Sinking Feelings

Chapter One

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•184 Days Since The Earthquake•

Rune is a masculine given name derived from the Old Norse word rún, meaning "secret"
–Google, could be wrong

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The castle had been in a state of under the surface chaos since six months ago, Rune, the youngest prince noticed, around the time the earthquake had happened.

It was hidden behind nervous smiles and too loud laughs at things never said as soon as he entered a room.

His father, the King, had seemed more stressed lately and was barely seen outside of his throne room, attending meetings of unknown subjects.

His other father, one of the King's three partners, had little to nothing to say and did not act suspicious.

I mean, how does one act suspicious when your dead?

As I was saying, Rune's siblings and his father's (still living) partners spoke in hushed whispers and tried to keep the prince busy.

He suspected something was up and so, he tried to find out what exactly it was. And why it had everyone so stressed.

He pondered if maybe a war had broken out with some of the other kingdoms/ nations.

He wouldn't be surprised with all of the arguments he had heard between his father and other rulers, plus gossip.

Maybe one of the factories that developed their Kingdom's technology had been attacked or exploded, or maybe the workers had gone on strike.

For the fifth time in a year.

Rune didn't understand why they did, it was practically pointless.

It only made their jobs harder since more people would be thrown into the Depths and leave them with more work.

To put it simply, protesting only made things worse.

As of now, he was currently alone inside of the castle library.

Rune's tutor, Nova, had left him there to "brush up on his studying." He didn't particularly enjoy studying, partly because he could Ace any test that requiresd the mind with ease.

He would much rather wander the castle grounds and eavesdrop on people's conversations.

Eavesdropping was entertainment to him.

His other father always used to say "Rune, you know it's rude to listen to other people's private conversations!"

He found that idiotic.

If they wanted it to be a private conversation, they should have it outside of the castle walls since it was known Rune was an eavesdroper.

It's not like he would tell anyone, he knew how to keep a secret. He was six turns old, not three.

Through people said he acted like a four turn old.

(A/N: six turns equals twelve years in our time. Rune is very immature though, heh-)

He soon got tired of flipping through page after page, occasionally scribbling on his scroll of notes that he would "never" hide during a test and glance at underneath the table.

He wanted to find some gossip, something he could think about for days or possibly even weeks afterwards.

Rune thought for a moment before closing the book he had infront of him.

He swiftly checked the hall outside and, when seeing not a single person, he ran down it.

He knew just where to find what he was looking for.

The throne room.

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Apologies that it's short, next chapter will be out soon.