Royal AU

Chapter 3

Elwin deemed Sophie healed after using some medicine and healing potions he got from Kesler, the court mage, and Tam was happy... But he was more concerned with Gisela. He knew she was the queen and all, but he'd been observing her for far longer than anyone knew, and he couldn't possibly tell anyone, not until he knew what she was up to. He'd had his suspicions about her when he first arrived at the palace, but that was merely because she didn't do anything except look at people with a cold look in her eyes, a look that gave him a bad feeling. He always relied on his gut instincts and now... He finally saw something worth noting. When Sophie hit her head, he'd been down the hall from Fitz, and saw Gisela glancing around before stalking off to a back room he'd never seen before. He had shaken it off because obviously Sophie was more important than his theories about Gisela and ran ahead to where Sophie was, but now that she was better, Tam had to tell someone about the room. He just didn't know who that someone would be. "Hey... Can we talk?" Tam twiddled his thumbs as he and Keefe got to Keefe's room that night. "Sure, what's up?" Keefe mumbled tiredly as he walked behind the divider in his room to change. "Well... See the thing is- and you might think I'm crazy- but... I think your mom is up to something" the taller teen blurted. "Why would I find you crazy for that?" Keefe poked his head out. "Wait- you aren't angry? I'm accusing your mother of being up to no good! I'm confessing that I'm suspicious of your mother" Tam stumbled over his words in his confusion. "So? She's a sucky person. What did she do this time?" Keefe got under his bed covers ad he listened to Tam with interest. "See, when she went to call Elwin, she went to this door I've never seen in the palace before, but- I examined every inch of this place when Linh and I got here, and she didn't immediately run to get Elwin either, she walked there, slowly" Tam explained. "I... I think I know how she disguised the door," Keefe sat up, "I saw her a few years ago. Using magic, but not just any magic. She was using illusion magic. I was twelve and she waved me off, so I didn't think much of it, but- what if she uses that room for some sort of plan?" Keefe was now wide awake. Neither he, nor Tam, could sleep that night knowing Gisela might be planning something sinister…

Obviously, Keefe and Tam spent the next day catching up Marella and Linh, then trying to undo the spell on the door. Since Keefe had a surprising amount of magic experience, he was the one who wound up opening it. "What the..." Marella trailed off as they walked in. The room was covered in scraps of paper, every wall was littered with them. On the back wall, there was a notebook labeled "Archetype." Keefe hesitantly reached out to open the book, flipping through the first few pages with an expression of horror. What happened next was a blur, a knife flew past Keefe's head, lodging itself into the wall. Tam drew his sword, as did Linh, and the twins stepped in front of the prince and princess. "So....", Gisela twiddled another knife in her hands with a wicked grin, "you've found me out." She threw her weapon and rushed out before the guards could charge her, grabbing an unfortunate someone who just so happened to be in the wrong hall at the wrong time. "ELWIN!" Keefe shouted as his mother put a dagger to the helpless physician's throat. "I'm doing this for you, Keefe" Gisela smiled that sick smile as she dragged her blade exactly along where Elwin's vocal chords were. She shoved the bleeding man to the ground, causing him to collapse with his hand to his throat, trying to put pressure on his wound, and ran. "ELWIN!" Keefe yelled again.

Tam's height and strength, combined with Elwin's naturally small build, made it easy for Tam to lift him up and carry him to the west tower, where Kesler was making new potions. "What happened?!" Kesler shouted as Keefe and Tam burst through the wooden door. "No time, he's bleeding out!" Tam exclaimed. Kesler threw scrolls off a table and Tam set Elwin down. It took hours of work, new potions, and praying to whatever god let this happen, but Elwin finally took a turn for the better. "So...", Kesler sighed and wiped his forehead, "Is someone going to tell me why I just had to save Elwin's life? I'm not a trained physician, you know. If it wasn't for Tam's shocking medical expertise, which we'll be talking about later, he... He wouldn't have made it." Keefe sunk into the cold wall, sighing deeply. "Should I... Or do you want to-" Tam coughed. "I'll tell him. My mother is a traitor, she has been planning an attack on the castle, and when we found her plans- her Archetype- she grabbed Elwin and used him as a distraction so she could make her escape." Keefe was shockingly put together, but Tam knew by the slight tap of his fingers on his legs, by the small crinkle between his eyebrows, Keefe was a ticking time bomb, waiting to have a complete breakdown. "That's uh- a lot to take in" Kesler inhaled sharply. Keefe's eyes suddenly widened. "NO ONE TOLD FATHER- ohhhh crap, crap crap!" he ran down the halls, trailed by Tam.

Keefe was swearing softly as he ran all the way to the throne room, where his father stood, looking out the window. "Father! Father" Keefe huffed, out of breath. "King Cassius. I am sorry to say, your wife, Queen Gisela, is a traitor. She had made plans to attack the palace, and greatly injured a member of your staff. Her Archetype, the book she used for her plans, is right here" Tam handed forward the grey book. "What?!" Cassius boomed, causing Keefe to flinch and Tam to move protectively in front of Keefe on instinct. "The Queen is a traitor. You must increase security immediately, and inform all guards." Tam straightened up to his full height, Cassius now in his face. "....Tell no one, get out immediately. I will take care of it" Cassius sighed and slumped away, leaving the two to make their way back to the west tower. "Holy Hades, that was a lot" Keefe sighed and slumped down in a chair once he and Tam made it to the west tower. "I'd imagine it was" Kesler sighed. "Wait- don't you work for the Vackers?" Tam asked in confusion. "I actually came here after my son, Gisela sent for a mage, and- now I think I know why" Kesler pulled up another chair and sat down. "What am I going to do...? What is my father going to do?" Keefe ran a shaking hand through his hair. "Your father is planning a cover-up" Tam said without an explanation. "How do you- y'know, that makes sense" Kesler grinned at Tam. Suddenly, Elwin's hand came up to grab Kesler's shoulder. He was trying to speak, but- nothing was coming out. "Don't strain yourself, your vocal chords were severely damaged" Tam moved to his side and handed him a pen and paper. "Where am I?" Elwin wrote. "You're in the west tower, it is usually used for astronomy, but now I'm here, so I'm using it as an office,'' Kesler explained. "Gisela?" was all Elwin wrote next. "Gone" Keefe responded with a choked voice. "I'll live though?" Elwin asked with his paper. "Yes, thanks to Tam'' Kesler held Elwin's hand with a frown. "Thank you" Elwin wrote , patting Tam's armour. "It- uhm- it was no issue" Tam blushed and shifted his weight side to side.

The next few days went by quickly, Elwin was feeling a lot better and could now walk around some by himself. Kesler called for Quinlin from the Vacker palace, because Quinlin knew sign language, and Kesler planned to have Quinlin teach Elwin. "Who's this?" Elwin wrote as Quinlin came into the tower one afternoon. The man was tall, with shoulder length black hair, and sapphire blue eyes. "Hello Elwin, I am Quinlin, Kesler called for me because he'd like for me to teach you sign language, if that's alright with you" Quinlin gave a formal bow. Elwin grinned at the formality, but nodded to his request. "Does anyone else know sign language?" he felt the need to ask. "Not yet, but I plan to teach them," Quinlin answered. Honestly, they got along so well, it began to annoy Kesler. All he heard from Quinlin when he assisted with Kesler's potions was "Elwin learned this today", "Elwin's doing so well", "Elwin this", "Elwin that", but mostly, Kesler was glad Quinlin finally had someone close to him. Quinlin began including other people in their lessons, and soon, practically everyone in the palace knew sign language. The teens could be caught only using sign language to each other, especially Keefe and Tam, and the only person who Quinlin hadn't taught was the king. One day, a few months after Quinlin had been teaching everyone sign language, Elwin approached him with a shy smile. 'I like you a lot', he began, 'and I'd like to take you out sometime.' Quinlin was quite shocked, but Elwin was truly the closest person to him, and if he was being honest with himself, he'd begun to have feelings for the physician too. Kesler simply shook his head in the background, signing to Dex one word. 'Finally.'