The Worst Thing that can Happen

...The Heat of Love...Rush of Longing... Make the Sanest Man go Mad

A few years back....

Robert

had been in a foul mood.

It was soon after his coronation... Everything he had ever been taught to want, everything he had been taught to expect, everything he had been trained to be...

And he hated it. Why did he hate it?

Robert sighed.

Because he would much rather have his family around him? Like it was a perfect circle? Robert could have snorted. Perfect? His family was far from perfect. As a matter of fact, his own father's death and his supposed one just revealed it was all rot to the core.

And gold. Liam had changed. He was no longer the careless, irresponsible party boy and admittedly Robert admired him for standing up to him like that. Len had changed as well. A smile touched his lips at the thought of his little sister. He felt most akin to her. Not because she was wild outwardly, but because she, unlike him, could afford to rebel whereas he secretly hated it.

Robert sighed. But even she had Jasper now. And his mother was busy with one of her numerous lovers, no doubt.

Robert was in disguise. Always adept at avoiding the paparazzi the way Liam and Eleanor never were, even as king that hadn't changed. He smirked secretly. He didn't know what he was looking for but now...

It was a festival of some sort. Robert frowned. No one had to pay or show ID to enter, but people looked like they were having a grand time. Country music was playing, kids were running around laughing and some drunks were uproariously bellowing over some joke. He smiled inwardly at that. He was always happy to hear them. Maybe because their lives were so different...

Robert wandered in.

Nobody noticed the king of England and that was the way he preferred it. He smiled, watching a mother order her children off the carousel, or some teens making out behind a lamppost. But a rush of movement caught his eye.

They were by the sea side, Robert knew this. The royal family was taking a holiday there- covertly of course- because everyone needed to cool off. He saw several young kids running around. At first he thought they were just going for another round of footie, or maybe to see some magician. But one of the boys clutched a wilted posy in his hands. He raised an eyebrow. What was that for?

They were all boys. And they looked eager for something.

Robert followed their line of sight and saw a bunch of people dancing. Oh- there was a Maypole in the distance. It was the Spring Festival. But wait- there was a group of dancers closer to them, and that was what the boys were eying. Or rather...

One of them spun gracefully into the circle of dancers. And if Robert had been holding anything he would have dropped it instantly. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, so breath-takingly beautiful the whole atmosphere suddenly seemed completely airless.

The girl's long black hair, thick and gently waving, cascaded down her back like a waterfall, it had golden and silvery lights that shot through it because it captured the light and reflected it back. Her skin glowed, luminous and flawless in a way that shamed the pearls in the Crown Jewels. It was creamy tan compared to many fair-skinned people, but rather fair as well compared to tanned ones. The girl's figure graceful and willowy but voluptuous, twirled gracefully in a white dress like the other girls dancing. Robert didn't breathe. He didn't look at them, didn't want to look at them, he felt like the whole world would come crashing down and break if he took his eyes off her, that some disaster would happen because she was the most wonderful thing and the only truly good thing in this rotten world...