BORNE FROM FLESH AND GLASS

I (UNEDITED)

GARYNN(15th MARCH 2023)

As a rule, Garynn tried not to have personal feelings about anything. He didn't particularly hate or love anyone. He didn't particularly like or dislike anything. Well, almost anything. He disliked being lied to. And his mother, of course.

Being crowned at nine, he had learnt to take everything said to him with a grain of salt and careful consideration that belied his thirteen years. But he was appropriately suspicious and annoyed when he heard whispers that his mother, the Crown Dowager, had decided to get him engaged on the eve of Mabon without his consent.

A knock made him startle. He briefly looked up from his journal and dropped the quill feather on the desk he was sitting at. "Yes?"

The door opened almost timidly. He smelled the Crown Dowager before he saw her. The harsh scent of her fragrances made his skull pound and nose itch. The maidservant bowed so low her long hair swept the floor, and it almost seemed like her forehead would scrub the ground.

"Your Sovereign Highness. The Crown Dowager."

Garynn did not bother turning to greet her, merely shutting his journal.

"Leave us."

He waited for the shuffling of feet, then the quiet click of the door. "I do wonder which institution you plucked this one from."

"Garynn." A steely quality entered her voice. "You know I do it because I care for you."

A slow, half-smile spread across his face as he stared out the window almost wistfully, hand supporting his chin. "Or so you say."

She placed a hand on his shoulder, digging in with angry, manicured nails and pulling back so that he was no longer leaning but sat straight, back rigid against the chair. "You cannot ignore the Elders of Bones any longer."

At this, he laughed, throwing his head back slightly, not even deigning to loosen her grip on him as though she was so inconsequential he did not even notice her touch. "I am the crown. What can the withered, old crows do in the face of my power?"

"And the girl will only serve to add to your power." She hissed. "And, despite what you think, you can not go against the Elders with the power you think you have."

The boy King looked up to his mother, head tilted and azure blue eyes mocking, despite his relatively blank face. "If I have the people, what can they do but bow?"

"You are making a mistake." Garynn almost cackled at that. The last person he feared consequences from was his mother, the person in court with the least influence or control.

He reopened his journal, dipping the quill feather into the ink pot. "Send the girl back to wherever you got her."

"You are making a mistake." She repeated, her grip tightening on his shoulder.

Garynn clenched his teeth together. "Unhand me."

It takes a few seconds, but eventually, she lets go with a scornful look. "To think you would speak in such a way to your mother."

The boy shot to his feet, slamming his palm on the table. He vaguely registered the pot of ink spilling with a clink. "Mother?!" He growled. "You lost that right when you disowned and abandoned me!"

The Crown Dowager scoffed condescendingly. "Garynn, my dear, abandoned is a strong word."

He glared at her momentarily before closing his eyes, his forefinger and thumb pinching his nose painfully. He breathed in deeply. "Get out."

"Pardon?"

"Do you want me to summon enforcers to drag you out of here, Crown Dowager? Get out then."

She stared at him like he was some strange being. "To think I gave birth to something like you. I should have cut you out of me when I had the chance."