A tall, light-skinned man, with light brown hair, walked into the dinning room where the king and queen of Thurtian sat.
"Your majesties," he bowed and Soteria waved his hand for his son to sit, without looking up from his soup. His son took his mother's hand and kissed it, then he sat at his mother's side.
Their second son, Noelan, leaned more towards his mother's side, physically and also in character. He had her hair type and colour, her eye colour and her father's features. He only had his father's height and hair.
People often joked—behind the royal family's backs of course—about Noelle singlehandedly getting herself pregnant and that was why the second prince looked so much like her.
Noelle looked at her son and then at the tall, wide door, "Where is your brother?" she asked and Noelan sighed and shook his head. "He did not want to come?" she pried further.
Soteria finally looked up from his soup and looked around, a confused look on his aging face. "Where is Sorin?" he asked and Noelan was about to speak up, but Soteria looked at the maids standing at his right side.
"Who was in charge of informing the princes about breakfast?" he asked and a small maid walked out of the lot and bowed, "Your majesty, it was I" she said in a timid voice, as she kept her head down.
"Then where is the crown prince?!" Soteria yelled angrily as he slammed his fists on the table, spilling his soup in the process.
The maid cowered at the pitch of his voice, while Noelle tried to hold his hand, but then, Noelan got up.
"Father," he bowed and then stood up straight, "The maid had informed the crown prince about dinner and that you would be joining us. I had also informed him, but he did not move an inch or make any response."
Soteria clenched his fists in anger. Ever since Astraea had disappeared, Sorin had not made contact with the outside world. He had locked himself up in the palace, believing it was his fault. If only he had not teased her and ran so far, she would have been with them. With him. As he stayed in, he re-discovered his passion for drawing and painting, so he did that to keep himself busy, ignoring his crown prince duties.
Speculations had begun to rise up about him locking himself up. People thought he was being an overdramatic brat. Some thought he was ill and wished him speedy recovery, and so many other rumors.
"Where is he?" Soteria growled in a low voice.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The lead broke at her left eye and he just sighed and looked over at a table where he kept the broken leads.
He got up from his slouching position to the table. Though it was dark, he did not trip over anything because he was used to the dark. He always painted in the dark. He always drew in the dark. He was always in that dark room.
He picked up a lead and then looked at the few leads on the table. Have to tell mother to get more leads, he sighed and held the slider grip of the propelling pencil and pushed it down, then he unscrewed the refill nut and was about to insert the new lead, but the door swung open and his father stormed in with his mother, brother and few maids and guards.
"This is what you prefer to do when your father desires to have a meal with his complete family?!" Soteria barked, while the maids rushed to open the drapes.
Sunlight burst into the room and Sorin covered his eyes with his arm. Noelle gasped and Soteria's face fell when he studied his oldest son; black lead scribbles running along his arm, his olive skin had gotten darker and he had gotten slimmer, a beard had sprouted on his face, his light green eyes looked dead and his golden brown hair was overgrown.
The robe that he had put on himself, fell down and the maids and guards quickly looked away, while Noelle rushed to her son's side and covered him with the robe.
Soteria looked around the room. There were few leads on the table with many propelling pencils scattered on the floor. Paint decorated the walls and the floor and there was the rotten smell of spoilt food which made Soteria cover his nose.
What caught Soteria's attention, were the drawings. The drawings and paintings of the same girl; the girl with chubby cheeks, kinky black hair, grey eyes and tan skin.
Astraea.
He knew his son was still hurting over her disappearance, but that did not give him the right to ignore his crown prince duties and sulk in the art room. He was already old and then it will be time for Sorin to take on the crown and lead a whole kingdom. Him getting down over his childhood friend's disappearance since fifteen years ago, just showed that he was weak.
After his father had died, yes he was sad, but he got over it and took up the crown, then his friend's brother poisoned his only son, at that time. He still did not sulk, he found the antidote and saved his son, so he could not understand why his son was acting so pitiful.
"So you think sulking, getting your mother all worried and acting all pitiful will get Astraea back?" "Your majesty, please not now" Noelle pleaded, still holding onto the rope draped over her son.
Soteria ignored her and continued talking, "If I had sulked when you were poisoned, you would not be standing here in front of me. You would have been dead a long time ago!" "Soteria!" Noelle shouted and the maids gasped.
Soteria sighed and calmed down, "One day, I will be no more, is this how you are going to settle every problem in the kingdom? By sulking and drawing? If this is how you handle your problems, I suggest you grow up!" he looked at Sorin with disgust and stormed out of the room, with guards trotting behind him.
Sorin sighed and rested his head on his mother's shoulder and she looked at the maids, "Clean the room and keep the crown prince's drawings and paintings carefully in this room."
"Mother why don't we just throw them away or burn them?" Noelan asked and Sorin glared at him.
"Noelan, do not behave like your father right now, your brother is hurting..." "He has been hurting since! I have been forced to grow up just because my older brother, the crown prince decides to sulk like he's the only one who was hurt over Astraea's disappearance. Lord Cassian lost his daughter, but you do not see him sulking, he is still out there looking for her and Sorin is still here!"
"Noelan..." Noelle was saying, but Noelan walked out of the room.
Noelle sighed and threw her son's arm over shoulders, "Let's get you into the bath" she said as they walked out together.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Noelle used the wooden bath brush on Sorin's back and she saw him pouring water on his lead covered arms. She kept on staring at what he had scribbled on his arms; Astraea and Bubbly, with a caricature of Astraea and what he imagined her to look like now.
She snapped out of it and continued scrubbing him down then she stopped and sighed, "Sorin, we need to talk" she said and got on her knees and started scrubbing his arms, removing the lead scribbles.
He kept his eyes on the scribbles which were slowly disappearing as his mother scrubbed them off.
"Your father and brother just wants what is best for you, just that they do it in their own way" she rolled her eyes and moved to his other arm.
"What about you mother?" Sorin asked and she looked up at him, "Me? Well...I also want what is best for you, but as a woman and as your mother, I tend to do things softer...like wash your arms and talk to you with a kind and soft voice."
She dropped the brush and held his hands, "Sorin, I do not want you to do this to yourself anymore. Today it was lead, what if tomorrow it is a knife or a razor? Yes, you can continue drawing and painting, and I know you do not need my permission for that, but, do not lock yourself in the art room, it worries me," tears welled up in her as she gripped his hands tightly.
"You are the future of this kingdom, the crown prince, and my first born son. I know you want to find Astraea, but staying in that room and doing nothing, is not going to bring her back. You have to leave and look for her. I believe in you, so please, do not do this again," she sobbed.
Sorin raised her hands up to his lips and pressed a kiss to them, "I am so sorry for worrying you so much mother" he dropped her hands and gently cleaned her tears.
Noelle smiled at him and he smiled back, then she hugged him, not minding his wet body.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
A carriage loaded with boxes of apples rolled to a halt in front of the palace gates and after some questions and answers, it was allowed into the compound.
It stopped at the kitchen and the servants started offloading. Two servants struggled to carry a particular box inside the kitchen, and then they dropped it with a huff and went on complaining about how heavy the box was.
The heavy box shook as what was inside struggled to come out. Suddenly, the lid flew open and a fair hand, accompanied with some apples, came out.
As her whole body came out from the cramped box, apples fell out of the box.
It was a lady in blue with a scarf on her disheveled, sandy blonde hair and blue eyes. Bithia Oprah.
She gasped for air and glared at the box, before she arranged the white scarf on her head and ran out of the kitchen before anyone saw her.
Her destination was the prince's room. No, not the crown prince, the other prince, Prince Noelan's room. She always met Sorin lastly, but he never wanted to see her.
She sighted guards approaching, so she quickly hid behind a pillar. After they had passed, she continued running.
She did not get to his room before she saw him sitting at the garden reading. With the sun kissing his olive skin and the way the sun also made his amber eyes glow and also how his eyes moved on the pages, surrounded by countless flowers, it made her realize that he was beautiful.
She did not know if it was because of his feminine features that made him beautiful or if it was because of how she saw him. She snapped out of her trance and yelled breathlessly, "Noel! Noel!" as she ran to him.
He looked up and saw her already jumping towards him, her white scarf falling from her head, and before he could catch her, she landed heavily on him.
"Ugh..." he groaned and she raised her body from his and peered into his face, "Are you alright? Did I perhaps break a royal bone?" she snickered as she kept her blue gaze on him.
Colour rose to his cheeks and he pushed her off, "Get off!" "Ahh!" she fell backwards and hit her head on the pavement, after the thistles and thorns had scraped her arms.
Noelan got up and saw her on the ground. He had not pushed her with enough strength, for her to fall off, so it was either she was being dramatic or he did not know his own strength. With Bithia, it was probably the former.
He sighed and stretched out his hand when he noticed her staring at him unbelievably, "Are you alright?" he asked and she took his hand and he dragged her up, "Rude! Pushing a lady down is not chivalrous at all!" she huffed and dusted her bottom, then she picked up her scarf.
He noticed rips on her sleeves and blood on her arms, "You are bleeding!" he said as he grabbed her wrist to look at the bruises more. She snatched her arm back and glanced at the bruises, "Yes, nothing to worry about. It is not the first time I am getting bruises...more like...seven, eight tops. Actually, I am thinking more than ten times and..." she was saying, but he grabbed her arm again.
After looking at it for a while, he looked at her, "Come with me!" he ordered and was about dragging her, but she stood firm, "Why?" she asked and he dragged her, "Ahhh!" she screamed.
"Keep quiet before you are discovered!" he glared at her and dragged her to his room.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Noelan's room was quite plain, only having the necessary furnitures; a king-sized four poster bed, a bedside table, an arm chair and a sofa with a table, drapes which were open to let in the sunlight, a closet and his bathroom, and on the floor were books scattered around.
"Come on!" he led her to the sofa and sat her down, then he took out a bottle of salve from his closet. He took a bowl from his bathroom and a pitcher of water, with a towel.
He got on a knee and she raised a brow and tilted her head, "Are you about to propose to me, Prince Noelan?" she teased with a cocky smirk.
"This will sting" he glanced at her, ignoring her earlier question and she smirked, "I have gone through more painful things than getting a bruise treated. I assure you this will be...ahh" Noelan poured water on the bruises on her arm, "Can you keep quiet for once?" he rolled his eyes as he carefully dabbed at her bruises.
He applied salve to them and was about getting up, but his elbow, accidentally hit her shin and she flinched.
Noelan noticed it and raised up her skirt to which she protested, "Hey! What are you doing?" her cheeks grew red. There was a big wound on her shin. Noelan glared at her and she gave a cheeky smile.
"What happened?" he asked as placed her foot on his thigh. "Well, it is my first time of seeing that wound. I do think I got it this morning when I had raced down the street to get to the market where the supplier would pick up apples for the palace, so I can sneak and enter one of the boxes and then come here," she said with a tooth grin.
He carefully poured water on it and she grabbed onto her skirt to ease her pain. Noelan salved it and then wrapped a bandage around it, "You have to get it checked" he looked up at her and she shrugged, "You fret too much, it will be gone before I even get home."
He rolled his eyes. Bithia was always the rough one, ever since they were children. She was the one with more scars, unrefined speech and she behaved manly.
He was actually surprised that she had grown up to be refined...well, not exactly, but she was better than before. Her speech was also refined.
But she was still rough, and had wounds, but she never treated them, which was why they left scars. He was the one who treated her wounds. Before he had bothered himself by telling her to treat them, but he realized that talking to Bithia about her wounds, was like talking to a wall.
And that frustrated him.
She gave him a reassuring smile, "I will be fine, Noel," she was about to take her foot off his thigh, but he held it down firmly, "Bithia, you can not just behave like a child all the time! We are grown, and sooner or later, you are going to get married, your husband may not have the leisure to take care of you like this, so you have to take care of yourself!" he yelled.
Noelan slapped his hand over his mouth as soon as the words left his mouth, while Bithia just stared at him in shock. He groaned internally. He had not meant for it to come out that way. Yes he was concerned about her, but, he did not want to sound really concerned, like he was in love with her.
Her blue eyes moved down to her foot on his thigh and her cheeks heated up when she noticed his thumb was subconsciously and softly moving back and forth on her foot.
She ignored the feeling and leaned forward, with a smirk, getting so close to his face, which made him move back, hence losing his balance and falling on the floor.
She got on her knees and crawled, "You sound really worried about me, Prince Noelan. I am already used to your worrisome nature, but your tone sounds...more worrisome."
She crawled towards him, while he shifted back on the floor, "Are you perhaps, in love with me?" a teasing smile spread on her face.
She loved teasing Noelan and seeing him getting all flustered and losing all control.
Noelan sat on the floor, his heart beating faster as Bithia kept her blue eyes on him. He could not look elsewhere because he knew her eyes were going to follow him till they were eventually looking into his soul.
Bithia's face moved closer to his, but this time he did not move back. Her nose softly grazed his and then his eyes flicked down to her lips, then back to her eyes. Hot breaths were hitting each other's faces and she was about to move closer, but they heard a voice, "Noelan?"
Noelan turned to the door and saw his mother staring at him, "Mother!" his face became red and he quickly looked away from Bithia and got up.
He offered his hand to Bithia who took it and stood up, "Your majesty," she bowed. "How are your mother and father?" Noelle asked and Bithia looked up, "They are both fine, your majesty."
"I did not know you would be visiting today" Noelle said and Bithia chuckled nervously, "Well I was just in the area and decided to visit, but I will be going now," she turned to Noelan, "Thank you, your highness for tending to my wounds" she bowed, then she smiled. She bowed to Noelle and ran out of the room.
Noelle watched her run, then she looked at Noelan, "What happened between the both of you?" she inquired, "She was injured, mother. I had to do something," he sighed, "What you should have done is not meet her! Even if you want to meet her, your room is not the place for that! What if I had not interfered? The both of you were already close, she would have taken advantage of you and kissed you!" "Mother, please" he groaned.
Noelle had no problem with her sons being close to Bithia, when they were children, because, well...they were just children. But she started having fears when they started growing up and Bithia was becoming a woman.
She had no problem with Sorin because he was always locked in, but Noelan had been spending more time with her. The way he looked at her made his mother worry.
He was starting to see her as a woman, and that meant him marrying a commoner, and she was not going to have that. She was going to make sure her sons married women of noble birth.
She had tried to separate Noelan and Bithia by making sure no commoner was allowed freely into the palace without having a good reason, but Bithia always found ways to see her son...and it angered her.
"And then what? You would sleep with her and then have a baby with a commoner, thereby tainting the royal bloodline!" "Mother why do you do this? I have known Bithia since I was a child. We are friends" "And I hope that is all you will ever be!" she hmphed and spun on her heel and walked out.
Noelan sighed and sat on his bed, then he saw the same scarf Bithia had tied on her hair, on his bed. She had thrown it there when they had entered his room.
So messy, he thought and picked it up and took in her scent; kitchen spices and sweet, just like apples.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Bithia was walking along the halls, careful to not bump into Noelle or any of the guards, then she started humming the song Zemira always sang for Astraea before she went to bed.
She heard someone singing the song and sharply turned, then she saw Sorin sitting on a chair, covered with a white cloth, while the barber trimmed his hair.
She was about to shout his name, but she remembered the last time she had tried to talk to him. He had ignored her and entered the art room.
Well, at least he looks better than the last time I came here, she thought and forced a smile on her face.
She quickly ran when she heard footsteps heading her way. After she had gone, Sorin looked at where she was before and the barber stopped trimming, "Everything alright, your highness?" he asked and Sorin slowly nodded, then turned back to the looking glass, a servant was holding for him, "I just remembered someone I had hurt deeply."
Sorin could not look at Bithia because she was like a sister to Astraea. They had different hair, different skin color, different eyes and mouth and everything, but they were so similar. Talking to Bithia felt like he was talking to Astraea, and he missed her, a lot.