Royal AU: Yellow Jessamine

The Crimson Inkwell

Another long period had gone by without any letter or visit from Flora, nor news from her kingdom or servants. Even when anyone from the blue kingdom's castle tried to visit, the Queen would generally deny any visit at all unless it was one she asked for.
However that day during the afternoon, someone else ended up visiting the Blue Kingdom instead. Once he was let in by the guards and instructed on Skylar's location, Michael calmly walked through the halls and knocked when arriving at the door of his office.

Skylar had been going back to feeling worried and overwhelmed over the past weeks, the work adding up to everything, and ended up having a few restless nights. He was currently working on some paperwork work until he heard the knocking at his office door, making him look up towards the entrance "You may enter" he answered, setting his quill aside for a moment

When the door slowly opened, it was revealed to be Michael who smiled brightly at him. "Good afternoon, neighbor!" He said, happily greeting him as he carefully walked in, paying attention to not accidentally knock anything over. He was wearing a mantle to bear the cold of the kingdom while also having a big filled leather back diagonally through his torso. "I hope I'm not disturbing you, eh? I just returned a few weeks ago from a long trip and I figured I could hop to say hi and check on you"

He widened his eyes when he saw who was visiting, a smile appearing on his face as he stood from his seat "Prince Michael, my friend! I haven't seen you for so long" he chuckled softly "You're not disturbing me in any way. How have you been? Did you have a nice voyage?"

He chuckled happily at his reaction and walked a little closer to him. "Of course! Oh, and I brought you a little souvenir as a gift, I did miss your marriage after all" he said, reaching his hand into the leather bag and searching until he pulled out something and handed it to him. The gift was a small golden chain that ended with a blue gem flower for him to wear as a necklace, bracelet, or just to clip onto his jacket's pocket.

Skylar had raised his eyebrows when he mentioned that he had brought a gift with him and once given to him he gasped quietly "Awwh, you shouldn't have...It looks so pretty!" He commented "Thank you so much, I love it," he said with a soft smile, glancing down at the necklace before looking up at the prince seeming a little less tired than before

"Flora was the one to suggest that you might like something such as that," Michael said smiling, setting his hands on his hips and furrowing his eyebrows a little. "Speaking of Flora, I was just about to head to her to bring her some books to pass the time. I think she must have caught a plant-cold thing of some kind because she stays in bed more often than usual. Das told me she hardly even accepts visits anymore" he explained, scratching his head "Well, I wanted to ask you if you would have liked to send her something, I can deliver it for you if you'd like, I'll let her know" the prince smiled

He kept smiling although a little more sad when he heard that the Queen was the one who suggested that. Skylar turned to the prince and listened to his offer, thinking about it for a moment. "Well, I'm not sure. I would've loved to send her a letter myself already but I feel she's been becoming so...distant. As if she was bothered by me or I'd done something wrong" he mentioned and looked around for a moment. He opened a few drawers until he found the object setting it down on the desk in front of Mike. "I bought this after she had visited me last time. It was the most expensive and they only had one of those in stock." It was a brand new inkwell with decorative ornaments, containing dark red looking ink "It fits the aesthetic of her Kingdom! I wanted to gift it to her for a while already but having heard that she didn't accept visits I was afraid to bother. It's the second time it's happening" he said with a sigh before smiling at the prince "I'd be very glad if you handed it to her. Tell her that I wish for her to get better soon and...that I miss seeing her. I really hope we get speak again at some point" he added, sounding somewhat worried and sad but keeping a smile on.

Michael listened attentively to everything he had to say, tilting his head sadly as he watched him. He took the gift with extreme care and smiled fondly at him, taking a cloth from his bag and wrapping it attentively to avoid damaging it before he put it away into his bag. "I'll give it to her and tell her everything, Skylar." He said to reassure him, then slowly sad a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I don't know much about this situation either, but I know it must be devastating to feel like you're losing a good friend. I feel like I know why she's being so distant but there might be more to it, I also saw she was acting weird..." he confessed, furrowing his eyebrows and lowering his hand. "She's so... Lifeless...? And some of the crops in the kingdom keep dying especially flowers..." he admitted, rubbing his neck a little. "Plus, she hasn't left the castle in so long from what I know. Not even for training, or for a walk in the woods. I don't know what's happening, but I promise I'll try to figure it out and keep you updated on her, alright? I should get going now, but greet your wife for me." Michael smiled fondly at him.

He sighed briefly "Thanks, Michael, I'm grateful" he thanked him and glanced back up at him when he felt his hand being set on his shoulder "The crops are dying?-.Well, yeah. She has been acting quite differently ever since the wedding if I have to be honest. She left suddenly and when I visited her two weeks later I had been sent out in a matter of minutes. I don't know what has been bringing her down so lately other than her illness.." he mentioned before inhaling deeply "Alright- I know you got this. Thank you for everything and stay safe please" he gave Michael a nod and smiled slightly "Of course, I'll let her know. I look forward to seeing you soon again, my friend "

Michael nodded and turned around to leave, glancing at the king again before smiling sadly at him and heading out of the castle.
After a while, he managed to reach the pink kingdom and met with the queen, whose conditions seemed to worsen every day. Once he gave her the books and talked a while with her, he managed to understand a few of the things worrying her but noticed reassuring her wasn't doing anything at all; when some time went by, he had to leave and left the Queen alone to read in her room while trying to relax.

Once he had left the young man on his own he lowered himself back onto his chair, leaning back and sighing deeply. He had thought about the whole situation for a moment and caught himself overthinking it for a moment before he was forcing himself back on track and continued working as he previously did.