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failes-xtra-bits · 4 years

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Prince's Gambit Review Ch 3

Chapter 3 opens with Damen trying to get some sleep. Laurent returns and Damen gets up unsure of Laurent needs him, but Laurent ignores him. Laurent writes a dispatch and seals it before snuffing out the candle with his finger tips (wouldn’t that hurt?????).

They wake up the dispatch has been sent off while everyone else is doing the prep. Everything seems fine and dandy. The suddenly Laurent appears (dramatic bitch) and Damen makes his way over because the atmosphere is getting tense.

We hear Aimeric (almost auto corrected to America) apologising to Laurent who asks him what provoked him to which Aimeric doesn’t give a straightforward answer.

Laurent then calls for Govart and sends Orlant to look for him.

Orlant was so long in searching for Govart that Damen, recalling the stables, silently gave Orlant his sympathy, despite their differences.

Govart is a complete dickwad is all I have to say. Anyway they wait.

“Things began to go awry. A silent communal snigger sprang up among the onlooking men and began to spread across the camp. The Prince wished to have public words with the Captain. The Captain was forcing the Prince to wait on his pleasure. Whoever was about to be taken down a notch, it was going to be amusing. It was amusing already...The longer Laurent was forced to wait, the more his authority was publicly eroded.”

This reminds us of Lauren’t precarious position and perhaps even indicates at a lack of respect which is probably what the regent wants.

Govart arrives thinking he’s the shit (he is a shit but not the shit mind you) for having just had sex (rape? Was it consensual? who knows, I dont think I’m allowed to go all lawyery here.)

“Am I keeping you from fucking?’ said Laurent.

‘No. I finished. What do you want?’ Govart said, with an insulting lack of concern.

And it was suddenly clear that there was something more between Laurent and Govart than Damen knew, and that Govart was unfazed by the prospect of a public scene, secure in the Regent’s authority.”

Once again we are reminded of the politics at play here (really Pacat could give GRR Martin a run for his money). Then something interesting happens.

“Before Laurent could reply, Orlant arrived. He had, by the arm, a woman with long brown curled hair and heavy skirts. This, then, was what Govart had been doing. There was a ripple of reaction from the watching men.

‘You made me wait,’ said Laurent, ‘while you bred your get on one of the keep women?’

‘Men fuck,’ said Govart.

It was wrong. It was all wrong. It was petty and personal, and a verbal dressing down wasn’t going to work on Govart. He simply didn’t care.

‘Men fuck,’ said Laurent.

‘I fucked her mouth, not her cunt. Your problem,’ said Govart, and it wasn’t until that moment that Damen saw how wrong it was going, how secure Govart was in his authority, and how deeply rooted was his antipathy for Laurent, ‘is that the only man you’ve ever been hot for was your broth—”

And any hope Damen had that Laurent could control this scene ended as Laurent’s face shuttered, as his eyes went cold, and with the sharp sound of steel, his sword came out of its sheath.

‘Draw,’ said Laurent.”

This exchange is interesting for many reasons. We are reminded of Veretian culture regarding bastards. Further we get the beginning of the fight. But we also get the incest rumour here. We know that Laurent worshipped his brother and weirdly enough I was like “hey this might be true" when I first read, considering how fucked up Vere was and how much I hated Laurent. But as you read, this view also breaks down. I love the unravelling of Laurent.

Anyway Govart and Laurent start fighting and we get a very worried Damen.

“Damen’s heart jammed itself into his throat—he hadn’t meant to set this in motion, for it to end this way, not like this—and then the two men came apart and Damen’s heartbeat was loud with the shock of his surprise: at the end of the first exchange, Laurent was still alive.”

I like to think this where Damen started to care, just a little bit. Sure its mixed with his own goals, but yeah this is what I like to think.

“ he was, persistently and remarkably, still alive, and watching his opponent calmly, measuringly.

This was intolerable for Govart: the longer Laurent went unscathed, the more the situation embarrassed him, for Govart was after all stronger and taller and older, and a soldier. This time Govart didn’t allow Laurent any respite when he attacked, but pressed forward in a savage onslaught of cut thrust attacks.

Which Laurent turned back, the jar of impact on fine wrists minimised by exquisite technique that worked with the impetus of his opponent rather than against it. Damen stopped wincing, and started watching.

Laurent fought like he talked. The danger lay in the way he used his mind: there was not one thing he did that was not planned in advance. Yet he was not predictable, because in this, as with everything he did, there were layers of intent, moments when expected patterns would suddenly dissolve into something else. Damen recognised the signs of Laurent’s inventive deceptions. Govart didn’t. Govart, finding himself unable to close as easily as he had expected, did the one thing that Damen could have warned him not to do. He got angry. That was a mistake. If there was one thing that Laurent knew, it was how to prick someone into fury and then set about exploiting the emotion.

Laurent turned back Govart’s second surge with an easy grace and a particularly Veretian series of parries that made Damen itch to pick up a sword.

By now, anger and disbelief were really affecting Govart’s swordsmanship. He was making elementary mistakes, wasting strength and attacking in the wrong lines. Laurent was physically not strong enough to weather one of Govart’s full-strength blows straight on his sword; he had to avoid them or counter them in sophisticated ways, with those angled parries and shifting momentum. They would have been lethal, if Govart had landed any of them.

He couldn’t manage it. As Damen watched, Govart swung, furiously, wide. He was not going to win this fight with anger driving him to fool”ish mistakes. That was becoming obvious to every man watching.

Something else was becoming painfully clear.

Laurent, possessing the sort of proportions that handed him balance and coordination as gifts, had not, as his uncle claimed, wasted them. Of course, he would have had the finest masters and the best tutelage. But to have attained this level of skill he would also have had to have trained long and hard, and from a very young age.

It was not an even match at all. It was a lesson in abject public humiliation. But the one teaching the lesson, the one effortlessly outclassing his opponent, was not Govart.

‘Pick it up,’ said Laurent, the first time Govart lost his weapon.

A long line of red was visible along Govart’s sword arm. He’d given up six steps of ground, and his chest was rising and falling. He picked up his sword slowly, keeping his eyes on Laurent.

There were no more anger-driven blunders, no more wrong-footed attacks or wild swings. Necessity made Govart take stock of Laurent, and face him with his best swordwork. This time when they came together, Govart fought seriously. It made no difference. Laurent fought “with cool, relentless purpose, and there was an inevitability to what was happening, to the line of blood blossoming this time down Govart’s leg, to Govart’s sword lying once more in the grass.

‘Pick it up,’ said Laurent again.

Damen remembered Auguste, the strength that had held the front for hour after hour, and against which wave after wave had broken. And here fought the younger brother.

‘Thought he was a milksop,’ said one of the Regent’s men.

‘Think he’ll kill him?’ another speculated.

Damen knew the answer to that question. Laurent was not going to kill him. He was going to break him. Here, in front of everyone.

Perhaps Govart sensed Laurent’s intention, because the third time he lost his sword, his mind snapped. Throwing aside the conventions of a duel was preferable to the humiliation of a drawn-out defeat; he abandoned his sword and simply charged. This way, it was simple: if he carried the fight to the ground, he’d win. There was no time for anyone to intervene. But for someone of Laurent’s reflexes, it was enough time to make a choice.

Laurent lifted his blade and drove it through Govart’s body; not through his“stomach, or chest, but through his shoulder. A slice or a shallow cut was not going to be enough to stop Govart, and so Laurent braced the hilt of his sword against his own shoulder and used the whole weight of his body to drive it in harder and stop Govart’s motion. It was a trick used in boar hunting when the spear wounded but did not kill: brace the blunt end of the spear against the shoulder, and keep the impaled boar at bay.

Sometimes a boar broke free, or snapped the wood of the spear, but Govart was a man run through with a sword and he went to his knees. It took a visible effort of muscle and sinew for Laurent to pull the sword out.

‘Strip him,’ said Laurent. ‘Confiscate his horse and his belongings. Turn him out of the keep. There is a village two miles to the west. If he wants to badly enough, he’ll survive the journey.”

I know I know I know, long excerpt but I love this fight scene. There is a lot to unpack here, but I love the bit where Damen notes the difference between Laurent and Auguste. I also love the men growing respect for Laurent and basically driving a knife through the Regent’s plans.

Anyway the regent’s men move to obey Laurent’s orders without hesitation (another bit that shows their fear if not respect)

“The response among the Regent’s men was more varied. There were signs of both satisfaction and amusement: they had perhaps enjoyed the spectacle, admired the show of skill. There was a hint of something else too, and Damen knew they were men who associated authority with strength. Perhaps they were thinking differently about their Prince and his pretty face now that he had displayed some of it.”

Lazar breaks the tension by tossing Laurent a cloth to wipe his sword. Laurent addresses the men gathered there and takes advantage of their new found awe and gives the order that they will ride hard and fast. Laurent then appoints Jord as captain and Jord starts giving orders.

“Lazar, who had thrown Laurent the cloth, didn’t look as though he was going to be mouthing off about Laurent again. In fact, the new way he was looking at Laurent reminded Damen unmistakably of Torveld. Damen frowned.

His own reaction had him feeling oddly off balance. It was just that it was—unexpected. He had not known this about Laurent, that he was trained like this, capable like this. He wasn’t sure why he felt as though something, fundamentally, had changed.

The brown-haired woman picked up her heavy skirts, walked over to Govart, and spat on the ground beside him. Damen’s frown deepened.

The advice of his father came back to him: never to take your eyes off a wounded boar; that once you engaged an animal in the hunt, you must fight it to the finish, and that when a boar was wounded, that was when it was the most dangerous animal of all.

That thought nagged at him.”

Our thoughts about Laurent as well as Damen’s are unravelling. We are also starting to grudgingly admire this kid who managed to get the whole army to respect him. (Side note I like how the woman spat at Govart, you go girl, which reminds me. I wish we had more female characters here). The bit at the end reminds us that all is not over though.

Laurent sends riders to Arles, in order to inform the regent of what had happened.

The company start to ride towards Vere’s eastern border with Vask. We learn that the men are more willing to obey Laurent’s command.

Damen reports to Jord and we get this exchange:

“I could tell from your face. You didn’t know he could fight.’

‘No,’ said Damen. ‘I didn’t.’

‘It’s in his blood.’

‘The Regent’s men seemed just as surprised as I was.’

‘He’s private about it. You saw his personal training ring, inside the palace. He’ll go a few rounds with some of the Prince’s Guard occasionally, with Orlant, with me—laid me out a few times. He’s not as good as his brother was, but you only have to be half as good as Auguste to be ten times better than everyone else.

In his blood: that wasn’t quite it. There were as many differences as similarities between the two brothers: Laurent’s build less powerful, his style built around grace and intelligence, quicksilver where Auguste had been gold.”

We gain an insight into Laurent’s abilities. It’s not because his family were warriors or something but there is something more calculated behind it (whispers: its revenge). We also get another comparison between Laurent and Auguste which I live for bc ngl love Auguste.

They arrive at Nesson and Damen notes the difference between it and Baillieux. Damen goes into the bedchamber and lights the candle. Here he contemplates public punishments (both Laurent’s ‘embrace the slave’ and Govart’s recent punishment).

Laurent arrives and we get this:

“He said, ‘Did you pay that woman to fuck Govart?’

Laurent paused in the act of stripping off his riding gloves and then, deliberately, he continued. He worked the leather from each finger individually. His voice was steady.

‘I paid her to approach him. I didn’t force his cock into her mouth,’ Laurent said.

Damen thought about being asked to interrupt Govart in the stables, and the fact that there were no camp followers at all riding with this troop.

Laurent said, ‘He had a choice.’

‘No,’ said Damen. ‘You only made him think he did.’

Laurent turned the same cool look on him that he had turned on Govart.

‘Expostulation? You were right. It needed to happen now. I was waiting for a confrontation to arise naturally, but that was taking too long.’

Damen stared at him. Guessing at it was one thing, but hearing the words spoken aloud was something else. ‘“Right”? I didn’t mean—’ He cut himself off.

‘Say it,’ said Laurent.

‘You broke a man today. Doesn’t that affect you at all? These are lives, not pieces in a chess game with your uncle.’

‘You’re wrong. We are on my uncle’s board and these men are all his pieces.’

‘Then each time you move one of them, you can congratulate yourself on how much like him you are.’

“It just came out. He was in part still reverberating with the blow of having had his guess confirmed. He certainly didn’t expect the words to have the effect on Laurent that they did. They stopped Laurent in his tracks. Damen didn’t think he’d ever seen Laurent caught completely “without words before, and since he couldn’t imagine the circumstance was going to last long, he hurried to press his advantage.

We get an insight into exactly how intelligent and meticulous Laurent can be. We realise that he orchestrated this. In Littlefinger’s words, he fights every battle, everywhere in his mind. Also rereading that little jab made by Damen must have hurt considering what know about what the regent did (kill him with fire).

“If you bind your men to you with deception, how can you ever trust them? You have qualities they will come to admire. Why not let them grow to trust you naturally, and in that way—’

‘There isn’t time,’ said Laurent.”

I like this bit because we get a contrast between Laurent and Damen. But we also understand that they fundamentally share very similar cores (those of goodness). We know Damen is honest but its weird that this quote insinuates that perhaps if Laurent wasn’t in desperate and had the time and resources he perhaps would not result to deception but rather be like Damen and do things with honesty. Once again unravelling our perception of him.

“There isn’t time,’ Laurent said again. ‘I have two weeks until we reach the border. Don’t pretend that I can woo these men with hard work and a winning smile in that time. I am not the green colt my uncle pretends. I fought at Marlas and I fought at Sanpelier. I am not here for niceties. I don’t intend to see the men I lead cut down because they will not obey orders, or because they cannot hold a line. I intend to survive, I intend to beat my uncle, and I will fight with every weapon that I have.’

‘You mean that.’

‘I mean to win. Did you think I was here altruistically to throw myself on the sword?’

Damen made himself face the problem, stripping away the impossible, looking only at what, realistically, could be done.

‘Two weeks isn’t long enough,’ said Damen. ‘You will need closer to a month to get anywhere at all with men like these, and even then, the worst of them will need to be weeded out.’

‘All right,’ said Laurent. ‘Anything else?’

‘Yes,’ said Damen.

‘Then speak your mind,’ said Laurent. ‘Not that you have ever done anything else.’

Damen said ‘I will help you in whatever way I can, but there will be no time for anything but hard work, and you will have to do everything right.’

Laurent lifted his chin and replied with every bit of cool, galling arrogance he had ever shown.

‘Watch me,’ he said.”

The chapter ends there and we are shown how dire the straits really are. This scene also solidifies the dangerousness of Laurent and his and Damen’s relationship changing.

(SIDE NOTE: I love that Laurent is arrogant in this, wot a king).

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i-am-naminette · 5 years

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So we agreed Dimitri from Fire Emblem looks like Japanese Laurent.

Then can we agree it mean that older Laurent could look like his older self, if let’s say something went wrong with Damen ?

Also I already wrote a thing about that : You can read on AO3

It's been years. So many tallies engraved in the wall that he stopped counting them after five years. Yet, he still scratches the wall with a chip of stone, his blunt nails, the edge of his iron cuff… anything to mark the passage of time, anything not to go insane.

He stares at his wrist. The bastards took the golden one away from him. They took Laurent away from him. So he marks the wall, the guard movements outside his door the sole indication he had to tell him another day passed.

His arm shakes with the effort of lifting it, barely fed as he was, they couldn't find a better way to stop him from trying to escape, and he had killed enough of his guards as it was. So when a commotion starts outside, Damen don't have the will to lift his head away from the wall he was chained to.

He doesn't care anyway. It won't be the first time his mind had played tricks on him and he had dreamed of Akielon and Veretian soldiers barging in through the door. They would side the most beautiful blond man Damen ever saw, the light from the corridor surrounding him like a halo. He would be blinding and then he would run into Damen's outstretched arms.

But when the door burst open, Damen is left blind by the light, eyes watering and closing against his own will, too painful to be a dream. Had they finally came to execute him? A smirk stretches on his lips as he looks at the man entering his cell. He would not give them the pleasure of seeing him broken, they never broke his mind.

The man is backlit so it's hard to properly see him but his figure is unmistakably board and muscular. Damen almost laugh when he hear the man shout.

"Exalted!"

It's been so long since the last time he heard his title, he must be dreaming after all.

Two other men enter one blinding Damen again with the torch he is carrying. A groan and then a whimper, a sound so alike one made by a wounded animal, yet Damen is certain it didn't come from him.

And then there is hands touching his face, holding his head, rough and calloused but so very soft, so gentle, loving. Not the hand of a torturer or it is some kind of new torture that would be the end of Damen. The hands are in his unshaven beard, run into his greasy hair and he want to be ashamed, to tell the man not to touch him because he his filthy, but he can't. He leans into the touch like a starved man.

"Damen."

The voice is broken, barely a whisper yet Damen heart nearly burst in his chest at hearing it, he thought he would never hear it again outside of dream. His eyes open, his vision bleary.

There is blond hair, long and unkempt like he hadn't bothered to take care of them. The beautiful face with sharp cheekbones and ice blue eyes. Damen what to, need to lift his hand and touch it, because it can't be real. This doesn't look like any other of his hallucination, this beautiful blond looks older and there is a black eye-patch covering one of his incredibly blue eye. A jewel lost to the war.

"Lau-" he try but his throat is raw from misuse and he cough.

The cough raking his body made him slide away from the wall he was leaning on, a shame with the hard time he had to prop himself against it, but there is relief when he fell against a warm and hard chest instead, arms encircling him.

"Pallas! Water!"

There is few seconds after Pallas leave the cell in haste to go fetch water before Damen let himself go against the man holding him, when he thought he would wake up against the cold, unforgiving ground but then he feel gloved fingers stroking his back, leather and feather against his cheek. This was real.

"I'm here. I've got you." the blond man kept whispering little reassurances, little nothing. And it's music to Damen's hears.

A water skin is put against his dry lips, the sensation of water entering his parched mouth burning him, branding him, he wants so much and take too much and then he cough again spurting water against the dark cloth against his cheek.

"Careful. Take smalls sip."

He is guided through it, gentle move against his back, a thumb coaxing his mouth open and Damen drinks his fill, slowly, carefully.

"Laurent."

He finally said, voice raspy but so full of hope. It feels so good to say his name, to see the light in the other's eyes at hearing his voice.

"I'm here Damen. I found you. Can you walk?"

Laurent his caressing his face, his now lone eye looking deep into Damen's. There is so much love, so much longing than Damen thought his own heart was about to explode from it. Then he register Laurent's question. His gaze involuntarily drifts toward his chained foot. Those holding him captive never bothered to cuff both his feet after…

Laurent gesture quickly, mistaking Damen look for something else. The sound of the sword falling against his chains, metal clanking against metal reverberate through Damen's skull, it hurt. He is freed. The sharp intakes of breath he hear next come from Laurent, Damen knew he would see but he said nothing. Laurent breathe hard, hand trembling as his fingers brushes over the scars were one of his ankles was uncuffed. A single white jagged line were his tendon was cut, making his foot a worthless weight

"I tried to escape too many time. That the one of the thing they tried to hinder me." Damen say.

There was no sign that Laurent heard him. His gaze lost, pupils blow and dark. The ice blue of his single eye had turned stormy, his jaw clenched and his shoulder trembling slightly in his restrained rage. This wasn't how Damen remembered Laurent anger. This wasn't the bitter cold lashing of his lover. This was a volcano ready to erupt, ready to make a rain of ice shards and ice pikes to fall on his enemies. Damen makes a sound, a moan that cames from the very depth of his chest because he couldn't bear to start imagining what Laurent went through, what he had endured in his absence. Yet the evidences are spread in front of him like a crude painting of violence.

"I'll kill every last one of them… "The words are hissed through clenched teeth, "Women… children…I'll annihilate this kingdom. They'll pay-"

"Laurent."

The flows of hate stop. Damen had managed to lift his hand and this time he is the one stroking his beloved face. He seems he can't get enough of this touch, the way Laurent's drawn features ease, his gaze focusing solely on Damen again.

"I'm here now. Just… I want to go home. Let's go home." He smiles. This is not a dream. This is reality.

A painful sob rack Laurent body and his squeeze Damen tighter, careful not to hurt him anymore. Laurent soften and Damen is relieved. There is some of his Laurent left.

"Yes."

#Captive Prince #fanfic #my writtings #Laurent #Damen #Damianos #Lamen #DamenXLaurent #pain #captive prince #capri

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meet-me-at-kingsmeet · 7 years

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a/b/o arranged marriage au

I was writing the outline for the wedding sabotage au until i got bored. So I watched one of my fave movies Marie Antionette and had this idea. Wrote this drabble in a couple hours. I’m tired but its cute. idk if u want more lemme kno of course (dnt worry i’ll still work on the other one too). As always, love you guys a lot and enjoy <<<333

It has come to my attention, after discovering a possible invasion and attempt to conquer Delfeur, that I, King Aleron de Vere, implore a disparate annex towards Vere. It would be unwise to take an area of Veretian soil and expect absolute subjection. The Delfeurean people are loyal to the crown of Vere and a war against our country will cause the death of a great many young men and would impact the taxes of both our nations. Raises in taxes will lead both our people to restless behavior and acrimony towards you, King Theomedes. For you will be solely responsible for this war. You must also take into consideration that when compelling my people under your rule, they too will remember that you are solely responsible.

I would like to make an offer that both kingdoms, Vere and Akielos, should find presentable and most suitable for avoidance in war. Prince Damianos, heir to Akielos, is of age to marry and is yet to be. It is in Vere, The Council, and my greatest interest and contentment that my youngest son, Prince Laurent de Vere, has recently come of age. From what I have heard of your most honorable son is that he prefers the physiognomy that my son bears. Prince Laurent is an intelligent young man but knows when to hold his tongue, follow orders, and sustain his duties. In my most unbiased opinion I see it as a very tolerable match and constitutes itself as a preferred one of the people when the knowledge that it keeps from war is greatly acknowledged.

I hope you take this into great consideration. For both my people of Vere and the people of Akielos have their lives in your most dignified hand.

Sincerely,

The Regent finished and looked up towards his brother, King Aleron.

“See, dearest brother, all you need is to sign the document. I’ll have it sent and we wait for King Theomedes’ answer.” The Regent gave a wicked grin and placed and pen and paper on the desk in front of King Aleron, who had his head resting gravely against his hand.

“Laurent goes off to marry some sweaty barbaric-”

“He is much more use there than he is here. Prince Auguste is the only heir we desire and Laurent wastes his time riding and reading books and when not doing that he is distracting Prince Auguste with such nonsense.”

“A royal marriage will not only be beneficial to this Kingdom but to Laurent as well. He will be forced to learn Akielon and practice the social cues of both Veretian and Akielon.”

King Aleron gave a heady sigh. “And the council agrees with this idea?”

“They admire it greatly. They appreciate not sending their sons to war and sending the surly Prince away.” King Aleron gave a boisterous laugh. His younger brother only smiled and picked up the pen to hold it out towards his brother.

“One signature and two things happen: You stop a war and are beloved by both Veretian and Akielon alike, or King Theomedes denies the fruitful request and will be blamed by every mother who lost a son. Either way, you’re golden.”

King Aleron took the pen from his brother’s gloved hand and pondered up at him for a moment, distressing “how did you conclude to this idea?”

“I saw Laurent was...of age and yet so unbecoming of a Prince of Vere. I told him punishment would rain down on him and he refused to believe me.”

“So this is a punishment towards Laurent?”

The Regent puckered his lips in thought. It took him only a second to spew “a punishment is for teaching. This is Laurent’s lesson into his becoming of a noble Prince. And is,” The regent placed his finger just above the area for King Aleron to sign. “The very future of Vere.”

Studying the paper once over, King Aleron signed his salient signaturea and handed the paper back to his brother. When The Regent went to make his leave he was stopped by a sharp grip around his wrist. He turned back and gazed upon his older brother, who flipped his wrist upside down and kissed it once. “You have done a great service to me and this Kingdom, brother.” The Regent offered only a half smile and a nod.

“You know how much I care for you and this Kingdom,” and he permanently made his leave for the night.

*****

“It’s a dirty trick.” Kastor stated, loudly. It was only after several seconds of King Theomedes finishing the letter that Kasor had made the bold and derogatory statement.

“Perhaps, King Aleron is truly offering an olive branch in an attempt to avoid war-”

“Oh Gods, Damianos you cannot actually be serious? Your blind trust in these Veretian snakes is the real reason why Akielos would lose all its land to Vere.”

“Enough, Kastor. How dare you speak to your brother that way.” Kastor had only fumed at his father’s words, but held his jaw taut and avoided saying anything else for the brief moment.

“This proposal is an interesting one,” King Theomedes rubbed at his beard in reflection. “It shows that Vere is vulnerable, and that they cannot afford to fight in the war so they are attempting

“Or they are fully prepared to fight a war and are trying to offer an unknowingly better option.”

Kastor and Damen both began to argue over each other, Kastor pronouncing “bullshit this is an obvious attempt to trick us-

“Trick us? You act as though peace is such a terrible option-

“-into bringing in their veretian whore to spy while barely missing a war they know they couldn’t win-”

“Kastor don’t you dare refer to an innocent 13 year old as a ‘whore’ and ‘spy that’s indecorous-’”

“Oh look, father! Damen is already defending the little slut. Throw the ceremonial chiton on him now there is sure to be a most congenial wedding!”

A hard slam against the mahogany desk brought both the Akielon princes to attention. Damen turned towards his father with his head down while Kastor continued to carry his ill-look of disdain towards his brother. “This is not how my sons and heirs to this throne behave.”

A nod from Damen followed by a “Yes King, I apologize for my behavior. If I were to debate with another King I would be considered uncouth and childish.” Damen continued to keep his head down.

“I appreciate your apology, Damen, and forgive you under the fact that you are 19 and still learning. Kastor?” Kastor crossed his arms and rocked on his feet, displaying that he was not going to apologize for his, what he considered, rightful outburst. “Very well then. Damen you will tell me your opinion on this, Kastor will have no word,” at this Kastor uncrossed his arms and his countenance held a mixture of disbelief and heavy indignance.

“Father this is unwise-”

“You dare tell your King and Father how to-”

“No I am simply trying to make you understand that Damen is naive when it comes to foreign affairs and should not be given to decide on such a paramount decision.”

“I’ve had enough of your insolence, Kastor,” King Theomedes held his body up in a commanding form, yet still held grace and nobility while pointing his eldest son towards the door. Damen gazed upon his father’s stance, attempting to memorize and learn from its power. “Leave now.”

“But Father!”

“I am your King and you will do as I say before I throw you over this desk and beat your ass with a stick while the council watches.”

There was a standoff between father and son in that moment. Kastor had not left and Damen was experiencing physical anxiety from the idea of disobeying his father the way Kastor was. Eventually Kstor left by stomping his feet and slamming the chamber doors. King Theomedes shook his head but gave his full attention back to Damianos.

“What is it you wish to do, Damianos?”

“I believe accepting the extended olive branch will prove most prosperous between our two kingdoms. I cannot help but feel that if we go straight to war, without seeking a different, more peaceful approach, that we would be deceptive and irresponsible with our people.

King Theomedes nodded gracefully, “Laurent is only 13. You don’t seem to become hot at the idea of a youthful boy.”

“No, I do not and never will. I was thinking to make sure the arrangement stays solidified, Prince Laurent may stay in our Kingdom. Learns our Language and culture norms, then when he comes of age I take him as my bride.”

“The council?”

“I can take my argument of why this is a more acceptable idea than war. And if you are to be on my side they would be much more willing.”

“And Kastor? He will not agree to this at all.”

“This decision is more important than what Kastor agrees with.”

“He is your brother,” King Theomedes reminded.

“Yes but this is Akielos’ and Vere’s future and I am heir to the throne not Kastor and who I pick for my bride, especially if it benefits the people is not his concern.” Damen was starting to sweat under the hot breeze and excitement from his presentation. After his father stared him down for what seemed hours, Damen received a wide smile. King Theomedes walked out from behind the desk and threw his arm around his son, pulling him in close.

“That’s the passion I love, Damianos. The passion of a true king! I will stand by your side in this decision, Damianos. Remember, it is your first major one and foretell your strength as a leader and decision maker. Do not make a mistake, son.”

“I will think thoroughly and carefully and audit any advice or grievances given to me.” Damen placed his hand on his father’s shoulder and stared into his eyes. “I am grateful for this trust you have given me, Father-King. I will not disappoint.”

King Theomedes smiled and hugged his son briefly. Once he released Damen he went towards the chamber doors to tell a guard to fetch the council at once. He halted and glanced back at Damen.

“This Prince Laurent will need to be protected and gain the people’s approval. Even I hate the idea of him being here but I’m allowing this because of you. Don’t mistake an approval of a decision, for the eradication of an on-going prejudice.”

Damen was completely unaware of what to say as he was left alone in the King’s advisory room. But from his father’s warning, he suspected that perhaps a war might have been easier.

#captive prince #captive prince drabble #omegaverse #arranged marriage au #its almost 1 am i ahve to be up for school at 5 bye #hurdur love ya'll

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