Adras stared at the book his father had given him just hours before. The words A Guide To Perfect Politics were penned on the cover, and there were ribbons sticking out where he was meant to study. He would have considered reading it even slightly if his brother hadn't gotten him a much less boring book: Medeisology in Ancient Terms.

This book was very large, roughly four-hundred pages. It would take him days to read through it all, and the thought delighted Adras.

Adras, if you couldn't already tell, was enamored with magic. Specifically, curses and how to break them. Obviously, he had read classic fairy tales. He knew that most of the curses in those books were broken by "true love's kiss", but he was more than a little skeptical about the realistic effectiveness of that. So far, all of the books he read made no mention of curses and instead chose to focus on how to improve your magic, which was of no use to him.

Adras' eyes were white. Despite this making him look very unique and (as some would say) beautiful, he resented his eyes. Having white eyes meant he did not have magic abilities. If he did have magic abilities, then he would be able to study them firsthand, instead of having to read through hundreds of books to gain any useful information about them.

He picked up Medeisology in Ancient Terms and flipped to the index.

INDEX

What is Magic?...............................1

How Magic is Used.......................6

Magic in Religion...........................8

Eye Pigments...............................20

Famous Magicians......................34

Blessings......................................76

Curses........................................142

Magic Rituals.............................251

Conducting Experiments.........359

Glossary....................................397

Adras quickly flipped to page 142 and began reading. The preface for this section detailed how curses worked: they took small amounts of a human's or an animal's life force to send misfortunes or ailments to the target of the curse. When creating a curse, you had to include some way to break it or it wouldn't work. Most people did this by making a recipe for a pie or something and using very specific and hard to get items as ingredients. Others created perilous quests or battles against fierce beasts. Breaking curses was generally considered a fruitless effort, but people were willing to pay hundreds of gold coins to anyone who would try.

The rest of the section was a manual on making curses and some common ones that were popular in the golden age of magic. He was about to look at one called "stultus morbus" when his sister burst through the door. He quickly stuffed the book in his desk drawer.

"Adras! What are you doing? Why aren't you ready for the ball yet?! It's starting soon!" Adrayale narrowly missed being hit by the door as it ricocheted off the wall back toward her.

"Sorry, sorry," He murmured, keeping his eyes down, "I'll get dressed now." Adras walked over to his closet and pulled out a suit. It was a very pretty dark grey, and it was outlined in silver. He liked wearing things that had muted or no colors.

"You better, or mother'll have your head. And you know how much we'd all enjoy that." A creepy smile crossed her face and Adras was willing to believe she'd throw a soiree for his wake when he died. Her eyes drifted to his hair, which was brushed back and held down with a black cord. Adrayale scoffed and walked over to him, snatching the cord. "And stop pushing your hair back, you have to keep it parted." Adras frowned, curling his fingers around the cord that she had pressed back into his hand.

"Yeah, I got it... you can go now." He ran his hands through his hair as the door shut. He hated how he looked with his hair parted. Adras gazed longingly over at his desk and wondered if he could squeeze in just a little more time for reading.

He wasn't ready for this. Not the ball, per se, but his plans to tell his parents about his love for medeisology. After the ball, when he had selected a wife, he would find his parents and tell them he wanted to study magic. He was starting to rethink his plans. He was almost certain they would be furious with him when they heard the news.

Adras was also not looking forward to getting married. Not to say he didn't want marriage, he just didn't want to marry a woman. He was gay, through and through. Obviously, his parents didn't know, or they'd have skinned him alive by now. His younger brother knew, though.

His name was Adrate and he was the one who gave him the medeisology book. He had figured it out when he saw Adras watching the soldiers spar with an interest he had never displayed before. Most people wrote it off as him wanting to learn to fight, but Adrate was intuitive and recognized that he was not aching to fight so much as aching to fuck.

Adras knew that he would never be able to marry somebody he loved. He had come to terms with this years ago. He and a friend, Eloris Selm, shared similar situations and they had formulated a plan, so none of them had to be stuck in a straight marriage with people they hated. At the same time, he just felt gross whenever somebody talked about children. He was expected to have them, but the thought of having a child with a woman was... he didn't have a word for it. It just terrified him.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The golden light of the chandeliers filled the ballroom as people began dancing, casting peculiar shadows on the wall. Adras would have spent his night putting names to the figures, but he was being hounded with noblewomen who all wanted a dance. He sighed when he spotted one particularly eager girl strolling up to him. Averis, of the house Crena.

Averis had made it very clear since the day they met that she wanted to marry Adras. She constantly gave him gifts, flirted with him, and chased off Eloris whenever they tried to hang out around her. She was ridiculously overbearing and Adras felt sick when he locked eyes with her. He quickly turned around and asked a young lady by the wall if she would like to dance with him.

She looked stunned but put her hand in his and quietly said, "I'd be honored, your Highness." He flashed her a warm smile and they began dancing to a song that Adras was fairly certain was called Dewy Eve.

"Could I ask for your name, my Lady?" Adras was good at wooing girls. Despite how he acted in front of his parents and sister, he was a lot bolder than he let on. He could be flirtatious, funny, charming, anything so long as he wasn't with somebody who would threaten to lock him up in his room for hours on end for speaking incorrectly. He studied the way her eyes followed him as they spun around the room.

"Hm? Oh! Yes, yes, of course, your Highness! I am Maren, of the house Kenz. I am very honored to be able to dance with you, truly I am!" She looked anxious, nearly stepping on his toes multiple times. Despite her nerves, she wore a big smile that would have any straight man confessing their undying love. It was very obvious the smile was fake, but Adras returned it nonetheless. His job was simply to pretend he was interested in the girls here. Easy enough.

He scanned the room, looking for a girl with long brown hair, probably put in a lovely braid. Eloris always wore braids during any type of social gathering. A large ball where she would be expected to impress a prince was no different. As his search came up empty, he became more desperate, flicking his eyes across the crowds of young nobles that filled the room. His mouth felt just a little too dry. Where was she?

"Your Highness?" Maren looked almost scared to speak, but continued, "Are you...are you okay?" Adras almost laughed. A sigh escaped him and he just lightly shook his head.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you. I'm fine, just a bit nervous. I am here to find my wife after all!" His eyes rested on hers and he, a little quieter, added, "And I've met some very interesting candidates so far."

A blush flooded Maren's cheeks and a hand went to cover her mouth. Before she could respond, Dewy Eve had finished and Adras let go of her, stepping back, "Well, I should find another dance partner. I can't let the other ladies here know I have favorites. They'll get jealous." He added a little wink, just in case.

His mind quickly flipped a switch. Where the hell was Eloris? She had to be here. He was royally screwed if not. His parents specifically told him the one he was going to marry had to attend the ball. He was not going to get married to some random girl he had just met. Hell no.

He spotted his parents and rushed through the crowd to speak with them.

"Mother, tell me, is the Lady Eloris Selm in attendance tonight?" The words flew out of Adras' mouth a little too quickly. His mother smirked and his father raised an eyebrow.

"Actually," His mother began, "The Lady Eloris was proposed to two days ago. Lord Litor's boy proposed to her and her father accepted." His mother's smile had too much of a malicious twinge to it. She hated seeing him and Eloris together around the castle, "Honestly, I was surprised anyone wanted to marry her. Considering the scullery maid incident. But good for her, I suppose. Arxis is nice enough, and the Litors are very influential. Your...friend is lucky."

Fuck.

Adras whispered a, "Thank you mother" and walked over to the wall. He didn't care how many people were watching as he rested his head against the wall and suppressed a river of tears. He couldn't do this.

He wouldn't be able to get out of consummating the marriage on the wedding night. He'd be expected to have sex with a woman. Hell, he'd be praised for it.

Fuck.

He and his wife would be expected to bear children. His wife wouldn't be willing to lie and say that despite their best efforts they couldn't conceive. If it didn't work the first time or the time after that... he'd have to keep doing it. Again and again.

And then his thoughts shifted to Eloris. God, poor Eloris. She didn't even get to pick the man. She'd be forced to bear his children. He nearly got sick at the thought of it.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of glass smashing and a dozen horrified screams. Men dressed in all black were pouring through the shattered window and swarming the place. Adras' thoughts immediately went to Adrate. Where was his brother? Was he safe? Fuck-what if they hurt him?

He searched the crowd of frantic guests as they all attempted to run toward the exits. He locked eyes with Adrayale and began sprinting over when he felt something hit his back.

He fell to his knees and turned around just in time to hear the sickening sound of a piece of wood being smashed against his head.