the Crown of Edom {Solangelo Prince AU}

1. The People Hate Me

   "Oh, would you just look at it?" Princess Hazel holds her inhale with a bubble, her hand outstretched and shimmering in the sunlight peeking through the stained glass that dotted the walls of the castle's first floor.

   Princess Bianca, taken with the beauty, jumps excitedly onto her sister's hand, pulling it up, down, and sideways. "Which blacksmith did he have to threaten to get this rock?"

   "He made it himself," Hazel hums endearingly. She spins, her pink dress fashionably separated into multiple layers fly around her, and brings her clutched hand to her heart. "Oh, is it not so wonderful to be engaged?"

   Prince Nico blows a raspberry, sitting with his legs across the arms of the bergère. "Perhaps if you're an old maid."

  They chat in the Foyer, the light Aspen wood trailing into a golden arch that reach high and above toward the sky, pointing to Heaven. An arched skylight, bending to the will of the ceiling, cascaded a small ounce of light onto the marble floor. It bounced from the golden décor and onto the portraits of the three, a rainbow falling across Nico and Bianca's paintings.

   "Why I oughtta," Hazel swats him straight across the back of his head. "Sit right, will you? And comb your hair!"

   Nico lifts his legs and plops them down on the floor, inching his thighs farther from each other. "Are you happy now?"

   "I will never get anywhere with you," Hazel shakes her head. "Mother and father put me in charge of you and the kingdom, and you know which has been the bigger nuisance? YOU! Do you wish to disappoint me? Directly doing so disappoints them as well."

   Nico folds his arms and huffs, looking off into the feasting room where maids had stopped work to peer in. He snarls, and with a flick of his wrist, they scurry off to work, bowing their apologies.

   "I can't disappoint people who are dead."

   "Must you forget they see your every move?" She puts her hands on her hips. "God evaluates you as well."

"Then mom and dad are perverts, as well as God."

Hazel gasps, her hands clutching the miniature cross of silver hanging from her neck. "I will not sit and stand this blasphemous and impious attack. Your nihilism is the reason our people mistrust you and threaten to raid our kingdom with silver stakes."

"The fact I haven't burned away in holy water only affirms my lack of belief," Nico shrugs and slouches. Bianca clears her throat.

"Must we argue about Nico's repudiation?" Bianca chuckles nervously, wringing her gloved hands together. "Hazel, when will King Zhang arrive?"

Hazel takes in a deep breath through her nostrils and covers her mouth. "I must have forgotten to mention."

"Mention..." Bianca frowns. "Mention what?"

"My beloved is an only child," Hazel states. She turns her back, approaching the fireplace and tending to it. "And well...if he were to step down, anyone can be appointed for throne. It just would not be for the best interest. Persuasive nuts can sneak their way into royalty and turn their kingdoms into putrid wastes, as we all have learned from Elevoia."

Bianca tugs on her skirt band and tilts her head to the side. "This means that you will become queen of Zhang's kingdom?"

Hazel bows her head. "I am afraid so," she utters.

Bianca's mouth drops, but is quickly reminded of her poor etiquette and forcibly shuts her jaw. "Sister, I am so joyful. Really. But I am the oldest following you and...I'm not ready to reign. We have always expected and depended on you to become queen. The people love you!"