•The•Two•Kingdoms

[Teesie]

Strauss scoffed at the reasoning that the dark haired teen threw to him. Glancing back to regard the other, the red head gave a shake of his head to Raven. "As if you just push it away like you don't need it. You're troubled...you're the one that needs love the most. Maybe you wouldn't be so cruel and stubborn. What a pity....someone as beautiful as yourself." Shaking his head in disappointment once more, turning forward to continue in the right path.

 

The green eyes darted across the grass, just entertaining himself with something. All his thoughts were on the smaller prince behind him. What happened to make the one act so different? Maybe the rumors had finally gotten to the teen, and made him slightly indifferent. Believing those around him was what possible damaged him. "Why...what made you act this way?" Once again slowing his horse to walk beside Raven.

[BlaqueCatt]

The sudden and very blunt comment about his appearance had stunned the younger man into silence. Wide blue eyes stared rather uncomprehendingly at the earth beneath his horse's hooves; all of his anger had faded and become replaced with utter confusion and shock. He understood the words but not their meaning. How could Strauss just carelessly say something like that? His mind could only produce short sentences at the moment. I...I'm not beautiful... Suddenly he felt very small and insignificant; he kept his gaze averted from the red-head and swallowed nervously, his hands trembling as they gripped his horse's mane. He...he has no right to say that to me... But he could no longer find any of his usual fire inside; he felt empty, his own self-loathing filling him with a sense of complete despair. Tears pricked in the corners of his eyes and he shook his head, biting his lip to stifle any unwanted sounds.

 

"I..." His voice shook, and that only made him hate himself even more. "I-I do not need to answer to you." His tone was weak, however, and held none of its normal passion. Darkness was consuming his mind and his heart; he was spiraling downward again, back into the hole he had dug himself. "Leave me be." He nudged his horse with a bit more force than necessary, and the mare broke into a full canter, racing ahead of the two older man; the pair's small size made them faster than the average horse and rider.

[Teesie]

The naturally red head prince sighed dramatically as the smaller raced away, giving a tap to the side of his horse to catch up with the other. "Would you wait! I'm sorry for what I said ok? I understand how you feel....please!" Strauss not liking what he had caused the other to do. "You don't even know the way to my castle. You should slow down seeing as my father had planted traps...I don't want you to die." Quickly adding as he remembered why he had to do so many twists and turns when leaving the castle.

 

Raven was a hand full that was sure. One had to watch every word that was spoken from their mouth when around the smaller teen. It was difficult, seeing as almost any little statement ticked the smaller prince off. Although, the Zelphia prince couldn't think of anything else than that. With Raven being so secluded, he would surely be a enigma at some point in time. If not worse than he was at the moment.

[BlaqueCatt]

Raven's pale fingers dug into his horse's neck, making her whinny in discomfort. He was too far out of it, however, to notice, let alone apologize. Under his breath and through clenched teeth he muttered, "Not you nor anyone else would care if I died. No; you would care, and be quite happy." His voice was bitter now, and filled with darkness. "People who are not loved will never be missed." Throughout his life, the youngest prince had been struggling with depression among other things. There was no medication for the illness, and no way to diagnose it. He was classified as odd, and that was it; he was the unspoken disgrace of the family. His father showed his hatred for his youngest son when the room was empty, whether it be by physical of mental abuse; he regretted having a child with a lowly slave woman, though before she had conceived he expressed his love for her; he had loved only her exotic beauty, as she had been from an eastern land. His mother did not care for him, and her obsession was to make him like his brothers. His brothers, though protective, were only so because it was their duty--or so Raven thought--and did not really connect with him. The black-haired prince despised himself, and though he did have family who cared about him--his brothers--his parental abuse made everything else seem the same.

[Teesie]

Strauss quickly tapped the side of his horse again, the speed increasing as he yelled at Raven some more. "Would you stop it. You're moving right into the land mine area!" Strauss yelled, trying his best to catch up with the smaller prince. Raven was way too emotional over something he said, and it made the older male feel terrible. If he was to have the other recover from such, he would surely not speak to Raven, unless he had to. Having the one person that he actually liked to willingly die was such a mistake. It was something that the red head didn't want to happen. That was seriously a problem that the sire of Zelphia didn't have to deal with, if only he kept his mouth shut. At times like this the male thought he was an idiot. He always made stupid mistakes as such, and now he would learn from it. Although, the problem was that Strauss had never dealt with one like Raven before, that was why it was hard for him not to make so many mistakes.

 

"I'm sorry ok! I'm sorry!"

[BlaqueCatt]

{There were no explosives during this time period ^^' Gunpowder hasn't been invented yet.}

 

The younger man felt himself begin to hesitate when he heard Strauss' words, as if his mind was separated from his body. He shook his head, trying to focus, and blinked away the tears that had started to form once again; his blue eyes, no longer icy, were now a dark, watery blue as his shields momentarily came down. He released his grip on Sigi's mane once he realized what he had been doing and leaned down against her neck, rubbing the red areas soothingly in an attempt at an apology. The red-head's words had given him a brief sense of hope that maybe someone did care about him, that maybe someone would come to accept him; if someone was willing to say "I'm sorry" to him, then maybe he was worth it. But the darkness in the back of his mind was threatening to reappear, threatening to drag him back into that deep, inescapable hole. He didn't want to go back there. His entire being ached for comfort, for someone to be there for him, but he was too afraid of rejection to reach out. So this time he said nothing and kept his gaze lowered, his shoulders trembling. It was times like these when he wanted to be alone and write...He froze, his hand inside of his cloak; the paper he had folded up was gone. His skin visibly paled and his eyes widened in horror; what if someone had found it and read it? It was too personal to be read by anyone but him!

[Teesie]

(Apologize. >.

 

Strauss gave a smile once he noticed that the other was slowing to a reasonable speed. Quickly catching up to the other, the red head gave a stern glare, although it quickly softener once seeing the other's expression. "What is wrong with you? Is...there something you are looking for?" After watching the other's hand sort of pat around for something. Could it be that the dark haired teen was looking for the paper that he had dropped? Strauss would give it back, although he hadn't had a chance to read it himself, which was something he wanted to do.

 

"I can help you if you need any." Studying the other's expression. He just hoped that Raven wouldn't get suspicious of him.

[BlaqueCatt]

Raven's pale fingers curled into the fabric of his cloak, pulling the black garment tighter around his body, as if trying to shield himself. He did not want anyone, especially not Strauss, to see him in this state. When did it fall out? It may have already been blown far away, or trampled by the knights... He spared a glance at the red-head, his expression appearing lost. He did not possess any of the confidence he had had before, nor was he able to bring his intelligent, rational thinking forward; his emotions now had control of him, which, to him, was terrifying. His mind was the dam and his emotions the water; rationalism was the weak cement holding the whole thing together. "I...seemed to have lost something...very important..." he confessed softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

[Teesie]

"Is it that important?" Staring to the smaller for a while before a wave of guilt washed over him. This only intensified the male's curiosity of what was written on the paper that was heavily weighing in his pocket. Strauss was quite sure that the small object was what the dark prince was looking for. Emerald eyes studied the other's movement, along with the expression that was playing across the young male's face. If this small piece of paper could have the naturally red head man know more about Raven, then he wanted to read it as quickly as possible.

 

"What exactly was it that you lost?"

[BlaqueCatt]

"I..." Raven hesitated, dropping his gaze to his lap and digging his nails into his shoulder where he had clenched the cloak. He took another deep yet quiet breath and released it shakily, biting his lip. What he had written on that paper was the most important thing to him. It was the only thing that had kept him stable for the past year. Without it...he didn't know what would happen. He probably wouldn't live long. "It was...something I wrote..." The hated tears were gathering in his blue eyes again, and he struggled to hold them back. On that small piece of paper was a song he had written; the sound was in his head, of course, as he couldn't play an instrument, but the words were there, and that song reflected his hidden emotions, his personality, his secrets; it was the essence of him. Or at least part of him. He had written many songs when he felt so empty that he could barely stand, but this one was the most recent and therefore the most important at the time. He always kept the song that meant the most to him at the time in his pocket.

[Teesie]

With the amount of emotions playing on the smaller's face, The elder prince felt terrible. There was a sense of guilt building in his heart. Placing himself in the other's shoes, Strauss gave in to his guilt and decided to give the other back his possession. Whenever he and Raven made good enough friends, he was sure that the dark haired male would share it with him; although if he didn't that would be fine as well. Strauss just wanted Raven to trust in him. The beauty shouldn't be saddened as he was now. Taking a hand and reaching it into his pocket, the naturally red head prince green eyes steered back to the other. Giving the piece of paper back could cause many emotions to the younger male. One being a sense of relief as the other could be betrayal. He just hoped Raven wouldn't believe that he had read it.

 

"I had picked it up on the way here. I saw you dropped it, although I didn't give it back to you. I...thought it was some sort of strategy that you all was going to use against my kingdom. I hadn't read it...I promise." The paper being held out for the dark haired boy to take.

[BlaqueCatt]

The black-haired prince lifted his head and turned to face Strauss, ready to condemn the older man for lying to him; there was no way he could have found the song. However, his blue eyes widened when they landed on the paper, and a few stray tears slipped down his cheeks, his expression one of shock and complete relief. Is it...? Did he really find it? He reached out with a small, trembling hand, his pale fingers taking hold of the folded paper. Or...is this another lie? Is he trying to hurt me even more? Swallowing the growing sense of dread that he had once again been betrayed and played for a fool, the younger man unfolded the paper and brought it close to his chest to read it, shielding it from the red-head's view. His grip tightened when he saw that it was, in fact, the song; his handwriting, his words, the old stains of his tears from when he wrote it. He was silent for a long time, his horse unmoving just as he was, staring at the words with an unreadable expression. Then he tucked it back into his pocket, taking a deep, calming breath; rereading it had helped to settle his mind. When his gaze met Strauss' again, his eyes were once more as icy and guarded as they had been before. "You did not read it?" The tears had dried on his face, now invisible.

[Teesie]

The smile that laced the older prince's lips couldn't be helped. Raven was such a beautiful creature in the young Codiquíle's eyes, and it was a shame that those beautiful tear filled eyes had once again became icy and cold. Although making the male once again happy was all that mattered. Nodding to the dark haired teen, emerald colored eyes meet blue ones. "I promise you that I did not read the paper. As I said before....I thought it was a strategy." His horse moving forward a little, making the other in arms reach. The Zelphia's prince reached out a hand to wipe at the still damped cheek. Even though the tears had dried, their trail was still present.

 

Admiration played in the elder man's eyes, a soft sigh being released out his nose. "You could be more thankful." He teased, quickly pulling his hand away so that Raven didn't have a chance to push him away. The feeling of rejection would hurt worse than just knowing the other would not welcome his feelings.

[BlaqueCatt]

Raven's pale lips twisted into a scowl, and if Strauss had not pulled away as quickly as he had, the younger man would have slapped his hand. He looked away from the red-head and huffed in annoyance. "If it was a strategy, you would have had all the more reason to read it as soon as you had found it. If you want to attempt to lie to me with success, you will have to try much harder." He shook his head and nudged his horse with his foot, the mare speeding up into a slow canter. The hood of the cloak flew off of his head, and his black hair fluttered as the wind violently pushed against it. Once he was a good yard away from the other two men, he allowed a small smirk to appear on his face that vanished quickly. Behind him, Edmund let out a frustrated sigh and hurried after the youngest.

 

"Wait up, Raven!"

[Teesie]

Strauss frowned as the other once again took lead and left he and Edmund behind. The red head sighed gave a shake of his head not that surprised that the other wouldn't believe a word he said. To that statement the other gave, Strauss had an explanation. Since he had Raven captive is why he found in no rush to read it. It wasn't as if the plan could go as planned without the smartest of all the prince.

 

Slowly tapping the side of the horse, the naturally red head prince followed behind the other two prince. It was quite funny how Raven knew where he was going to be honest. Being the least of the Zelphia sire's worries, he just decided to keep quiet and go with the flow.

[BlaqueCatt]

Soon Edmund was riding next to Strauss, his blonde hair wild and windblown from the speed at which he had needed to go in order to catch up. He glanced at the other prince and gave a sheepish smile, his own sky-blue eyes bright yet his expression exasperated. "Sorry about him," he apologized again, making sure to keep his voice low so that the youngest couldn't hear them talking about him. "He can be a handful. It's hard to tell what he's thinking. I'm surprised he acted like that, though...we never see him like that, not anymore. He spends most of his time in his room or outside the castle, so we don't see much of him, but whenever we are together he keeps it hidden. And if he ever did get like that...he would leave as soon as possible." He sighed, his grip on the reigns tightening; he hated being unable to help his brother. "I wish he would tell me what was wrong...he's not well."

[Teesie]

Strauss gave a dismissal wave to the apology. The man knew how difficult Raven could be to handle, and that was only judging from the few hours they've known one another. As Edmund talked, the Zelphia prince intentionally listened to every word. As the other finished his statement, the now dark haired prince glanced up into blue eyes with a bit of sorrow. The tightening of the other's fist didn't go unnoticed either.

 

"I...see. Well, I can understand how you may feel." Suddenly lowering his voice. "If I was in your shoes I'd possible be the same way, but.....Raven isn't as tough as he makes himself seem. I think you should try your hardest to learn about him not matter what harsh things he may say or do. All he needs is a littl push." Giving a small hopeful smile to the other.

[BlaqueCatt]

Edmund's smile had become rueful, and his laugh was bitter. "Thank you for the advice, but I've been trying to understand him for eighteen years." He shook his head, his gaze resting on the form of his brother, who was riding his horse as far from them as possible while still staying in sight; the black-haired prince wasn't stupid, he knew he wasn't strong enough to defend himself and knew that he needed protection. There were some things even his pride couldn't change, like his body. "All of us have tried so hard...especially my father." No one but Raven knew about the way the king treated his youngest son; in the eyes of the three older brothers, the king was a wise, just man who could do no wrong. "Are we going the right way?" he asked after a few minutes, realizing that Raven was leading the way now. The younger man rolled his eyes and called back in a blunt tone, "I can read maps, idiot."

[Teesie]

The response that the petit prince gave forced a smile from the red head. Raven was indeed going the right way, Although he was getting a bit ahead of himself. "Maybe you should slow down Raven. It's not safe to go ahead like that." He yelled, once again facing toward Edmund. "Have you ever thought that maybe you aren't noticing everything you are suppose to. He's told me that....everything isn't how we see it. I just think Raven needs more attention from someone. Your mother....she is the closest to him isn't she?" Voice lowered so the youngest prince couldn't hear him. If the other prince had tried so hard to learn about Raven, then he was a bigger code to crack than he thought.

 

"He seems much more difficult than I thought though. Maybe....reading those scripts he write is more important than it may seem. You've seen that it nearly brought him to tears." Brows furrowed a little.

[BlaqueCatt]

The blonde prince frowned, not understanding what the other was implying. "What could I not be noticing?" He sounded incredibly confused, and he glanced at Raven briefly and then back at the red-head. "And what scripts? I've never seen Raven write anything." Even if he had there would be no way for him to read it; the king, Daniel, and Raven were the only members of the royal family who had bothered to learn to read and write. It was necessary for Daniel, as he was to be king, but the others had no need to; Raven had done it on his own, much to the disapproval of his father. He said nothing about the queen, as he was still unsure himself about her relationship with the youngest prince and didn't want to give the other any false information. Up ahead, Raven scoffed and rolled his eyes, ignoring Strauss and continuing without slowing down. When Strauss challenged him, rationality either went out the window or grew ten-fold.

[Teesie]

Strauss had a bewildered look, wondering did the other not see the interaction between the two of them, himself and Raven. "Well, he has written a script. Something that I do not even know of. It was what I had tooken from him once I seen it drop from his pocket. Seconds before you caught up to us he was in tears over the small piece of paper. Once it was back on his person, he made it seem as if he had found a new kingdom that he can own all on his own. I think that it may hold feelings that only he knows about. I know that if you were to read it you'd know more of him, but I can't say how Raven would react. He would possible never forgive you if caught." He voiced lastly, glancing to the mane of the horse.

 

The red head prince was unaware of the illiterate acts with sir Edmund. With him being the only child, the prince thought nothing of other royalty no knowing how to read. Yes, it was common with many knights, but the prince of Zelphia was oblivious to this. "About Raven...I am unsure of what I should say." He voiced to the Edmund, emerald eyes darting up to search for the dark haired prince. "RAVEN? CAN YOU PLEASE NOT BE SO FAR AHEAD?" Gesturing for Raven's brother to speed up to be in arms length of the petit male.

[BlaqueCatt]

If the gesture had been invented during such early times, Raven would have flipped the older prince off. Instead he pointedly ignored him and continued, but the horse seemed to sense the red-head's tension and slowed down. The black-haired prince looked down at the mare with narrowed blue eyes, and though he nudged her gently with his knee, she didn't go any faster. She shook her head, her mane whacking the young man in the face. Raven huffed indignantly, but it was not in his heart to scold the horse, so he allowed her to take the lead. Those two are idiots, he thought, letting out a quiet sigh. Trying to tell me what to do. I know what I'm doing. The place where the paper was folded and tucked away felt warm against Raven's cold skin, and without thinking he began to hum softly.

 

Edmund blinked, surprised at Strauss' tone and the new information give to him. "Raven's been writing? And what he writes is very important to him..." He smiled slightly. "That makes sense...I've heard that authors write books with their feelings put into them. It must be the same for Raven." His blue eyes focused on the younger man up ahead. "I won't betray his trust...I want him to read it to me on his own, not that I could do it myself anyway. But I'm very curious to know what he's written."

[Teesie]

The natural red head gave a nod to Edmund, all the while smiling. To be honest, he liked all the prince it seemed. On first meeting he would have never thought that Edmund could be so forgiving or even worth talking to. All had changed from that point. It's not like the Zelphia prince expected any less than what he had gotten; he had took Raven captive after all. The conversation at hand and the actions of the blond princes made itself know to Strauss that each brother loved their youngest brother with all their heart.

 

After catching up to the dark haired prince, Strauss gave the other a small glare. He was a little disappointed that the boy would run off ahead like that, and hadn't even bothered slowing after being told. "What is the matter with you? Do you want to just go ahead to the castle on your own?" Emerald colored orbs set on the small, petit body.

[BlaqueCatt]

"Yes, actually, I would prefer that," he replied in deadpan, voice laced with attitude, keeping his icy blue eyes focused on the land ahead. He heard his brother ride up behind him and come around to flank his other side, but wisely the blonde said nothing and the youngest of the three ignored him. He did not say that he didn't want to be there, because, in fact, he did. He wanted just as much as the others to stop the needless fighting and killing, and he wanted the criminals responsible for this war to see justice, even if he understood the reasoning behind the act; or at least he thought he did, he would have to meet them first to be sure. But he would have enjoyed the task much more if he had been riding alone, without the two older men breathing down his neck and making him cry--no, he would refuse to admit to himself that he had cried. He was stronger than that, damn it! He was the dark prince that the people of his kingdom looked upon with awe at his intelligence and lack of emotion. He wanted and needed to keep it that way; if he let his emotions be seen, he was vulnerable, and after what had happened with his father, he would never let himself be vulnerable again.

[Teesie]

The attitude that the other was harboring was not a good aspect for either of them. For the smaller to act this way, he must have been threatened by something. "What the hell is your problem? Is there anything that I've done to make you upset with me? I'm tired of your attitude Raven." Reaching a hand out to take the smaller's shoulder hostage. This caused both the horses to halt in their prancing.

 

"Can we just talk please? You and I need to figure out what's your damn problem." The red head male wasn't trying to be mean at any cost, though he just wanted Raven to be more open. In order for this plan to work they needed to work together. If the two parties continued to fight, then the traitor would have an advantage over them.