A/N: A little something I wrote for Nicaise, because he was such a glorious boy and I could never get enough of him.
Disclaimer: Not made for profit. Captive Prince trilogy belongs to its author, C.S. Pacat.
SUNBLIND
The Crystal Palace. It was the name by which they called that special place. It wasn't really a palace; it was more of a garden shed but made out of glass and gilded with gold. It was Nicaise's favorite spot in the kingdom, built as a gift for him by Laurent. Nicaise would be damned to admit it, but he adored it.
One clear day, Nicaise stood in the middle of the Crystal Palace. There, amidst the ferns and forget-me-nots, he found his enclave. He steadied his breath against the wild thumping of his heart, and felt the warmth of the midday sun seeping into his skin.
'The sun is infinitely blinding', he mused. He raised a hand to shield his eyes. All around him, reflected by panels and panels of glass, was a flooding of light as if it spilled from the sun, a starburst.
Starburst. He thought of Laurent, his prince. Sunblind.
He heard the crash as the palace guards break down the glass doors. He didn't turn to them, never looked away, eyes still gazing unblinking at the sun.
He was still gazing up when they dragged him away, his sentence pronounced on the evil sneers they wore.
He could see nothing but endlessly clear white, mellow and bright, Laurent's light. Oh, he was so sunblind.
A/N: Hey there! If you've read the entire Captive Prince trilogy, you're probably already familiar with what happened to Nicaise and how Laurent was informed of his demise. But the readers were never really in that scene since we only have Damen's POV. Hence, this very short piece was my take on Nicaise's final day, a retelling of his last thought when they took him away.