Scribbles and Drabbles

Notebook Drabble 29

Trigger warning: Suicide

One choice, that's all the King gave Clarence. From birth until now, every action, every move, every like and dislike had been decided for him. A prince represented his people. A prince worked hard and sacrificed every piece of himself to serve. A prince didn't make mistakes. A prince smiled and acted with grace. A prince would become King, and a King could not falter. 

A King was no father to a prince. A King was a prince's boss. His father loved the idea of him but not him. The person that his father adored more than anything in the world was the wizard apprentice. 

Every King had his wizard. Nathanial trained Chester to be Clarence's wizard once he took over the throne. Nathanial was his father's wizard. When Chester arrived at the palace, Nathanial turned from Clarence's loving uncle to a ghost in his life. Nathanial turned from the father figure the King could not be, to barely interacting with Clarence at all.

He forgave him at first. A new apprentice took more importance than any of Clarence's struggles in life.  Then his father became obsessed with Chester and how much potential he had. Chester was the golden child. Nothing Chester did could be wrong. No mistake, Chester made could be big enough not to be laughed away. The smallest mistake Clarence made left restrictions and punishments stinging over his skin. Chester walked through life with everyone falling in love with him, and Clarence hated him for it.

Then one choice, one glimpse of freedom. "Find someone to marry, or I'll pick for you for you."

So Clarence picked someone. A handsome knight destined to serve as a General when the time came. A man who would willingly throw himself on a spear for him. A man who agreed to make a deal and Clarence, for the first time, and potentially only time, got to make a selfish choice for himself. He picked Sebastian, and everything turned lighter. He gracefully moved through his lessons and responsibilities easier. 

Then Chester ruined it. 

"You swore an oath," Clarence said, keeping his voice cool. If he let any other emotions out, he'd collapse. He'd break from this. He'd crumbled originally, but Sebastian promised to keep his end of the deal. He promised. 

Promises were for children. 

"I have to ask you to release me from it," Sebastian pleaded on one knee. 

That was wrong. Sebastian was about to become Clarence's equal, his partner. Instead, he asked to be released at the altar before the nation. To allow him to be Chester's husband. 

Chester sat in view, shell-shocked. Something like hope building in his eyes.

The two fell in love. Worse, they were fucking soulmates, and Sebastian acted as an anchor to Chester's magic. They'd have to spend time together, married or not, but if Chester slept with the consort, Clarence could have him castrated and exiled. The only choice Clarence got, and the man belonged to Chester in a way Clarence could never. All his hopes and dreams of having someone to be his and nothing to do with Chester vanished, and it hurt. 

Clarence shook his head. "No, you swore an oath and promised not to break it. I asked you, and you said you would not ask this of me. You do this, and you are an oathbreaker."  

Magic bubbled between them. A few hisses in the room. Chester was a wizard. Clarence was a prince, and that brought about a magic a sovereign could cast. Clarence spoke the truth. The King trained him to be careful with words for this reason. His word was power. His soul demanded respect.

His heart splintered. 

He'd curse Sebastian to be an exile, to be hated by all who saw him and understood he'd broken an oath. Chester made one to serve the royal family and be Clarence's wizard. Chester would be unable to follow after. Or he could break that oath, too, but he'd lose his magic. His family would suffer the blow because that was the greediness of Chester's existence, grabbing more and more from everyone around him. Chester didn't need the King or Nathanial as a father. He had a loving father and mother who supported him.