#fflw

The rest turned out poorly so I'll probably redraw the whole thing but...I liked this!

Tagging: @cee-grice @tryingtimi @bloodlessheirbyjacques and anyone else!!

So there's a melancholy laying under everything they do, they're keeping each other company in spite of and because of the limits they know exist

It was so obvious, to both of them, that Leonce was the heir that their parents truly wanted. It was not Rolan's fault that they simply refused to see it. It was not his fault, but she would so easily and relentlessly blame him. "If you want to catch their eye so badly, perhaps you ought to go on your own heroic quest and start slaughtering hapless creatures left and right. Maybe when your hands are as red as theirs you'll be able to catch their attention like flagging a bull." "I don't understand why you're willing to give up the regard of our entire family for the sake of a few animals." "It's hardly just a few, and they're not just animals. They can think and reason, many of them can even talk, like dragons and-" "Oh, right, and when was the last time anyone saw a real dragon? Even father doesn't speak of them. You've never been able to understand that as a hero, your responsibility is to defend humans against their enemies." "As a hero, my responsibility is to the helpless," Rolan countered. Like Morgaine, he could not help thinking to himself. He rarely had time or sympathy for Leonce's vitriolic lectures, but now he was even more pressed than usual. "They are not our enemies, but simply our neighbors with other cultures. If you insist on killing them, and you're not a hero at all, you're nothing but a bully. And that, that is something that I refuse to be, no matter who wants it of me."

Tagging @cee-grice @bloodlessheirbyjacques @tryingtimi and open to anyone else!

After looking his fill, he began slowly wandering down the length of the shore, not thinking or looking for anything in particular. At this point, rather than being nervous about the spell, he was mostly relieved to simply be alone. He had nothing against Artur, but the idea of being a royal guard was not much less unappealing than the idea of constantly slaughtering creatures whose only sin was not understanding human laws and boundaries. Rolan was quite certain about all the things that he didn't want to do, but he truly couldn't act to avoid them until he reached the age of majority. Until then, he was trapped under the thumb of his parents, and that prophecy. Just as he was thinking so, his foot hit something with a dull clink. Rolan looked down. There was a small bottle in the sand, more than half buried. When Rolan pulled it loose and brush the sand off of it, he realized two things. One, it was an intricate sort of bottle, the kind which had once held fragrance or some other precious liquid. And two, although it no longer held its original contents, the bottle was far from empty. No, it had inside it a tightly rolled up piece of parchment or fabric, he couldn't quite tell what, held closed with a ribbon. A message in a bottle. People really did that? More importantly, was this what he was supposed to find?

Tagging (for however many lines you want to share) @coffeexafterxmidnight @mrmissmrsrandom @magefaery and anyone else ^^

That was true enough. While he could get away with occasionally neglecting his fledgling duties in the castle proper, if Crown Prince Artur was to leave to attend his duties somewhere else, Rolan would be required to make himself available. "It may present some difficulty, as I'll be expected to accompany Artur the entire time. I can make an attempt if the opportunity presents itself, but I don't see how it could possibly change anything." "Maybe you'll be kidnapped by pirates," Tristam suggested, not at all helpfully. "…" Iseult gave her brother a look, the unimpressed nature of which was totally readable in the light of the full moon. "They would have to be awfully stupid pirates." Privately, Rolan agreed that it was unlikely scenario, but he didn't like to reject Tristam straight out. "Have there ever been any sightings of pirates on the Fristian Sea?" "I suppose not," Tristam said. He sighed. "Well, it would have been quite exciting, wouldn't it?" "Truthfully, I shouldn't think I could enjoy the experience of being kidnapped by pirates," Rolan said. "For a hero, you're singularly lacking an important sense of adventure." "For a prince, you're singularly lacking in any sense at all," Iseult retorted. "And the only thing you have is an entirely too well-developed sense of superiority," Tristam said, though he did not seem put out about it. "I suppose that's befitting of a princess. Shove over Rolan, it's high past my turn."