Heir to the throne: Broken Blood

ACROANS.

The early morning mists still clung low to the forest floor as Notah and his lifelong friend Kaell ventured out on the hunt. Their bows were drawn taut, every sense attuned to the possibility of fresh quarry amidst the emerald foliage.

As the sun crested over the trees, Notah loosed his arrow, felling a magnificent buck with a clean shot through the throat. Kaell's own projectile found its mark seconds later, a pair of doe toppling with barely a sound. They moved with practiced efficiency, field-dressing the kills before hoisting the hefty carcasses onto their shoulders.

"Fine work as always, my friend," Kaell grinned, wiping a sheen of sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. "Though I cannot help but notice your mind seems...elsewhere these days."

Notah avoided his calculating stare, suddenly very interested in straightening the doe's displaced antlers. "Is that so? Merely the focused mind of a seasoned hunter at work."

Kaell barked a laugh, clapping him on the shoulder good-naturedly. "Please, spare me your prideful bravado. You've been sneaking off at all hours for weeks now." A sly grin crossed his lips. "Perhaps a lovely feminine companion has finally captured that wild heart of yours?"

Notah felt his throat constrict, panic seizing him for the briefest of moments before clamping it down ruthlessly. Could he confide in Kaell, his truest friend since childhood? The risk of exposing his affair with Princess Clover was unthinkable...and yet, he desperately longed to unburden his forbidden truth to someone, anyone.

Slowly, hesitantly, Notah nodded. "You must swear upon your life to guard this secret to your dying breath, brother. For if it were to reach the wrong ears, my selfish indulgences could very well spark the flames of war anew."

Kaell's expression sobered, realizing the gravity of the situation. "Of course, Notah. You have my solemn blood-vow. Any truth you share shall be as if carving it upon my very bones."

And so Notah confided in him - recounting how he had glimpsed Clover and her twin sister from afar, their impossible beauty searing into his very soul. How he snuck back night after night, rapidly falling under Clover's spell in ways he could scarcely comprehend. Kaell listened with rapt attention, his eyes widening at the scandal of his friend secretly coupling with a sworn enemy princess right under their warring clans' noses.

"The Wessex women are every bit as breathtakingly divine as the people foretell," Notah admitted with no small degree of wistful longing. "But Clover...she is creation's most perfect masterpiece. An angel formed from the universe's sweetest light and most intoxicating desires." 

Kaell shook his head in disbelief. "You risk much for this forbidden tryst, my friend. The penalties for dallying with the enemy could be..." He trailed off, not wanting to voice the harsh reality they both knew too well.

"Then you see why this must be guarded with your very life," Notah stated solemnly. "My feelings for Clover transcend the physical pleasures we've shared. She is...everything to me. And I to her."

To his surprise, Kaell simply grinned and clasped his arm supportively. "You always did have an affinity for finding trouble in the most unlikely of places." He leaned in conspiratorially. "But fear not - I shall keep your scandalous secret safer than a virgin on her wedding night."

Notah felt a weight lift from his shoulders, grateful for his truest friend's discretion. As they fell into casual conversation, he felt emboldened to inquire about Kaell's personal affairs as well.

"So tell me, how fares your own dalliances with the fairer sex? You and my sister Kai still revolving in your endless cycle of courtship and falling out?"