Like the looming and angry clouds outside, swirling and full of dark promise, The Crown Prince stood in a room full of people, gripping a chalice just a little too tightly to be considered proper.

Adonis didn’t like parties. He felt too exposed. Perhaps it was the one thing that had stuck with him from his combat training, or maybe he just suffered from anxiety. Either way, he preferred to keep to himself at social gatherings, and if he had it his way, would stand with his back to the wall for the duration of the evening. But he had a duty as The Crown Prince to mingle, and so he did. Adonis frolicked around the mess hall, portraying a clumsy sort of extraversion that was charming in its own way.

During a brief moment of what should have been respite between politicking, a flash of an emerald cloak caught Adonis’ eye.

“Karl.” He spoke curtly to his younger brother, looking straight ahead as he spoke to him. Adonis had never been close with any of his siblings, whether it be due to preferential treatment he received as Crown Prince, or separation he received as punishment for unchecked magic use, there was no camaraderie between him and the other Eirwyn children.

“Adonis, With your tone of voice I’m beginning to think the cold front this month is your doing.” Karl was all sharp features and sharper tongue. Third in line for the throne by only 2 minutes. Karl cocked his head to the side, trying to get into Adonis’ line of sight but eventually turning with a huff to look elsewhere, inevitably spotting his twin across the hall.

“Cora has been quite popular tonight, don’t you think? Father has been parading her around to meet all of the dignitaries.”

Adonis’ jaw clenched. He knew what his brother was getting at.

“She’s recently come of age, that’s customary.”

“Well, it’s also customary for the first born to take the throne– and for a king to sleep in the same bed as his spouse. But you know father, he loves to… break convention.” Adonis felt his palms start to sweat at his brother’s taunting.

“What do you want?” Adonis and his younger brother had locked horns on many occasions, never seeing eye to eye on much of anything. He knew the younger prince was vying for something. And yet, at Adonis’ prompting, Karl only shrugged. The Crown Prince could feel his mind starting to slip. Between the countless possibilities of what his brother could say next, the public setting, the way his deeper insecurities gnawed at him and he suddenly became aware of each and every seam of his tailored ensemble– the hunter was closing in on his prey.

“What a pity that your Royal Sufferant will have suffered for nothing.” Karl sneered.

The room shook.

The all consuming guilt of what would befall you, Adonis’ dear Royal Sufferant, if he did not become King was so painful that clawing and desperate tendrils of magic lashed out from his form in a moment of weakness. The magic was snuffed out just as quickly as it came.

The air in the mess hall was thick as a hush fell and everyone looked to The Crown Prince. Adonis looked back like a deer in hunter’s torchlight. This was it. He would never take the throne, not after tonight. His eyes flicked to his father, standing tall and as imposing as ever, in his full royal attire with a thick winter beard, and a few grey hairs– many of which he attributed to his eldest son. The look in the King’s eye was cold and sharp like an arrowhead.

“Leave us.” The two words echoed through the hall with a baleful finality.

Having swiftly fled to his chambers, Adonis let the hefty wooden door slam shut behind him. A brilliant streak of blue light shot across the room, causing the flames of the wall sconces to extinguish as Adonis gestured broadly with his arm. He let out a shout, one mixed with pain and a guttural frustration. Standing in the dark of his chambers, his chest heaved, his eyes flicking around the shrouded room with apprehension. His body was tense. The soft sound of a mere wrap on his door made him jump.

“Who is it?” Adonis stammered, his voice more hoarse that he would have liked.