Each year the Kingdom of Khearia throws a festival in remembrance of one of their most beloved kings who had tragically perished along with his wife and second son. His first son, Prince Fabian, was the only one to survive. Witnesses claimed his cro...
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Black and golden robes bore on James' body, draping over his shoulders and falling in folds down to his feet. It encased him heavily; a dragging weight.
ㅤServants tweaked it, ensuring its perfection, whilst James mannequined in the centre of a mirror. They fixed his hair, shaved his jaw, and adorned him turgidly, all without muttering a single question.
ㅤJames faced his reflection.
ㅤHe was nothing like Prince Julian. No vibrancy. He was so colourless and muted, his hair a greying pale like dead, shrivelled daffodil, not the resplendence it should have been. He hardly stood out from the background, fading, like a cheap imitation.
ㅤHe lowered his gaze.
ㅤThey'd tried to take Eris but he'd held on to her, even if she appeared untidy and well-loved in comparison to him. She didn't suit the richness he'd been garnished in.
ㅤ"You look good," Alex said.
ㅤJames looked up and Alex was gazing at him in the mirror.
ㅤ"You clean up quite nicely, yourself," James replied.
ㅤAlex's garments weren't too different from his normal uniform but these were ceremonial; crisper, shinier and more extravagant with artful engravings and inefficient finery. Blue didn't suit him.
ㅤ"Excuse me... Lord? May I—"
ㅤ"No," James snapped at the servant. They were not allowed to touch Eris.
ㅤAlthough none of the servants knew James' identity, soon, everyone would. It was already sickeningly obvious: Eris, Prince Julian's famously gossiped relic sword, was tied to his woven belt and his left arm was mostly bare, the burns cracking and grouting his skin.
ㅤHe knew, even without the introduction, that some of the senators in that room would understand immediately. And there was nothing he could do about it.
ㅤ"James..."
ㅤAlex's kind gaze was not one James wanted to see. If Alex could've been colder, like Eris, more selfish and less pathetic, it would've been easier for him.
ㅤThat kind of look made James want to return to their bed, rousing awake in the privacy of the dark with their bodies clinging to one another, their drowsy minds a step behind remembering the world outside. That perfect point in time— James wanted for it to have lasted an eternity.
ㅤIt was a dangerous hope. James had spent most of his life avoiding such tragic ideas.
ㅤ"Let's go," Alex urged, smiling.
ㅤJames nodded.
ㅤSomehow, it felt like James' soul had retreated inside himself, looking through the lens of his own eyes like a window. His hands... He scrutinised them as they walked, but they felt like a dream intruding in an imagined space. Not his body, not the floor, not his feet— they were all hallucinations.
