Of Soot And Cinders

XIX

A|N: y'all I've been using Roman numerals for chapter numbers because of the aesthetic but I'm not sure that I've done them right... it's kinda too late to question it now tho, anyway this chapter will be short I hope you don't mind but remember to comment and vote (even if your comments are to make fun of my lack of Roman numeral knowledge)

GRIMM

Everything was happening and I felt as lost as a leaf in the wind. People were bustling about like bees. Wolf was ordering around some of his men already dressed in party garb to be hidden security. The tailor and his assistants were checking every stitch in my coat and pants, though I wasn't sure why. There was someone explaining again how I was supposed to enter the room, and the order in which I would greet foreign diplomats.
My father was the only one not moving, he had just entered the room and held my lost gaze with his own scowl.

He'd been closed off since this morning. He was acting the same as when he'd heard the news of the fall of the south city during the war of the Bay. I'd been twelve then but I had been able to recognize how he blocked off his emotions all the same.
Seeing it again now felt like I was being thrown back to the age of twelve and not being in control of anything.

Waking up this morning had been hell. My body felt like it was on fire, and that pain hadn't faded through the day. My father had woken me with a hand to my shoulder, shaking me gently. Somehow I had been tucked safely into my bed sheets when the last place I had remembered being was the library.

I'd been searching for information on mates, if they could be detected before or outside of the full moon. But before I could sit down with a book Princeps had out powered me in seconds.
I'd fought with Princeps on the battlefield. We'd shifted to be half my body and half his and shared control and thought. We had been a wreaking force against all our enemies.
What Princeps had turned me into last night, I'd never heard of a second form taking over control like that. I'd been told many times—as were my parents when I was born—that I was to be paired with a second form that had more power than any Were had ever been gifted with. I thought I had reached the height of that power already.

I couldn't remember much of what had happened after Princeps completely shoved me out of the way. He'd blocked my view of the world and by all accounts had knocked me unconscious. I'd only gotten broken ideas of what had followed from Wolf, my father, and the endless gossip of the castle staff but none of it was enough to understand what had ticked Princeps off.

My father let out a growl which silenced everyone in the room, and without having to be told they all left. When we were alone my father stormed to me and gripped my face in his hands. As I met his eyes I was startled to find that I was looking down. No longer was I a boy standing in front of a king. I was a successor standing in front of his future.

"You will find your mate tonight, Caspian. The elders have seen it written in the sky. I am so proud of you."

"I've met him already father." I said. I knew beyond a doubt that Atia was mine already, or that my heart had already been given over to him.

Father turned red, and though I was taller and his equal his rage still felt like hot steam to my skin. "Do not say that. It is not possible."

"What offends you so about me falling in love? You haven't even met the man."

"It's Goddess' plan—" Father began again, dropping his hands and stepping back.

"Enough with talk of the Goddess! Are you so smart that you can understand her work? That you know her thoughts? Does she speak to you father? Tell you the ways of the world? If so tell me now, tell me that you know exactly what is to happen and I will fight you no longer."
I was nearly panting, I wanted to yell. Princeps was waking for the first time since this morning. Did father not understand my heart? Had I not made it clear? Well I would.
"At midnight I will propose to Atia." I used all my strength to keep my voice even.

My fathers face morphed into that of an angry king, not a frantic father. He held up a finger and pointed it at my chest, his sigil ring shining in the firelight.
"I forbid it and that is a royal decree!" He spat.

"Then I will wait until the day you die and my first act as king will be to marry him. Your funeral will be second."
I hated the words the second they left my lips. I hated the anger and sincerity I put into them. But he wasn't listening, why wouldn't he listen?

His anger fell. I could practically feel it shudder through the floorboards. He dropped his hand and searched my eyes. His chest was rising and falling slowly under layers of expensive fabric and a golden breastplate.

"Why do you say this? Do you mean it?" He whispered.

"Why do you not listen father? You have no reason to hate Atia, do you?"

The tension had left both our bodies and now I couldn't help but beg. I wanted to know his mind. My father looked away.
"Father?" There was more silence. "Please tell me."

His shoulders heaved in a sigh and his silhouette flickered by the light of the hearth. I remembered thinking he was indestructible when I was young, I couldn't see that same strength in him now.

"I just want you to be careful. It is not just your heart on the line, it's the security of a kingdom."

"Father if you have something to say—if you know something about Atia tell me." I collapsed into the high backed chair to my right. I was so tired of arguing with him.

"Ask him about his mate, tonight, before midnight. Ask him—" My father cut himself off. "If he even shows up, ask him of his sins."

My heart plummeted. His sins? His mate?