*☆.: ｡ the sea prince

adair licks his lips nervously as he hears xacry’s voice from the other side of the door. whatever bravery had inspired him to make the trip down to his crush’s doorway in his silky royal nightwear left him just as quickly as it had arrived and he suddenly didn’t know why he was even here in the first place. his heart seems to speed to life all at once and it was dizzying enough to cloud his inclination to leave, instead urging him to enter the bedroom. he proceeds sheepishly into xac’s room, refusing to look his way partially because he doesn’t know what sort of expression he’ll find and also because he’s never been in this room before. there was plenty to look at, even in the dim lighting xacry has burning for them. “sorry,” he’s immediately apologizing once he does dare lift his curious gaze onto xac’s form curled up in bed. “i didn’t mean to wake you or anything.” it’s been so long he barely even remembers how to talk around xac without sounding ridiculous. even he hears the hint of longing in his own voice. “nothing’s the matter.” it feels important to add. the last time he was abruptly woken from his own sleep, his kingdom was being invaded. “in fact, i could really leave if you’d rather me not be here. i understand.” there’s a sad tinge to his voice, an unexpected self loathing that goes along with the version of himself he’d had to become to process all that he’d lost. “i just... i can’t sleep.” adair’s voice is small by the time he stops talking and his hand lifts to the back of his neck, rubbing it awkwardly as he stands in the doorway.

     slowly, the ice around the sea prince’s heart had been melting although his situation had yet to improve. a string of good news related to other happenings around zenan plus the unfamiliar ache of longing were to blame for the positive change in his demeanor and it was the motivation for adair’s midnight escape down the hallway and towards his advisor’s room. before the invasion of kradaeca, he and xacry had been bedmates and while it had been endlessly confusing for adair’s crush, it had felt right. he’d slept better than he’d ever done so before and while neither of them put a name to the fluttery feelings that would spark between them waking up entangled in one another, it was something he’d come to need. pushing everyone away had included distancing himself from xacry but it wasn’t until now, with his heart feeling softer and more vulnerable in the aftermath of sanda mel, that he realized how much he had missed a certain pair of crystal blue eyes. there was a high chance that xacry wouldn’t want to see him. he could also be asleep -- it probably wasn’t mutual that being apart revitalized insomnia. still, as he knocked somberly on the door, adair couldn’t quash the surge of hopefulness that flooded his veins. // @xacrys

     as a royal, one could tell a lot about what a person thinks of you by what title they use to address you. as a result, adair feels an instant sense of trust when this ironhaven guard he barely knows titles him as a king and not merely a prince. those closest to the kradaecan heir have been doing so since shortly after the passing of his parents but in the eyes of much of zenan, he is still only a prince and a young one at that. if the title hadn’t forged the bridge of connection, the confirmation that this knight protected someone so close to adair would have done so. “what is it you regret?” he asks in a soft voice, eyebrows raising in curiosity. clearly, he’s missing some details here. “it is my pleasure to meet you, derrek maurer.”

there’s something vaguely validating about everyone else going stir crazy in bearoria. he can sense the itch to go home, to leave, stirring in the air. he can feel it in the way many have glanced towards windows or fidgeted where they stood. the validation comes in the rejection. no one can leave and if adair has no home to return to, they shouldn’t either. “why don’t you go give it a shot and find out firsthand what’s keeping everyone here. i’m sure it will be very educational.” his voice is a flat monotone not out of annoyance or cruelty but rather disinterest, perhaps. it’s been so long since anything has interested him; maybe he’s forgotten how it feels.

     adair blinks as the guard moves closer. if it were any other person from ironhaven, the prince may have felt threatened. he may have retreated himself. instead, he shuffles closer as well. it’s amazing what a connection to nathaniel can have on adair’s opinion of a person. “he’s okay,” adair repeats, relief making his voice airy and his shoulders sag. still, despite the confirmation, he truly doubts nate is anything close to okay. or at least not as okay as adair would hope of him. “you stand guard?” he doubles back to what the other had said first, finding the revelation to be an interesting one. “you keep him safe.” that thought finally brings a smile to adair’s lips. nate is safe. that’s at least one less worry for him. “could i ask your name, please?”

     the prince’s posture relaxes with the affirmation, shoulders slackening and something close to a smile gracing his lips. any friend of nate’s was a friend was his and though he didn’t know specifics as to the relationship between his father figure and this knight, he doubted nate would trust just anyone from ironhaven. taking note of the way the other’s voice drops and the uncertain step backwards he takes, adair is made aware that his line of questioning is probably confusing. “sorry, i don’t mean to blindside you or anything,” he utters, head shaking in dismissal of the title though he knows it’s said out of formality. “i was just wondering if you have seen him... recently? i have not been able.” the prince’s tone is rueful. it seems wrong to have not seen nate after all that he’s been through.

ANONYMOUSLY SEND MY MUSE A NAME AND THEY WILL GIVE THEIR HONEST OPINION OF THAT CHARACTER.

ANONYMOUSLY SEND MY MUSE A NAME AND THEY WILL GIVE THEIR HONEST OPINION OF THAT CHARACTER. 

     his first impulse is to glare. the fact that anyone would so proudly boast the colors and insignia of ironhaven in bearoria of all places doesn’t sit well with the patriotic prince. he doesn’t want to say anything -- he’s tired of confrontation and menial chatter -- but the more his eyes follow the ironhaven guard, the more the venom fades from his expression, place taken by confusion. curiosity draws him closer and his voice is soft as he addresses the near-stranger.  “pardon,” he starts, “i have seen you speaking with nathaniel before. king nathaniel. you know him, yes?”

it made him feel vulnerable and small, having henry gaze at him so openly. he was being scrutinized carefully, with concern, and though anyone else would have been brushed off, adair doesn’t dismiss henry’s fretful stare. truthfully, although he’s feeling microscopic with the worried eyes of the king meeting his own, it feels good to be feeling anything at all. since the invasion, it’s been a string of bad news for the young prince. each new piece of information hardened his heart and he encased himself in layers of steel as protection. he couldn’t hurt if he couldn’t feel pain. to finally chip away at the shell he’s constructed for himself is both dangerous and thrilling; it’s not going to fall away -- he can’t afford to let his guard down -- but he lets himself feel, just for now. something burns through his veins, searing and hot. it nearly brings him to tears, the fatherly reassurance. for once, someone is saying exactly the words adair needs to hear. “you promise?” he repeats, all resolve drained from his voice. he just sounds tired now, to his own ears. tired and so young. the little prince wants to ask what nathaniel said of him, what the man he looked up to in every way could possible have told the other king of him. it doesn’t seem appropriate to ask for more than he’s already been given so, instead, adair gives back in return, though his voice wavers, thick with emotion. “he thought so highly of you as well, i know it. he would be incredibly touched by how you have grieved for him... by how you continue to grieve for him. you must have cared for him very deeply.” there’s a slightly lilt of question, an invitation for henry to speak more to that fact. he’d speak more himself if he weren’t caught off guard by a rogue sniffle and a shivering inhale. “i do not wish for it to be loved, past tense. i still love him. what am i meant to do with this love now?”

“Because, as much as I may like to, I can’t take down an invader and reclaim my kingdom on my own. You have to be absolutely daft to think that’d be possible. Some of us weren’t out here committing treason and messing with the balance of Zenan just for fun like your father,” he replies coldly. “We were being displaced from our homes and reeling from a king’s death. So don’t talk about shit you don’t know and don’t fucking treat me like a whining kid when all I want is a little help getting my home back.”

a very solemn prince adair finds his way to the gardens with only the smell to guide him. even in teshayra, he had found beauty in the blooms and he hopes to glean the same comfort from them now. everything that has happened over the past few weeks has jostled him around, emotionally, doing nothing to improve the impenetrable grim aura that hovers over him. spotting another figure, adair has every intention of ignoring magnus, who he recognizes in the brief glance he gives. “no,” the sea prince answers curtly, selecting a seat far from him. “no one seems able nor do they care to try.”