Crowns and Daggers- Completed

Twenty Nine.

"What do you mean you're shipping me off to another court?" I crossed my arms at Percy as he stood before me in my bedroom, servants gathering my things behind me, putting them into boxes quickly. "Are you insane?" 

"Stop being dramatic Ana. You know we wouldn't be sending you if it wasn't necessary." 

"So what, the first sign of trouble and woosh? Off I go? Bye Ana. Hope you stay safe at some random person's castle in the middle of nowhere with no one you know?" 

"Ana-" 

"No Percy. I literally kept Louis off the throne. Are you really going to stand there and tell me this is to keep me safe?" 

"Anastasia. Stop." I put my hands on my hips. "You're going. It's final. All marriage talks are on hold until we sort this anyway. There's too much going on. I do not need you making this worse. Father isn't well, he is not going to get better. I'll be on the throne with in the next few weeks, if not days. And when I am, there is bound to be a fight for the crown. There always is. So, no, you're not staying here." 

"Fine." I huffed. "But of all the places Percy? Really?" 

"It's not in the middle of nowhere. The Count and Countess are loyal.  They hold balls regularly for their daughter's so you will have plenty to do. They have a huge amount of land, and the girl are going with you. You'll be fine. We're sending Theodore home. You guys can pick it back up where you left it when everything settles in a month or so." 

"And what if something happens to you? Then what? If father passes and then you die too. Then what happens?" 

"Then you can make your own decisions who you marry because it will be your throne." I took a step back. He wasn't supposed to admit that. 

"You weren't supposed to say that was possible Percy." I turned away. Hiding tears. He always told me that wasn't going to happen. Every time I brought up what would happen, he'd say the same thing every time. 'don't worry ana.' 'I'm not going anywhere ana' 'you're never having my throne ana, stop trying to get it'. And we'd laugh at the thought. 

"Ana. I don't want to lie to you and say it's not a possibility anymore." 

"Then wouldn't me getting married sooner, rather than later make more sense?" 

"If that's what you want. But if it is, you're marrying for the kingdom. And if your marrying for fear of you taking the crown then it has to be Christopher." I turned and stared at him. 

"Are you serious?!" I looked around the room at the people. "EVERYONE OUT. NOW." They looked at each other, dropping what they were doing and leaving. I wanted to be alone with my brother for this. I was not giving up on this. Not as easily as he thinks I am. The door closed leaving the 2 of us alone. 

"Ana." 

"No are you actually joking? You're taking his proposals seriously? You know its a power move for him right? That once I'm legally his, he can humiliate me however he wants." 

"You know he wouldn't do that." 

"Wouldn't he? He's fucking done it before. I wouldn't put it past him to." 

"Look Ana. I'm not arguing about this. Those are your two options. Marry now, I'll put it together and you marry Chris. Or you wait. And we decide at a later date. I know how close you've gotten with Theodore. I know you really like him. I don't know how far things have gone with the 2 of you. I don't want to know. I know his and Chris are on a level playing field when it comes to the proposals neither is above the other right now. After all this is over we can re-evaluate. Just you an me without father's logic getting in the way. Believe it or not Anastasia. I want you to be happy. I know you'll be happier with Theo too. But if you force my hand right now-" 

"Right now it'd be Chris right?" 

"Yes."  I sighed and moved, sitting back on the bed and laying on my back quickly. "Just hold on until you're back here and then we can go from there. I'm sure Theo will come to some of the balls. It's not like it's forever. A month tops. You'll be back before you know it and-" 

"And the first thing we can talk about when I get home is who gets me. Promise me." 

"Yes Ana. The very first thing. You can tell me who you want to marry and I will make it happen." I sighed and put my hands over my face. 

"Fine." 

"Good." He pulled the doors open and the room was filled with people again. "Ana?" 

"What?" 

"Don't hate me for this. It's my job to keep you safe." 

"I'm safer here than anywhere else." I kept my voice barely at a whisper so he didn't hear. 

"Behave yourself. I don't want to be worrying about you as well as everything else." I rolled my eyes as he left. 

I could scream. I could actually scream. Break all these windows in this damn palace. 

If I was being shipped of I wasn't going without a final kiss from him. I stood up, storming from the room and down the long hallways. I'd forgotten that our quarters weren't actually that far apart. The 3 weeks he's been here, I could have been sneaking in and out as much as we pleased. I knocked on his door. 3 quiet little knocks. I didn't want anyone else to hear. 

"Ana?" It opened a slither, just his head emerging. "Are you okay? You look like you've been crying." He opened it further and pulled me in, wrapping his arms around me tight. 

"Fucking Percy is shipping me off to the middle of nowhere because they're expecting a fight here. Then I said well what happens if he dies. Wouldn't it make sense if I was to marry now rather than after it all. He said yes but if that was to happen-" 

"It would be Christopher." He sighed, scooping me up int his arms and carrying me over to the bed as I cried into his chest. "Shh. It's okay. I'm here. I've got you."