Aleph wasn’t prepared to deal with the crowd at the feast. He hadn’t expected that he would need to. Before his father’s surprise announcement, he had been prepared to spend just enough time at the feast to show everyone his presence and congratulate his sister before retiring. 

He couldn’t do that now, not when everyone suddenly wanted to speak with him. It was tiring. He didn’t want to be in the position he was in. 

“Don’t kill anyone,” Emet said in a joking tone as he stopped beside him, offering him a glass of wine. 

“I wasn’t going to,” Aleph replied, accepting the glass. 

“But you want to,” Emet pointed out. “I can see the look in your eyes while talking with that lord. Too much?” 

Aleph shrugged. “He wanted me to meet his daughter,” he said, and the words earned him a laugh from the younger prince. Aleph matched the laughter with a smile of his own. “I don’t even know him.” 

“Ah, the perils of a crown prince,” Emet elbowed him with those words. “Where’s your ever-watchful raven, then?” 

“Khres?” Aleph gritted his teeth as he was reminded of the one person he wanted to speak with above everyone here. “I haven’t seen him all night.” 

“Trouble in love paradise? But what were the noises I heard all the way to my room…”

“Emy, that’s enough,” Likha chided their youngest sibling as she and Indak stepped in between them. “Look at your poor brother, his ears are red. Also, the two of you,” Likha looked at Emet and Indak, “can you excuse us for a moment?”

The younger princes immediately bowed to their older siblings and left them alone. Likha gave Aleph a practiced smile, wrapped her hand around his arm, and led him outside the ballroom. The warm afternoon air greeted them as they stepped out and walked to the palace courtyard.

“I believe I must apo--”

“None of that, I don’t want to hear it.”

Aleph nodded his head.

Likha sighed, “Father… remains to be the most intelligent man in the world. We do not apologize for a decision made by a wise king. You should know that.”

The crown prince said nothing to contradict his sister, so the princess continued to talk as they walked around.

“From now on, you are to handle state affairs and sometimes welcome foreign delegates every now and then. I have never come to like tasks that involve other people because it takes me away from my reading time and I know you, brother, so I…”

“Likha.”

“Hmm?”

“What will become of us now?”

Likha laughed, and Aleph had never spent much time around his sister to know if she was sarcastic or otherwise. She patted Aleph’s arm, “We will become who we are meant to be, and step into roles we have been destined to play since our births. It’s simple. It’s an honor, really, to have been blessed with a life like ours.”

They continued walking as Aleph tried to find words to say. How ironic. Both of them believed that they would grow into their respective roles, and that they would live their lives exactly how they were taught. Yet with just a few words from the most powerful man in the realm, their fates were changed in a blink of an eye, roles inexplicably reversed.

“I understand what you feel, brother. I, too, have long since spent my days working hard for the life I was promised. You, too, right? I am sure… I am sure that you have already mapped the road you want to walk, and whose hand you’re holding as you do.”

A sweet, dimpled smile and a pair of golden eyes flashed in Aleph’s mind.

He gently moved his sister’s hand from his arm. He bowed low to her, trying to communicate things he failed to know to put into words. He kissed her hand before straightening up, “I must go, dear sister, as there is someone I desire to meet.”

Likha gave him another practiced smile, “Do be careful, dear brother.”

Aleph immediately walked out of the courtyard, a man on a mission. Likha hummed as she watched him, speaking under her breath, “Yes. You ought to be cautious, brother, as our family members do have the nasty habit of biting our own tails. Especially someone as predictable as you.”

“Khres, I know you’re here.”

The seer rolled his eyes as he gazed out of his room balcony, a palm against the railing as he finished his bottle of wine, setting it down as he gulped it all. He took a deep breath and tried to focus his gaze on the setting sun until he was pulled inside by a strong, warm hand.

“We have to talk.”

“Of course,” Khres replied weakly. “Of course, you want to talk.”

Khres looked up at Aleph, his long silver hair sticking out in various places, his chest heaving. In his eyes, the prince has always carried an air of calmness. That was one of the things Khres liked about him, but there are times that he gets to see him like this and he was a little bit glad that no one else has seen him like this.

It has given Khres a feeling of superiority, to be the sole witness of the realm’s esteemed iron prince warming up to his touch and melting like the metals he loves to forge. But this time, Khres was the smith instead.

So, he reached out a hand and placed it on Aleph’s cheek.

“Thank you, love, for your faith.”

The crown prince leaned against the young lord’s touch, “You are an heir, as much as I am.”

“I know.”

Khres looked at Aleph’s dark red eyes, and he knew that whatever resentment the prince held against him earlier was gone now. He smiled because he was right about his prince, and why this prince, in particular, was chosen.

“I love you, you know that, right?”

Aleph nodded once and kissed Khres' palm. With a small smile, the seer took his lover for a kiss, wrapping his arms around the prince’s neck as he stood on his toes to meet him halfway.

“You have to go back to the banquet. It was said to last the whole night,” Khres whispered against his lover’s lips as Aleph chased him for another liplock.

“We can do something else instead,” rasped the prince. “It can last the whole night as well.”

“Oh, my, what a feisty crown prince you are,” chuckled Khres. “But who am I to deprive my prince of something, hmm? I am just a lowly lord, destined to kneel in front of a mighty—”

“You can refuse me anytime, my dear. Consent is a vital ingredient to love,” replied Aleph.

Khres hummed, “And that… That makes you absolutely perfect, my prince.”

Aleph looked back at him with so much love that the seer took his prince by the hand and led him toward the bed.

No other soul has seen the crown prince and the young lord for the rest of the night.

Under the morning light, his blue hair spread over the pillows, Khres looked even more radiant, innocent in a way Aleph knew he really wasn’t. Those golden eyes blinked blearily at him, and Khres gave him a lazy smile. 

Aleph carded his fingers through the other’s hair, and he let his knuckles brush over Khres’ cheek. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He murmured. 

Khres gave him a small pout. “Must we do this?” 

“I want to know,” Aleph said, pressing his lips together in a line. He still felt the pleasant buzz of their evening together, but the morning light has its ways of revealing things he’d rather not consider. “You knew.” 

“I did,” Khres admitted. “But you’ve already figured that out.” 

“You said it was going to be a troublesome day,” Aleph pointed out. 

Khres hummed, and he caught Aleph’s hand in his own as the prince moved to stroke his hair again. He laced their fingers together and curled to his side. “I didn’t want to worry you,” he admitted. 

Aleph grimaced. “So letting me go without warning is better?” 

“You don’t understand,” Khres said. His brows furrowed in an uncharacteristic frown. “The future is never set in stone. I didn’t want to worry you if I was wrong.” 

“I wouldn’t have cared if you were wrong. I just wanted–” Aleph said, squeezing the hand he held in his own. He laid back on the bed, staring glumly at the carved dragons of his mother’s sigil on his bedposts. He thought of the dragons in his mother’s stories, greedily hoarding their treasures in their lair. He wondered if he was being greedy, asking so much of Khres. His breath hitched as he continued speaking. “I just wanted you to trust me.” 

Khres sat up, turning to him with a determined set to his jaw. There were none of the playful seers he knew in his visage. With the sunlight behind him casting his face in shadow and forming a soft halo around him, he looked quite divine. “I do trust you.” 

“Not enough,” Aleph said with a sigh. He stood up from the bed, preparing to leave so that he could get ready for the day. He needed to ask Likha about the changes in their duties, and he still needed to get a better idea of what people really thought of his father’s sudden announcement. Most of all, he didn’t want to continue arguing with Khres. “You don’t have to.” 

“Is that what you think!?” Khres looked at him with wide eyes, refusing to let go of their interlaced hands. “Do you not believe me?” 

“You have your secrets, Khres,” Aleph said with a smile. He raised their interlaced hands and pressed a kiss on Khres’ knuckles. “I’ll let you keep them. I trust you to keep them.” 

This time, Khres didn’t stop him when he left. Aleph felt as if a weight had been lifted from his chest. The Ancient House of Prevoir were known for their secrets, the subtle guiding hand of the realm. Khres was a Prevoir, with all the secrets and lies that came with the name. Aleph had always known that. It was never a problem, and he was determined that it never would be. 

Aleph groaned and buried his head in his arms over the mess on his desk. Ever since the Inheritance Ceremony, he’s been stuck catching up on duties that had once belonged to his sister. 

“Having fun, brother?” Emet joked as he came into the room. He grinned down at him as he boosted himself to sit on the edge of the desk. 

“What are you doing here, Emy?” Aleph said as he leaned back in his chair and gave the other prince a questioning look. 

“Can’t I see my brother without any reason?” 

“On a day like this? When you can be riding somewhere or working on some experiment?” Aleph said with a dubious expression on his face. That only seemed to make Emet laugh, and the youngest prince kicked at the air in front of him. 

“I thought you could use a break,” Emet admitted. 

“I have no time for one,” Aleph said with a sigh as he reviewed the budget in front of him. Before he could get to the end of the report, it was covered by his brother’s hand. “Emet.” 

“Come on, Al, please?” Emet said in a pleading tone. Aleph didn’t think he’d seen such an expression on Emet’s face since they were children. “You promised you’d get me some metals I can use for my transmutation experiment.” 

“Leveraging my promises now?” 

Emet’s face was strangely serious as he continued with his convincing act. “As a king, you shouldn’t give promises you can’t keep.” 

“Did Khres put you up to this?” 

Emet gasped in an overly dramatic manner, putting a hand over his heart. “You don’t believe I’d care about my brother without any influence?” 

“Not today,” Aleph admitted. “Didn’t the Silvestris envoys just arrive today?” 

“What about it?” 

“Oh?” Aleph said, cradling his chin in his palm as he gave his brother a look of amusement. The budget reports have long been forgotten on the desk. “So when I meet with them tomorrow, there wouldn’t be a certain someone looking for–” 

“Shut up!” Emet exclaimed, covering Aleph’s mouth with his hand. Aleph arched a brow at him before licking at the palm over his mouth. “Ew, Al! That’s disgusting.” 

“Fine,” Aleph said as he stood up and stretched his arm above him. The reports hadn’t been making sense for a while anyway, and Emet was right in that he could use a break. He could help Emet avoid whatever, or rather whoever, he was trying to avoid among the representatives sent from House Silvestris. “Let’s go somewhere.”