bitter water // dreamnotfound

two

to clay, the perception of life was drastically different.

Living in a castle all his life was the normal for him. He didn't know anything different. He didn't ever think of how hard it was for other people to get by. On the outside, he appeared grateful and humble, but it was all just a facade to keep up his and his family's reputation. He didn't actually really care about how difficult life was for the less fortunate.

Clay had two brothers. Alastair and Karl. Alastair was nicknamed Eret for whatever reason, but Clay never called him that. He thought it was stupid and unnecessary. Alastair was the oldest, he was the first born son. Heir to the throne. Loved by everyone. The perfect son, the perfect soon-to-be king. Karl was Clay's younger brother, he was only eighteen. Clay was nineteen, Alastair was twenty one. Karl never liked the spotlight, he always purposely stayed away from it. Going to big festivals or kingdom speeches made him uncomfortable. Nobody except his blood relatives knew much about him.

Despite the siblings being relatively similar in age, none of them were ever really that close to each other. They grew up their own ways; whether that be a good or bad thing.

There was no specific reason that they never grew close, they just never did. They went their own ways, never really avoiding each other, but never talking to one another when they had to.

Karl didn't mind it, he was perfectly content keeping to himself. Alastair would rather it have gone differently, but he didn't really mind either. Clay was actually glad they never grew as close as average siblings.

That'd make what he wanted to do very, very difficult.

---

Clay strolled through the softly illuminated hallways, thinking to himself. Everything was always so empty and echoey. That was the only thing he disliked about the castle.

He'd get scolded for making too much ruckus as a child, so he learned to walk silently and be hyper aware of his surroundings. Even though Wilbur and Niki didn't really mind anymore, he still had a habit of it. It was useful sometimes. Sneaking up on people to playfully scare them.

There was nothing to do today. On an average day, there'd be some type of castle event. They ranged from speech script writing to posture practice to "public acts of admirable service." He knew that could just be simply put as, "community service to make it look like we're good people."

However, today was an off day for everybody.

Clay sighed multiple times, suppressing a yawn. He'd go back to sleep if he could, but he had been having trouble sleeping lately.

He knew exactly why, but he tried not to think about it too much.

Clay brushed the back of his palm against the finely decorated walls as he walked silently through them. He wasn't going anywhere in particular, just anything to keep his legs moving.

Dirty blonde hair fell into his eyes as he traveled through the halls. He had a plan. It could either go just like he planned or terribly wrong. Either way was going to cause pain for everyone, but he didn't care what others had to think. He didn't have to feel it so he didn't care. They'd get over it eventually. That was his mindset.