𝑹𝒐𝒚𝒂𝒍 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔 (𝑻.𝑵.)

𝑺𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏

Thea walked into her room and sighed as she flopped onto her bed. "Right back where I started." She told herself. Soon the maid came in and brought her a new outfit.

"The king said he didn't want to see you wearing 'peasant' clothing. Truthfully, you look beautiful." She whispered.

"Thank you. My friend let me borrow it." Thea smiled as tears weld in her eyes. This is when it all set in. She realized she'd never see all of her new friends again. She'd never step foot into Niki's clothing store. She'd never spar with minx. And she'd never hear anymore of Ted's music. She'd lost it all in a couple days.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm as okay as one can be. Am I allowed to see my mother?"

"I'll bring her to you."

"Thank you." Thea smiled before she changed. She placed the clothes on her bed before she began to cry harder.

"My darling, thank god your safe." Charlotte said as she walked over to Thea and held her close.

"I missed you so much, mom." Thea said as she cried into her mothers chest.

"I missed you too." Charlotte and Thea sat on the bed in each other's embrace. They sat there for a while before Charlotte pulled away. "Tell me of your adventures."

"Adventures?" Thea asked confused.

"Don't tell me that you ran away to sit in a tree in the woods for three weeks."

"I didn't. I met people. Nice people. I met Niki who gave me an outfit because the dress I had cut up wasn't the best for wandering around. I met Minx who taught me a lot of fighting techniques. I met Kristin and Phil who treated me like their own. And I met..." Thea trailed off at the end as her lip quivered. "I met a man. His name is Theodore, but people call him Ted. He was so kind. I met him the night I ran and he agreed to come with. He showed me things I never thought I'd ever see. He made me feel something that I never thought I would experience."

"Thea..." Charlotte said realizing where this story was headed.

"The guards found us and he told me to run. I had found out that he was taken and decided to turn myself in if he would be let go."

"Thea, do you-"

"I do mom. I love him."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The next morning Niki and Jack were stood in front of the gates causing the distraction so that the other three could slip back to the barred window. Tommy and Ranboo used the tools Minx had lent to them, after telling her they were using them for a work project. "Guys? What are you doing here?" Ted asked once he noticed the three.

"Busting you out. What does it look like?" Charlie said.

"You don't need to bust me out." Ted said.

"Yes we do. You're trapped in this hell all thanks to you know who and we are saving you!" Charlie cheered.

"No you need to leave! The guard is going to be here any second."

"That's why we have a decoy, they'll never know the difference."

"That looks nothing like me." Ted froze for a second before he ran over to the cell door and saw the guard coming down the hallway. "He's coming! Go away!" The three boys quickly grabbed their tools and hid away in a bush nearby.

"Today's your lucky day! The king is letting you go." The guard grumbled.

"Aww, are you gonna miss me?" Ted teased.

"No, quite the opposite." He said opening the cell door and pulling Ted out.

"Wait, why am I being let go?" He asked as the two walked to the outside.

"Princesses orders."

"Princess? She's back?"

"Yep. Said she would only return home if we let you go. The king doesn't want to risk her running off again."

Ted was shocked. The guard walked him to the gate where he was met with Niki and Jack looking like buffoons as they were distracting the guards. "Ted!" Niki cheered as she ran to him and engulfed him in a hug.

"Hey Niki." Ted said. The three met up with ranboo, Charlie, and Tommy and the rendezvous spot.

"Come on big man. Let's go home." Charlie said and the group headed straight there.

"Dinners ready!" Kristin told the group as they walked in. "Ted!" She smiled before hugging him. Phil immediately followed her actions.

"Welcome home, mate." He said.

"Thanks. You guys go on and eat I'll be there in a minute." He said and everyone nodded. Ted walked out to the back porch, closing the door behind him. His guitar sat right where he'd left it four days ago. He sat down next to it and picked it up delicately. He started to softly strum it, realizing he had started to play the beginning of 'Since I Saw Vienna'.

Across the kingdom Thea had changed into her night clothing. She sighed as she moved to her window and sat down, gazing at the stars. She missed sitting in a random field with Ted and staring at each star, occasionally finding constellations. She was glad he was set free and not suffering in a cold cell. As she looked around the night sky, she realized she had begun to hum the beginning of 'Since I Saw Vienna'. She had been doing that a lot, she realized it was calming to her. It was her peace in this wretched world.

"The cute bomber jacket you've had since sixth form
Adorned with patches of places you've been
Is nothing on my khaki coat I got
From a roadside when I was sixteen My boots are from airports
My backpack's from friends
I'm not a man of substance, and so I'll pretend
To be a wanderer, wondering
Leaving ascetic belongings in hostels and restaurant bins"
They both began to sing in areas miles apart as they both stared at the same sky and the same stars.

"The roads are my home, horizon's my target
If I keep on moving, never lose sight of it
Treating my memory of you like a fire, let it
Burn out, don't fight it, and try to move on
It's been sixty weeks since I saw Vienna
A bandage and a wide smile slapped across my face
I'll pick up my hiking boots when I am ready
And I'll put down my roots when I'm dead" Thea rested her head on the window, her eyes never leaving the sky. Ted sniffed trying to keep the tears as bay when he realized he'd never see her again.

"The distance is futile
Come on, don't be hasty
You'll get that feeling deep inside your bones
I'll be gone then, for when you must be alone" Thea sighed before she walked back to her bed, she had a coronation tomorrow and a wedding a couple hours afterwards. She'd never see Theodore again and she would have to live with that. Ted's voice quivered on the last part as the tears began to flow. The love of his life would be married to a stranger tomorrow and there was nothing he could do to change it. He would never see Theadosia again and he'd have to live with that.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐝.