Tonight was the masquerade. Everyone was there, or at least, everyone that was allowed to be there. Prince Raven couldn't have cared less about the whole ordeal. He'd rather be out murdering over the top criminals or flirting with young maidens around his age. He definitely wasn't in the mood to wear a mask and travel three days away. Crimson was the closest kingdom to Onyx, yet it felt like forever as they sat in their carriage. His mother covered everything form her hair to the last trace of skin. All you could see was two purple eyes that matched Raven's perfectly. Beside her was his eldest brother and to his left were the other two.
Onyx's royal family was made up of just five people, much less that Crimson and much more than Sapphire. Raven was the youngest prince and led the trainees in the royal guard. He also took up night patrol and conquered all crime in the kingdom. Above him were his three older brothers. Pitch was the third youngest and the smartest of the family. With his intelligent green eyes and black hair he seemed to know everything about anything. Then there was Jett. A troublesome kid and an even more chaotic adult. He seemed to want to party and have fun and never dress up. His eyes were the same purple and his hair was a slightly darker and straighter white compared to Raven's platinum curls. Lastly was the eldest son, Kieran. At the age of twenty five he was well mannered and helped rule beside his mother, despite not taking his father's position as king all those years ago. He had black straight hair and the same purple eyes, yet a more mature look even with all the fabric.
"My boys." Everyone looked up as the queen, Mistia, spoke. Her voice was filled with sadness yet confident and stern. "You do know it's Princess Rosewood's eighteenth birthday."
"Yes, mother." Raven was the first to answer, his brothers staying silent. As always, they never cared for the Crimson royalty. But Raven had always kept his eye on this particular princess. She was only one year younger, and she'd finally be old enough for him.
"Your youngest brother couldn't have been the only one to remember my request? Pitch?" She turned to her smartest son with a look of surprise.
"I apologize mother. I just don't find a need to go out of my way for the princess…she's spoiled enough." Pitch spoke the last line hushed and with a bitter tone.
"Spoiled?" She gently slapped his arm and sighed. "That's rude."
"I know, yet it must be true. She's gorgeous and well kept. Two parents and so many siblings to love her." Pitch looked at his brothers for help, but Raven could only smile in amusement. "And besides, what would we possibly give her that she doesn't already have?"
"A DIY teddy bear! By yours truly," Raven grinned as he fingered the blanket he had wrapped around his gift box. It was a struggle to make, but he had to. He'd been waiting for this day an entire year. Maybe more…
—————
Raven stood with his family as everyone sang and cheered for the princess. She had handed off her gift earlier, so he would never know if she liked it. After tonight, they would no longer get to see each other. Which was quite the pity. He had shared with her the most extraordinary dance he had ever been in. She had given him a warmth no other woman could. He wished she would look at him one more time, but her eyes never strayed from her family. It was as though she was purposefully ignoring him. He grit his teeth at that thought. He barely noticed Kieran's gloved hand on his shoulder.
"Goggling the princess might not go down well with King Adam." He spoke, looking down at his younger brother. Raven groaned and looked over.
"Must I care? She didn't even open my gift." He held his breath a moment before continuing, "She thought it was a bomb!"
"She had every right to. Besides, I'm sure she'll open it later." He then turned to Pitch, leaving Raven to think.
He'd been crushing on the princess for a few years now, and he'd only ever really met her once. It was the curse of war that kept him away from such a beauty. Only able to see her once every year, and even then, she'd always been guarded heavily or standing with her family. He'd only now grown the confidence to speak with her. He knew nothing about the princess, but she was a sight for sore eyes and innocent looking enough for him.
Prince Raven stayed with his family for the rest of the night, even taking another dance with one of the noble's daughters. He barely noticed the pair of eyes that were glued to him as he glided with the woman. She was older than him but petite and her attitude was that of a school girl. As he danced with her, he couldn't help wishing that she was the princess. Once the dance concluded his mother decided they would be the first to leave. At six in the morning their war would continue and she wished to be on her way home at that point. Bidding the other royals goodbye, Raven followed his mother out as well as his older brothers.
The carriage ride home was boring and lengthy. His brothers gave way into a game of Pictionary on the window, the rain creating a great drawing board for them. Pitch won, obviously, and the boredom continued once the windows had been filled. Raven ended up curling against Jett whilst their mother told stories of their past relatives, tip toeing around their father. It wasn't long before all four boys had knocked out and the queen was left to reminisce on her own.
Soon enough the three days had passed and they had finally arrived back in their kingdom. It was a quiet day, others also arriving with their queen. People wandered back to their homes to do chores and go to work whilst others decided to rest. The royal family did just that. They each went to their rooms and slept for hours, not worrying much about the war that had restarted. Onyx was the last kingdom to be attacked, and even then, their defenses were the best. The four princes made sure of that.
That was why they were all able to sleep peacefully, as well as their villagers. Everything was okay in their kingdom as far as they knew. The only kingdom daring enough to do anything was Viridian, and they held low standards. Sapphire would stay back, as their defenses were low and they still had to rebuild from a recent earthquake. The kingdoms left them alone as they were no threat. Sapphire also happened to have an expecting queen, meaning they would hold off on battle until further notice.
Prince Raven returned to his chambers, tired and spent from the long ride. He wished to please himself and have that special alone time he hadn't been able to have for the past month. It was a new year, after all, he had to start it off good. With a small smile to his own thoughts, he jumped into his bed and pulled off his excessive clothing. First the black blazer and the matching turtle neck, then his pants and under shirt. He kept his gloves on a moment, reminding himself of how he had held the princess. The thought alone had him feeling hot. He was more than happy to think about her as he continued his actions. He kept the gloves on, peeling off his underwear instead.
With a sigh, he leant himself back against the headboard of his bed and ran his hands through his white hair. He imagined the princess once more. Rosewood. She smelt of cherries and whipped cream, like a cake or pie. Her black hair was so smooth and soft. She had gorgeous eyes that could make him do things he didn't mean to. Her lips…he would do anything to have her lipstick stains along his neck. She was perfect.
"Raven!" Shit. Raven quickly thee his shirt and pants back on, shoving his clothing underneath his bed. He didn't bother with the underwear as he rushed to the door and pulled it open.
"Jett?" He asked as he met his brothers eyes. Jett smiled mischievously as he peered into the room.
"I have an offer for you, brother." He spoke carefully, his eyes never looking at Raven.
"W-what kind of offer?" Raven shut the door slightly as his brother seemed to be getting nosy. He had one rule growing up; Never enter his room.
"The Crimson Royal Family. Their eldest daughter, you like her, yeah?" He immediately spoke with a wide grin evident on his face. Raven forced a groan to make it seem as though that was wrong.
"What about it?" He shut the door fully and stepped into the hall.
"I figured you'd want to see her a lot sooner than next year."
"Sooner? You know I can't," Raven rolled his eyes. He wanted to get back to his alone time.
"And I think you can." Jett made a hand motion similar to something a car dealer would make. "Here's the deal. Pitch and Kieran will be busy doing royal work with mother all month. I'm in charge of the main army with their supervision, meaning you get to be all alone!"
"And your point…"
"You can totally sneak out for a few days, maybe even a week, and head to her kingdom! You already don't show up to family gatherings anyway, nobody'll know!" Jett let himself on the back as though he deserved a reward. Raven completely understood why Pitch was the smart one.
"I can't sneak out, mother will go crazy if she finds out." Raven was about to go back to his room when Jett spoke again.
"Better to have the real thing than her image in your little horny brain, right?"
Raven's face flushed as he turned to flare at his brother. Jett held an innocent smile on his face. Raven groaned again….maybe he was right. This war would only keep them a part, and it wouldn't stop so soon. Every single ruler had a problem with the next. Even if Raven managed to sneak out and fuel his desire to have her, it'd be temporary. Raven didn't want temporary with Rosewood. That was something the peasant girls or the late night noble received. Rosewood was much more than a one night stand.
"It would never work out." He finally said. Jett could only frown.
"Raven, little bro. I know you're supposed to be all dark and moody and pessimistic…but you can't give up on a girl like that!" His brother spoke with wide eyes and a determined tone. "Look at Kieran, he missed out on having a beautiful wife because he was too scared."
"And now he's in line to be king without a bride." Raven finished. He didn't want to end up without a wife, of course, but Rosewood was never an option to begin with. There were many maidens in Onyx, right?
"Think on it, okay? You only have a month before this whole thing won't work." Jett sighed and turned to walk away, leaving his little brother to ponder on this plan.
Raven entered his room again, stripping and laying down on his bed. This time he pulled the gloves off and closed his eyes. This was way harder than he though it would be…
——————
The next two days passed and Raven had barely spoken to his older brother. He had been right, though. Kieran and Pitch were busy doing paperwork and visiting the village to even glance at Raven, and their mother spent her days resting and going to salon gatherings with the higher class ladies. Even Jett grew busy at times, not even attending dinner with him. He found it to be quite lonely at the start of every year, but this time it was different.
Raven missed having people around. When he was younger his mother would keep him by her side no matter where she went. Especially since he was so young when their father passed. He was the only one not to have a close relationship with the man, and his brothers weren't that much older than he was. Raven, being the last born child, never got the attention from his father that he received from his mother. His father was so excited to have a girl for his fourth child, and yet he was given Raven. The name had been chosen by the late king as a sign of bad luck. He had been right. No matter what Raven did it always seemed to end badly, and that lasted years. His father went out to battle and Raven felt no remorse when he never returned. Despite all that, he still loved his mother.
He would cook for her and clean for her, even if it ended up worse. Just seeing her smile or laugh even the slightest whenever he made a clumsy mistake was enough to keep him on his feet. It was the look of pride or joy in his mother's eyes that kept him going.
When he turned sixteen that all stopped abruptly. He rarely saw his mother and his older brothers were too busy to cuddle him or ask him how his day was. He walked himself to school and taught himself how to ride a horse. He trained on his own to use a sword and become a knight. It soon led to his habit of whisking away girls and letting them take his boring hours rather than wasting them alone in the huge castle. That lasted years, and still now.
He had grown fine with the silence, and sometimes he wouldn't attend family dinners. He never knew when his family would show up so it didn't matter to him. A maid or butler would always end up being him his food either way. He'd become lonely in such a large house. Sometimes his cousins would visit, but that was the extent of his social time with family. He'd accepted that by now.
Looking around the dining room he took note of how empty it was. Over fifty chairs and not one person in any of them. He looked at the fireplace as the sparks lit up, reminding him of the bright princess he'd once met. Then his eyes gazed at the portrait above the mantle. His family. His mother and brothers all stood together, the queen's hands placed on Kieran's shoulders. The king held his wife's hips with a monotone look on his face, a small bit of happiness in his eyes. And to the far corner of the portrait stood Raven. He was so small back then, his eyes were sad and he looked towards the ground. He kept a straight face despite his brother's obvious laughter as they tried to sit still. Raven had always been the black sheep.
"Raven!" He looked up from his daydream to see Kieran taking a data beside him with a plate of biscuits. He didn't say anything as he waited for more. "Why are you all alone? I've been up in my room, wasn't sure anyone would be down here."
"You have? I figured you were busy…" Raven replied as he took another bite of his food.
"Yeah, speaking of which…I have some stuff in an hour. Are you busy later?"
"Busy? Me? Never." Raven chucked dryly as he looked away from his brother. "Mother refuses to let me do anything until I'm of age."
"Of age? Ray, I've been doing the king business since I was fourteen." Kieran dig into his food as Raven stayed silent for a heartbeat.
Their father had died when Raven was only eight years old. He barely remembered how Kieran quickly left his childhood to help his mother calm the kingdom down. Viridian had gotten so close to destroying them, but his brother rode out into battle and conquered them fearlessly. Raven had always admired his eldest sibling for that.
"You know how she is with me. I can't do anything crazy, she wishes not to lose her baby." Raven smiled at the last part, although it felt forced. He loved his mother but sometimes he wished she would back off.
"It's not like she's watching you or anything. You do run the trainee camp, how is that going?"
"Eh, could be better? No new soldiers and the ones I'm training seem ready for Jett's army."
"Speaking of Jett, I hear he offered you a little deal?" Kieran leaned closer, his eyes piercing Raven's matching purple ones. "Didn't think you'd fall for the enemy, little brother."
"I-I didn't! I barely know the woman!" Raven quickly defended himself. Maybe too quickly. He clenched his fists as his older brother laughed.
"It's okay to have crushes, perfectly normal for a teenager!"
"I'm nineteen!"
"Emphasis on the teen, baby brother! My lips are sealed, don't worry." Kieran laughed and finished off his last biscuit, getting up to clean his dishes. The boys had learned to clean up after themselves so the staff could focus on focus things.
Raven watched his brother walk away, not sure what to say to that. How did Kieran even hear about that anyway? He must have been eavesdropping. The worst part about having three older brothers. You never had enough privacy. Raven sighed and went to clean his plate as well.
Once he had finished he made his way through the halls, walking past his room and barging into another. He immediately regretted that. Inside the room, Jett was tangled up with a lady around Raven's age. He could vaguely remember going to school with her. Jett and the woman quickly looked at the door, luckily they hadn't gotten too far into their heated session. Although, seeing his brother without a shirt was not Raven's first choice when he walked into the room.
"Raven! Ever hear of knocking?" Jett quickly sat up and covered the woman.
"Yeah…it's lame. I'm telling mom-". Raven chuckled as he leaned out the doorway. He wished to hear Jett's rushed footsteps before exiting the room.
Jett soon followed, chasing him down the staircase. Raven stopped at the bottom and turned. He hid the laughter as he watched Jett fumbled with a shirt and trio over his own feet. It would never get old tormenting his older sibling.
"What do you want man?" Jett asked as he came to stop.
"You are my second oldest sibling, can't I expect some decency from you?"
"Raven!"
"Okay, okay…I'm here to accept your proposal." Raven asked, keeping a playful tone to his voice. His mood had lightened up from the banter he missed.
"I prosper…oh! Sure thing, I'll give you the escape plans later."
"You already have them?"
"Duh…I knew you wouldn't be able to resist. Now get going, you little shit." Jett ran back up the stairs to where Raven could only imagine the worst. He quickly shook his head and stuck out his tongue.
After his conversation with his brother he decided to head into the garden where Pitch was stood to a corner. Pitch was the closest to him in age, only being two years older. Yet, he found himself more distant from this particular sibling. He was smart and liked to talk, but Raven never understood half the things he said.
Pitch had been doing more royal paperwork lately, leaving him to drift off and never be seen. Raven had become accustomed to that too. He had also figured out each of his brothers daily schedule. Pitch liked to hangout in the gardens at this time, as it was his peaceful place. Time to ruin that.
Raven wandered the gardens for a few minutes before his eyes landed on Pitch. He was knelt over with his ungloved hands digging in the dirt. Pitch never took off his gloves as far as Raven knew. Even Raven couldn't take off his gloves outside his room without feeling exposed. That was how they were raised, after all.
"Pitch?" Raven called out as he approached. The older quickly looked up and gave a silent nod to his sibling before continuing his dig. Raven didn't speak for another moment as he watched.
"Did you need something, baby brother?" Pitch looked up, his eyes striking Raven.
"I came to check on you…everyone is always so busy these days." Raven admitted. He was feeling lonelier and lonelier as the day went on.
"I'd play a game of tag with you but I've already gotten my hands dirty." He tilted his head towards the hold he had created. "Besides, shouldn't you be busy too? Your nineteen..or..twenty?"
"Nineteen." Raven frowned before shaking it off.
"What are you doing?"
"Planting this gorgeous flower for mother."
Raven waited to be shown a picture of the flower but instead he was shown a small black seed. He'd just have to wait until it bloomer, he supposed.
With that, Raven turned away and stalked toward the castle. All his brothers had their own agendas, so he would have to stick himself in his room for the rest of the day. As always.
As Raven was about to enter the castle, the bells rang and a siren blared. What? It hadn't been that long since the masquerade, who was trying to invade their kingdom so soon? Raven didn't stumble when he ran straight to the stables, saddling up his black night and riding out into the main village. He didn't stop riding as people screamed and headed for their homes. He managed to hurry a few children back to their mothers and fathers as well as an elderly woman.
Still, he saw no sign of the threat. That was when Kieran made an appearance beside him. The two stayed silent as they scanned the area, quietly agreeing to split up for now. They each had flares equipped in their bag, but it may have been too early in the day for those. Either way, Raven rode to the right whilst his brother rode to the left. He knew the village better than he knew himself, so he allowed his mind to settle as he rode. He focused on finding any suspicious threats, even taking advice from the commoners.
Raven had drawn the conclusion that it hadn't been one of the other kingdoms. It was…something else. A man dressed in white had approached with a gun and a knife in either hand, asking people which they would rather die to. He ended up killing them, and if they were unresponsive, he'd hang them on the nearest tree. Cruel, right? Not long after hearing that story, Raven came across the first body.
A woman, who looked to be pregnant, lay motionless on the ground with blood spilling from her brain room. Raven would have normally looked away, but seeing the woman only angered him. She was dead. Jett pulled up on his black stallion, seeing the scene too. He, unlike Raven, looked away. Jett hated death. Raven then looked away too, meeting eyes with a crying husband and a small toddler. He only felt his anger heighten.
And then, as if on cue, a fancy man dressed from head to toe in white fabric walked around the corner.