The little boy touched his pale skin, his warm cheek with his small and still growing fingers. The large hall kept an equally large mirror, decorated with golden carvings around its border, decorated with golden angel wings and roses. But, its beauty did not stray the little boy from looking at himself in the mirror. Silver hair illuminated by the candles hanging from the white arched ceiling, his pink eyes shimmering with the need to blink, as he had been staring at himself for so long.
The little Prince, the boy of seven years old often did this. He often stared at his reflection and wondered what witch cursed him with this strange curse. The townspeople often mocked him, accused him of being a demon… What child would play with a little boy that looked like he had crawled from the depths of Hell? The little Prince blinked, looking down at the regal carpet. Life was dull. Being a Prince was not as glamorous as it was deemed to be in those fairy tales… It was a lonely life. His path of life had already been created for him; a man and a woman, his parents, using threads given to them by the Heavens by Fate to construct the little Prince's life for him. Study… Betrothal to an exotic woman from across the world… Reproduce a son, a strong, intelligent son… Die.
Pale little fingers traced the design and patterns of the carpet, patterns of small flowers all constructed in a diamond-like pattern. This was what the little Prince did every day, maybe he'd play in the gardens by himself or his imaginary friends and maybe he'd pick the white roses in the garden to only get scolded by the gardeners. Maybe one day he would make a daisy chain, or just roll around in the mud on others… Only then to have the nurses come and bathe him, making 'tut, tut' noises to themselves and scolding him. The Prince got scolded often, but who could blame him? Being alone so often made him do things considered 'extreme' for a Prince. A Prince is not allowed to roll around in the mud, play with worms in the soil or make friends with the flowers. Oh no, a Prince must be polite, kind and above all; strong. It was a Royal code, of course… But who played by the rules? That was just plain boring.
"Gilbert?"
The voice of his kind mother, his tall mother; the Queen. Gilbert pushed himself up to his little feet and looked around to his mother walking down the stairs, holding one side of her beautiful long dress to assure she did not trip on the fabric. The little boy's eyes widened at the presence of his mother. He had not seen her in a few months, as she had been away on some business with his father. His mother held a soft smile as she reached the ground level with Gilbert; she crouched down a little and held her arms out to her son. Within moments, Gilbert was in his mother's arms, hugging her tightly. "Mutter…" He mumbled. Gilbert had been taught German by his Mother, seeing as she held German heritage in her bloodline, and was also married to a German man.
"Hello, dear." His mother replied, her voice like the chirps of beautiful singing birds. Her laughter like that of a small sleigh bell shaking in the soft breeze of the winter air… She was simply a beautiful woman, and Gilbert would always remember her as that same beautiful woman.
Gilbert pulled away, looking at his Mother's robes. A regal colour of light green, with dark forest-coloured swirls constructed within the green thread. She looked just like a forest Queen, today… Her blonde hair beautifully curled down to the centre of her chest. Gilbert made plans to make his Mother a flower crown later that day… That is, if she wasn't going out again today. "Where have you been, Mutter…?" He asked, tugging at her gown for a straight answer.
His Mother laughed that simple laugh again, amused by her son's impatient nature. She lightly tousled his silver strands of her, and ended up ruffling his hair. Gilbert huffed and patted his own hair, straightening it out again, "Mutter! Tell me…!" He whined, tugging on her dress more.
"Come here, dear." The woman said, gently picking up her son and kissing his cheek for a long amount of time, withholding a laugh when her son squirmed and whined 'Noooo.'
"Yuck! Don't kiss me, mutter…" Gilbert huffed, wiping his cheek with the sleeve of his little purple sweater, sticking out his tongue and frowning.
The woman laughed again, "You haven't changed since I was gone, Gilbert. I was hoping maybe you'd begin to enjoy your mother's company." She made a fake pout.
"Noooo! I missed you, mutter!" Gilbert whined again, wrapping his small arms around his Mother and hugging her longingly. The little Prince never saw much of his Father, King Alfher… He was always away on 'business.'
"Gut." The woman playfully replied, beginning to walk with her son in her arms, "Dear, we need to have a talk very quickly. Let's go to the gardens shall we?" She requested, setting her son down, and smiling when his face brightened up.
Gilbert hopped a little in his place and nodded, "Ja! I'll race you!" He said, darting off down the hall and straight to the gardens. His mother did her best to keep up with him, apologizing to the servants for the sudden burst of energy from her son… It was really nothing new, but she felt it necessary to apologize nonetheless.
When his mother did finally make it outside, he saw Gilbert waiting impatiently for her, a small frown on his face and his arms crossed in a disappointed manner. The Queen could not help but give a small laugh at the attempted scolding face, knowing that he was trying to imitate the nurse who found Gilbert a very annoying little child. "Mutter… You're so slow!" Gilbert huffed.
"Oh, I know, dear… I'm sorry. You're just too fast for me…" His Mother said, smiling and sitting on a small white bench, small pillows sitting on the cold seat.
Gilbert grinned and crouched down in the grass, picking bunches of daisies and humming, "Ja! I'm the fastest in the Kingdom." He boasted, climbing up to sit next to his Mother on the bench.
The woman smiled, looking at her son who had begun to construct a little daisy crown for her. "Is that so? I bet you are. You'll be the most handsome too." She insisted, kissing her son's head.
"But then all the girls won't stop kissing me…" Gilbert huffed, sticking his tongue out and frowning, "Yuck! Girls are weird…" Well, there only seemed to be one nice girl and that was Elizabeta. A girl who looked like a boy and acted like one… That was why Gilbert liked her… Sadly, he didn't get to go into town to see her often, and when he did he had rocks thrown at him for looking so scary.
"You'll change your mind when you get older." His mother assured, watching her son construct the beautifully-made crown. She had spent a few years with her son, teaching him several languages and the crafting of clothes… After all, she did want a daughter. Gilbert understood, and as a Mother she believed that her son should learn various talents. He caught on well to languages and crafting, though… Such a funny and talented son she had.
"Yucky! No way…" Gilbert huffed again, finishing the crown and placing on his Mother's beautiful blonde hair, "Now you look like a Forest Queen!" He declared, grinning widely.
The woman laughed a little, kissing her son's head, "Thank you, little Prince." She said softly, acting like she had been newly crowned as a new Queen. She remembered that day, her fingers intertwined with her new husband, the silver crown branded and created just for her, placed upon her head. The Queen found herself smiling a little more.
"Mutter…?"
"Yes, dear?"
Gilbert tilted his head and looked up at his mother with his blinking pink eyes, "You said you wanted to tell me something? Is it bad news? Are you going away again…?" He asked a little sadly.
"Oh!" The Queen suddenly realized why she had requested her son's presence again, and she smiled, shaking her head, "Oh no, dear… I'm not going away for… Well… For a while."
Gilbert gasped and grinned, hugging his mother tightly… He was so happy to have his mother home again! They'd have time to play and talk more!
His Mother gently returned the hug, chuckling softly, "Gilbert… I have a little surprise for you." She said, her voice filled with both excitement and some sort of anxiety. With the excited look from her son, she took his hands, "You have a little brother or sister on the way."
Gilbert was not expecting a surprise like that… But, he couldn't help but laugh and grin, "S-So does that I mean I get to play with them?" He asked with excitement in his voice.
"Yes. Yes it does, Gilbert. You'll be getting a new sibling to play with. Isn't that delightful?"
His name was Ludwig.
Soft pink cheeks with big blue eyes, eyes wide with curiosity and confusion of the smiling faces around him, cooing and oohing at his beauty. The world was big, open just for him and waiting for him to grow so that he may enter the world that awaited his contribution. Fate was going to be kind to this beautiful new life, the beauty of perfection in his eyes… The gift of strength, intelligence and happiness; threads swerving around the child and constructing his life within seconds… It was all there for him, all ready and all set for him.
Unlike his brother, his threads all in tangles from all directions… His life was more open for him, more freely for him, but that only meant more complications for the little boy. Oh, how he felt so jealous, jealous of the baby's beauty and perfection… The image of his mother and father sitting before him… If Gilbert could not be a part of the family appearance wise, then he would make sure that Ludwig fit in perfectly… It was the least he could do for his little brother.
Years flew by, Gilbert focused on archery and sword play as well as learning the languages from across the world. Whereas, his brother learned how to fight both swords and his fists… He was far more intelligent than his elder brother, and far stronger. Gilbert was confused… Shouldn't it be the other way round? Either way, Gilbert thought it was better to be less serious than Ludwig was… Ludwig could be such a bore sometimes!
Hell, Ludwig was already betrothed to some Princess from Italy… Or was it Rome? Gilbert did not put himself into such affairs. He was not interested in getting married… Why did people insist on his settling down and having their wife pop out a few children? It didn't sound fun. Gilbert would rather go out and journey, find new lands, discover lost worlds up in the mountains or below the deep seas.
By the time Gilbert was twenty-six, he was already an inch shorter than his younger brother, he was now nineteen… Boy, he grew up fast into a little warrior. Both brothers were informed that they were moving away, migrating their Kingdom elsewhere to a new land. There was a strange industrial revolution going on, and his father insisted that they expand their opportunities elsewhere… And he was right! Gilbert was getting sick of this old castle anyway. A new change of scene would be wonderful for them all!
But… The brothers weren't so keen on the fact that their move would ruin the large majority of a beautiful, sacred forest for the native tribes that lived within.