Luminescent

Chapter 4

Harold's Perspective

Harold sat at his desk in his study, the thin piece of skin at the bridge of his nose pinched between his forefinger and thumb. Stressed was a mild term to describe the emotions he was feeling. His life was an absolute clusterfuck with him right at the center. He was swamped beyond all reasonable means with different aspects of this upcoming wedding. He had to handle the political paperwork and the drafting of the treaty. He had left with King Adleherd's terms and conditions. Then he had drafted his original plan. He'd sent it overseas to Forrod who'd just recently sent it back. Now, he had to review it and make any final changes before King Adleherd came round for the wedding. Obviously, Harold could have had someone else do this, but with so much at stake with this delicate situation, he'd opted to take on the task himself. On top of that, he had servants and staff asking his preferences for colors of fabrics and flowers. He had half a mind to send them all to Erart, but he was afraid their wedding would look more like a church than a royal wedding.

On any normal day, Harold wouldn't be doing any of this. Heck, he'd prefer to go learn swordplay from Erart than this, but he hadn't seen Erart in days. He was too busy to even entertain the idea. This was literally the primary description of Eins' job, but as the days grew closer for this plan to go into motion, Harold found himself taking more and more control over the entire task. He had delegated a few simpler tasks to Eins, such as organizing the final guest list and placing guests who would require rooms in their respective locations. That task was actually much more difficult than anticipated. Certain people had to be as far away as possible from others. For instance, it was probably best that his sister, Catherine, stay as far away from Erart's parents as possible. It was likely she'd invoke offensive conversation, and he didn't want to play his sister's keeper all night long during the wedding reception.

Eins was also responsible for organizing the security team that would protect himself and Erart from any potential assassination attempts. As much as Harold wanted to believe that it would be safe at the wedding, he knew that it was naïve to think that. He knew there were people from both countries that were opposed to the idea of this alliance and this marriage. He knew there would be backlash. Eins had an important job here. He was relying heavily on him to ensure that everything was safe. He was also relying on him to keep him sane.

Harold knew that it was wrong, but he was gone after Eins when he had stalked off with very obvious emotions. He hadn't made it very far; just around the corner of the hallway. He had followed him and tried to remedy the mess he had unintentionally created. He didn't understand, though. Why was Eins so angry and jealous? Hadn't they just both talked about how this was temporary? Hadn't they just told one another they couldn't keep sneaking around anymore? This whole affair was a threat to this very delicate alliance. Eins was there when the alliance was proposed. Had he not been willing to form it, then he should have said something a hell of a lot sooner.

And when Harold had found him, there was a hell of a lot less talking than he had anticipated. Rather, they regressed back into the same old shit they always did. Sex, snuggling, and a cold, empty bed in the morning. It was always the same...

Harold sighed and looked out the window morosely. This was going to be a long ass day...

~

Erart's Perspective

Sunlight from the windows crept into Erart's eyes, forcing him awake. He was tired. He didn't want to be awake. He had no willpower to drag himself from beneath the covers. There was a crushing feeling hovering over him, too, one that he wasn't sure how to shake. His body felt like dead weight. His heart was a weight in his chest. He could already feel that today would be a particularly low day. Lately, there were so many low days. He had had many of these since the beginning of the spring after Derin died. Some days, he felt like it would be an uphill battle to try and overcome this feeling, this hopelessness, but as time wore on, he found himself getting better at making this feeling go away.