Royal Dilemma (o/o Closed)

Eleanor lifted her chin and looked from Thomas to the other guard. "You may open the door," she said. The guard acknowledged her order, and she paced into the room. Her dress dragged slightly on the ground behind her, and she disappeared behind the door. It shut behind her loudly.

Thomas tried not to wince at the ominous way the door slammed, trapping Eleanor inside with the King… Her husband, he tried to remind himself. But considering everything that she had told him earlier didn't make that anymore reassuring. Not wanting to be privy to what was going to happen, he made himself walk away and head back to the lower levels of the castle.

(Time skip ;))

The next morning, Eleanor woke almost instantly. She felt Marcellus's warm heavy arms wrapped around her bare abdomen, but she shivered like she was cold. Her body ached, and she wanted nothing more than to go back to her own room and hide away from this life. Eventually, she managed to slip herself out of his arms, wrap a sheet around her naked body, and escape into the hall to head back to her own room. Her beautiful emerald green dress lay abandoned on the floor of the King's room.

Thomas had already been awake since sunrise and completed a brief training session before he made his way through the quiet corridors back towards Eleanor’s chambers. Hopefully, she would already be there… He didn't really want to think about the alternative.

Eleanor hurried through the corridors, wanting to get back before anyone saw her this way. How would it look for the queen to be roaming the castle in the morning with nothing covering her but an expensive white sheet–

She was just about to reach her door, and she turned a corner quickly. So quickly that she ran into the back of a guard without even realizing it. A surprised gasp escaped her, and she collected her sheet to make sure nothing was revealed when it slipped down her chest slightly.

Thomas barely stumbled when he felt someone run into him and put his back to the wall to see who it was… and to get out of their way. His eyes widened as he realized exactly what had happened. “My Queen.” he exclaimed, managing to keep his voice down enough to not disturb anyone else. Though his face turned bright red as he noticed what she was wearing. “Are… Are you alright?”

Eleanor's eyes quickly widened as she realized who it was. She was instantly thankful it was him and not one of the many other guards on patrol. "Oh, Thomas," she breathed quietly, pulling her sheet up even more to make sure she was fully covered. "Let's get back." She looked around quickly, her dark hair wild and unruly around her head, and she began to rush again down the hall toward her chambers and purposefully avoided his question.

Thomas nodded and walked behind her, to keep anyone from… seeing the Queen from this angle. Though the redness in his face still had not gone down. Once they finally reached her room, he opened the door for her. “I’ll wait out here until you’re… Until you want me to come in.” he told her, his blush darkening.

Eleanor stepped into her room quickly and nodded even quicker. "Yes, I-I-I'll let you know when I'm finished," she stammered before shutting the door behind her and catching her breath.

A few moments later, the door opened again, and Eleanor was visible in a lilac dress with cut-away shoulders and a V-shaped neckline. "Come in," she said quietly, stepping aside for him to enter.

(That's a beautiful dress! 😍🤩)

Thomas nodded slightly as she closed the door and stood silently as he waited for her to be ready.

When she opened the door, his face had finally returned to a more normal shade. “Thank you.” he smiled softly as he entered. “I’m sorry. I thought that you would be… back before I arrived.”

Eleanor dipped her head and shut the door behind him. "It's alright… I didn't expect to stay the night. I thought he'd send me back…" She shook her head and paced over to her bed to sit down, wincing a bit as she did. Her hair was still down, but she forgot about the bruise it was hiding as she pushed it back behind her ear.

(This was her green dress from before)

(Wow!)

Thomas could feel the heat returning to his face at her excuse but nodded slightly. “You don't have to explain.” he said softly. Though he raised a brow when he saw her wince and noticed the bruise. “Are you alright?” he asked again in concern.

(I forgot to send the image

Eleanor looked over and saw his gaze on her neck. She quickly brushed her hair back over the bruise. "Yes," she whispered, back to the quiet demeanor she'd had when he'd first met her. "I'm fine." Though as she spoke, her eyes were beginning to tear up.

Thomas frowned slightly at her answer and took a step towards her. “With all due respect, Your Majesty, I don't believe you are.” he admitted. “He… He got carried away again… Didn't he?” he asked gently, using much milder terms than he would if he wasn't in a royal setting.

Eleanor sniffed and quickly looked away from him. "He often does," she whispered, slowly reaching up to touch the mark on her neck. She should've worn something with a higher collar, dammit!

Thomas took another step towards her. “It’s… It's not your fault.” he told her, refraining from saying that it was ok. Because it really wasn't.

Eleanor relaxed only a bit as he came closer. The presence of any other would've caused her to burst into tears immediately, but she knew Thomas wouldn't touch her if she didn't want him to. "He grabbed me," she whispered, touching her wrist gently, but it was concealed by her dress.

Thomas nodded, looking down at her wrists and imaging what other bruises she had hidden under her dress. Not that he was thinking of her inappropriately, just in concern about how much she was hurt.

"I think he was drunk," Eleanor whispered, closing her eyes and keeping her face turned away from him. "No…" She shook her head. "I know he was drunk. I could smell it on him. It was foul."

“That… That doesn't surprise me.” he whispered. The King wasn't a notorious drinker, as much as he was aware, but he knew that the King had a tendency to indulge himself. Not that that was an excuse for any of his private behavior.

Eleanor stiffened. "He didn't listen. He wouldn't… He wouldn't listen to me. Not a word I said…" She opened her eyes, and a tear trickled down her cheek.

“You said “no” and he kept… He ignored you.” Thomas said, gently reaching up to brush away her tear. He wasn’t going to tell her not to cry. After… that she had every right to let out her emotions however she wanted. “I’m so sorry, Eleanor.” he whispered.

Eleanor wiped at her face and guided his hand away. "It wasn't your fault," she whispered. "Not at all." Her voice was weak and shaky. "Could you, uh, come sit?" she asked quietly, touching the space beside her on the bed with her fingertips.

Thomas sighed and sat beside her. “Maybe not.” he nodded, since he certainly wasn't the one who… But he still felt guilty. Partly because he had led her to the room, even though he knew there was nothing he could have done to prevent that situation.

Once he sat down and was settled, Eleanor instantly turned into him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm so tired," she whimpered quietly, beginning to cry quietly. "I hate being his wife. I'm nothing more than an object for him to show off and occasionally beat around!"

Thomas immediately stiffened at the touch, not expected to be embraced like this by a Royal, but at her soft crying… He couldn't do anything but gently wrap his arms around her and let her cry. “He shouldn't treat you like that.” he whispered. “A wife and a Queen… should be treated with nothing but love and respect.”

Eleanor finally let her guard down, and she sobbed into Thomas's shoulder. "I'm sorry," she whispered when she drew back, wiping at her face to get rid of her tears. "I'm sorry, I… I shouldn't have done that, I don't know what got into me…"

“No, no.” Thomas shook his head. “Don’t apologize. Not for this.” he reminded her, assuringly. “You needed comfort and I’m honored that you turned to me for it.”

"I can't turn to anyone else," Eleanor whispered, her dark eyes shining with tears. "Not here, at least. At home, maybe, but I wouldn't want to tell them even if I had the chance to…" She shook her head as the realization dawned on her. "I have no one."

“You have me.” Thomas said without thinking. It made sense that no one else in the castle would want to hear these kinds of things about their King, and he could understand her not wanting to tell her family that her royal husband treated her this way.