Markus
The King leaned back and listened to his daughter’s music then, Markus forcing himself to stay where he was seated. He was not a fan of music, especially not the sort his sisters played, all vocalization and string plucking. They weren’t very good, not in the least, but he would never say such things out loud either. The last man who had insulted a woman of Kokabel’s musical ability had a spark spitting spear driven through his head by the girl he insulted.
When the current song ended and bickering ensured over which song they were to play next, Markus skillfully slipped from the throne room, mindful of how his Father watched him go with a twinkle of amusement in his gaze. His father always seemed to be enjoying some sort of private joke.
In the hall outside, Markus let out a hiss of frustration, walking toward the entrance to the palace without really knowing where he was going. He wished to go to the sea, but the kingdom was entering the warmer months now, and there would likely be enough people there that anything he did would be hindered. However, as they had yet to celebrate the summer solstice, still a full two weeks away, he might be able to work one last visit into the coast before it became impossible.
“Going somewhere?”
Markus stilled at the voice and threw a look to where a girl stood, leaning inside an open doorway, drenched in golden jewelry and wrapped in dark fabrics. It was the eldest of his Father’s daughters, Florence, who as all eldest daughters did, served as cupbearer to the King. Usually she was always a step behind his father, along with his second born daughter, Janis, the pair always at odds over the King’s attention. The fact that she was so far from the King was enough to have Markus on edge.
“Why aren’t you with Father?” Markus asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
“Why aren’t you?” She returned in a voice dripping with sweetness, her lashes fluttering.
He stared at her for a long moment before something in his gut told him he needed to move – but one step forward and she was in front of him, just as swift as he was. He stood his ground. “What do you want?”
“I wanted to see what you were doing today! Mother is taking me down to view the games later this afternoon, and I wanted to know if you would like to attend with us.”
Her mother, Malia, the second eldest of his Aunts, was not unfavorable. Markus spared with her on several occasions and could almost tolerate her, as long as she didn’t start a conversation. Her tendency to hint that she knew something he didn’t in the most condescending way possible irked him to no end.
But he would not object to going to view the games with her as long as she didn’t give an unhelpful commentary that was just out of his grasp of knowledge. Markus knew plenty about beasts – it was necessary, considering the nature of his duties, but his Aunts always seemed to know more, and while he did not hold this against them, they were terribly unforthcoming with their knowledge.
The root of the problem was that all his Aunts were game players, schemers, plotters -
And Markus was not.
He nodded to Florence and she grabbed onto his upper arm, holding onto it with a firm grip to have him walk with her to the entrance. Florence was a clever girl, probably one the most intelligent out of all his sisters, and seemed to know that he liked it quiet, so quiet she stayed as they left the palace.
At the bottom of the steps, Florence released him to prance off for a moment, disappearing down the streets just outside the palace in a flurry before she appeared at Markus’s side, grabbing onto his arm to led him over to where her Mother was waiting at the stables.
The town that resided just inside the tall walls around the palace grounds was exclusively for the aunts, sisters and daughters of the king, of which there were usually all together several hundred. It served as their sanctuary, the place they lived, trained, and raised their daughters, and according to his parents, it was usually a very lively place, supposedly the one town in Kokabel that never slept. But the Keeper's War had taken a magnificent toll on their family and now there were large areas that were completely unpopulated.
The stables were mostly unused as everyone in the family preferred to run. Markus himself much preferred to run, but on occasion, he had to ride with his Father. The one Aunt of his that regularly rode horses was Malia, something that she passed onto her daughters, Florence and Janis, but other than them, the stables were largely ignored. Most of his sisters and aunts didn't favor animals at all. Markus, however, was quite fond of them, and so he himself would often go to the stables to brush the horses, which was when he usually saw Florence and Janis, who would always come out to help him.
He wasn't sure if it was the case with all of his sisters, but when he got them apart from the rest, they were mostly bearable, especially as they got older. A few years ago he couldn't stand being in the room with them and all their noise, but if they all continued to mellow out as Florence and Janis were, he thinks he might even learn to enjoy their company.
In small installments, anyway.
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