Erlias Smiled. "Had fun?",he asks, raising an eyebrow.
"None of your business", the crown prince grumbles.
"My my", pale pink lips curl into a smile. It's not a pleasant one.
"One might think it IS a married person's business where their …ah significant other has been?"
"You already signed the damn agreement. It is none of your business now!" Darius argues.
"I did indeed sign it. But you see- I didn't agree with people undermining my presence. Go to whichever prostitute you want I care not, go to whichever brothel you want I don't care about that either. But you see…people don't simply ignore your..endeavours " Erlias walks across the room in his typical elegant grace."When in public, SiRe you must put a unified front with me. Yesterday you left me to greet those gossip vultures alone whilst you were frolicking with anything wearing a skirt."
"What do you need then? Me to cater your desires and worship this sham of a union?"
"Not at all", he smiles again, gently picking up a silver dagger and sitting down on a chair. He picks out a white handkerchief and starts wiping the dagger. The dagger that had shone before being picked up takes on a new gleam."My idiot crown prince, your position is yet delicate. A single child won't secure it and neither would another hundred. "
He inspects the dagger and smiles.
"You need to convince the people you're reliable and loyal. They adore me. You're making this look as if I'm merely a showpiece you married for convenience. While that may be true ...." He smiles again putting the dagger away, his white lustrous hair falling forward as he leans ahead." They don't know it.
They think there's a celestial union between us and the heavens themselves made this match. Should you appear a greedy womaniser…" he trails off meaningfully.
Darius gets up and traverses the distance between them in a few strides. He grips the priest's delicate shoulders and snarls,"You want me to act as your dog-!"
Erlias smiled again. "In good utterances…no no not at all!. In bad ones…yes. I'm not here to play a saint. I put you on the damn throne. I can just as easily have you thrown in dungeons. Unhand. Me."
The said prince tightens his grip to a near painful strength. "In your dreams" he lets go with a mild push causing the other to wince slightly.
"One word. " he says as the prince gets up to leave.
"What?"
"That's what I need. To ruin you.
One word. You'd do good to remember that. "
"Stop with the nonsense " the crown prince mutters before heading out.
"How dreadful…" Erlias says to himself. "You're quickly outliving your importance…"
The priest of far sight sighs. It had been a year and half. A year and half of this sham marriage. A child and half when he warned him of having only one.
It was prophesied on the prince's begetting day that he's fated to wed the priest of far sights…
And him being that had indeed seen the union. What he hadn't seen was what happens after the day of ceremony. The prince, a man who exclusively loves to bed women and a priest sworn to abstinence. He sighs. They could've been friends at the least…
The prince had expressed very clearly that he detested this union with all his soul. For he desired the throne. And no prince or princess that hadn't heirs could've ascended it. It was a simple unwritten rule among the kings and queens of the land.
Erlias had suggested a simple solution to the problem. Procure a child with a mistress outside the marriage since the other one was so desperate and well…he had naively assumed the rocky relationship would settle down if he proved helpful….alas that very evidently wasn't the case.
He leaves the room to enter an adjacent one and gazes at the child asleep in it. It was hard to believe this tiny thing was fated to…
He shakes his head. Thinking of the future would get him nowhere.
He smiles ruefully ' living so much in the future I forgot the present' he caresses the sleeping child gently. When it doesn't move he moves to the nearby bed and sits on it contemplating if he should just….leave?
If the child was supposed to lead nations it would. Won't matter where it grows up …
But he loved the capital where he grew up. The temple of foresight where he served the god of coming days….
People had adored him. He was blessed by visions of the future…of legends and mundane days.
Why had he agreed to this? Was he afraid? Would defying his god have led to consequences? Would the future have come to fruition regardless of his wishes? If he disagreed…would he be forced to marry this whoremonger of a man?
Or would he still be serving the temple… how he wished that were true. It was a simple life. He ate, drank, prayed, helped some people and slept. True solace after the hellfire of his younger years.
What if he fled to another city? Another kingdom? What if he served his god again? Would he be welcomed in the temples? Or would he be thrown out for defying a prophesy…..?
Regardless, he could not leave this child alone…
If he took her with him?
Pretended to be a single father recently struck by misfortune?
….no he was too recognizable. A priest with a child? Serving the god of coming days? He'd seen kings being less obvious with their banners and all…
He won't even need to be hunted. He'd be caught by a fisherman who could neither see, hear or fish!
Soon intrusive thoughts cloud his mjnd.'What if the prince died?
Accident? Mysterious poisoning?'
…..no he still had his uses. He needed to talk to Sinth….that bastard hadn't been useful in a while.
He fixed his robes that gleamed in the light of the setting sun and summoned an attendant. "Call the royal mage. Tell him the priest wishes to discuss the wards around the castle regarding an unpleasant probable future."
The attendant pales slightly as he bows hastily and rushes out.
If he couldn't run away or kill the arse…he certainly could stir up something. For he did indeed see a monarch leading an empire …but no empires were founded without blood shed. And the current state of the kingdom was that of serene peace.
He knew it wouldn't last. He knew it was only a matter of time…
The current crown prince….his beloved was an exceptional fighter.
One of the very few reasons he'd kept him alive.
He needed to be able to command the troops and mages though. It was ridiculously hard to get to do it when one had apparently no battle prowess or innate magic flows.
Being married to an ass didn't help either. The bastard refused to even act that he adored or trusted him. Erlias wasn't a sentimental fool that thirsted for romance or companionship. While those were nice, the prince would've been so much more helpful if he was slightly more agreeable…
People adored him from his days of temple servitude but that wouldn't be enough
He needed blind loyalty.
Unhindered and absolute command on those who'd be in front lines….for he could only reveal so much of what he sees before the consequences strike…
His idiot husband's mistresses would probably call him a starving dog that was desperately spouting nonsense to gain favour of the crown prince.
He could vomit. Gain that idiot's attention? For what? A good beating? Yelling? Or worse, should he attempt a conversation with the idiot?
He scoffed. As if..
He'd hardly ever been violent to him since well that one time... Erlias was indeed useful. And however much of an idiot, Darius knew it …
"Hahh" he sighs deeply before looking at the still sleeping child. "How dreadful. To be born at the end of the longest era of peace…"
There's a sudden knock on the door.
He looks up from his seat near the cradle and speaks,"Enter"
A man wearing deep green robes with gold borders and embroidery walks in. "Good evening, your highness. This one greets the moon of the kingdom". He bows properly as Erlias gestures, signalling him to sit. "The moon is a bit eclipsed today, esteemed mage.Please help yourself." He says referring to the tea he had called for earlier.
Sinth frowns, his gemstone green eyes narrowing, "Did he. ..harm you again?" The room takes a slightly chilly edge as he eyes Erlias carefully looking for any finely hidden injuries.
Erlias scoffs, "No. I'm not some helpless maiden who you need to be chivalrous to….. How's the preparation for tomorrow coming along?" He says delicately sipping the floral tea.
Sinth's frown deepens. He still eyes Erlias's face and hands. The only parts where the skin is visible rather thoroughly. "The preparation is coming along well I only wish you'd reconsider ..."
Erlias smiles, it's once again not a pleasant one. "Excellent"
Sinth nods still not quite happy with Erlias ignoring his former statement.
He speaks a while later, " Are you sure you'll be able to-"
"Yes."There's absolutely no hesitation.
"But-"
"We've talked about this. I'll be fine"
"Well", Sinth frowns, " Not on me if you die."
"Of course. My will says Darius did it" Erlias smiles once again, an idle hand twirling his gold bracelet when a shrill cry penetrates the room.
"Hahhh yes yes you're just like your father…..probably louder though "
He says to the little princess before lifting her up from the cradle and inspecting her clothes.
'Sigh'
He adjusts her and claps his hands and a servant enters.
"Please call the wet nurse- ah"
He says gently smiling, slightly rocking the child in his hands.
"Hahh such an adorable brat…pity you had to be fate kissed-ah"
Gradually her cries subside.
He pokes her nose as she watches his finger curiously then tries to grab them with little hands and fails as Erlias draws it away.
And then pokes her again and the flighty hand once again escapes the ferocious hunter.
This continues for a while before she apparently tires of it and diverts her attention to the next sparkly thing in the room that is…Sinth's clothes.
She wriggles with all her might to escape the clutches of the priest and valiantly attempts flight towards the mage but alas forthe world is too big for one so tiny….her attempts are futile…
"Hahh see this brat?" Erlias mutters trying to keep her from falling from a deadly height of five whole feet.
"Maybe you shouldn't call her a brat?" Sinth is a bit too amused and appropriately smug that the child so evidently preferred him. Good. She had impeccable taste.
"Oh since you're an expert now-"
Suddenly Sinth has an armful of royal lineage. Who is...vigorously trying to separate the emerald from his belt. He awkwardly rocks her, overly cautious and not at all eager to earn a life sentence.
She then targets his long hair. They're a warm dark brown color, silky and lustrous. And now a bit wet with baby drool.
"I-"
The mage struggles to free his well treasured hair from the unfairly tight grip. 'Are all babies this strong? Or is this just the brutes' genes?' While Sinth is attempting to convince the princess to stop the rather unorthodox conditioning of his hair, a lady in her late 20s enters the room and courtesies. The wetnurse.
"Please- uh.." Sinth attempts to convey his situation as the wetnurse pities the valiant slayer of the legendary vecarous and picks the baby from his hands.
Erlias sits perched on his chair observing the scene with mild amusement.
A while later the lady finishes feeding the child and walks about in another room to burp the child.
Erlias looks at Sinth and smiles pleasantly. Sinth frowns. It is never a good thing when he does this.
The nurse returns at that moment with the child and hands her to Erlias. She courtesies and leaves.
Erlias settles the child with ease in his delicate arms without diverting his gaze from Sinth.
He caresses the child's face with a fair smooth thumb. "Tomorrow I have been summoned to the court. Tomorrow it starts."
"....can't you fake it? I'm sure they're not smart enough to-"
"No. This will be the first time it'd happen in public. A healer will be called. The healer would know."
"I've felt that thing. It's absolutely disgustingly painful"
"I told you not to. You were too curious."
"Obviously I was curious-! I thought my friend was dying!"
"Well I was not-"
"IT LOOKED LIKE THAT-!"
The child startles at the sudden voice and Erlias shushes her before she could break out in a full blown tantrum.
"Quiet" he hisses.
She settles down with Erlias's thumb as a compromise. Chewing it with all the vigour of a 2 month old future empress.
"Apologies…" Sinth mumbles.
"But you should reconsider-
It could backfire-! You'd be called the harbinger of war-
And I'll be roped in with you"
"If it so disturbs you, I can ask another mage-"
"Absolutely not!" Sinth seeths... "It'd be ridiculously easy to damage that damned mind of yours-"
"Language!"
"It's not like she can understand-"
She chose that very moment to gurgle something inaudible while Erlias raised an insanely smug eyebrow. No eyebrow should be that smug. Or pretty.
"Hahh..well be careful atleast"
"I'm not just that brutes' trophy. I did qualify as a strategist before the marital fiasco. I do have a plan in mind.
As the prince's thrice forsaken husband, they can't deny me a seat at the royal board of intelligence if I ask of it. And since I can peep into their doomed future…they'll be all too eager to welcome me. I just need them to think of me as naive."
"Heh" Sinth mutters something akin to 'naive my ass' but doesn't quiet attempt to be audible.
"I" Erlias continues coldly…as coldly as you could with an infant chewing your thumb- " Need Their sympathy…their loyalty and their useless life. Or this beautiful kingdom will disappear….An empress shall stand on the pedestal. But it is unclear who she will be."
He looks outside of the window. The sun has set almost completely leaving traces of red and violet in the sky.
"Sinth…don't make a mess tomorrow. It's my day to do that"
Sinth had a complicated look on his face. "Will you recover though?"
He asks, still a bit sceptical.
"Obviously. It's not like I have always been safe while seeing ahead. Accidents and exertions are very common" he brushes aside the concern.
It does not ease Sinth's mind. It does the absolute opposite " Common? Bleeding is common-?"
"I never thought the mage would be squeamish at the sight of blood" Erlias teases.
"I never thought the person I considered intelligent was such ... .such a ... .a…" he trails off on a frustrated note unable to find a replacement for the innumerable curse words he wished to utter.
"Hmmm?" Erlias gestures to him to proceed daring to utter a single profanity.
" A…a deranged masochist-!" Sinth finishes slightly smug on finding the perfect replica of the words he alas couldn't speak.
"Don't worry. That's going to be others' problem tomorrow."
".....if you're convinced"
"Obviously I am silly. This is my only strength."
"...."
"Just do your best. Everything else I will manage. And the ladies are informed of their tasks too."
"Very well…. Be careful though"
"When am I not careful? " Erlias smiled innocently.
"..."
"Don't answer that-"
"Sure"
"Leave now. It's getting rather late. You shouldn't miss out on your beauty sleep. Heavens know you need it"
"Ahh I'm flattered you care-!"
" I mean you're hideous. Please leave."
"I have a thankless job" he mutters, getting up. He stretches like a cat, back cracking like no 23 year old person should.
" You're welcome to quit."
"I will-"
"Pfft.. sure sure" Erlias waves the threat away as he tries to coax the child to please do something that isn't chewing on his holy hands.
Sinth leaves without much fanfare (to his own disappointment) and Erlias is left alone once again with the child that has been stuck like gum to him.
"Why can't you be this nice to others hmm? Obviously I'm amazing but you should know how to gather allies."
She babbles something in return and Erlias nods solemnly. "Yes yes. It's nice to be with those you trust when you're defenceless."
He gets up and twirls her around.
"Such a clever brat I'm raising!"
She cackles delightfully on being airborne and finally receiving this person's complete attention.
"Tomorrow this guardian of yours shall start to lay the foundation of your rule ... .little brat. Tomorrow I'll topple the illusion of safety these people so treasure"
Erlias chuckles. 'Those fools will be in a world of ceaseless chaos come the next day….'
He walks to and fro lulling the child to sleep. One day she'll wake to millions bowing to her. He'll make sure of it. And then....