the high king and queen of elfhame get matching hairstyles

the king and queen of elfhame get matching hairstyles

 Jude was still deep in slumber when Cardan realized he was in tremendous trouble. He could do nothing at this point but to simply stare at himself in the vanity mirror. He uncomfortably shifted in his chair reminiscing on how horrid this decision was. One of his worst ever. Truly, what was he thinking?

The moonlight cascading through the window made sure to highlight every single part, and every tiny inch, of the disgraceful nightmare the state of his hair currently was in. Cardan Greenbriar, the High King of Elfhame, known to never look less than flawless was currently gaping at his reflection with his hair in awful knots, messy braids, and the two crooked, pitiful, and absolutely offensive horns he'd attempted over and over to form.

You see, Cardan had already assumed that trying his wife's signature hairstyle wouldn't be easy to achieve, but he still had a flicker of hope. He was Cardan Greenbriar after all, vanity and fashion were two things he knew he was very skilled at. In the back of his mind, when he had failed for the first time, and then the second, and the third, he thought he would eventually get the hang of it.

But it turned out he was extremely wrong.

After a couple more minutes of intense staring at his reflection, Cardan's grip tightened around his brush, and from his lips, an accidental frustrated groan escaped disturbing the previous quiet. Cardan's shoulders immediately tensed when he heard the rustle of the sheets from his and his wife's bed. He turned to her, cursing at himself for potentially disturbing her sleep. If there is anyone in all of Elfhame who knows how much Jude needed and deserved rest, it was him.

Once his eyes were on her, the dim light embracing all of Jude's perfect features, he found it difficult not to stay here for the rest of the night and watch her as she slept, however unsettling that probably sounded. There was a certain kind of peace brought to her face when she was sleeping, one he adored. One he was privileged to witness more often than not lately, ever since the world decided to, somehow, make him the luckiest man alive and give him the blessing of going to bed beside Jude Duarte every night.

Even during times when relaxing seemed to be more difficult than others, Jude and Cardan never failed to find each other's arms. Here in their room, in their space, they were both safe. Here, they could finally breathe. Always reminded by the fact that they didn't have to fight for their lives anymore. There wasn't anything they needed to prove. Here, they were simply Jude and Cardan. King and Queen of each other's hearts and nothing more.

For several moments, Cardan almost forgot his current predicament. That is, of course, before he turned back towards the vanity and saw himself once again. For the last several months, Cardan had been growing out his hair, and while it was not quite as long as Jude's perfect brown waves yet, it was surely long enough to achieve this hairstyle.

And, sure, when he woke up earlier than usual today to attempt this, he did think that maybe his hair being significantly curlier than his wife's might affect the process. But truly, he trusted himself to succeed anyways.

Regret clawed at his chest. He looked completely idiotic, and he was very sure that if Jude decided to cut his hair off with her dagger, he'd probably deserve it. With a quieter, despaired sigh, Cardan let the brush down to pour himself the fifth glass of wine he's had today. He downed it eagerly, hoping that maybe the effects would help him not feel like an utter failure.

All he wanted was to try Jude's hairstyle. His queen always looked so powerful, so charming, so breathtaking with them. Especially when she decorated them with golden charms.

He wanted Jude to wake up and think the very same of him. But looking like this, he was sure all she would feel was frustration because fixing his hair would probably make them late to whatever activity they had scheduled tonight. All he wanted was to have a matching hairstyle with his queen, was that so much to ask?