Following Hearts

A Seed of Hope

Ferdinand rolled over in his bed and sighed. He was sprawled, fully dressed, across his bed, blankets strewn by his sides. He originally intended to change out of his day-old clothes and go down to breakfast, but the thought of seeing Balthazar or Rose made him feel slightly nauseous. Although, that may have just been his hangover. Before walking out of the engagement party, he made sure to swipe a bottle of champagne to bring out to the gardens.

    It was because of this that the knocking at the door felt like pounding inside of Ferdinand's head.

    "Oh my god," Ferdinand groaned. He crawled out of bed and groggily opened the door. When the door swung open, he came face to face with a pair of chestnut eyes.

    "Balthazar?" Ferdinand stood mouth agape. He quickly ran a hair through his disheveled hair, hopelessly trying to smooth it out.

    "Ferdinand, you look..." Balthazar glanced up and down Ferdinand's form. His white button up was wrinkled and the top few buttons had been undone. His eyes flitted to the corner of the room, where Ferdinand's suit jacket was thrown messily over the back of a chair. Ferdinand's eyes were bloodshot and had heavy bags under them. "Like hell." Ferdinand smirked and ushered Balthazar into his room.

    "Feel like it too," He joked. He rushed over to the bed and straightened out the blankets as best he could before sitting down. "What's up?"

    "Oh nothing, I just came up to ask you where you went yesterday." Balthazar sat down next to Ferdinand.

    "Hmmm?" Ferdinand cocked his head, pretending to not know what Balthazar meant.

    "You left early. I looked for you after the party." Balthazar's eyebrows furrowed. "I looked in the ballroom, the dining hall, I even went up to your room, but... you weren't there. Where were you?"

    Ferdinand froze. He couldn't exactly tell the foreign prince that he had been off getting drunk in the gardens, crying over his sister's engagement. The gardens was the place where his feelings for Balthazar were born; it seemed appropriate that was where he went for those feelings to die too. He couldn't think of any reasonable lie to cover his apparent disappearance, so he told Balthazar the truth. Well, a version of the truth.

"I went out to the gardens." He shrugged, hoping Balthazar wouldn't ask any more questions.

    "Oh." Balthazar scratched the back of his head and opened his mouth to speak before Ferdinand interrupted him.

    "I was... feeling sick." Ferdinand decided. "I thought some fresh air might help."

    "Oh, I'm sorry. Are you alright now?" He asked.

    "Yeah, yeah, much better." Ferdinand felt shame burn through him for lying to his friend. Pain came shooting through his head, a reminder of his hangover. He winced and cupped the side of his head. "Well, mostly better anyway." Balthazar chuckled and handed Ferdinand a glass of water that was sitting on his bedside table. The mousy haired prince took the water appreciatively and took a sip.

    "I did also want to ask you something." Balthazar cleared his throat.

    "What?" Ferdinand passed the glass of water back to Balthazar, who placed the cup back on the bedside table.

    "I know it's a lot to ask, given that the wedding is only two weeks away and-"

    "Wait, the wedding is in two weeks?" Ferdinand's eyes widened. He knew that Amelia was in a rush to get this wedding done, but two weeks was awfully fast, even for a royal wedding.

    "Yes. Rose and I discussed it and we decided it would be best to have the wedding as soon as possible." Ferdinand nodded as Balthazar continued to speak. Why would Balthazar and Rose want to get married so soon? He thought to himself. Is it just to appease Amelia, King Ramses, the people of Adaia? Or do they actually have feelings for each other?