#prince shadow

I pray to the gods this letter finds you in secret, much in the way we have met and loved in past days. I know what great a risk I should face if any other than you reads my words, but I… I simply could not face tomorrow without saying goodbye tonight.

Tomorrow, the suitors your father has called will arrive. Princes and nobles from the far reaches of the globe to have the honor of your hand… an honor I could never receive myself. I am not of royalty or nobility or even worthy of consideration.

Perhaps, if I were a selfish and loathsome rogue, I could use this letter to bid you come to me. Run with me to the never-ending sunrise and leave this place and our responsibilities behind. Perhaps we would charter a ship to sail beyond the horizon to a new world, a world that we could build a life and a home for our love to grow.

But I am no rogue. I could never be so selfish to steal away the kingdom and our people's greatest hope for a golden future. I could never be so loathsome to ask you to scorn our people, for I know how great your love is for them. I know within my heart and soul that if the people of the Rose Empire are to survive what comes, they will need the strength and passion of their future Queen… and the King she selects to stand at her side.

And I know, though it breaks my heart, that King will not— cannot be I.

Perhaps we were foolish to let ourselves fall here… to embrace our forbidden desires and beget a love that can never see the light of day. But even so… I cannot bring myself to regret a single moment. These past months with you, each touch, each whisper, each kiss, every moment I will remember with devotion and joy.

How I wish I could tell you this in person! To hold you and kiss you and watch the starlight dance in your eyes and the moonlight shimmer in your quills, but I am not of so great strength. I know, if I were to see you, I could not exercise the control to let you go.

What is worse, I know that is true even if I see you outside our special place, as just a knight and his princess. I would drop all masks, be nothing but a desperate man in love with a woman that is not his. I cannot describe the pain it is to know that as of tomorrow night, you will belong to another.

I am a coward. I am weak. I cannot watch the woman I love be given to another, even if I know it is for the best.

So, it is with a heart of stone that I must say this: By the time this letter reaches your hands, I will be far beyond the kingdom's borders. Forgive me, my love. Please forgive me. I want to support you and know that I do. If there is one thing you will always have, it is my support. It is my heart. I leave it with you, as it has always been yours. I am so sorry, my love.

I hear the Prince Shadow of the Black Kingdom is to be among your suitors in the coming morn. If I could choose any for you, it would be him. I know the rumors that surround his kingdom and his heritage, but I am of firm belief he is leading his lineage to a brighter age. He is a Prince of honor and strength, though he seems cold and aloof. If I could voice my approval for anyone other than myself, it would be the Black Prince. If you allow him, he will stand at your side and aid you in the struggles to come, assist you in guiding both the Rose and Black Kingdoms to an age of peace and prosperity.

Know that my love for you is as powerful as the light and as eternal as the sun. It whispers like the wind, invisible but evident.

Your Knight,

New stickers and keychain (with an image on each side) of the princes of dreamland (normal and mirror)

Keychain

Stickers

Having fun with my dad's tablet :)

(Link below)

Here’s a list of the names of chapters I have (partially) planned out!:

Chapter 1: Catalyst

Chapter 2: Crossing The Threshold

Chapter 3: Encounter

Chapter 4: Secrete

Chapter 5: Habits Die Hard

Chapter 6: The Bat

Chapter 7: Revelation

And also a snippet of chapter two I hope to get out next week:

———

There was nobody he would ever trust enough in the castle to aid him but Maria, plain and simple. Which was why he found himself at the castle's alchemy laboratory, pursing his lips and considering the actions that led him to these lengths.

As he expected, Maria was in the laboratory, idly twirling her hair between her fingers and paying apt attention to some kind of bowl-sized experiment sitting on the shelf. She didn't realize the hedgehog's presence before his spiky shadow obstructed her view and she spun around with a smile to greet him.

"Oh! Shadow, I didn't expect you to be here at this time?" She inquired, a small tilt to her head that made her long blonde hair shift around her shoulders. Her smile was still ever present by his company despite her confusion.

Shadow nodded his head in short acknowledgement of her observation. "Yes, well-" Shadow paused, bracing himself for the reaction he was bound to get from his next words. "I thought over what you said. About... traversing past my set boundaries."

The sparkles appeared in Maria's eye in an instant and her smile grew almost twice as big. "So you'll do it?"

"I'll... attempt to do so, yes." Shadow managed, knowing he was already digging his own grave with the confirmation.

There was no going back now.

Maria squealed. "Yes! I knew you'd come around! You'll love the world outside these walls, I just know it!" She exclaimed, and Shadow would always be slightly baffled by her ability to care so much for him. She looked as happy as if she herself had been able to leave, something Shadow knew with a pain in his chest would likely never happen again. And yet, she was not a trace envious or bitter as she beamed at him and twined her hands together. 

Shadow blinked at her a moment then continued with a small nervous cough. "But I'm afraid I... do not know how to go about doing so." He said, drawing the conversation back to the reason of why he'd came.

Maria waved a hand at him, not looking worried about the block in the road in the slightest. "Oh, don't worry about that! I already have the perfect person in mind who can help..."

All hail Shadow 👑

A redraw of an old piece I never finished. Original image + time lapse + artist's notes under the read more.