A/N: I love hate writing the ‘shota’/little boy pov right now and I’m a little glad that I can soon move on to a more mature POV. And thank you to ryla for being my first reviewer. There is some gore in this chapter. I repeat GORE!!!
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Monroe didn’t know whether or not to be relieved when his parents had come over, pulling him away from the older boy and bringing him in to the castle so that they could rest. They’d been riding since before sunrise to reach the seaside kingdom in time for the festival and the little boy was now physically and emotionally exhausted.
“You did well.” Queen Antoinette said to him softly, leading him into his own private bedroom. He was used to staying in a nursery with Frances so it was a nice change to have some privacy, though the room seemed way too big. His mother seemed to read his thoughts. “In ten or eleven years this will be your room for when you and your husband stay in this castle.”
“Why is it so big though?” He couldn’t even see the top of his bed, and there was a balcony, though it was locked off for now, the boy still small enough to slip through the railing. The Castle was on a cliff over the sea, so he was treated to a view of the southern skies and the few fishing boats that had left once the parade had ended.
“You’ll be big one day.” His mother smiled at him softly. “And you’ll have to share it. It might seem small then.” She lifted him up, sitting with him on the edge of the bed as she stroked his forehead, and he cuddled into her. She hadn’t had much time for him after Frances was born, but he was still her baby boy and it was obvious how much the elf loved him.
“Momma.” He said softly after a few peaceful minutes. “Will I marry Zale?”
“Well it depends,” She said softly, “I know you chose him, but he must prove himself first, like Emily did.”
He remembered that a little, it already having been six months since his sister had picked the pretty blonde from Novalis. They had gone to Novalis in a parade, his sister riding up front with their parents. She’d spent a day with her seven suitors, just to seem like she was doing her research, but then she just picked the prettiest one. Emily was small and curvy and blonde, with big doe eyes and she’d worn a beautiful blue dress with ribbons in her hair. Then the blonde had cooked up a big meal for everyone and the King had given them his blessing.
“So he has to cook us a big meal?” He smiled, “Is it going to be another roast?”
His mother couldn't help but chuckle, “Novalis is the kingdom of farming and harvests, Monroe. She had to prove that she was a worthy representative of the shifter bloodlines and of the farming humans. She had to catch a wild boar in her other form, and then serve it with the vegetables she’d grown herself.” The queen had been more than impressed about how fast the teenager had completed the tasks, though she knew that Princess Margot’s beauty had a lot to do with it. “Cetarius is the kingdom of the sea. He will have to prove that he is a mer and a fisherman by making you a necklace of pearls and sharksteeth with no one else’s help.”
He nodded absently, then frowned. “Sharks?”
She smiled, kissing his forehead. “Do not worry, my love. They aren’t big sharks. And he won’t need to do it until you’re older. He has until your thirteenth birthday to do it.”
He sat up, sliding off the bed to look up at him with horror. “But that’s so far away. He’ll be too old then.”
“He will?” She couldn’t help but laugh.
The little boy nodded in earnest. “He’ll be old and wrinkly like father.”
“He will?” King Joseph echoed his wife as he stepped in. “I never thought I looked that old or wrinkly.” He scooped up the little boy, making him laugh as he tickled him. “Or are you saying I look like an eighteen year old?”
“Stop it!” Monroe giggled, struggling against his father. The man dumped him back on the bed, then paused to kiss his wife. The boy winced. “Eww.”
“One day you’ll be kissing that old wrinkly boy, you know.” His father said, sharing an amused look with his wife. “You should get used to the idea of kisses. Now go wash up and get ready for supper.” He took his wife’s hand, wanting to have some alone time with her before the feast. He was still completely in love with his wife, even after fifteen years.
Monroe didn’t notice, too busy went down to the feast room shyly, now dressed in the soft blues of Cetarius. His Aunts met him in the hallway and he smiled as Josephine picked him up and cuddled him. “You did good today.” Lillian wasn’t as excited and he guessed it was because he didn’t pick the boy that looked like her.
“I did?” He cuddled into her. “Can we go swimming?"
“Tomorrow, my little angelfish. It’s too late now and you’re going to eat too much tonight to want to swim.” She set him down before they reached the doors, and the little boy flushed as they entered the giant mess hall. It seemed like everyone was already there, and he was sat beside Zale, the older boy giving him an amused smile.
Once his aunts were over in their own spot a few chairs down he started to ask the mer questions. “How old are you?”
“I’m ten.” The silver hair boy helped him load his plate with fish. “I’ll be eleven in three weeks.”
“Are you going to be really, really tall?” He already seemed too tall and Monroe wasn’t sure if he wanted that. He wanted to be the tall one.
“I don’t know. My Dad is almost as tall as the King.”
The little boy looked at his plate shyly. That meant that he could become the tall one, when they both grew up. He shifted in his seat, “Will we kiss?”
The mer blinked, a little taken aback. “When you are older…. Yes.”
“Will you love me forever?” He looked up at him with big green eyes.
The preteen frowned, unsure if he could tell. He found the little prince to be cute but he was so young and so innocent. He glanced over to the other Prince, trying to imagine what Monroe would be like when he was his age. He then glanced back to see to boy looked at him a little nervously. “Of course.” He lied. He felt bad saying it, but he didn’t want to say no, even if the Prince was way too little and way too immature for him.
The little prince smiled, sitting up to kiss his cheek.
There was a sudden clinking of glasses as the King stood, too far away to have noticed the conversation or the kiss.
“I would like to propose a toast to Cetarius and to its handsome little lords. I am sure that soon one of you will win my son’s heart and then his hand, and I am glad to see him in such a happy and prosperous kingdom.” He should have stopped there, but his wife was beside him. She was smiling at him happily, looking just as beautiful as she did on their wedding night. “I would also like to toast my Queen, Antoinette, since she is my sun and my stars. She has given me five fantastic children and has blessed me every day of my life.” She kissed his cheek and he fell quiet as the crowds roared with happiness.
They settled and as he ate Josephine had to smile and giggle at them. “You’re still so infatuated, brother; you’re like a sixteen year old with his first crush.”
“How can I not be?” He bragged, wrapping an arm around his wife. “Antoinette is more beautiful than the goddess herself.”
The Queen’s good mood died, and she turned pale. She was from Ascra, the kingdom of Elves beyond the four kingdoms. She’d been raised better than to say things like that. “Shush, Joseph, that is not true and it is not something you should say.”
“But it is my love.” He kissed her cheek. “You and our daughters are more beautiful than the goddess.”
“Joseph.” His twin frowned, growing worried. “Do not say that.”
He was too happy, too blessed to care. He’d gotten everything he’d ever wanted in life and he felt invincible. He stood, those who had not heard his last few lines immediately clinking their glasses to prepare for another toast. “I forgot to mention to you all how blessed I am to have such a beautiful wife and three beautiful daughters. They are more beautiful than the goddess herself.”
The Queen was the first one to cry out. The king could barely move in time to catch her and he frowned as her face began to shift, skin starting to grow loose. Her hair began to fall off in clumps, and he frowned. “Antoinette.”
Her screams filled the room as her face stretched too far, splitting. Her once poreless skin was falling off in big thick lumps onto the ground and her ears were shriveling like raisins against her bare skull. He could hear his children screaming but he couldn’t take his eyes off his wife’s beautiful green eyes, even as they began to go glossy.
“Father!” Henri screamed and he finally glanced up to see his son holding onto Margot, his eldest daughter suffering just as her mother was. The room was filling with screams, and he could only look around helplessly to see everyone else fleeing. Odelia was alone, writhing in pain as her eyes started to pop out of her skull, and Zale was dragging Monroe out of the room, covering the boy’s eyes so he wouldn’t see his mother and sisters dying.
The king felt his soul die, ears growing numb as he glanced down at what was left of his wife. In a way, it was a relief when he felt her last sob, her body going still as death claimed her.
And the Prince and King were left alone in the feast room, alone with the Goddess’s curse. The Queen and Princesses were dead.
It was an hour before Henri came out to collect his brother, nodding in thanks to the palefaced Zale. The little boy was still crying, not knowing what had happened but having heard his family’s screams before Zale had covered his eyes. He hugged his brother tightly. “Where is Momma?”
“Come on.” He whispered softly, still covered in Margot’s blood. His sisters had only been 12, 9 and 2. “We have to go home. The goddess took them away.”
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A/N: Sorry : (
