Prandium Est Sors- Sander Sides Kingdom AU

Chapter 4

The day had come. Servants rushed through castles in preparation for the big night. While other princes slept, Logan was already in the library reading. He never had a habit of sleeping past 9, at most. As he was about to turn the page on his book about astronomy, he heard a knock at the door.

"Come in." He plainly said. A servant came in and bowed.

"I thought you might be here, your highness, I've come to tell you that you are being waited for at breakfast. I also put your suit for tonight on your bed." She said, then she paused waiting to be dismissed.

"Thank you. You may go." As she backed out of the room, Logan put his book away in its proper spot. He then walked down to where he found his family eating breakfast.

"There you are, Logan! I love the library too, but you can't stay up there your entire life." His sister Katherine said.

"Are you excited about tonight?" His mom eagerly asked. Truth be told, he couldn't care less either way. The matches were already laid out, so this was just a waste of time. However, he bent the truth to make his family happy.

"I suppose." He sat down and began to eat.

"You know, I have heard that Roman is an excellent violin player. Isn't that nice?" Mary had been doing this all week. Pushing the good traits Roman had onto Logan in hopes her son would fall in love.

"That's nice. I'm not one for music." Logan dryly replied. His mother's efforts weren't getting very far.

As he continued to think about the day ahead of him, Logan got more and more nervous. His insides felt like they were twisting in on him and he found himself playing with his fingers. He pushed the feeling off as hunger and continued to eat.

Roman had just been woken up by Remus, who was standing on his desk yelling about whatever came to his mind.

"I hate you so much," Roman said as he rubbed his eyes and got out of his bed.

"I love you too." With that Remus jumped down from the desk, still yelling. The rest of the day was filled with Roman getting Remus to promise to behave, with the feeble hope he would keep the promise.

Roman was too worried about Remus to think about himself at the moment. Geminos has a reputation, and if Remus was going to be himself, that reputation would be lost. In truth, Remus had no plans to sabotage the dinner, but he wasn't going to give Roman the peace of mind that telling him that would give.

Virgil had been woken up earlier than he would have liked. The servants rushed past him as he quickly shoveled breakfast in his mouth. The capital of Accentus was the farthest away from the main capital of Simul; so he had to leave early to get there on time.

The carriage ride was torture for Virgil. Between the fear welling up inside him, and his parents continuously bringing him up into the conversation, he felt trapped. Trapped like his destiny. The Prandium Est Sors was supposed to give the young royals freedom to choose who they love, but it had evolved into a fancy party for royals to set their children's pre-decided fate in stone. Virgil took a deep breath and watched the mountains on the northern border of his kingdom slowly drift away.

On the other side of those mountains, Janus watched as his siblings fought over which carriage they would get to sit in. His family always had to take two carriages, there were eight of them after all. Normally, Janus would be pushed to the second carriage because he was the youngest. The other younger siblings, (Henry, Anne, and Jeanne), would all trail behind their parents along with the eldest siblings, Elizabeth and Mary. None of the other siblings liked them, so Janus enjoyed watching Mary getting into the second carriage as he stepped with his parents.

He had been able to escape the chaos by spending his morning in a secluded spot in the palace gardens. He used to go there with his sister Jeanne every day when they were younger. A river went through the palace forest, and in one spot near the banks, there was a clearing. He spent his morning there before he was eventually tracked down by his sister.

"We need to leave soon, and as much as you would like to stay here, you're kinda the reason we need to go." His sister said. He figured she would find him. They were the closest in age and the most bonded, and the two of them had sworn not to share the spot with anyone else unless the other agreed.

"I know, I know," Janus replied standing up. The two continued to converse on their way to the carriages, leaves crunching beneath them.

Amare's capital was very close to Simul's capital, so Patton would leave after lunch. As his family sat in the garden enjoying scones with jam, he found himself daydreaming while staring at the southern mountains. The mountain range cut through the kingdom diagonally, separating Accentus from Mendacium and Picardiá from Amare. Patton had once gone on a trip to Picardiá for diplomatic relations in which he passed through the mountains, but other than that, they were completely foreign to him. And yet, he found himself watching them, almost like he was drawn to them.

Virgil sighed as his carriage rode over the bumpy terrain, driving through the mountains was never fun, but he was used to it now. Luckily he didn't get motion sick like his mother. He still felt sick, sick from nerves. He wanted to turn the carriage around and go home, but he couldn't. His carriage drove forward, like every other prince in Simul.