The first time Prince Daniel of the Lux Kingdom got in trouble for interacting with the prince from the Tenebris Kingdom was when he was eight years old.
It was the during the first day of the Festival of Light, which landed on his birthday, as it usually did. The Festival of Light was a ten-day festival, ending with a ceremony welcoming the summer solstice.
Daniel had strayed from the festival and birthday celebration, and began to explore the kingdom he called home. He reached the edge of their territory, and just stared at the land ahead. It was merely a thin forested area, but he knew the Tenebris Kingdom laid ahead. He also knew he was never to go to the other kingdom.
Daniel took in a deep breath and sat down, looking at the woods, trying to imagine what was really on the other side. He imagined it was just like his own kingdom, except all of the gold is silver. And instead of all of the suns, there would be moons instead. Dan had never seen the moon in person, but he imagined it was beautiful. Perhaps, there would also be stars instead of tiny sun flares. Obviously, it would be nighttime most of the time, just like it was daytime most of the time in the Lux Kingdom.
The young prince's head turned sharply to a noise that came from the wooded area. "H-hello?" he asked, voice small and shaking. Daniel stood up and slowly walked backwards.
From the woods came a boy, only a few years his senior. Daniel cocked his head in confusion at his appearance. He had incredibly black hair that looked like the night sky, as it was dotted with tiny dots of light. Dan had only been used to seeing people with light brown and blond hair in his kingdom that almost glowed with what they called "sun drops". The boy had freckles dotting his cheeks and arms, but they all seemed to be glowing. His shirt was high-collared, but Dan could see a pattern of bright stars imprinted on his neck.
The unknown boy also had a crown, just like Daniel did. But instead of it being golden and continuously moving with the energy of the sun, it was made from stars, connected by a thin silver line. It was impossibly bright against his black hair.
"Excuse me," Prince Daniel began, mustering the most regal voice an eight-year-old could manage, "but this is the Lux Kindgom." He took the tiniest step back and the other boy neared him, arms slightly outstretched. "You are from Tenebris. You aren't supposed to be here."
The boy held his hand up to Dan's crown. "How interesting..." he said in a soft voice, lined with curiousness. "I like how it's moving."
Daniel stiffened as the other boy played with one of the curls in his hair. "It moves with the sun's energy," he explained, slightly squirming as the boy from Tenebris took the curl between his fingers.
"I see." He pulled his hand away from Daniel's hair, looking at the golden shine left on his fingers, before wiping them on his pants. "I wish my crown moved like that." He stepped back and held out his hand. "Prince Phillip Lester of the Tenebris Kingdom."
Dan tentatively held out his hand and shook the one of the other prince. "Nice to meet you." He pulled his hand away and crossed his arms. "What are you doing here? This isn't your kingdom."
"We can hear your celebration every year over in Tenebris. It's been twelve years since I first heard it; I wanted to come see it in person."
"Oh..." Dan looked back behind him, suddenly remembering the celebration. "It-it's for the solstice that's happening in ten days. They start the festival this early because it's my birthday today."
"Happy birthday! How old are you?"
"Eight."
"You're very well-spoken for an eight-year-old, I'll give you that."
Dan shuffled his feet slightly. "My parents made sure I'm being raised surrounded by well-spoken people."
"Well," Prince Phil began pointing behind Dan, "are those your parents?"
The younger boy turned around to see his mother and father running towards him, accompanied by two guards for protection. "Daniel!" his mother exclaimed, clearly relieved. "There you are!" She knelt down and pulled him into a hug.
When she pulled away, the queen glared at Phil. "What are you doing here?"
Phil's eyes widened as the guards took a step closer to him, hands on their swords. "I was just curious," he tried to explain, voice shaking.
"You can't be here," the king continued, crossing his arms, similar to what Dan had done before. "You belong in Tenebris."
Prince Phil's eyes darted to Dan, the queen, and then back to the king. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to see the festival."
"You don't belong here," snapped the queen, pulling Daniel closer, as if she was protecting him from the other boy.
Prince Phillip began backing up, as the guards began walking towards him. "I'm sorry. I really am. I'll leave, and I won't come back."
The king's eyes darkened despite their natural sun-drop induced brightness. "Don't."
Dan watched as the other prince ran back into the forest, holding onto his crown, without even a glance backward.
After the Tenebris prince was gone, the king began walking back, waving the two guards along. "Let's go back. The people are waiting for us."
Dan's mother let go of him, but still held his hand, almost too tightly.
"Mother?" began Prince Daniel as they walked to the kingdom.
"Yes, Daniel?"
"Why aren't we allowed to talk to anyone from Tenebris?"
The queen's body stiffened slightly before she took a deep breath. "I don't mind if you talk to a villager from Tenebris. You just can't interact with anyone from the royal family."
"But why not?"
"It's just 'why not', and..." She sucked some sir through her teeth and stopped walking. The queen stepped in front of Daniel and kneeled down, her hands on his shoulders. "The royal family can be very, very dangerous. Something happened years ago, a long time before you were born."
"What happened?" Daniel asked curiously, eyes bright.
The queen stroked the back of his head. "I will tell you when you're older." She stood up and grabbed her son's hand again. "Okay, let's go home."
☉ Ω ☽
The first time Prince Daniel of the Lux Kingdom got in trouble for interacting with the prince from the Tenebris Kingdom was when he was eight years old.
It was also the last time.
