The Gift of War [bxb]

Perturbation

A lie is a trap you spread for yourself.

....

"Your royal highness Ryan Frost of Sythia."

Ryan almost jumped out of his skin at the voice of his beau behind him, but couldn't muster up the courage to look. Instead, he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to keep his tears at bay.

"I commend you, your highness, you have succeeded in your mission."

Mission?

"You have successfully bewitched me, made me a fool in front of everyone, and secured your place in the castle and your nation's peace."

Ryan whirled around, tears running down in streaks.

"That's not true! You know that's not true!" He cried, taking a step towards the cold-faced man.

"And to think, I..." Nusrat's voice seemed to have given up on him as he paused, looking into the eyes of the man he had come to adore.

"And to think I was ready to bend all laws of royalty to have you by my side, when all this time all I needed was a treaty."

"I didn't mean to, Nusrat-, I didn't mean to lie-"

"But you did!" Nusrat yelled, making Ryan step back, intimidated. This was the first time the crown prince had raised his voice in front of him.

"I'm sorry." Ryan said wetly, wanting nothing more than to take the other prince into his arms and console him, but afraid to even look into those stormy eyes.

"Why would you be? You have me exactly where you wanted me." Nusrat scoffed.

Ryan's eyes widened and he rushed, "Are you saying that I orchestrated our... relationship... to entrap you?!" He finished, a little incredulously.

"Did you, or did you not lie about your identity?"

"I did! For my own protection!" Ryan shouted, anger and disbelief seeping into his voice. "From your barbaric people!"

"Protection?" Nusrat repeated, offence taking stance in his brain. "No Sythian, soldier or civilian or royalty, has ever been harmed outside of the battlefield by the Perion."

"Oh, forgive me for simply not trusting the enemy-"

"Did you ever even trust me, after all I've done for you?"

Ryan stayed silent, although he knew the answer was written on his face. Even while he had grown very fond of the crown prince in his service, he had always been waiting for the man to snap. In truth, he had never fully trusted the man. At least, not enough to reveal his true identity.

"Wow." Was all the older man said, and he backstepped.

"Wait, Nusrat!"

But the said man had already turned around, showing his back to him, and those broad shoulders had never been so slumped before.

"Our wedding is in two days. Hopefully, by that time, you'll trust me enough to share my bed, fiance."

...

"Brother!"

Ryan flinched at the voice of his brother and braced himself for the barrage of emotions and scoldings he was about to get.

The meeting room had been deserted, except for the royal family members and the most high placed ministers, most of which stared at him with thinly veiled contempt and suspicion.

Xavier, however, seemed immune to them all.

"My little brother." He pulled Ryan into a hug.

Despite being blood brothers, Xavier and Ryan looked nothing alike. While Ryan took after their mother with his blond hair and blue eyes, Xavier inherited their father's sombre dark features. Shaggy brown hair and matching eyes, he was considered the staple of beauty in Sythia.

To Perions, not so much.

"Xavier." Ryan greeted, nervous under the king's glare and Nusrat's apathetic glance.

"Are you well, Ryan?" His elder brother leaned back and took in his appearance. His complexion had gone paler due to strict indoor work, but overall he had no deformities. His clothes were that of a servant, but sufficiently modest.

"I am well." He reassured. "Are you well? How is father?" He asked back.

"Yes, I am well, Ryan."

"And father?" He asked anxiously. "How is he?"

"Father... is not..." Xavier sighed. There was no way around this. "He is in bad condition."

"I need to see him." Ryan said, looking into his brother's eyes.

"But, Ryan, the treaty... We need the wedding to happen before we leave." Xavier lowered his voice.

"Wedding be damned! My father is dying!" Ryan exclaimed.

"He won't die!" The older prince insisted. "But our people will, if we don't set this peace in stone."

"Xavier, you are blind, and cruel. You always have been." Ryan spat, resisting the urge to hit his brother in front of the enemies. "You left father alone to die, to pursue peace?! You fled Sythia at the first sign of a battle, you coward!"

"You forget your place-"

Behind them, Nusrat coughed.

"I hate to interrupt this lovely family reunion, but I must insist that we be done with this mess at once." He looked at Ryan, but not quite into his eyes. "The wedding is top priority right now. I thought, you, of all people understood that, Prince Ryan."

"And I do, crown prince. I do." Ryan choked out, turning towards his intended with a pleading look. "But please, wouldn't you be as unrestful as me if it was your father on a deathbed?"

"For me, duty comes before anything, little prince." Nusrat glanced at the Perion king, mirroring the apathetic expression that he donned. "Even blood."

"Nusrat, please."

"The only way you'll even enter Sythia again would be as my husband. A Perion."

...

WOAH DRAMA.

can someone tell me how y'all add reaction gifs into chapter I feel like a grandma

Vote & Comment your thoughts on what happens next!