Chapter 4
Flash played on his lute, letting the music flow through his fingers. It was one of his passions, aside from swordfighting. If he wasn't a prince he would do this all day. He was on his balcony letting the sun shine on him and for all of nature to hear him. He could remember a time when he was very young before he was chosen to be Tirek's son; his mother taught him how to play and to write music for himself. She would tell him it was because of music that his parents met.
His mother performed for the royal court one evening playing the harp and his father was entranced to the sound. He introduced himself to her afterwards and they began their courtship which eventually lead to their marriage and had him.
This lute was their gift to him on the day he was chosen and he made a promise to himself he would never let anything happen to it. As the music kept playing, he closed his eyes as he pictured the girl with violet eyes and straight purple locks. She was so lovely and from what he saw of her personality, she was a natural born leader. The way she was able to guide her sisters on what to do when he and his brothers showed up unexpectedly was impressive. He couldn't wait to see her again at the ball.
A thought suddenly occurred to him, almost plucking a string when he open his eyes and gasped. He ran back into his room and put his instrument down before leaving and went straight to the fitting room where the rest of the boys were.
Discord commented as a tailor was taking his measurements, "Cutting it awfully close, aren't we?"
Flash apologized as he stood between Capper and Cheese, "I'm sorry about that, but I was busy with something."
Spike said, "Well Father's not here yet, so you have nothing to worry about." but he spoke too soon when Tirek came into the room.
"Flash, I expected better from you. Your brothers were here precisely five minutes early so that they can finish with their fittings and proceed with their duties. Instead, you had to show up close to the time frame and now we're going to be behind schedule because of your carelessness."
Flash hung his head, "I'm sorry, Father. I won't let it happen again."
Tirek went up to him and raised his chin rather roughly, "See that you do." he let go and moved to the tailor.
Flash hung his head again as he felt low for disappointing his father. His brothers gave him sympathetic looks. Earning their Father's approval was hard enough as it is without the monarch finding some kind of fault in their doings. They hoped by marrying Chrysalis's daughters it would greatly please him and they would finally have his respect.
The tailor went on to get their measurements but as he was halfway through, Lord Fancy rushed into the room.
"Your Majesty!"
Tirek wearily expressed, "What is it now?"
"Admiral Storm is here to see you regarding an urgent matter."
"Oh, what did that incompetent fool do now?" he addressed his sons, "I'll be back in a moment." he followed Fancy out of the room.
They entered into a study where a tall man with icy blue eyes and shoulder length white hair wore an admiral's uniform and hat was playing around with items on a table until Tirek cleared his throat to get his attention.
The admiral fumbled with the items and held on to them while looking at the king, "Ah! There you are, your majesty."
Tirek scowled as he told him, "Lord Fancy here tells me you have an urgent matter to discuss."
Storm motioned, "I do! It's the pirates again!"
Tirek scowled further and stated, "I thought you were supposed to take care of that problem."
"I did! But they were too quick to stop!"
The king rubbed his temple, "How much did they steal this time?"
The admiral called out, "Grubber!" and a short man ran into the room carrying a list. Storm ordered, "Read it."
Grubber cleared his throat and began, "Three crates of alcohol, six crates of food, a crate of gemstones, eight crates of clothes, and two crates full of pistols."
Tirek gritted his teeth and slowly made his way to a window that oversaw his kingdom. He put his hands behind his back and kept staring out the window making everyone in the room stare at him with questioning looks. Finally he spoke, "For years now I have made sure this kingdom was enforce by my hands and I will not have it slip from my grasp so easily. These pirates undermine my rule by stealing from my ships. If you don't catch them soon… I will personally see to it that you never command my fleet again."
Admiral Storm tittered nervously, "Let's not be hasty, your majesty…" Tirek glared back at him making him gulp and stammered, "But I'll do as you say as always…" he turned to Grubber with a stern look, "Grubber, have my ship and the crew prepared."
The man saluted, "Right away, sir!" he ran out.
The admiral bowed before following after him.
Fancy kept staring at the king who kept looking out the window. Suddenly Tirek spoke.
"How long do you suppose it would be before this kingdom falls at my sons' hands?"
Fancy lifted a brow, "Sire?"
Tirek turned back to him, "My sons have had the proper training since the choosing. And yet none of them seem to have same mind set as me… Discord has the potential but he wastes it on childish notions, Soarin can follow orders but has too much heart in his choices, Capper is too smart for his own good, Flash gets distracted easily, Cheese can't be taken seriously, and Spike… alright, he's not entirely hopeless, his young age from the beginning was able to help me mold his mind. With some more training I'm sure I'll be able to finally have him be the king he was destined to be."
Fancy didn't like the sound of that and voiced in concern, "But aren't all the princes suppose to rule together once you step down?"
"No, because as king I get to choose who the next king should be. Over the years, I observed my sons to see who could replace me. All the more reason why it's important they wed Chrysalis's daughters so that they have a woman of proper breeding and a queen to rule by their side."
The lord was feeling uncertain about this but he remembered that the princes were okay with their betrotheds so there was no cause for alarm.
Discord commented, "Father did say he would be back in a moment, right?"
Cheese nodded, "That's what he said."
Spike questioned, "Do you think he forgot?"
Capper said, "Most likely, since this hasn't been the first time he's done this."
Soarin mentioned, "Personally I'll be glad if he did, I always lose my nerve whenever he's in the room."
There were murmurs of agreement but Flash had kept quiet throughout the exchange. His brothers noticed and decided to cheer him up.
Cheese touched his shoulder, "Don't be so upset by Father's words, Flash, I'm sure he didn't mean to sound so harsh."
Flash shook his head, "He's always harsh. He wants us to be the best princes there are but try as we might he always finds something wrong."
Discord stated, "He's got a point."
Soarin motioned, "I know what will lift your spirits, a duel."
A small smile spread on Flash's lips, "Are you sure you'll be up to it? Because last time we had a duel, I beat you."
His brother smugly replied, "Well I've been practicing and if I do say so myself, I've been getting good."
"Oh really? Well then, let's put that to the test."
"Right now?" Spike asked.
Discord smirked, "Of course right now."
Spike voiced in concern, "But we can't just leave now, we still have to approve of the fabric choices and after that we have to attend to our duties."
Capper gestured, "Look at it this way, little brother, we have make sure we're well prepared to defend our castle home should invaders try to attack and what better way to prepare is by watching our brothers duel it out so we know what to do and what not to do." he mischievously grinned.
Spike felt unsure at first but then smiled and said, "Let's go."
In moments they were on the castle grounds close to the stables where a friend of theirs by the name of Timber Spruce was cleaning them out. He saw the princes and greeted them.
"And what do I owe the honor of this visit, Your Highnesses?" he swiftly bowed.
Cheese chuckled, "Cut the formalities, Timber. You know you don't need to do that with us."
Discord humorously said, "But it is still flattering nevertheless."
Flash took over, "We need your help to set up the field."
Timber guessed, "Another dueling match, I presume?"
Soarin replied, "You guessed right, but this time I'm going to defeat my younger brother."
Flash smirked, "We'll see about that."
Fencing swords clashed as Flash and Soarin wearing fencing uniforms kept their positions in the duel. Their brothers sat on the sidelines cheering them on.
Discord commented, "Soarin has been practicing really hard since their last match, my money's on him."
Spike declared, "But Flash is the reigning champ and he won't give up his title so easily."
Capper and Cheese exchanged amusing looks before going back to watch their brothers.
Soarin manage to push Flash back, making the latter comment, "Not bad, you've improved on your stance."
The older of the two replied, "Well after you humiliated me the last time, I had to make sure it wouldn't happen again."
Their swords clashed again.
"So, if you do defeat me think it'll impress that daughter of Chrysalis you were gawking at?"
"Trying to lower my defenses, uh? By making me think of that wonderful girl…?"
"So she's wonderful, eh? What else is great about her?"
"Well, what about you and the violet eyed girl? Isn't she wonderful to you?"
"Of course she is!" Flash managed to push him back with a grunt, "She's the most beautiful woman I've ever met."
"Eh, she's okay, but my girl… well… she's just so stunning…" he dreamily sighed.
Discord called out, "Hey, I thought this was supposed to be a contest of who the best dueler is! Not who has the best looking girl! Besides, my girl is the fairest of them all!"
Capper retorted, "Now just a minute, brother, my girl is a dazzling beauty compared to her sisters."
Spike countered, "Hey! My girl is naturally beautiful!
Cheese shouted, "Well so is mine!"
Flash and Soarin stopped dueling to join in the squabbling until they heard a loud whistling sound and turned to see Timber as he pointed out.
"Look it obvious that each of Chrysalis's daughters is lovely and each of you is attracted to one of them, so it doesn't really matter who's more beautiful so long as you like them."
The princes felt ashamed now and mumbled out agreements.
"And I kept hearing the word 'girl' a lot. Don't tell me all of you don't know their names…?"
The boys started flushing and some of them rubbed their necks in embarrassment.
Discord nervously chuckled, "Well…"
Timber gave them a 'seriously' look.
Cheese slightly laughed, "I guess we forgot to ask."
Their friend shook his head.
Suddenly Fancy Pants rushed to them and fretted, "Boys! There you are! You have come inside now! Your father is demanding your presence!"
The princes had looks of terror on their faces as Fancy ushered them back inside.
The boys were lined up in their birth order in the throne room with Tirek sitting on his throne fuming. They couldn't look their father in eye, feeling the disappointment hanging over their heads.
Finally Tirek spoke, "You had recklessly abandoned your duties… That is not behavior befitting six young princes who are suppose to take their job seriously. As such, one of you will be king someday and you have to be ready for when that happens. From this day on, your studies will increase until it can get through your heads that you have an important task here and it's not to be taken lightly. Am I understood?"
They quietly uttered out, "Yes, sir…"
"You dismissed to return to your rooms."
They repeated, "Yes, sir…" they somberly left the room.
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I wonder how long it will be until they learn that they're in love with maids, not noble women?
Just waiting for the reveal... my money is still on my prediction that Flash will be the only one to give Sunset half a chance. Which would lead to him undermining his brothers' attempts to... STOP! I did this to myself with Banshee531's Yugioh EQG and Yugioh EQG and Yugioh EQG: Shadow Gates... I am not doing this again. I will sit back, wait and see, just like I watch "The Last Jedi", a massively underappreciated film IMHO.
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LOL! Glad to see I'm not the only one who liked the movie!
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Oooh, that movie was SO good.
By the way, everytime Tirek speaks I get this horribly dark chill down my spine. I feel so sorry for the boys. They're just as miserable as the girls are, but they're misery is hidden by privilege and status. I mean having a responsibility shouldn't have to mean sacrificing happiness. By the time this story gets to the end, I want all twelve of them to have all the happiness in the world.
Ooh, I like the development on the princes, and I can't wait to read more.
I'm reminded how much I hate Tirek. He's still a great villain, very easy for me to hate