~~This is Before... the story of how Adrian became the Adrian we all love. Is supposed to have 6-7 chapters until he finally meets Rose but if the story goes well I will probably continue with a Rose and Adrian story. So R&R :) ~~ ~~
Chapter 1: 17 June
17 June: my eighteen birthday. For anyone else it would be a happy day you celebrate with your family and friends; but this wasn't my case. This stupid day doesn't change anything… I'm still Adrian Ivashkov, the Queen's favorite nephew who is a "little off". Why? Let's see: I was the only one in my family that hasn't specialized in either of the elements, I was to shy to date even if the offers were more than tempting and to make it even better I think I'm going crazy. Almost a year ago I started to see faint colors around those near me and with time those colors became brighter and brighter until I decided that the only option for me was to leave court and try being by myself for a time. After a couple of months I discovered that this was one of the best decisions I made because I could control my interactions with others. During this time I slowly realized that the auras I saw around people could help know what they feel (in case I wasn't crazy and all this was only a figure of my imagination) but I was feeling lonely. So I tried living in the human world for a few days but it didn't took me long to see that it wasn't the greatest idea; every time I tried being around more people than usual all the colors and the feelings made me feel depressed, lonely and full of anger. So I decided that isolation was the best thing I could do to keep me sane or at least somewhere around sanity. I didn't tell anyone about this and my friends and relatives distanced themselves from me one by one; the only constants in my life were my mother who called from time to time and aunt Tatiana who was there for me every chance she got. This is the main reason why today I'm visiting court for the first time in the last year. I must admit I wasn't pleased; actually I was pissed. But what can I say? When the Queen demands something she usually gets it without complaint.
By noon my luggage was done and I was already in the plane my aunt sent for me. A lot of things were going through my head at this time. Besides the anticipation of the pain the auras of our dear royals would bring I was very curious why my presence was needed at court. By the time my plane landed I was tired and lost in thoughts; I had a feeling that I won't like the outcome of this day. So I decided that the best thing I could do is rest and wait for the audience I had with aunt Tatiana at 8. Only four hours to go.
When I got to my apartment I was surprised to see that every thing was different; someone made some major changes here. I lived here for almost 5 years and I always thought of it as home… But now it was just an empty, modern and very expensive apartment that looked to be ready for the next photo shoot for some big magazine. That made me sad; the familiarity of this place was one of the few things I looked for when I found that I needed to come back. But I decided not to think about it since I was leaving tomorrow. I dragged myself to the bedroom without bothering to unpack and crashed on my newly acquired king size bed. In less than 10 minutes I was asleep. This was going to be one of the longest days of my life; I just didn't realize it yet.
7:30 I was ready to meet aunt Tatiana and I was feeling anxious; something big was coming, something my aunt planned for some time now. I loved her for being there for me when anyone else wasn't but I just knew that I'm not going to be thrilled. By 7:45 I was almost there and I wasn't prepared for what was about to come. When I entered the room I was shocked. And I was on the verge of running when everyone yelled "Surprise!" I could feel and see in the auras that nobody really liked me and I felt nauseous when everyone was pretending to be nice to me even if their auras said different. As I was getting closer to the center of the room, even if all my instincts told me to run the other way, I finally saw aunt Tatiana and I sighed in relief. I was almost there.
"Aunt Tatiana" I tried to smile at her and be happy for her benefit "I missed you so much. And all of this is a really big surprise, but you didn't have to do all this for me." I said while giving her a tight hung. This hug was like a safety net because all of the auras were getting to me and I felt depression and anger build inside me; I was loosing it.
"Adrian, I'm so happy you are here" she said looking at me with love and tenderness. She was almost like my mother „but this is only a part of the reason you are here." Now that made feel worried and she sensed that. "Is nothing to worry about. Believe me. It's quite good news as a matter of fact." But her reassurance didn't make me feel better.
"Can you please tell me what all of this is about?" I asked while looking at the room full of people I didn't know. I was becoming more and more anxious with every second and the side effects of the auras around me made it even worse. She knew that I won't take the news very well but she still did this so there must be a good reason to put me trough this entire charade. She waited for a few seconds and stated again.
"I know how you handle surprises but this needed to be done. This last year wasn't quite what I expected especially from family. I know you enjoy being alone and faraway from court but that has to stop. If it would be only up to me I would let you live your life as you wish, but your father and the other Ivashkovs for that matter have a different point of view." I froze; I couldn't say anything so I just stood there and listened to her hopping that we don't have an audience; and thank God we didn't. "I managed to keep them away for the last six months, but now things are different and they forced my hand to bring you back. They see you as a possible leader of our family and they think you would be a suitable choice for marrying Princess Vasilissa Dragomir. So in order to achieve these things you have to come back to court and start working on the political relations you will need for the future." As she finished I felt like I was hit by a truck. All I managed to say was "Why me?" After a few endless seconds I collapsed in the chair beside my aunt hopping that it was all a joke. But while I looked at her aura I saw that it was all true and that she was worried about me.
"I wouldn't know exactly why you from our family but I know why her…" she said looking guilty. Now I was really pissed; why would she feel guilty? I decided to ask her "What did you do?" She took a deep breath and continued "As you know all the rulers need to name an heir from the other royal families and almost seven months ago I told your father that I was thinking about the Dragomir Princess as my heir. I didn't think that this little piece of information would bring all of this. A few days later I was ambushed by your father and some of the other Ivashkovs during an audience with family members. And then is when all started…" Again the only thing I could do was ask "What?" She looked at me with worry in her eyes "The big plan to keep the family in a position of power. They knew that they couldn't change the law to have an heir from our family so they decided to have the next best thing: an Ivashkov married with my heir: you." I almost felt from my chair so I looked around to be sure that no one saw my little slip and than I said in a low voice "I won't do that. I can barely stay in this room now. What made you all think that I would agree with all this nonsense? I only wish to be left alone. Please, aunt Tatiana…" I pleaded. It was like my already screwed up world was shattering. Aunt Tatiana took one of my hands in hers and whispered" You know that I love you and I want you to be happy. But your father is forcing my hand and I need to endorse our family wishes. So you will have to move back to court even if you don't like it here anymore; it's needed. I won't pressure you to marry Vasilissa even if I think that you two would be good together but you need to know that I will support this idea in front of everyone from now on."
I was speechless. As if my life didn't suck as it was; thanks for the present dad. Now I needed to come back to court and pretend to like everyone just because it was needed form me. If it wasn't for aunt Tatiana and the fact that she was cornered by our dear family I would have said no to all this especially when they kind of planned my future already. One thing was for sure: I won't marry anyone for my family, princess or not. I needed a drink; at least so I thought. I didn't drink usually but I heard that it helps with this kind of situations so why not. I made my way to the bar wondering how this royal snobs were so busy that they didn't see the discussion with my aunt. As I sit down in the bar stool I asked for a glass of vodka which was gone in a few second and I asked for a refill. When I got to my fifth glass I realized that things were improving: I forgot a big part of my family plans and the auras stared to fade thankfully. Things were kind of good for the first time in the last year. As I took another sip of vodka I realized that I found myself a good and reliable friend: the bottle of vodka.
I hope you liked it. Next Chapter you'll experience life at court with Adrian and his new friend... Don't forgett to review~~