Evan Qing

Amara could not help herself to raise her eyebrow at the words of Evan. Nothing had happened to him but in the end he turned up all bloodied? There was no way that nothing had happened to him. She lowered her hand from his face and then she slowly nodded. She silently listened to the sounds outside the door and the footsteps were indeed there. But they seemed to be fading away.

“I won’t tell him,” Amara promised Evan, knowing very well that she would be gone the next day and that there would be no chance to tell his father. “But at least let me help you clean up your face. You will have to face your father tomorrow anyways.”

She moved away from him so she could get a first aid kit and then she appeared again. “Why do you want to learn how to fight so badly?”

“Thank you,” Evan sighed, the relief evident in his face. “Fine,” he agreed, knowing she was right as always. “Why are you always right?” He muttered, smiling at her as he took a seat on the bed. 

“It’s dumb,” He answered, glancing down at his bruised knuckles. “I just- I don’t want to just be a figurehead, you know? I want to actually be able to do something and god forbid our country goes to war I want to be able to be on the front lines with my people. I don’t want to be cowering in some castle somewhere.” He took a breath, looking up at her. “I want to be someone that the people know will fight for them.” 

“Where’s Jack?” He asked suddenly, noticing the man’s absence.“Too consumed with work to spend time with you?” He held back the urge to make a comment about if it had been him she was with instead. He never understood their relationship, never understood what she saw in Jack. Even his name pissed Evan off. “Stupid man,” he stated, leaving it there. If he said anything else he knew he’d say too much. He wasn’t about to put her in a difficult position. Not to mention the fact that he was the crown prince of Keigan, for all he knew she was putting on airs so that she retained her favor in court. Still, he couldn’t see her like that. Amara wasn’t one to play games, not with him, at least that’s what he wanted to think. 

Fun. JP was pretty sure the two kings had quite different views of what the word meant. But he grinned, huffed in amusement and nodded to him nonetheless. As the King of Athos took his seat, three palace staff came in - one carrying a tray of fruit and pastries and the other two a glass of fine wine and two glasses for the two kings. JP paid them no heed as they set the food and drinks down on the coffee table.

“Ah, well… It’s far easier with the support and trust of family and good friends of the crown.” JP smiled lightly, taking the glass that the staff had filled up for him. “Especially now with Sofia…” His brows raised. “Evan… Our two kingdoms are at peace with one another and Keigan is prosperous as ever.” His lisp curled up a bit. “I’m surprised you’ve not yet considered the idea of settling down… Planning out the future you want for your kingdom when we are both no longer here on this Earth.“ JP was pretty sure the other could guess at what he meant.

“Settle down?” Evan repeated, knowing exactly where his fellow king was going with this. “Like you?” While Evan had always admired Sofia he didn’t fully understand the king’s haste in marrying her. He had no reason to believe that the marriage wouldn’t be happy but all the same, she brought nothing to the kingdom in terms of alliances. Perhaps she would fully cement the saints’ position in the government? Still, It seemed smarter to marry someone from another country. He grinned childishly, “I’m not in such a rush, old man. I still have time to figure things out and my first priority will always be my own country as I’m sure you can understand.” 

“You say better, I say impolite. But who am I to argue with a King.” This conversation left a bitter taste in his mouth. But if Dexter had to choose someone to pull his strings, a King that was offering all that this one was, would be his safest bet.

“And how long am I going to be your little spy? Is this a life sentence or like a 3-5 with a chance of parole?” Dexter asked, folding his arms across his chest. As long as that information was out there, Evan could keep him doing his dirty work for as long as he wanted. Would that be any better than facing the music back in Omerta? “I understand, Your Majesty. I think I liked you better before you knew my name.”

Evan shrugged. “Does it really matter?” He asked, staring down at the man. “You’ll be off the hook as soon as I get what I need and It’s looking like that’ll be sooner rather than later.” He didn’t like causing people discomfort. It’d never been his style. Personally, he preferred catching flies with honey rather than vinegar but now wasn’t the time to be picky. “Don’t worry. I don’t get off on this. You’ll be on your merry way as soon as possible and we can pretend this never happened.”

“Fair enough, Dexter.” He turned to go before stopping and looking back at him. “I have to ask: was it purposeful? Our introduction? Or just a fluke of the universe?” He didn’t understand how the saint’s gifts worked and this tidbit had been gnawing on him for quite a while. 

“You never know, it may not mix well with that Royal blood. Might even make you a commoner like the rest of us,” she said, lifting her head to look at him, grin splitting her cheeks. “I haven’t heard anything bad about you. Honestly, I haven’t heard much about you at all.” That was partially true. Most of what she knew about him had come from his brother, or the passing thought here and there at the Castle. But she hadn’t physically heard much about the foreign King.

“I’m happy to finally meet you, Evan. Are you enjoying yourself tonight? Despite not taking the drugs floating around?” She asked, tilting her head towards the man.

Evan raised an eyebrow at the joke. “There are some upsides to that,” he pointed out, “but, I happen to like my position as king so I think I’ll refrain.” He did like his position, for the most part. “Really?” He asked, genuinely surprised. “Well, I’m glad the worst of my childhood hijinks didn’t make it out of the castle.” Evan smiled, “Have you been to Keigan?”

“I am well, as much as a mundane like me can. I have to say I’m a little jealous of all the abilities on display.” He looked down at the girl. She seemed young. “Are you a Saint?” he took a sip of his drink.

“Well that’s no fun,” Dexter said, letting himself be led outside, the air having cooled since he had arrived hours earlier. If this man, this king, really knew what he claimed to, there wouldn’t really be a point to teleporting away. He had found him, by nothing more than his face, after all. It was safe to assume that his home would be no safer.

Listening, his lips pursed slightly. Pulling back from Evan, Dexter’s eyes narrowed. Of course. “You know, there’s an easier way to get something that you want than veiled threats. Had you simply asked, I would have most likely agreed willingly.” He paused, his tongue darting out to wet his lips as he thought over the offer. If it could even be called that. “Seeing as my only other option is to be dragged back to Omerta, I suppose you could say I’m interested.”

“Well, it’s better than dancing around the truth,” Evan said, stoic as he stared at him. “I don’t want to do anything but I will.” He took a breath, staring at the man. “You’re smart. Good. I thought so.” Blackmail wasn’t his first instinct but it was a lot quicker than anything else and time wasn’t a large commodity. 

“You won’t have to do much. I just want you to relay the information that you get at Seraphim and beyond,” Evan explained. “I want to make sure that I’m getting all the information. I’ll give you more information on how to deliver it. Do you understand?” 

Percy kept his stoic appearance. Even when Evan came so close. He let the King explode on him, taking it before even thinking about saying something. Evan clearly didn’t know the real story. The story in which the late king, his father, played the role. At the ranting Evan, Percy just took in the image of the boy who had grown up so much in the years past. It even made him smirk a tiny bit, which he quickly stopped before that would be used against him, too.

“Evan..” Percy started, calmly. Not many people would get the sincere and calm tone after having gone off on him like Evan just did. “I don’t think you know the whole story.” He said. “I didn’t leave. And definitely not out of boredom.” Percy assured him. “After it became clear that I have… powers, your father…” He paused for a moment. “Asked me to leave. Right away.” ‘Asked’ was a very bold embellishment. “He told me that he would explain to you why.” Judging by the reaction, Percy guessed he didn’t do that.

Evan hesitated, his world turned on its axis. “Wait-” he was still processing. His father had asked Percy to leave? That didn’t make sense. “Why would he ask you to leave? He wanted saints. You could have helped us.” 

“He didn’t,” Evan said, quietly. “He told me you left. That’s it.” He paused, collecting his thoughts. “So what did you do? You just came here?”

when were you going to tell me?

you can’t keep doing this to yourself.

that’s…a lot of blood.

can you walk?

please don’t lie to me.

you were supposed to leave.

i’m not going anywhere without you.

shh, it’s okay. it was just a dream.

there was nothing more you could have done.

it wasn’t your fault.

this is all my fault.

you aren’t acting like yourself.

i’m never going to let [her/him/them] hurt you again.

you’re hurting me.

don’t ever do that again.

go to hell.

please don’t cry.

you have to stay awake.

i wish i could take the pain away.

you could have died.

hey – stay with me.

it’ll be over soon.

did you ever love me?

i’m sorry. i can’t do this anymore.

things won’t always hurt this bad.

you passed out.

how much have you had?

i’m okay. it’s all fine.

it’s not okay! you’re not fine!

let me get you something for the pain.

it’s nothing. it’s just a bruise.

it’s clearly not nothing.

have you been to the doctor?

i didn’t mean the things i said.

i thought we meant something.

people who are okay don’t act like this.

you don’t have to go through this by yourself.

i don’t want you to be alone.

please don’t regret me.

i heard you crying.

you need to get some rest.

when was the last time you ate something?

i’m worried about you.

did you have another nightmare?

[name], there’s nobody there.

i want to be happy but i don’t think i deserve it.

please talk to me.

why are you mad at me?

alcohol isn’t going to solve your problems.

don’t leave me.

did you do this to yourself?

it’s breaking my heart to see you like this.

tell me what’s wrong.

tell me how to make it better.

why don’t you care?

get the hell away from me.

please don’t do this.

i can’t believe that you lied to me.

just…stay for the night.

you obviously can’t be trusted to take care of yourself, so let me do it for you.

you can’t die. i won’t let you.

just hang on, okay?

hold my hand if you need to.

i’m sorry.

why do you have a gun?

don’t panic.

just breathe.

you’re bleeding.

i’m trying to stop the bleeding.

you’ve been crying, i can tell.

you should have told me sooner.

i wanted to tell you in person.

a phone call would’ve been nice.

i hate you.

Sam was here against their better judgement. They knew the recruitment drive under cover of a party held little interest to them- if they hadn’t joined Seraphim already they weren’t going too- but a part of them was honestly curious about the other saints in Athos.

Sure, they’d met almost all of them- in Inferno or by virtue of the fact that even before being gifted themselves they’d run with the saintly crowd, protesting on their behalf- but this was different. This was action, showing off, desperation, letting loose. 

They wanted to scream half the building to ruins right now, just to put a stop to it. Violence without purpose didn’t appeal to them- why fight just to prove you could, when so many worthy causes could’ve used your anger?

They sipped their drink and sighed, turning to acknowledge person at their side only when he did first. It wasn’t hard to figure out what he was referring to. “Nope.” Sam shook their head, nose wrinkling. “Don’t plan on it. Don’t trust them.”

Evan glanced over at the other person, curiosity in his gaze. He hadn’t met them before and hadn’t seen them participating in the activities. “Not your scene?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. He stared at them a moment before holding out his hand. “Evan,” he offered. They didn’t seem to recognize him and frankly, it amused him. It wasn’t often that he had the cloak of anonymity. 

“No…not sure I will tonight.” Lucian did his best to slow his words in an effort to not seem suspicious in regards to his Saint status. Though he knew mundane humans were able to take Sinners as well as Saints, Lucian knew the reputation of the drug well, how they were marketed towards Saints who wanted better control over their powers.

The thought was tempting to say the least. The possibility of a drug that was able to give Lucian the comfort and happiness to be himself was everything he ever wanted; he just wasn’t sure if he was ready to accept being a Saint just yet.

Lucian glanced up towards Evan, another distant prince that he had seen during quite a few royal events. His adoration of Cyrus always took priority over making an attempt to greet his brother, but he supposed now was as good as time as any.

“What about you? Have you ever taken them?”

“Aw, Lucian, where’s your sense of adventure?” Evan asked, wrapping his arm around the boy. They’d grown up together, seeing each other every couple of years. Evan viewed him as a little brother and as Lucian’s older brother he felt a responsibility to show him a good time. “Come on, I want to make sure you have a good time before you disappear again,” Evan joked. 

“I haven’t, though I can’t say I’m not tempted,” he grinned. “I’m always down for a good time.”

Upon hearing that the King of Keigan himself was visiting, JP had everything prepared and welcoming for his arrival. He’d known Evan since Princehood - which was a great advantage now. He knew the other king to be youthful and naive, but there was no doubting his importance still. Not only did Evan possibly have wisdom to share in being a king, he also had the potential to be an incredibly valuable asset. If they could join Athos and Keigan together… That would bring JP closer than ever to extending his own power.

So he smiled as he welcomed King Evan into his office and then made his way over to meet him in the middle. When Evan bowed, JP returned it, simply to be respectful to the other’s different customs - for the sake of friendship and alliance. Otherwise, the King of Athos preferred not to bow to anyone. “Ah, the promotion,” he repeated, grinning and letting out a huff of amusement.

“It’s been a whirlwind, as I’m sure you know. Please-” JP gestured to the seats by the fireplace in his extensive office suite. “Have a seat.” He began to chuckle lightly and followed beside the other. “It’s all strange isn’t it? Our meetings will be far more business than we’re used to… But I’m sure we will make the most of it, old friend.” 

Whether or not they were close enough to be good friends in Evan’s mind did not matter to JP. The purpose was charm and poise. They knew each other long enough and were close enough in age that he believed he could make that assumption as casually and gracefully as he did.

Evan nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. No matter how prepared you thought you were being king was always ten times more stressful if not more. The stress of having an entire nation of people depending on you was not something to be scoffed at. 

He took the seat by the fire just as Jean-Pierre said, looking at the flickering lights. “It is. Everything gets far more serious once you take up the mantle of king. Though, that doesn’t mean that it loses all the fun,” he smirked at him. 

“Still, everything is far more stressful.” He took a deep breath, looking over at the other man. “How are you doing with the stress? I know it’s overwhelming at the start.” 

“People like you? Do you mean royal or mundane?” she asked, her head cocking slightly. Flashing a smile quickly, Mina tilted her head down and let her loose curls cover her face as embarrassment flashed through her quickly.She hoped that she hadn’t offended the man, the King of Keigan, lord knew the Royal family would throw a fit if one of their Anchors openly offended a King they were working to build an alliance with.

Perhaps her time around the all the royalty she was exposed to had left her desensitized to the power imbalance. She had never met the King, but his brother Cyrus was someone she quite enjoyed being around, so she hoped that they could at least have a civil conversation. “I’m Mina, by the way.”

“Mundane,” he answered, a grin on his face. “I don’t think my being royalty would affect how the pill makes me feel,” he joked. “Would it bow? Address me as your highness? I’m not so stuck up at I need inanimate objects to fear me.” He laughed at the thought. “Do I have that reputation?” Evan asked, the large grin revealing his joking nature. 

“Evan,” he replied. “Though, I figure you knew that based on the royal comment.”

After her breakdown in the alleyway and being comforted by Liam, Emilia had rethought her decision to skip out on the party. Yes, her parents were dead, but that didn’t mean she had to deprive herself of fun forever. That’s not what her parents would’ve wanted. They knew they lived a dangerous life, and they would’ve wanted their kids to continue to live their lives after the funeral was over.

She hadn’t bothered to come with anyone. She was sure some friends were around, but she wasn’t actively looking for them at the moment. In general, she was just scoping out the landscape. She hadn’t really heard of Seraphim before the announcement went out, but it seemed like an interesting place to hang out. She was about to wander elsewhere when she heard a familiar voice address her.

Her eyes took in Evan.  She hadn’t interacted with him much since her parent’s death, but then again she wasn’t as social as she normally was. Now, she found herself wanting to branch out again. Her eyebrows rose at his question before she replied.

“Not yet. Have you?” It wasn’t so much of a question as it was a challenge. A simple game of you take one, i’ll take one. She was curious to see if he would join in or if he was more interested in watching everyone else.

Evan shook his head, eyeing the young princess. They’d always been close since they were kids. Of all the Delacroix siblings he seemed to get along with her the best and there had always been a hint of a flirtation between the two. He wasn’t opposed to starting something with her but at the same time, he didn’t want to have to split his allegiances between Keigan and Athos. His first priority would always be his own country and having a foreign wife would complicate that. Nothing could ever stand between him and his country. 

“No, I’ve considered it but I haven’t indulged yet. Do you know what it does to people like us?” Evan asked. “I’m curious to find out.” He raised an eyebrow, grinning at her. “I’m game if you are.”

Amara silently listened to the words Evan said. Over the year that she had been married to Jack, she hadn’t been as good of a friend to Evan as she used to be. That was probably also a change that she had gone through in the time that she had been together with Jack. It made her wonder how much he had noticed from her in that time.

“You are right. I was different after until the point I did not recognise myself anymore,” Amara told him. Maybe she was trusting him with too much right now. He had known about her husband however, he knew the person that had left those four years ago. He knew the past that she had left behind - something others did not know and she had to explain first.

“I did not see him being a dick until it was too late. He made me feel loved, I did love him and I thought he could be the father of my children in the future. I had everything until I realised I missed out on who I was. So I had to leave Keigan and went back to Athos.”

“But, why didn’t you tell anyone? Or just get a divorce like normal people do? Why the theatrics?” Evan asked, still confused. “I mean, christ Amara, I thought he’d killed you or something,” he let out a shaky breath. It was true. He’d spent the last couple of years coming to terms with that. He thought he’d never see her again.

“You scared the shit out of me,” Evan admitted, taking a deep breath. There were a million thoughts buzzing in his head, but as he opened his mouth to say something nothing came and instead he just stared at her. It was the wrong time to kiss her. It was inappropriate on so many levels. His eyes flickered to her lips before he let out a breath and stepped back. “Are you okay?” he asked finally. 

“Looking for little old me? You shouldn’t have,” Dexter said, his eyes clearly traveling up and down what he could see of the man with how close they were. “To think I made such an impression that you just had to find me, how flattering, Your Majesty.”

The flirting was a natural response for Dexter, something that slid as easily from his tongue as water slid down a body. Though his next statement halted on his tongue with the King’s implication of his past. The instinct to flee flared within him again, but he was also curious. Just what had this man learned of him? “Want me to teleport us somewhere, or would you like to lead the way?” All teasing had gone from his voice. His past had found him far to much in the last few weeks, leaving him on edge.

Evan rolled his eyes at the man's obvious advances. “Take it however you like,” Evan said, his tone noncommittal. 

“I’d prefer the old fashioned way,” Evan replied, leading the man out the door and into the cool night air. “Before you begin to panic I’m not ratting you out, at least not yet. Your connections here make you useful to me and as long as you remain useful I have no reason to turn you into the proper authorities,” he explained. “What’s more is that if you’re able to fulfill the role I give you then I can offer you sanctuary in Keigan as well as a comfortable bonus.” He looked the man in the eye, trying to see if he’d piqued his interest. “Are you interested or should I call my contacts in Omerta?”

It was unlike Amara to be chaotic. She was probably one of the most organised people that you would find. But the fact that she had decided only a few hours ago to leave Keigan and leave everything - or more importantly everyone - behind, it turned her head into a big mess. Over the past year things had changed; she had changed. It had been a feeling right under her skin already but to realise and to actually say out loud to herself that she did not recognise herself anymore… It had been confronting. And this one decision, she had made with her heart and not with her head; she had to leave the country and she had to untangle herself from Jack Renner.

Her chaotic mind had her chucking several things in a suitcase, rather than her usual packing process. Normally she was the one to make a list of what she would need, get all the stuff and then put it all in the suitcase. Nothing was left of that process. She just needed to leave as soon as possible. The moment someone decided to start pounding on her door, had her startled. She felt her heart racing, nearly beating out of her chest. She quickly closed her suitcase and pushed it under her bed. She closed the doors to her closet quickly. It was only after a scan through the room to see if there was still something that gave away her plans, before she opened up the door.

Amara had not expected to see Evan Qing standing in front of her and especially not all bloodied. She was stunned as the young man entered her chambers. She did as he told her to do and closed the door behind him. It was only after a few seconds before she turned away from the closed door so she could face Evan. He was the last person she needed to have over her as she had been planning on leaving.

“What happened to you?” Amara asked Evan softly as she got closer to him, her hand softly gripping his chin and angling his head so she could see what the damage was.

He didn’t want her to freak out. “Nothing happened,” he said quickly as soon as the door closed behind him. “Well, not nothing, obviously,  but nothing serious.” He ran his fingers through his hair, grinning nervously. “It’s my own fault, really. Edgar and I were messing around and-” he gestured to the damage on his face. “But you know Edgar, Amara. He didn’t do it on purpose. Plus, it took me forever to convince him to treat me like a normal person and if my dad finds out he’ll get in trouble and reverse all the progress I made,” Evan rambled, looking up at her, his eyes wide. 

“Promise you won’t tell him,” he begged. “Please?”