Royal or Rebel (A Disgraced Prince Scott AU)

Execution

Alex stood to the right of the queen with his hand on the hilt of his sword, his father was about to die and yet he couldn't help but feel upset.

Yes, William was a terrible man but he was still Alex's father, and it hurt a little.

"Alex, you do not need to be here, no one will blame you if you need to go now or at any point," Amber whispered from her throne, her eyes locked on the gallows with bitter resentment towards the idea of them.

"I am going to stab my own sword through my heart if I am left alone," Alex responded with no emotion in his voice.

Amber turned and whispered to Acho, something about keeping an eye on Alex for a while.

William was led out in a white nightshirt and black pants, his hands shackled together in front of him.

"William of Crowton, you stand here before the Queen's mercy to be hanged," the substitute executioner's speech was lost to Alex, he did not zone back in until his father spoke with the noose around his neck and his hands bound now by rope and not metal shackles.

That was odd, Alex had never seen this stand in executioner before if he recalled correctly but he thought nothing of it, perhaps he was new or perhaps Alex was just too stressed and emotional to recognise them.

"I did everything I did because my heir was a failure," William pointed his bound hand towards Alex, "A gay whore. A disgrace. It is his fault so if I die then he should too. Alexander, this is your fault, your mother's death was your fault, the assassination attempt was your fault, Juniper's kidnapping too. Everything is your fault," he stopped speaking.

Alex looked away as he heard the dropping of the gallows floor but there was no scream, so he assumed his father died on impact from a broken neck.

He made a point not to look until he was told the body was gone, odd again was the fact that it was the executioner carrying the body away and not a servant or doctor.

"Darling..." Scott walked towards him, his heart breaking as Alex flinched back.

When the new Duke of Crowton ran, it was Acho that followed as Amber had told Scott to trust them on this.