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Location: The Royal Cabin |
Flynn instructed the blonde squire who was standing guard at the town center for the night. The young man, in his early twenties, nodded and assured the Prince that the task would be completed swiftly. Earlier, Flynn had informed him about the need to create flyers to announce a morning meeting regarding news from Lunaris.
"Thank you." Flynn said, giving the squire a tired smile before continuing on his path home.
As Flynn walked home, he contemplated what he would say during the meeting he and Octavia needed to hold. He could do the talking if she preferred not to—he had been built and bred to feel comfortable speaking in front of audiences—but she still needed to attend to break the news. He felt bad for her, knowing a sea of condolences would swarm her afterward, but the people needed to know, especially those from Lunaris. He wondered if she had told Elara yet.
"Tomorrow will be another long day…" he muttered to himself, tilting his head to the left to crack his neck and release some of the growing tension.
As Flynn neared the house, he saw a shadowy figure in the glow of the torch lights slowly creeping out and attempting to quietly close the door. Narrowing his eyes as he approached, his hand instinctively moved towards the sword strapped to his side. Who was this person, and why were they sneaking around?
“Who goe—” Flynn paused mid-sentence as the person turned and the light illuminated their face, causing his body to relax with relief.
“Sunni.” He smiled, genuinely relieved to see his friend, though it was still odd to find him sneaking out of the house. Flynn immediately assumed Octavia must be asleep and Sunni was trying not to disturb her.
“Just the person I’d want to see right now,” he said, stopping just outside the front door.
“Have a drink with me?” he gestured towards the inside of the home Sunni had just been leaving.
“I’ve had a hell of a day…”The voice was familiar though it did not mean he jumped out of his skin any less. “
Gah!” His whole body tensed up. “
Flynn, why are you sneaking up on people!?” Sunni’s voice was louder than he wanted it to be. His current train of emotions were overwhelming and shocking his system. Mainly due to his own internally ragging. Flynn popping out of nowhere startled him out of it.
With habit, he smoothed out his shirt, and his eyes became less wide from the initial scare, “
Tell me about it,” Sunni joked when his best friend told im that he had a hell of a day — he honestly did too. Dawnhaven was exhausting at times. Too exhausting for his liking though it was less of a beat down than what his father would give him on a daily basis.
“
I was actually looking for you but you weren’t home,” The man mentioned since he was. He wanted to know if it was okay to sleep on a couch or something so he didn’t have to be at the inn though he knew that might be asking too much. For now, he would keep his mouth closed and try not to think about the mess he created with Elara or how she was getting him blankets so he could sleep on the couch.
"It seems I have impeccable timing, as always, then" Flynn said playfully, opening the door to his home and allowing Sunni to re-enter first. Once inside, Flynn headed straight for the kitchen. Although it had been hours, he could still smell the faint warm scent of the chai tea that Octavia had made earlier in the day and he wondered if he could ask her to make it for him again some day.
"What was up with you earlier, by the way?" he asked, opening a cabinet to grab a bottle of red wine.
"When I came to find you earlier in the day with Octavia at the Inn," he reminded his friend, setting the wine bottle down on the counter and raising a brow as he locked eyes with Sunni.
"And don't try to lie—I know something was off."The playfulness in his friends voice was refreshing, it allowed his shoulders to ease their tension, and a smile to appear on his face.
Why does he have to ask that!? That question triggered the anxiousness that was in his system, that he was trying to suppress, though he knew he couldn’t. Elara was inside the building they were standing in front of. Shaking his head, waving his friend off, “
It was nothing…” he chimed in almost speaking over Flynn when he told him not to lie.
Sunni allowed a hand to stroke through his ginger locks, “
I…” That was when he looked over his shoulder at the door and quieted down. Looking at Flynn, “
Eris… Elara. I… Well…” How was he supposed to get this out of his system? He was beginning to talk with his hands and play with his shirt, necklace, and other fabric on his body. Listening with an amused smile on his face, Flynn began to pour the alcohol into two wine cups for them.
“
So… today has been rough. Eris was following me back to my room since she ordered something and I had it. Then she told Elara, you know, the girl I think it’s really cute, and she said something about going to my room for something and not anything else. She made it awkward so I didn’t want her anywhere near my room because I don’t want Elara thinking I am a manwhore or getting with anyone else,” The man kept talking with his hands as he was explaining this. His eyes wandering around and checking back with his friends every so often. “
AND I might have just told Elara a few minutes ago she was as pretty as a rock because I like rocks. Then I figured out she doesn’t care for rocks so I guess I was calling her ugly. I don’t know? Then I compared her to dead people because I said the moon was pale and then I realized I couldn't shut the hell up, so I tried fixing it and told her that she is exactly what I thought the moon goddess looked like and I am so glad I didn’t give her that shiny rock I found earlier because she hates rocks…” Sunni put a hand on his hip while rubbing the back of his neck with the other. “
And that’s why I am stressed.”
Stopping mid-pour, Flynn looked up at his friend as he spoke about comparing Elara to a rock, dead people, and a goddess. Flynn tilted the wine bottle up, his brows furrowed, and eyes wide in shock as Sunni explained.
“You…” He set the bottle down, trying to process what Sunni had just told him.
“You compared her to a dead person?” Flynn's smile grew until he let out a laugh.
“Hah! And then a goddess?!” He shook his head, thoroughly amused by his friend's predicament.
“And I thought you were supposed to be the one with all the charisma.” He chuckled, recalling how Sunni used to show him the ropes when it came to talking to women in Aurelia. Flynn had been so sheltered for most of his life that he only knew how to talk to high born women; talking to the commoners was a completely different ball game.
“She’s going to think you’re a necrophiliac.” He teased, sliding a wine glass over to his friend with a smirk.
His eyes glanced toward the kitchen entrance, realizing in that moment that Elara could very well be overhearing them if she hadn’t retreated to her room to avoid the odd Aurelian man.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Elara is understanding,” he shrugged, recalling his interactions with the Princess’s handmaiden over the last two months.
“She… probably gets compared to a corpse all the time.” He couldn’t help but make the joke, making himself laugh again.
“I’m sorry... No, I’m sure it’ll be fine,” he tried to recover, raising his glass to tap it against Sunni’s in a “cheers” fashion.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you so flustered over a woman before.” he said in a more hushed tone, taking a sip of his wine and keeping eye contact with Sunni mischievously. It was nice to have this brief respite from the weight of the day—talking about women again. It almost felt like old times.
“
Shut up,” Sunni growled playfully. “
It’s so difficult to talk to her. I don’t know why…” He sighed while standing there by the counter and leaning against it. It honestly sucked. The man never had so many issues with speaking to people even people he liked in the past or had one night stands with. Elara made him nervous, maybe it was because she was Lunarian? Who knew.
The side glance with intense amber eyes said it all when his friend mentioned she will think he is a
necrophile, “
I clarified that I did not find dead people attractive or actually think she was a dead person. She is just very fair skinned. I was trying to compare her to the moon,” The man clarified while speaking with his hands again, pointing them down at the ground, as he thought about all the stupid ramblings and things he said to that poor woman.
Grabbing the glass and cheering with Flynn, he sighed, “
I shouldn’t have this much of an issue. Maybe it’s because she’s higher class than me and out of my league. I know I am failing before I even start,” Sunni joked but he honestly felt like there was truth in his statement. Most women that were
higher on the social ladder didn’t care to look down at the likes of a lesser person even if they had a pretty face.
“
Also…” His voice changed tones with inquiry and curiosity. “
What happened between you and Octavia? The kitchen was ruined when I came in. I cleaned it up but dishes were everywhere, it looked like one broke, and the bread box was on the floor,” Sunni brought up how he found the state of the kitchen. “
I didn’t think you two would get into such a fight already,” Sunni chuckled a little while taking a sip of the wine.
Flynn pulled the glass away from his lips, concern replacing the amusement on his face.
“What?” he questioned, looking behind him toward the kitchen to survey the area, even though Sunni had mentioned cleaning up whatever mess he had encountered.
“Nothing happened.” he said, looking back at Sunni, confused. The last moment he had had with Octavia had actually been rather pleasant, aside from her leaving abruptly, but she had opened up to him a bit, and he had been happy with that.
When his friend began to clarify that
nothing happened between him and Octavia, Sunni’s expression spoke more than words, since a look of not fully believing the man came to his face. “
Are you trying to say a squirrel or racoon did it?” He teased the man with a chuckle. Setting down his own wine on the counter. Was Flynn trying to hide something that he didn’t know about? Was his best friends marriage worse than he thought it was going? It honestly made him feel a little sick inside and conflicted since he didn’t know how to take it. Flynn rolled his eyes at the notion, shaking his head and taking another sip of his drink.
“Well—” he paused, rethinking his statement. Something
did happen, though no dishes were thrown while he was there.
“I wonder if Octavia…” He lowered his voice more, his eyes glancing toward the kitchen entrance again.
“Maybe she… was emotional after I left?” He thought aloud, trying to explain even to himself why the kitchen would be such a mess. After the news she had received, he wouldn’t have blamed her for needing to let off some steam. Although, he would have preferred it if she didn’t ruin their limited supply of dishes.
“That’s part of why the day has been so long, actually.”“
So you got into a fight and left?” Sunni’s mind was stuck on Flynn and Octavia being in an argument of some kind since that was what made sense in his head. The small confession of his friend leaving and Octavia becoming emotional after he left confused him even more. What were they even fighting about?
A mirrored frown came onto Sunni’s face when hearing his friend acknowledge why the day had been so long. “
I’m sorry to hear that…” He was honestly surprised that Flynn and Octavia were having so many issues though he wouldn’t consider the princess of Lunaris an easy task at all. She was quite fiery but she seemed to be
weird or
off or however you wanted to say it while being around Flynn. Not natural.
“Tsk.” Flynn rolled his eyes again, slightly annoyed that his friend seemingly didn’t believe him.
“Shut up. You know I wouldn’t be throwing dishes around.” However, he did feel a tinge of guilt for leaving Octavia in such a vulnerable state. But she had wanted him to leave… hadn’t she?
“The Queen of Lunaris… she’s dead.”Sunni’s amber eyes seemed to lock onto his friends green orbs when the news was put on the table, “
The Queen of Lunaris is dead? Octavia’s mother is dead?” Sunni sounded shocked and in disbelief. That was horrible news. What happened to her? She wasn’t that old, was she? A landslide of questions began to build up internally with those few words —
...she’s dead. Flynn nodded, letting the heaviness of the information linger between them for a few breaths.
“Yes, Octavia’s mother.” he confirmed, frowning as the weight he had been feeling all day returned.
“We have to announce it to the town tomorrow.” He sighed, not wanting to dwell on that now.
“I had to take care of some things after we found out, and… maybe she got angry and threw things?” He glanced back toward the kitchen again, looking for any lingering glass shards. A tinge of anxiety gripped him—was Octavia mad at him for leaving? Shit.
Taking a large gulp of his drink, Flynn pondered the Queen’s untimely fate.
“I don’t know what happened…” He set his wine glass down and began to unclasp the emerald green cloak around his shoulders before tossing it onto the countertop.
“Octavia seemed shocked. I hadn’t heard of the Queen having an illness or anything…” He shook his head and shrugged.
“I don’t know…” He picked up his wine glass again and swirled it a few times in his hand.
“I don’t trust the King of Lunaris… that’s what I do know.” He looked at Sunni then, firm in that belief, though it made him question whether or not he should trust his wife, but he dared not speak that out loud here.
“
That… She must not be taking this well at all,” Sunni could not imagine losing a mother even though he started life without one. He never knew his mother so it was different — Octavia had gone a little over two decades with her mother. That must be hard. Difficult for anyone. “
Maybe she was mad that you wanted to announce it so soon? It sounds like it just got to the both of you,” Sunni was trying to think of why Octavia would be so angry and throw dishes around. It didn’t make sense yet emotions were not rational. Not all the time.
Flynn considered Sunni’s thoughts for a moment, realizing that he hadn’t even mentioned the announcement to Octavia yet. He had planned to tell her tonight or in the morning. Suddenly, his decision without her input felt wrong, but he knew the people had to know. It had already been some time since the Queen had passed, and people would begin to talk soon, if they hadn’t already. It was better to be the first to break the news rather than let rumors start. Dread formed in his chest—Octavia was going to hate him for this, wasn’t she? Nervously, he finished off what was left in his wine glass.
Watching his friend undo his cape and get into a more casual and stressed position, Sunni sat up on the counter to test his limits. “
With how people speak about the king, especially ones close to him. I wouldn’t trust him either. With the little bit of information that Octavia has told me, he sounds too much like my own father but worse,” Sunni joked trying to keep the mood light but he knew that might be impossible.
Picking up his wine and taking a sip, he thought about it, “
The dishes weren’t thrown around like… I don’t know. You know how you throw things, especially breakables? And they break. The dishes looked like they were scattered around the whole kitchen but set and stacked nicely. Just odd. Only one looked to be broken,” Sunni mentioned while taking a sip of his wine.
Flynn gave Sunni a bewildered look as he explained the scene he had encountered, which sounded even stranger than Flynn had originally envisioned.
“Stacked?” he asked, trying to wrap his mind around why they would be organized that way.
“Maybe…” He tried to form an idea for an explanation but came up short.
“I have no idea… that is odd.” He frowned, leaning against the kitchen counter and pouring more wine into his glass.
I don’t understand these Lunarians. Who knows what she could’ve been up to.” He half-joked, though he was serious; understanding Octavia had felt like an impossible task.
Sunni laughed when he thought about it, “
Lunarians are a little odd, aren’t they?” If they were saying that about the Lunarians, what did the Lunarians think of them? Aurelians. He knew that one, Lunarian, Elara probably thought he was out of his mind. Hopefully, he wasn’t ruining the idea of Aurelians in general for her. That was somewhat of an upsetting thought that crossed his mind.
“The Priestess of Aelios arrived today, too,” he continued, setting the wine bottle down as he recalled the day’s events.
“She nearly died.” He glanced up at the ceiling as if seeking answers for why he was in this position.
“My mother will surely hear about that.” He groaned, looking back at his friend.
“We have a new blight-born in town, and he nearly killed a child. She healed the kid, but it almost killed her.” At that moment, Flynn realized he felt completely responsible. The only reason blight-born were coming here was because of him and his research.
“And Eris got involved…” he waved his hand in the air, signaling it was a long story he didn’t want to relive.
“It was a mess… But Orion is housing him right now. The guy seems to want to do better, but…” He let out a heavy sigh again, clearly stressed out by the whole ordeal.
“I just don’t know…”“
How!?” Sunni was flabbergasted when Flynn confessed that the priestess of Aelios arrived and almost died. He thought that Dawnhaven was pretty safe — guess not. “
So…” The man started in thought. “
We have dangerous blight survivors in Dawnhaven?” A huff of air could be heard from him as he took that in. That was not reassuring at all.
Flynn nodded regretfully.
“I would have sent him away, but…” He remembered the way the Priestess had mouthed to him that she wanted Willis to stay alive.
“The Priestess wanted him to live, for some reason.” He shook his head, confused by it all.
Sunni seemed almost conflicted when his friend spoke about the Sun priestess Tia wanting the blight born, Willis to stay alive. “
I would have agreed with your stance. We don’t need people causing such severe issues that it could cost somewhere their life,” He sighed at the thought. “
However, I do believe in second chances. Let’s have faith he’ll do good from here on out?” He sounded so uncertain about that. Blight-born were a little nerve wracking.
Taking another sip of his drink, he shrugged, “
Hopefully, tomorrow is way better,” No reason to dwell on the past when you could look to the future. The Queen's death was going to be announced tomorrow by the sounds of it. It would make quite a few people sad. They had a decent amount of Lunarians in Dawnhaven and by the sounds of it, the queen was very loved.
“
Let’s try to relax tonight, shall we? Want to play cards?” Sunni brought out a pack of cards from his pocket. He always carried a deck around so he could pass the time playing solitaire or other card games, depending if he was alone or not.
Flynn smiled at the sight of the deck of cards Sunni brought out, feeling a nostalgic comfort from them.
“I’d love to.” he replied, grabbing the bottle of wine and heading to the kitchen table so they could sit and play. Although the wine wasn’t helping his headache, and he felt completely exhausted, taking time to play cards with his friend sounded like just what he needed. At this rate, who knew when he would next get a chance to relax with someone he genuinely enjoyed being around?
Sunni hopped off the counter top while following Flynn over to the kitchen table. “
Oh, I forgot. I am staying the night. I tried leaving after I embarrassed myself in front of Elara but I am back in here, so I guess I’ll stay. I’ll be taking over the couch tonight, so do you want jokers in or not?” The redheaded man asked while setting the wine down on the table and beginning to organize the deck to get ready to shuffle it.
“Good, I think I may need you to protect me from Octavia’s wrath.” Flynn joked, pulling out a chair and sitting down across from Sunni.
“Joker’s in.”Keeping the jokers in as he shuffled, he chuckled at being told he needed to protect him from his wife, “
War it is. Jokers are high spades, like always,” He sat down and began to deal the cards out.
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