CYAN | ONC 2022

13

The day the Demon Princess arrived, the sun was not shining nor was there any hint of blue in the sky. In fact, it was raining. Heavily enough that the only way for the sounds of water falling to be muffled was when he dragged his thick curtains and covered his windows. Moving to the standing mirror, he just stared at himself.

Right, he was actually going to do this. He was going to be meeting with the Demon Princess and try to be civil about it. A soft sigh escaped his lips. Part of him wanted to leave this castle and find the Tünder. But he knew that if he did, Father would hunt him down to drag him back. He couldn't risk letting him know of their meeting spot.

Smoothing his white gloved hands down his chest, he stood straight.

At least, the quicker he was done with meeting her, the quicker he could leave and meet with Ilayda. Aryzath glanced at the covered windows, listening to the pitter patter of the rain. Just like this, just the thought of the tiny droplets falling from the sky — he missed her.

Did she love the rain as a water Tünder?

He took in one last deep breath and forced his limbs to move. Father was most likely waiting for him at the entrance of the castle — a custom to greet the other visiting royals with respect. Not that Aryzath thought they deserved any considering they were just using each other at the end of the day but voicing that particular thought would cause a diplomatic incident to happen.

With each step he took to get to where Father was, the deeper his heart sank into his stomach. Under his parent's gaze, he cleared his throat and resisted the urge to adjust his stance once he was standing next to him. The doors were ajar and it was clear that with the guards taking a stand at either side, many more than there used to be on a normal day, that the Demon Princess and Helius were about to arrive.

"At least you're decent today," Father said.

Aryzath snorted under his breath. He was quite used to being judged by the older creature. "Yes," he said. "Will they be here any moment?"

"Yes," Father said, shifting his hands to place it behind him. "Remember, be respectful. You are not here to be the usual absent-minded prince you have been all this while."

Slight irritation washed over him at that.

Deciding to hold off from saying anything back to the other man, he gave him a short nod. There really wasn't anything he could do now, could he? He had to go through this even if he didn't want to.

What would he even say to her?

He decided to count down back from ten in his head just to calm himself down. Unlike Arya, he was never good with polite mannerisms in face of annoyance. He couldn't dial up his charm like she could and get people falling all over him — not that he had problems in terms of suitors.

A nudge on his right had him blinking back to reality. Father took a step forward, greeting two figures and a few more behind them. Aryzath hadn't paid attention to how they got here — but judging by the lack of vehicles, there was magic involved. Demon magic had always been something he thought was made for the Sire.

They always left a sense of distress and destruction in their pathway and Aryzath had the misfortune of witnessing that once. When he had been a fledgling and a Demon captured by the soldiers during a raid to their lands tried to curse him.

When the Demon Princess stood in front of him, the first thing he saw was her face. Her eyes were heavy with dark pigment, bringing out the redness in her irises into a faint glow. It didn't make him feel better that he was near someone who could cast a dark spell on him should she want to.