forum The Monster, the Princess, and the Rebel // OxO // Closed

Started May 25, 2020 by @ElderGod-Icefire

tune

She nodded a little. "Alright. I checked the royal archives while we were in the palace, and I took some notes, but…whatever my uncle did, it's not…" She shook her head tiredly, eyes flickering down to her brother again.

"Not natural," the dark haired man finished. He sighed, running a hand through his hair and glancing at Korain. "We will try our best. There has to be a way that we can get rid of it."

"Yeah." she watched as her brother struggled against the ropes, the horns still there, clawed fingertips ripping through the sheets beneath his body.

"You should eat something," Dae said finally. He noticed how thin and pale the princess looked, and he felt only concern for her. He held out a hand. "I can get something whipped up for you while Jav watches your brother."

She rubbed her eyes tiredly. "Yeah. Uhm. Alright. That…" she trailed off, too tired to really think or speak beyond what she'd already said.

Damen glanced up, and his eyes glowed for a second as he told his brother to come. When Jav appeared in the doorway, still looking sheepish and tired, he motioned to the prince. "Watch out for him, will you?" He asked quietly. "I'm going to get something to eat."

"Finally, food," Javaid said, grinning tiredly, and nodded. "I got it."

Dae held out his hand for Rose to take. "Let's get something to eat," he said gently.

Rose smiled faintly, taking Dae's hand for a moment as they left the room. She was still quite worried about her brother; that worry probably wouldn't go away for, well, a long time. He was important to her, even like this.

While Damen and the Princess were getting something to eat, the other twin stood next to the bed. The Princec struggled against his bonds, which didn't break, despite the huge amount of strain.

While most people would be inclined to feel disgust or pity for Korain, Jav didn't. He just felt hungry, a little amused, and determined. He knew that the prince would be better someday. When that was, he didn't know. He was more optimistic than his brother, despite his cheerfully pessimistic proclamations, which was one of the reasons why he had stayed strong even when working at the palace.

That and the affairs with both men and women, but they didn't count.

His lips twitched as he muttered to Dae in the kitchen, He looks like he's fucking an invisible being.

In the kitchen, Damen choked on his own spit.

Korain's eyes were open, and while he had no idea what Jav was communicating to his brother, he growled at him nonetheless, clawed fingers ripping holes in the sheets beneath him.

Rose raised an eyebrow faintly at Damen when he choked. "Something wrong?" she asked, pouring herself a glass of water and poking through the cupboards to find the food.

"Not at all," Damen said, shaking his head and wiping his mouth, composing himself once again. "Just- a thought."

Javaid Khrysaor, he scolded his brother. Wipe that mind clean or I will do it for you.

Jav only laughed, the sound filtering through the house. Damen shook his head with a sigh and stirred the soup he was cooking up.

Rose nodded faintly, turning away and getting herself some food. Her hair was still pulled back into a bun, though a few strands had, by now, escaped from it to cascade down around her face. She looked tired and worried, and the cause of both could be traced back to the man in the bedroom.

"What do you like to eat?" Damen asked, after composing himself. He worked to chop up spices, making the familiar recipe that his mother used to make. He could sense her stress and worry, and he didn't want her spiraling down.

"I…" she trailed off, shaking her head very faintly. "I'm not picky." she replied after a moment. "I'm alright with pretty much anything."

"Do you care about spicy foods? I know that a lot of people from this area of the country don't enjoy spice as much." He hoped he didn't sound judgemental - to be honest, he hadn't gotten any sleep for almost two days now, and he was dead on his feet.

"I don't." She replied. "As long as it isn't too spicy, then I don't really have a preference." She smiled faintly at Dae, running a hand through her hair.

"Not too spicy? Alright, then." He carefully measured the seasoning into the soup, and soon, a fragrant aroma filled the air.

After a few long moments, he spoke. "I apologize if it's a little spicy. My brother and I- we're not originally from this country, and so we're used to spicier things. I'll try to make sure my cooking fits the culture that you're used to." He sent her a small smile.

Rose shook her head slightly. "No, it's fine. When I was…gone, the people who hid me used to cook spicier things. I got used to it a bit more." she replied, tucking back a loose strand of hair. She still looked tired and tense, glancing back at the bedroom for a long moment.

Damen saw her look and smiled slightly, sadness in his eyes. "You can go to him if you'd like. Jav is watching him right now, but I'm sure he'd leave if you wanted."

She shrugged. "I don't know. i've…I've got to figure out a way to unravel the spellwork. I don't know if I can do it completely, our uncle…well. It's a good spell." she bit her lip faintly, trying to decide what to do.

"Do you think he did the spell all on his own?" Damen asked, an idea striking him. "Or was there someone who helped him? As far as I know, the King was never the best at magic."

"I don't know." she replied, looking at him for a moment. "Depending on the tools he used, you don't need a high level of proficiency with magic in order to cast the spells." she shook her head faintly, thinking. "But I don't know exactly what he did, which is what makes it harder to unravel." people were always harder than inanimate objects; inanimate objects you could just rip the spellwork away, but if you did that to a human, you risked ripping away their sanity or their mind.

"Indeed." Dae rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. Six years working for the King, and he didn't know what had happened, how it could have happened, or who had helped. He felt useless. "When I return to the castle, I can look for this information. Being his advisor has its benefits, after all. I get to see all the important papers." He smiled wearily at Rose.

She drummed her fingertips. "No, that…that would be far too dangerous for you. He would not want anyone to know that he was the one that did this to my brother. He's used it as an excuse and a reason not to make Kor his heir. Without that excuse, I…" she trailed off, shaking her head.

"With that as an excuse, you would be queen," Damen said, realizing the gravity of her situation. "Which means that he'll be searching for you even harder now that Prince Korain is gone."

Thoughts filled his head, swimming quickly through his brain. How had she escaped and Korain didn't? Was it her power? Did her uncle know about her powers? If so, was that why the search for Rose hadn't worked very well? And most of all, How did the King, who has little magic, manage to cast magic on the prince to this magnitude?

"I am already supposed to be queen." she pointed out. "Korain is younger than I am by about 20 minutes. He was only the…heir presumptive because I was not there." she shrugged a shoulder, looking over at Damen.

"Why…" Damen hesitated, wishing for Javaid's blunt way of saying things. He didn't feel comfortable asking her these things, as they would probably make her mad, and they were personal as well. "Why weren't you there?" He finally managed to get out.

"There as in…?" she trailed off, looking at him uncertainly. She was not quite sure what he was asking about, and didn't want to answer based on an incorrect assumption about something.

"There to protect your brother? There to save the throne when your uncle took it for himself? There to protect your people when they needed it most?" There was no judgement in his expression, just sadness.

She looked down at her hands. "I…I wasn't home. When our parents died, I mean. They had sent me to visit my great-aunt, and I was there when they died. And…I thought that I'd be summoned home, to…take the throne, but then we received news that my uncle was taking over. My great-aunt was…smarter than I am, and she figured out what that meant. That if I came back, some sort of accident would happen. So she sent me somewhere else. To hide. And grow stronger. I just…I just wish we could have gotten Kor, somehow."

Something flashed in his blue-gray eyes, an unreadable expression. He ran a hand through his hair - it was getting too long, he should cut it soon - and bit his lip. His mind raced. Could it work? Would it? What had started out as a simple question that might have been a little too personal gave him an idea. But he couldn't get his hopes up. Not yet. Maybe not ever. "The place where you got stronger… were you taught magic there? By people? Or did you teach yourself?"