forum a match made in hell (4/4 closed)

Started December 12, 2022 by @menace-to-society

tune

Beatrix glanced at her brother, reading Prince Hymn's signals as clear as day. She was honestly curious to what he would say about this. Only a minute or so ago she had foolishly believed that Magnus would stand up for her, but that obviously hadn't happened. Perhaps he had been biding his time and would say something now? He had always been open to compromise, so maybe that is what he would suggest instead. She naïvely hoped that her brother's sentiment would echo hers. Or perhaps he would continue to be silent…

But he was the future king, so he should get used to speaking in front of people. It would look poorly if he said nothing while her betrothed was very clearly wanting him to speak. Even her parents' gazes kept flickering to Magnus, expectant.

After what seemed like a long pause, Magnus finally deigned to speak. "I believe that we can come to a compromise," he began diplomatically, though to Beatrix it was obvious that he didn't quite know what he was doing. Perhaps she should have realized this would be the case. "It would be most beneficial for us to meet somewhere in the middle. Much of the reason the preparations are stretched out for so long in my kingdom is due to tradition rather than because it actually takes so long to set up. Much of the days of preparation are more feasting and celebration than actual setup, so at your request we can move things along a bit faster. As for the comfort of the princess, I suppose that is up to Beatrix herself."

Great. So he was choosing now to practice his mediator skills. She supposed that hoping he would demand the Auruem royal family wait was too much to ask. Besides, she did understand that the prince wanted to have his mother be able to attend the ceremony, as much as she wished to delay it. She supposed she had no choice at this point; she had to agree to move up the plans. She would just prepare herself sooner to this inevitable end. It wasn't as if a few extra weeks of preparation would have changed anything. So she sighed and prepared to meet her fate.

"We can speed up the process as much is as best for you," she said, looking at Prince Hymn. "I cannot say how quickly everything can be set up, but it would be cold indeed to refuse your request. We will accommodate you as best we can."

Ezra's eyes narrowed but he kept his gaze on the table, and, smartly, his mouth shut. He had regretted not addressing the queen as formerly as he should have, his tense emotions getting the better of him. Who was he to refer to the queen as just another person. Though the regret was quickly dispelled when prince clearly spoke of his disinterest in his and Bea's relationship. It was neither a goal nor concern of his to have a stable relationship with his future bride? What good would her comfort be if in the end, this would all be done to his liking regardless of a dying queen or not. Ezra wanted to, so desperately wanted to stand and demand what this was really all about. Why Bea? Why Hymn of all prince's available would Bea's parents want their daughter to marry him? But of course Ezra couldn't do that, not without the threat of losing his position, or his life. He stayed put, like a good royal guard and remained silent, like he knew Hymn had wanted despite his brother's mocking encouragement.

The only time he lifted his gaze was when Magnus, much to his surprise, spoke. He had been quiet the entire day, more than that, he had been verbally absent from any decisions regarding his sister's engagement. Ezra had first though it as odd, seeing that they had been so close. He had supposed that the daunting task of being crown prince and future king weighed on the young man's shoulders. For a brief, glowing moment, Ezra had hoped that Magnus would speak on behalf of his sister's clear discomfort, ask for reconsideration or even postponement of the wedding all together, even if guised by the concern for the queen. But sadly, that did not happen. Worse, quite the opposite came to fruition. He could see on Bea's face that she had given in. Should oblige to Hymn's request of moving forwards with an earlier ceremony. And, as her loyal guard, Ezra would do anything in his power to assist, as much as he wanted to pack their things and go back home, to forget about the wedding and be away from the scrutinizing gaze of the Alum family.

"Thank you so much, Princess Beatrix and Crown Prince Magnus, your opinions are very valuable to us here." Hymn kept constant eye-contact with the royal siblings as he spoke. "I hope you can understand, I have not made this request for my own desires. Nor is it for my mother's desires. We can discuss the time more later." He quickly moved on from the topic without explaining further, another smile slapping itself on his face, though more than he would have liked to admit, smiling so much was hurting his face.

"In any case, I feel that I have kept you waiting long enough, allow us to eat. The main dish is Caius's favorite, so do feel free to hassle him if you don't like it. And before all of the dishes are served, are there any dislikes or allergies that should be made known? Be it about drinks or food. I'd hate to offend or kill someone."

The Auruem butlers stood along the walls, empty serving trays on one hand and lids held in the other in wait to go get the food upon command. They whispered to each other about the reschedule of the wedding, opinions good and bad alike, Hymn could have cared less to hear it, and hoped that responses regarding the food would drown them out.

Beatrix could have fainted with relief. Good, moving on to food. Then she would at least not have to keep up this draining conversation. She could pretend for a moment that her family was just visiting the Alums out of friendliness, or something similar. Though she supposed the dinner conversation would not be much different than the previous conversation. She glanced at Magnus, trying to gauge how he felt, but he was deliberately looking straight ahead. What a shocker. He had always been a bit of a coward, a trait that would do him no good as king.

While Beatrix was distracted thinking about the upcoming meal and trying not to think about her impending fate, Queen Lillian answered Crown Prince Hymn's question for all of them. "No allergies, thank you. Though I must admit, I am not too fond of pickled anything." She smiled winningly, chuckling as if this were all some sort of gathering between friends or family. Which, Beatrix supposed, was sort of true. They would be her family soon, after all. No, she did not want to think of that. Let these last few days be spent with happier thoughts.

Beatrix felt as if she had somehow let her few friends down by not standing up for herself. She would have normally, but duty to one's country and family was unfortunately hard to ignore. She did have a very strong sense of right and wrong, and despite her misgivings, abandoning her family now would be very wrong. She would have to spend the last days she could with Ezra before he was likely forced to travel back with her family. It would be improper to have one's guard stay on simply because he was a friend, after all. She could surely persuade to let a maid or other female servant to stay with her for emotional support, but never a man. Unless a member of the Alum family requested it, Ezra would be going back with Beatrix's family. She wasn't allowed to get ideas about an affair so soon, of course. Which was laughable, seeing as Beatrix did not even harbor an interest in men in the first place.

Maybe she would also give Magnus a piece of her mind privately, but she doubted he would listen. The two of them had been drifting apart for a while now, and this night had just confirmed it–Magnus was lost to her now. He was no longer the sunny little boy that he had been. Now he was someone else entirely, a gangly young man who spoke little but decisively. The thought made Beatrix want to weep, but she could do that later when no one was looking. She could control her emotions long enough to wait until she was alone to let them surface. For now, she would eat and pretend that everything was fine.

Ezra would only later realize, when he was trying to fall asleep in an unfamiliar place that he had ben played for a fool when Caius had asked the servants to speak. Who would be stupid enough say anything against the Prince's wishes. More, what power did he think he possessed to have any influence on any decision made, either here or in Crystallinum. But for now, Ezra stayed deathly silent, fearing any word he uttered would be taken as blatant defiance and would reflect poorly on Bea or the royal family, save for a 'no' when asked about food allergies. He looked from the head of the royal's table tot he butlers and guards surrounding the room. He was relieved to hear he wasn't the only one who was apposed to the decisions made, even if they were kept silent.

Ezra soon locked his eyes on the plates of food that were being served first to the royal families of course and then to his own table. his mouth practically watered at the sight of the food, he didn't care if it was one of the prince's favorite or what not, all he cared was that he could finally eat. He chuckled softly, only now registering Hymn had made a jest towards his brother. How amusing, even with Hymn's seemingly stone cold demeanor and Caius's…well everything (that sibling in particular rubbed Ezra the wrong way), it was nice seeing the two poke fun at each other, show some sort of humanity among the royal act everyone always seemed to put on for each other. It had fondly reminded him of Bea and Magnus. "Truly terrible indeed." Ezra muttered to himself with a light laugh, ignoring the glances he got from his fellow table mates as he gladly dug into the food.

After the tense conversation, Hymn couldn't have been more glad that they were finally moving on to food, though he was sure that most everyone felt the same way. The servant placed the plates down, swiftly yet gently. The plates were of Caius's favorite dish, just as he had said. It was a spicy meat dish, served with a salad and two slices of freshly-baked egg bread. Paired with a glass of white wine, which Hymn drank with great resentment and a smile. He despised no sort of drink more than he did alcoholic ones, but they were far too expensive for him to just refuse.

As he was sipping along, he nearly nodded off at the table, his eyelashes fluttering as a harbinger of that fact, but what was dinner without conversation? Or at least, that seemed to be Aurelia's thought process, as she broke the silence eons faster than it could have settled.

"So," she began, a smirk was rested on her face, though this time, Caius didn't even seem to know why. "Back to the wedding talk, but not about dates anymore, of course. Please, let us know more about your traditions, if you would feel so inclined. Preparations and such, we would hate to step on any toes at such a delicate time. And it's all so fascinating, learning about your norms and traditions." She sipped her wine and leaned back in her chair. "Oh, and before you respond, please let us know if we can get you anything, after all, we will be family soon, now proceed."

Great. More wedding talk, he should have expected as much. Aurelia was infinitely more excited about the wedding than he could have been, she wouldn't shut up about it and seemingly she didn't want other people to as well. But without a shadow of a doubt, Hymn wasn't going to take that one lying down.

"Or we could save the idle chatter for later and allow our guests to prepare to go home. At a reasonable time. Unless of course, they don't mind." He glanced over at the guests with an almost pleading look, before returning a glare to Aurelia. She, as well as Caius, had made them look beyond unprofessional, something that would haunt him for days. Impressions were very important at such a time, and this was a terrible first– well rather, second impression.

At the discussion, Beatrix glanced up at Princess Aurelia, blinking for a moment as she spoke. She was not fond of small talk, especially with those she had made it her mission to dislike. The only member of her family who enjoyed such frivolous discussions would definitely be her mother. Both her father and Magnus were the type to speak when necessary, neither particularly enjoying such insubstantial pleasantries. Once, Magnus had enjoyed that sort of thing more, but Beatrix could have sworn he was becoming a different person gradually, day by day. His behavior today had proved that.

However, once Beatrix's betrothed spoke, she had looked back up, eager to go along with his suggestion and just let the dinner go on quietly. She didn't want to have to make uncomfortable small talk right after that momental decision had been made. For once, she completely agreed with Prince Hymn.

"Prince Hymn makes a good point," she concurred, carefully sidestepping referring to him as her betrothed or anything else that admitted to the commitment they would soon make to each other. She would only refer to him by his name and title, nothing else. She would be carefully formal and avoidant of saying anything that would signify warmth or familiarity. "A nice, quiet dinner would certainly be acceptable to my kin and I."

As usual, someone had to contradict Beatrix. It would hardly be a family event without that happening, if she were honest. "What harm would there be in speaking of our traditions? The Auruem Kingdom hardly interacts with the Crystallinum Kingdom for places so close together," Queen Lillian added. Beatrix was not sure she would call that long and boring carriage ride close. But she tried to keep her face neutral so she wouldn't be seen scowling at her mother as the queen continued. "It is only natural to want to learn the traditions of one's future in-law's kingdom, is it not? I would be interested to hear those of the Auruem Kingdom."

(sorry about the delay! i was busy the past couple days with holiday stuff lol)

Ezra arched an eyebrow as the Princess spoke. While it did slightly impress him that she was seemingly making an attempt to learn of her in law's culture and traditions, he couldn't help but question why Hymn wasn't making the same inquiries, being the betrothed prince and all. Then again, this wasn't something anyone other than m maybe the king and queen wanted, why push false interest.

As the Auruem royal family, more Aurelia than anyone else, spoke and pretended to be interested in the Crystallinum Kingdom's traditions and history, Ezra sort of spaced out while eating, thinking back to those very stories he had grown up. His favorites and the ones he remembered the best were fairytales his mother had told him and his sisters when they were young, most of which they had pictured happening right in their own backyard since their humble little family cottage was on the border of a forest. Oftentimes, especially when they were younger, he and his sisters would play in the woods, pretending to be the characters in whatever story they had been told the night before.

Recalling those stories now brought him comfort, if not a bit of longing to reread those stories again. Perhaps even find new ones he had never heard about, whether that be from his own kingdom or even from here in Auruem. Despite his strong dislike of the situation Bea was being put into, he was genuinely interested in what Auruem had to offer, not only in terms of their alliances but in their history, their own culture, their stories. It fascinated Ezra. He had only realized he had spaced out when a sudden hush fell over the dinner. He blinked a few times, and looked around, worried he had possibly been the cause of that. Had he laughed? had he made a noise and interrupted? When he cautiously glanced up to the head tables, he was relieved to find most were preoccupied with their meals, save for the queen who had gladly taken the opportunity to speak of her kingdom. He supposed this was going to be the closest thing he got to hearing hi kingdom's well loved stories.

(Sorryyy, I had a really hard time figuring out how to respond, so this may be a bit hard to respond to as well.)

The queen of Crystallinum had been talking for what quickly felt like a full day after eternity. He was hardly even listening to what she was saying and began feeling bad for allowing her to waste her precious breath. He needed to take the opportunity to interrupt as long as he had the courage, he cut through with a polite tone.

"That is quite lovely, your Majesty. Thank you for enlightening us a little bit about your culture." It was likely his Cheshire smile fooled no one but the queen who it was meant to pacify. He was extremely grateful it had worked, the worst case scenario was her getting offended.

He looked over to Aurelia from the corner of his eye, hoping she would give a bit of a briefing about their kingdom's traditions, seeing as she was the one to make the suggestion. Much to his dismay, her blue eyes were staring right back at his. Her face had gone blank from her usual mischievous smile, it sent a shiver down Hymn's spine, but he willed himself not to move. It didn't take more than half of a brain to understand that neither Aurelia nor Caius, who was certainly falling asleep, were going to continue the conversation. It was up to him. Again. As the soon-to-be king, he knew that he should have been prepared for cumbersome responsibilities, but his sister's antics were pushing him closer to his boiling point. He took another bite of his food and thought carefully, the slight spice of his food caused his face to redden; it did well to hide his face flushing with anger.

"Here in Aureum Kingdom, we have quite a few traditions, some of which you may have seen already, be it five year ago or in our reunion just now. If I am to be honest, most of them even I do not know why we do, but such is the nature of tradition, I believe." He went on for a good few minutes before a sharp pain erupted in his foot, causing him to stop with a yelp he managed to cut short. Aurelia had stepped on his foot. His yelp was replaced with a low chuckle, he was far past his limit.

"Yes, now we shall let you all finish eating in silence, you may talk if you please," Hymn slipped his sentence through his teeth, he was having a hard time understanding what Aurelia even wanted. "Even servants may speak, I do not ca– I do not mind. Furthermore, after dinner, though it may be a bit off from our plans, I request that you go home soon. I need to speak more to my mother and our advisors about the upcoming wedding preparations."

Beatrix was seriously tiring of all of the tradition talk. It was bad enough that she was going to be shipped off here in the first place, did she really have to endure both her mother and her betrothed droning on, too? However, something about the way Prince Hymn spoke made it seem as if he were a bit reluctant to. He had done his best to pacify Queen Lillian before he had moved onto the topic of his kingdom's traditions, but he clearly didn't care for it. He seemed as if he were merely reciting things he had memorized about the traditions to appease–who? Beatrix wasn't sure. Perhaps her mother. However, it seemed as if Princess Aurelia was making her thoughts known silently to her brother as well, though she did little talking herself. Neither of the prince's siblings were really making any effort to help things go more smoothly, though.

Beatrix supposed she couldn't blame them. If she didn't have to pretend to care, then maybe she would also not help the dinner to go smoothly. Magnus certainly wasn't adding anything to the conversation. It seemed as he was in his own little world as they ate, eyes somewhere far away. She couldn't even speak to anyone she liked, because she was sitting with other royals and not the guards and maids at a table nearby.

At Prince Hymn's weird yelp-chuckle, Beatrix almost flinched. Gods, this was awkward. At least the crown prince deemed everyone's silence okay. She decided she would eat in silence then, as she had no interest in speaking with him any further. Of course, her mother could not be silent if she tried, turning to whoever was nearest to her to start chattering away. Both her father and Magnus looked almost bored, not paying much attention to Queen Lillian (which made Beatrix feel a little bad for her mother) or anyone else for that matter. Beatrix could not wait until this day was over.

Ezra was glad to hear that some of the Aureum's traditions went over the heads of the royal family. Supposed every kingdom had their own quirks. He finished off his plate of food as he silently spoke with his table companions, occasionally laughing at the the whole absurdity of the arranged marriage, especially when consider neither party had no interest in each other. He was glad, if not a bit guiltily that he would never be in such a position, needing to marry solely to benefit others instead of for his own happiness and the happiness of his partner.
For now marriage nor courtship were in the cards for Ezra. He had his job and his own family to occupy his time. That was enough for him, at least for now until he could settle peacefully and find time for something he considered for many as a luxury.
Ezra eventually fell silent again as he sipped at his glass of water, glancing up and offering a small encouraging smile to Beatrix, before his gaze slid to the betrothed prince. It seemed as if he wanted them gone almost as much as they all wanted to leave. Of course Ezra couldn't blame him, he was itching to get up and out of the castle though he had been hoping to explore the kingdom more before being shoved into he cramped carriage, perhaps even convince the princess that aureus wasn't all that bad. Maybe there would be time for all that later, when the wedding stress has past.
Ezra helped clear the servants clear the table of plates and glasses before stationing himself back a few feet away from Bea's chair.