Amongst The Stars

two

April 21, 2702, 11:52:17.

The next King was born, Dante Xavier Lennox was born into the first caste, he was taught that the position he was born into meant everything, that without his title, he was nothing.

The current King, Roman, was not at his mates side during the birth, within the palace, the Queen was surrounded by the best doctors and midwives that could be found throughout the land, their job to assist the Queen as she gave birth to the only heir to the throne.

He was born with dark blue eyes, black swirling within his gaze, while dark eyelashes stood out from his birth. 

Dante Xavier would be the next King, it was only ideal that he was raised that way.

The young boy rarely had time alone as he roamed the castle halls with aides by his side, his quiet demeanor being one that had never been expected from a young boy with such status.

Roman Lennox had been known as a cruel ruler, father, and mate, the man rarely caring. He had been known as unfaithful to his mate, that was only knowledge that the royal family and their aides who had been threatened with death if the news spread.

Dante had been trained in almost every style of defense from a young age, the boy quickly hardened from the royal duties he had to excite perfectly.

It never protected him from his own father however.

Dante grew up in a seemingly transparent household, the perfect life of the royal family shown through a small lens of the show they put on for the public.

If anything, he felt more alone in the palace, withheld from having a normal life of a boy within the Kingdom of Zeus. Dante studied the teachings of many gods and goddesses, learning how he would run the kingdom when his time came to be coronated as King.

As the King grew older, he attracted many maidens, hopeful girls that wished they had been paired with the prince. Every year, on the date of his birth, many girls had crowded outside the gates of the Palace in Apollo, the prince never paying any attention to the women, hiding behind the elegant golden gates.

Dante's only memories that he was fond of during his youth had been the time he had spent with his cousin, on his mothers side, Lilia. Lilia had been his only friend throughout his childhood and adolescence, his cousin being a year younger than him, allowing him to act as the overbearing older brother, giving him some happiness within his younger years.

As he got older with every spring, he found that his father had become more of a cold hearted man, one that Dante would loathe and despise, he had promised himself from an early age that he would never become the man his father was.

April 21, 2720, Dante's eighteenth birthday, the day most young men would begin their journey around the seven provinces to find their soulmate, the woman, or man that they had been paired with at birth.

He had opted to stay within Apollo, not leaving the abundant halls of the palace, preparing for the upcoming coronation that would crown him King of the Kingdom of Zeus.

Within the next week, his father had somehow, miraculously died in his sleep, the kingdom quietly rejoicing at the death of the cruel king, allowing for the young prince to become the king; whom many thought would be a much better ruler than his father.

The day of the coronation had required the prince to decide that he would take the throne without finding the soul that was tied to his own, finding the destined lover that Eros had chosen for him.

Dante had convinced himself he would never be worthy of receiving love, even if it was from his own family. The mind that hid behind the navy colored eyes was darker than many had realized.

After becoming King, Dante had become the face of the royal family, the golden crown adding a sense of mysteriousness to the King, his subjects wondering why he hadn't found his mate yet, if she had been killed before they could meet, or if she was in hiding, knowing that she was his mate.

The life of a royal was nowhere near easy, many realized that, it was why there had never been an uprising, or even a rebellion against the government that had been put in place by the Gods and Goddesses.

The story of how the Lennox family had taken the throne had quickly died with the generation that remembered the time of chaos within the world, the only flaw within this world, that would ultimately cause its downfall.

The King had grown into a handsome young man, his tanned skin matching the black curly hair that had been shaved on the sides. Dante's face was clear of any stubble or blemishes, his face looking as if Aphrodite had spent extra time working on this man. His dark eyes were framed by thick black eyelashes, his eyes hiding what went on in his mind.

Dante stood at 6'2, his muscular form rippling beneath the dress shirts he was often seen wearing, the sleeves rolled to the elbow. He often hid himself within the large office within his own personal quarters, and if he wasn't there, the young King had snuck out into the neighboring province of Achelous, disguising himself as a lower caste peasant, seeing how his own people lived, but only those of the second and first caste.

Two years had passed since the Kings coronation, the man now twenty, spending more and more time working to make the situations better for the lower caste citizens, only to be met with the words - "The caste system was put into place for a reason, my King-"

His travels outside the palace had become frequent, the man roaming the streets, slowly picking out who was placed into which caste, who had been born into what caste and moved up. The King truly knew his people, even though some of his subjects liked to believe  he didn't.

This world was nothing in the universe, only a speck in a galaxy of stars.

Dante had never realized that one person could change his entire outlook on life, not until he had found her.