duty. (boyxboy)

chapter 5.

Aywin and her family would be arriving any minute now. It was a cold and windy ninth of March. Forven was standing outside on the steps with his siblings and his mother. His father was out of the country on state business. Forven had felt the atmosphere become lighter the second his father left the palace.

"How much longer?" His little sister Thalia whined. She was jumping up and down to keep warm, but she was still shivering. Forven kneeled down and wrapped his arm around her, pointing at something in the distance.

"Look, there they are. Can you see the carriage?"

The sound of the horses and the carriage on the tiles of the courtyard gradually became louder. Thalia was still jumping up and down, but now rather out of excitement instead of cold. Forven felt his mother grip his shoulder in comfort when the door of the carriage was opened and the king stepped out, closely followed by his wife.

Forven's mother walked forward to greet them.

"I cannot say how glad I am that you are all here. Welcome to Ymenvald. Please make yourself at home. I am very sorry his majesty is not present to welcome you all, but he told me to give his sincerest greeting."

King Jonas was a man in his thirties. His hair was as dark as Alre and Aywin's and his eyes were the same breathtaking shade of blue. Forven hated to admit he found the man ridiculously attractive.

"That is very thoughtful of him. I look forward to meeting him at the wedding. Thank you very much for your warm welcome, your majesty. May I introduce my little brother Alre and sister Aywin?"

Aywin, who had been kneeling down in a deep curtsy, finally stood up.

"It's lovely to see you again, dear," said the queen as Aywin took her hand. Forven smiled at Alre, who was looking at him with a strange look in his eyes that made Forven's heart beat just a tad bit faster. Alre smiled back. Forven swallowed.

"Come on, let's go inside and sit down in the salon, shall we?" The queen seemed nervous. She was constantly fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist and avoided eye contact.

While the guests' luggage was being taken upstairs by the servants and the king and queen were settling into their quarters, the remainder of both families sat down in the salon to talk over a cup of tea. It was a very informal setting. Forven's sisters were sitting on the floor and playing with Aywin, who couldn't get enough of them. She didn't have any younger siblings, except Alre who was just barely younger than her, so she had found great delight in playing with Mhyrr and Thalia.

Orym was playing soft piano music in the background. Alea, the cook's daughter, was listening intently. Every day, Alea woke Orym up personally with a cup of herbal tea. She talked about what her chores for the day were and what her father would be cooking for dinner that day, even though she wasn't supposed to tell. She had long, blonde locks that her father told her to tie up, but she never did. She was Orym's closest friend.

Every now and then Forven would look at Aywin, at the dark hair that was skillfully pinned up on top of her head. At her dainty wrists as she picked up one of Thalia's dolls, pale and skinny. Her laugh was warm, a sound that reminded you of coming home after a long day. Her eyes crinkled up when she smiled.

But despite all of this, there was no love in Forven's heart and no butterflies in his stomach like there were supposed to be. Why couldn't he just fall in love with her?

"So, tell me Alre, are you courting anyone?" The queen asked.

Forven's attention was brought back to the conversation next to him. Alre turned his body more towards hers, not embarrassed by the question but rather amused.