glances at the floor and overall stubbornness, I knew I'd have to get them to crack open some other way.

"So," I started, still glaring at them. "What happened out there?" Gabi rubbed the back of her neck in an attempt to look sheepish. It wasn't working. I turned to Alex. "Alexander? Care to explain?" He was silent for a moment before bursting into a full-on rant.

"I was about to release the search party for the queen when this imbecile decided it was the perfect time to try and run away, to which I can find absolutely no reason other than to cause trouble. She never has reasons for anything, she never thinks things through, she's such a dim-witted, intolerable, absolutely good-for-nothing son of a b-"

"OKAY, Alex, we all know you hate your sister," I cut him off. "Now Gabi, care to explain what actually happened?"

She took a sudden interest in her combat boots. "What was that?" I asked.

"I said I wanted to find Mom on my own!" she shouted. I was taken aback by the sudden outburst. The realization of what she said slowly sunk in. She continued, "I'm better than all of those soldiers combined! You've seen me do the drills with ease. I'm sure that I can find her, I know it, if you just let me go, I'd find out where she is in less than a month! I-"

"No," was my harsh reply. "I've already lost Hailey, and I'm not losing you too. You're staying right here, where I can protect you." Her face fell. Alex snickered at her, and she turned to leave. "Well look at how safe this place is. Your wife totally didn't get kidnapped the second you left the room."

Those words hit harder than a punch to the gut. It brought all the guilt and pain back tenfold. I staggered backwards, and she glanced back at me. A look crossed her face, and she slumped her shoulders. "Have fun trying to keep us safe when you couldn't even keep the love of your life by your side." I had no clue what her intentions were, but this tactic of bringing the harsh reality down on me was working. I felt worse every second.

"FINE," I yelled after her. She whirled around, eyes wide with hope. "I'll let you go try to find Hailey." She pumped her fist in the air.

"But Alex needs to go with you." I was not letting her go alone. They both stared at me in shock.

"WHAT?!" they yelled simultaneously.

"There is no way that jerk is coming with me!"
"How do you expect me to survive with that fool?!"

I silenced them with a glare. "I'm coming too. To make sure you two don't kill each other before you even get to Snyk City."

Why I was doing this? No clue. For some reason, I felt the need for us all to be there when we reached Hailey. Especially because she's-

"But what about the kingdom? You're the king, you need to rule. If you come too, then who'll take care of Clozy Kingdom?" Gabi interrupted my thoughts. Good question.

"It's obvious, Uncle Zander should rule while we're gone," Alex mused, "Him and Uncle Luke. They're perfect ruling material." He had a point. Then again, it might just be his attachment to his uncles. Either way, he was right that they would make good makeshift rulers.

"Alright, so we're leaving tomorrow for Snyk City. I'll go tell the sandwi- I mean Zander and Luke that they're going to rule while we're gone. You two, go prepare for the journey ahead." They left the throne room in a hurry.

I walked back to my room slowly, my footsteps heavy. I closed the door behind me and collapsed on the bed. It had been two days since Hailey was kidnapped. Where was she? Was she okay? Who kidnapped her? Why now? How long until I'd see her again?

The questions swirling through my mind stopped. Will I see her again? No. I shook my head, chasing the thought away. "I will see her again. She's okay. I'll find her before she..." I trailed off. "What if we don't make it in time?" I shoved my fingers into my hair and threw myself onto the floor. "No, we still have 5 months," I reassured myself. I had been talking to myself for the past couple days. Usually Hailey helped me when I was stressed. Now I had to help myself.

I reached for my bedside table and picked up a picture frame. I gazed into the photo, memories coming back to me. It was a picture of me and Hailey on our wedding day. We were so carefree and happy back then. Now we hardly had time or energy for anything.

Was she thinking of me right now? I couldn't stop thinking about her, and I knew that if I didn't try to find her, it'd tear me apart. Tomorrow, I'd be one step closer to finding her.

>><<

??? POV

"Oh, come on. Just take it!"

"I'll never take from you, you little-"

"Ah ah ah, now listen here, Hailey," I silenced her with a raise of my finger. "I will treat you as nicely as possible. It might not be what you're used to, but it's the best I can do. I'll make a deal with you. You take care of yourself and eat well, because so far you've been refusing to eat anything I give you. And it must be hard, starving for two." Her midnight eyes widened. "Wait, how did you know that I-"

"I have my ways. Now, if you take care of your health, I'll let you look into my crystal ball." I could see confusion written plainly on her face. I sighed heavily, "You'll be able to see your family, your children, the love of your life." She glanced away. I was getting pretty tired of her clamming up all the time. "You know, they're coming to look for you right now," I leaned against a wall and examined my nails. "Gabi, Alex, and Jake. Oh, it'll be nice to talk to Jake again," I hadn't talked to him in forever. We had so much to catch up on.

"Why are you being so nice to me? You kidnapped me, shouldn't you be torturing me or something?" she finally spoke up. I laughed, pushing off the wall. "I'm pretty sure it's torture enough to be here. I don't want to add to your plate of homesickness, dread, and not to mention the morning sickness." Hailey opened her mouth to say something, then stopped. She clearly needed time to adjust.

I walked over to the door, but turned before I walked out, "Oh, and Hailey? I hope that you'll learn to trust me. We can become great friends if you give me a chance. And I know my actions may seem evil, but my intentions are pure. When all this is over, you'll be thanking me."

A/N: First off, sorry this is short. My eagerness to get this to the actual journey part and get out of the castle made it super rushed. Second, I revealed a little something in this chapter, but it was super vague. If you didn't catch it, it's fine. I was debating on whether or not to reveal it, and ended up with vagueness. Third, the dialogue in this is so weird. I didn't know how to get them all to agree on going together, so it ended up just- horrible-

And finally, I hope you enjoyed reading this trash chapter of Quest!