Crimson Crown

⌠79⌡

There was a large, heavy wooden door that separated Jinyoung and Jackson from the throne room. They stood before the intimidating entrance, waiting for the guards inside to respond to the coded knocks. 

Jinyoung fidgeted where he stood, anxiously swaying to and fro. Jackson, on the other hand, remained calm for the Prince's sake. 

Finally, some sort of latch was flipped, and the doors slowly creaked open. Out of the crack shone bright light that seeped in through the windowed walls of the room, momentarily blinding those who looked in.

The pair were ushered inside by the guards as if they were wasting time standing there. As they walked toward the center of the room, its decorative walls became more visible. The entire room had various carvings and mosaics covering it from the floors to the ceilings. The windows were stained in various colors, some with pictures crafted into the panes, which littered various light patterns across the room. 

It was a beautiful throne room, large and quite empty, most likely to force whoever stood in its attention to the large thrones that were opposite them. Jinyoung's throne room was also quite big, but the designs were completely different;  more marble-focused with precious metal accents.

Crafted out of gold were four large thrones; the two in the middle that is normally supposed to be occupied by the ruling couple are now occupied by an older woman and a younger one. Jinyoung could only assume that he was facing the Queen and her Princess; he'd never seen their faces before, but no one else was allowed to sit on a throne aside from the highest of royals.

The older woman wore a golden crown, her large floral burgundy dress covering the entire bottom half of the throne. Her auburn hair was pinned up under her headpiece, and she was decorated with a plethora of accessories. The younger one let her golden locks fall down her shoulders underneath her silver crown; her posture was much less attentive than the elder, almost as if she were bored and would rather be somewhere else.

Jinyoung was not used to meeting such high-profile royals; he'd barely met many other princes and princesses, let alone other Kings or Queens.  He did remember the etiquette had been taught in his etiquette schooling whenever he was to come face to face with a fellow royal from a different kingdom. As soon as he and the older woman locked eyes, he keeled over into a deep bow. Jackson glanced at him, quickly receiving the memo, and bowing alongside him.

Normally a few seconds were to pass for the greeting, and those who are bowing were not allowed to stand until the other party spoke; unless it was a casual meeting. This was anything but casual, and Jinyoung was not going to let simple manners ruin all the efforts he had put in.

"State yourselves." The Queen finally ordered.

Jinyoung slowly rose, Jackson following his lead. He cleared his throat, focusing his eyes on the floor to appear less hostile. "Your majesty, I am greatly honored to be in your presence. As you may have learned, I am Prince Jinyoung of Alveras, the kingdom just beyond the river. I am accompanied by my... royally appointed knight. Do not mind his presence."

Jinyoung loosely gestured to Jackson who bowed again in greeting, yet stayed silent.

Both royals stared at the two, as if assessing them.

The Queen narrowed her eyes at Jinyoung, slightly cocking her head. "The prince has come all this way, for what? Why not your King and Queen stop being cowards and come show their faces to me."

"I am here on their behalf." He quickly answered. "I come only in the interest of peace, nothing more, your majesty."

"Do you not understand that we are still in a time of grief?" She retorted. "Just because some months have passed since you slaughtered my husband and son does not allow you to waltz in here so disgracefully. Is this perhaps a challenge of power?"