Strong Willed (Slave AU)

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Girl

"Prince William?"

Will groaned softly. He, Frank and Reyna were gathered in his bedroom, talking. It's been months since Nico's disapperence, but Will was still keeping true to his word. He continued to push away the women, and even male carriers, that his father would send his way. He'd accompany his guards on their searches, hunting down every slave trader and bandit groups that would happen to have kidnapped Nico. But, no luck.

Will was plotting to search the other kingdoms and poorer villages along with his team of guards, just to be sure his love wasn't there. But hearing the knock and call at the door, Will immediately thought it was another damn possible "queen" for him. He stormed over to his door, tearing it open only to see a young man who worked as a servant in the castle flinch away at the aggressive action. Will let out a long breath, pinching the bridge of his nose to calm himself before he gave this poor boy a snapping he didn't deserve.

"Yes, Sean?" He said finally, looking up at the sheepish looking servant.

The boy looked around the age of fourteen. Will remembered seeing him around the castle, the boy having worked there since the kid was smaller. He was often glued to his mother's hip, who also worked for the castle as a job.

"Uh.." Sean fiddled with his fingers, looking nervous. Will felt fairly guilty, having clearly scared the normally bubbly servant. "Your.. Your parents requested your presence, sir."

Will sighed heavily again, reaching and resting a friendly hand on the servant's shoulder to try and calm him. It made the boy jump a little, but he thankfully eased.

"Remember, Sean, you don't have to talk to me like that," he said, forcing a smile to try and make up for his aggression earlier. The servant simply nodded mutely. "Thank you. Tell them I'll be there in a moment."

And with that, Sean was gone. Will then turned to his guards, nodding a thank you for their presence and in dismissal before heading to the throne room.

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"Will, there you are!"

Will entered the room to see his parents.. Not on their thrones surprisingly. They were standing, a young girl standing between them. Will's stomach immediately churned, already guessing what the point of this was.

"Mother, Father," his voice came out harsher than he planned, but he didn't to try and fix it. "No disrespect but-"

"It's not what you think," his mother cut him off, raising a hand. "Hear us out. This is Hazel Levesque. And she claims to be the sister of Nico."

Will's eyes widened, looking down at the girl. She looked at least ten years old, standing in a simply, deep purple dress that ended enough to show her ankles and feet covered in lavender sandals. Her cinnamon colored curls fell over her shoulders with her big, golden eyes gazing at him with what seemed to be nervousness. Makes sense, he did come in here and almost immediately bit her head off.

"You.. His sister? But.. He said his only sister was older and.. Wait.. No, he did mention you," Will forced his thoughts back, thinking hard. "Yes yes, his little sister Hazel. You were born from an affair..?"

The girl flinched a bit, making me regret the words the moment they came out. Even his parents looked surprised he mentioned that. He opened his mouth to apologize but she shook her head.

"Yeah, that's me. I hope that's not /all/ he told you of me," she laughed awkwardly, her arms folding over her chest. She sounded older than she appeared. Maybe her size made Will guess her age incorrectly..

"Of course not I-.. Why don't we speak in my room?" Will held his arm out to the young girl, thankfully having it accepted as Will led her out of the throne room.

Apollo and Noami smiled as they saw their son finally look somewhat happy. Especially after /all/ this time.

"Do you think this will help him?" Apollo asked his wife softly, returning her embrace as the Queen's arms wrapped around him. "Because clearly my method wasn't working."

"I think.. It's a good start," Noami admitted, glancing at the door where her son had disappeared through. "Maybe speaking with someone who knew him, especially a family member, will help him move on. We can give him space and hope. If not, we'll see if we can find something else."

Apollo nodded with a sigh. He was so afraid that the disapperence of his lover had destroyed his son. He was trying so hard to ease the young prince's pain, apperently too hard since it only irritated him more. He prayed that this would at least calm Will's constant racing mind. They could only hope.