The Crown Prince was rarely found in the chapel. Sure, he made his dutiful appearances like the rest of his family to please to ever attentive Church of the Holy Flame. But he never felt that guiding faith, not like his uncle, or even his father, who would devote some part of their hope, their futures, to an uncontrollable, unseen force. Prince Kaede always found the notion silly- if he could not see it, study it, learn from it, then how could he put so much of his livelihood in its hands?
It was not until his father had told them, in the privacy of the King's personal study, a room surprisingly cramped in the grandiose sprawl of the Royal Palace, that Kaede had been promised to marriage. He had apparently been betrothed ever since he reached the age of 12, to the princess of a neighboring kingdom whom relations had been, as the King described it, "tentative". Princess Cirhi, a figure renowned for kindness and beauty (then again, what princess was renowned if not for their charity and comely features?). He had recalled seeing her at kingdom-wide balls and banquets, had even held a conversation with her once or twice in his life. She was a classical beauty to be sure- large, clear doe eyes with pupils the color of sun-struck honey and long, thick waves of hair that curtained a diminutive waist. The only reason Kaede had not known of the betrothal was its intentionally clandestine nature and not even the subjects themselves were allowed to know of it.
It was courtly games, political deception at its finest. At first, Kaede had been infuriated with his father's secrecy. He had thought him to be a man of honesty, magnanimous for his direct and just nature. Intrigue and gossip, that was for the court spymaster to deal with. To know that it was the King himself to have orchestrated it- that drove Kaede from the study, and he had not since spoken to his father.
He had not slept that night- for anger turned heart-wrenching sadness at the thought of what his twin, Kaleb, might react to the reveal, which Kaede intentionally kept quiet to himself. When dawn broached the horizon, purpling the sprawl of the city beneath the castle-palace, Kaede was found on his knees before the church's principal guardian, hands clasped together and head bowed in solemn prayer. All the control he thought he had over his life was now being brought to question.
Posted 10-15-2021, 09:41 AM
This post was last modified: 10-15-2021, 09:43 AM by Kaede Winchester
game of blood and bones [ Medieval AU ]
