I was tagged by @briarfox13 to make my OCs with this picrew! Thanks for the tag lovely! <3<3 Anyone wants to do this go for it! This one was fun. :)
Top row left to right: Saska Riannon Dorren (Elder Blood in the Witcher universe), Loralie (higher vampire/bruxa from the Witcher universe)
Middle row left to right: Ashe (Fallout 4 OC), and Liana (Fallout 4 Sole Survivor)
Both of these I am working on a fic for, Liana being my Sole Survivor, and Ashe joining her journey and getting back into an old relationship she was in.
Bottom row left to right: Kalisa Morthali (original design for Kalisa for a D&D campaign), Kalisa Morthali (updated version for another D&D campaign)
Summary: There’s a counsel being held in Karlington which is unprecedented. What could Constantine and Godfrey be planning that requires this off the record counsel?
Word Count: 3249
Warnings: Physical Abuse, language,
Tag List: @itsalliepg @speedyoperarascalparty @fromthedeskofpaisleybleakmore @zilch3 @lodberg @hopefulmoonobject
A/N: I don’t own any of these characters, I’m just borrowing them! (:
“You are to be on your best behavior, do you understand me?” Constantine glares down at Leo. He thought he was rebellious over the years, but ever since he hit 16, he acts more and more like his mother.
“Yes, god, I’m not six!” He argues, rolling his eyes.
Constantine jerks Leo back by the collar of his shirt, if he cared enough he might have seen his son flitch, but he doesn’t.
“You will not embarrass me or my country, do you get that?” He growls.
“Yes…yes sir,” Leo whispers as his dad shoves him away from him. Leo pulls on his shirt, trying to straighten out the wrinkles on his collar.
“King Constantine. Crown Prince Leo. It is an honor to have you visiting Karlington.” The butler at the entrance welcomes the pair.
“Thank you for the warm welcome,” the king replies.
“Karlington looks beautiful this time of year,” Leo pipes in, after receiving another scold from his father.
“The Duke will be with you soon.” They are escorted towards the grand hall.
Leo looks around, he’s never been here before. Usually they visit Krona which is closer to Cordonia, however Godfrey asked them to come do a counsel in Karlington, a small country in England.
He stands up on his tiptoes, looking to see if he recognizes anyone. He sees a quick blonde blur rushing around, a smile slowly spreads on his lips. There were lots of girls in the world, lots of girls in his circle, but Madeleine was different. She has almost a calming effect on him.
“What is this counsel about?” Leo asks, instantly regretting it.
“Do you really not pay attention?” Constantine glares before slapping him in the back of the head.
“It’s just odd that we aren’t holding the counsel in Cordonia, is all.”
“While I usually would agree, this seems like the proper course of action.” Constantine swallows, slightly nervous about how Leo will feel about being blindsided. He’s silently praying that Leo doesn’t react harshly, though he has two years to digest this before it goes completely public.
“The Duke will see you now,” the butler ushers them into the large conference room where several nobles are seated. They all stand up when Constantine and Leo enter the room, some even giving a slight bow.
“King Constantine, what a pleasure.” Duke Godfrey says, motioning him to the head seat.
“Crown Prince Leo,” a few nobles nod towards him.
“Afternoon,” he smiles at them before taking a seat, right of his father’s.
“I understand that this unprecedented, but I thought it was important to show unity even though this isn’t a formal counsel on the matter.” Godfrey starts, a few of the nobles exchange a shared look.
The office door opens, a flustered Madeleine walks in, “My apologies.” She walks over, taking a seat across from Leo, quickly smiling at him.
“Sir, is this really something that concerns a…woman?” Duke Remy says. Remy is a super traditional nobleman. He prefers to stick strictly to the books which means he doesn’t see any reason for a woman to be in this room.
“I’m the Countess of Fydelia, not just some woman. Anything that concerns my country, my people, concerns me.” For a fourteen-year-old, Madeleine was extremely mature and took to politics eagerly. Her mother disproved, wanting Madeleine to spend more time being a child, being a young, free soul while learning who she was, but she craves her father approval too much.
“Well said,” King Constantine agrees, Duke Remy huffing.
“Now, as stated before, this is more of a preliminary counsel to update Karlington on an agreement between them and Cordonia.” Godfrey adds.
“It has been thrown around for a while now, but it seems that a deal has been drafted that benefits both Karlington and Cordonia.” Constantine starts. He goes into the short history between the two countries and how he hopes this deal, once finalized, would be able to create a long, healthy relationship between the two.
“King Constantine and I have agreed on a marriage alliance between Crown Prince Leo and Countess Madeleine. Now we are still working out small details, but I promise both countries will thrive from this arrangement. Once the agreement is finalized, we will hold a formal counsel to make sure everyone agrees and then a press conference will be held.” Godfrey says, smiling proudly. I’m truly getting everything I’ve wanted.
Madeleine and Leo stare at each other, unsure they heard their fathers correctly. Everyone around them erupts into negotiations, but the two of them can only stare at each other.
Everything is going to be different now. There is a thick cloud of pressure now hanging over the both of them. The carefree friendship was now over, while their fathers stressed it wasn’t official yet, they knew it was. If it wasn’t, they wouldn’t be here.
Leo’s head starts to spin, his life flashes before his eyes. Not like it does when you think you’re dying and you see all the happy moments you shared, but instead this was flashes of his future with Madeleine. Them engaged, walking down the aisle, blonde-haired children running through the palace, the crown that sits on his father’s head now sitting on his and before he knows it, he has lived the same life of his father. The life that he has never wanted. The life he thought he still had time to try to avoid.
Madeleine feels her chest tighten. Her vision gets blurry and breathing becomes difficult. Panic. Panic fills her lungs. She wasn’t ready for this. Queen? She was going to be Queen? She didn’t want that. This was what her father wants. Leo was a good friend, he was her first friend, this would be awkward. Them married? They were two different people, he protected her, he cared for her, that’s all. They practically grew up together, she couldn’t see him like that? Could she?
“I say we let the two lovebirds get better acquainted while we adults celebrate over a glass of expensive bourbon and a cigar!” Duke Remy says, the other noblemen agreeing.
“Don’t screw this up,” Constantine whispers harshly into his son’s ear, “Cordonia needs this. Time to grow up, son.”
“Karlington needs this,” Godfrey says to his daughter, “Don’t ruin this.”
All the older men head into the private study while Madeleine and Leo stay cemented to their seats.
“Air,” Leo finally manages to say.
“Pardon?” Madeleine says.
“Air. I need air.”
“Oh. Let’s take a walk in the courtyard.” She walks with him outside. The warm summer air brushes against their cheeks, calming them from the news they had dropped on them.
They both walk in silence, neither one really knowing what to say. They are inches apart but it feels like miles. His hand accidently brushing hers, causing them both to stop and look at each other.
“So, this is weird.” He says, chuckling.
“Definitely.” She adds.
“Are we like dating now?”
“I hope not! I’m not old enough.” Madeleine blushes causing Leo to remember there’s a two-year age difference. Now it made more sense why they aren’t making it official just yet. They wanted to wait until she was 16, it looked better than marrying off a 14-year-old.
“Oh.” He rubs the back of his head, blushing, “Well when we do start dating, I promise to be a better gentleman.”
* *
“What if I don’t love him?” Madeleine asks her maid, Emily. Emily begins to brush her hair.
“That will come in time.” Emily reassures her, “Just remember that love is like a flower. It doesn’t grow over night and it takes time to bloom.”
“Do you think I’m pretty enough to be queen?”
Emily gives her a sympathetic smile. She thinks Madeleine is beautiful, that she is a force of nature, but she knows that the anorexia doesn’t let her see that.
“Of course, I do. You are beautiful, honey.” Emily first noticed her eating habits changing when the fights between Godfrey and Adelaide became more frequent. Especially the ones about Madeleine becoming queen, those were the worst ones.
At first, Madeleine was just becoming more of a picky eater, which Emily thought was her normal. Her daughter acted the same at Madeleine’s age, she just lumped it in with puberty and hormonal changes.
But then she realized that Madeleine was skipping meals, lying about eating and her clothes were starting to fit poorly. It breaks Emily’s heart to watch the stress of everything slowly deteriorating a promising little girl. She has been able to get Madeleine foods that are healthy such as fruits and vegetables along with protein, but the more Emily gets her to eat, the more exercising Madeleine adds to her schedule.
“Do you think he will love me?” Her eyes meet Emily’s in the mirror. They are filled with worry. The kind of worry that no child should have to deal with.
“What’s not to love. Now let’s get to bed.”
* *
Leo is sitting on the balcony off the ballroom when Damien finds him. He hasn’t spoken to anyone since they got back to Cordonia. Honestly, there wasn’t anything he thought saying would be worth it.
“You good? You’ve been acting off today?” Damien says, sitting next to him.
“I unofficially officially have a wife.”
Damien laughs, “What?”
Leo shrugs, “My dad finally picked a proposal agreement. It won’t be official until I’m 18, but you know how royal things go. I’m basically already married.”
“Wow. I do not envy you.”
“Thanks.” Leo rolls his eyes, his best friend could be more toxic than supportive, but he was all Leo really had.
“So, who is the unlucky lady?”
“Madeleine. Countess of Fydelia.”
His friend pauses, “Wait. Like Madeleine, known since we were kids, Madeleine? As in the blonde girl that follows you around like a puppy dog?”
A ball of anger fills Leo when he hears Damien speak poorly of Madeleine, “Watch how you speak about her.”
“Calm down lover boy!” Damien teases as Leo storms off, “Go get ya girl!”
* *
Leo is storming through the palace when he sees his father’s study light is on. He hesitates, debating if it’s even worth it to go in. Talking to him means there will be some kind of lecture, a reminder of some way that he is a failure. All this considered, he still walks into the room.
“Leo,” Constantine looks over his readers, “A bit late for a stroll, isn’t it?”
“Guess I couldn’t sleep after today’s news.” He shrugs, sitting in the chair closest to the door. In case he needs a quick exit.
“It’s the best deal for Cordonia.” His father’s words are dry and flat.
He sighs, “But is it the best deal for me? What if I don’t fall in love with her?”
Constantine takes his reading glasses off, placing them of the desk. He squeezes the bridge of his nose, “Do you enjoy pissing me off?”
Leo doesn’t answer, he just stares at his father, regretting his choice to enter the study.
“You don’t get to worry about a silly thing like love when you have a country to run.”
“You don’t love Regina?”
“I’ve grown fond of her. You’ll grow fond of Madeleine.”
He thinks carefully of the words he wants to ask, “Did you….did you love my mother?”
Constantine lets out a thoughtful deep breath. It has been years since he thought about Leo’s mother. “I did love her. Look what that got me. Do you really want that?”
Leo looks down, “No sir.”
“Get to bed, we have budget meetings tomorrow.”
He waits until Leo shuts the door before he pushes himself away from the desk. He takes a deep breath. I’ll be damned if Leo doesn’t know how to get under my skin. Even when he isn’t trying.
He wasn’t lying when he told Leo that he loved Liana. Hell, if he’d let himself attempt it, he still loves her. Even after all this time.
He gets up, going over to his bookshelf, he pulls out a copy of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. It was a first edition, one that Liana had given him when she found out he had never read it. She was truly shocked that someone so cultured could have passed up the chance to read the best of Shakespeare’s work. In her opinion. He opened it and pulls out a piece of paper.
Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe. He quoted this poem to her one night when they had snuck off to be together. She thought it was romantic, however he only had it memorized because they had just read it in class that day. Later in their relationship, she came to him with this page, ripped from a poetry book by Poe. Forever the rebel.
Behind the poem is the only picture he’s kept of Liana. It was his favorite photograph of her; the night of their proposal. The picture had been taken earlier that day, in the flower garden. It wasn’t posed, which was why he loves it so much. The press caught it right as she spun around, laughing.
He gently brushes his fingers down the photo. It’s aged and faded, the corners fragile. Her adventurous spirit still radiates through the photo. That was the first thing that he fell in love with, her ability to find adventure in almost everything. How she could be carefree on a whim and never thought of the consequences. That was also the first thing he grew to hate about her. Their first three years together as king and queen were almost perfect. They were constantly traveling, seeing the world together, and meeting tons of interesting people. Then Leo came along.
He wasn’t planned, but they never thought of him as unwanted either. Liana loved Leo, he became her whole world. She took him everywhere they went, he was her little travel buddy. Yet by the time he turned two, their travels had stopped.
Liana hated being stuck in the palace, she hated the tradition that the royal family didn’t travel as much once an heir was born. The rule set in order to protect the heir, the family, but this time it did more harm than protection.
It was a few weeks shy of Leo’s third birthday. Liana had been planning it for months, wanting everything to be perfect. Constantine had passed out on the couch in his study when a frantic maid woke him up the next morning.
“Sir! Sir!” The maid says panicked.
“What? What is it?” He sits up quickly, trying to mask the yawn.
“It’s Queen Liana. We can’t find her, sir.”
He doesn’t hear anything said to him after that. He runs down the hallways, screaming her name. He stops to think, quickly changing up directions, praying she’s just in Leo’s room. He swings the door open, but all he sees is his son, sleeping in his racecar bed.
Quickly, he closes the door and rushes to his room, it’s when the bedroom door opens that his heart sinks. The dresser drawers are opened haphazardly and the closet is empty. He walks over to the bed, trying to balance himself. There’s an envelope on his pillow, with shaking hands, he opens it.
My love,
I knew I couldn’t do this face to face so please don’t hate me for doing it this way. I don’t regret meeting you, falling in love with you or having Leo. I just wish it hadn’t happened so fast. I wasn’t ready to stop going on adventures. I wasn’t ready to run a country. When we met, I figured we still had time to be us and figure out everything.
But as I was sitting there looking at birthday invitations for Leo, I realized that I don’t want this to be my life anymore. I love you. I love Leo. But I can’t do this. I’m not ready. I crave adventure and I’m afraid if I don’t go and find it now, I’ll just grow to resent you or even my own son. That would destroy me.
Please don’t let this make you bitter. And don’t take it out on Leo, this is no one’s fault but my own. Please don’t close your heart, I want you to find love again one day. I want Leo to know what love is. I don’t know where this adventure will take me, but I just know that I have to take it. Please take care of my little boy and never let him forget that I love him.
With love
Liana
He stares at the letter, tears filling his eyes. While this hurt, it’s not a total shock. He was secretly waiting for this to happen, for the day to come when the life he provided for her just wasn’t enough. To be honest, the only thing surprising is that she left Leo. He couldn’t do this on his own. In Leo’s two years of life, Constantine had only held him a handful of times. Liana always had him in her arms. Every step he took was right to her. His first word was ‘Mama’. Constantine had no idea how to do the parenting thing, so he did the only thing he knew how, to raise Leo just as his father had raised him.
A single tear falls onto the aged poem, a tear Constantine tried hard not to let escape him. He hasn’t cried over Liana in years. He locked all the pain and memories of her away shortly after Leo turned three. After months of Constantine feeling like a failure because Leo cried every night for a mother who wasn’t coming.
He closes the book; the poem and photo disappear from his sight as he slides the book back on the shelf. He could never hate Liana, she gave him Leo. And Leo gives him a daily reminder of the only woman he’s ever truly been in love with. Leo is Liana through and through, her blonde hair, her smile, adventurous spirit and the ability to completely throw rules out the window. Maybe that’s why he’s so hard on him. He doesn’t want to lose Leo like he did Liana. He doesn’t want to wake up and his son be gone, never to hear from him again.
He scans the shelf before pulling out an aged copy of Guess how much I love you by Sam McBratney. He probably wouldn’t remember it, but this was Leo’s favorite book growing up. Liana would read it to him every single night and sometimes first thing in the morning. He opens the book, stuffed in the middle are a couple photographs.
The first one is a very pregnant Liana, the second one is Liana and Leo on the day he was born and the last picture is Liana and Leo on Leo’s second birthday. A small smile touches Constantine’s face briefly. Behind all the photos, there are a few envelopes. They are sealed and addressed to Leo. Some of them are faded and aged where the last three aren’t as old.
Part of him regrets keeping the letters from Leo. But the other part of him knows this is what’s best. Leo has a duty to his country; his adventurous spirit is already proving to be an issue. However, if he was to start chasing ghosts, Constantine isn’t sure Leo would ever come back.
Lianas first impression of the Rust Syndicate Headquarters was not ideal, and she didn’t even meet Corbeau yet-
Something about it just felt off- 🤔 Urbain doesn’t quite understand why but validates her anyway, like a good friend-
She works with building regulations in her county, so despite her being on vacation in Lumiose, work creeps up to her still.
In an aesthetic sense it’s totally fine to her, the style is amazing in her opinion. Though she couldn’t help but feel that some architectural design laws were being broken- given that it sticks out so much, as cool as the syndicate looks!
Based on the "I don’t like this rock" audio from Marcus the Worm and my rant about the Rust Syndicate being off regulations ✨
