12/17/1543

I so wish I could leave during the day instead of at night. At night, the only thing I'm missing is sleep, which is, in my opinion, a rather good way to think and evaluate. I still have to survive the day, however, pacing the halls and wandering the grounds to calm my boredom. Recently I have taken up a bit of archery just around mid-day, when it gets almost somewhere close to warm. I'm quite good at it, if I do say so myself. I was out there just today, about 20 feet away from a target that's buried in the snow. I took another arrow, put it into the bow, and carefully aimed.

Before I shot, however, an arrow flew just beside my head and hit the dead center of the target. I lowered my bow and turned around.

"Mycroft," I said, turning to see my older brother with a rude smirk on his lips and a bow in his hands. "What are you doing here?"

He placed his bow over his shoulder and gingerly dropped the handful of arrows he was holding into the snow. "Why, practicing my archery, of course." He said smugly.

"Nice try. You hate archery. It is, and I quote, 'the inane practice of large-scale violence'" I reminded him. He smiled softly, looking down.

"Ah, well, I will admit there is another reason for me being here." He confessed, loading up an arrow and closing one eye in his aim.

"And that is?" I asked.

"I need to talk to you," He said. He shot his arrow. It sat directly beside the other, in the center of the target.

"You best make it brief," I said. "Your voice gives me an odd desire to stab myself in the chest with a butcher's knife."

He didn't respond to the sarcastic comment, or even make eye contact with me. He just loaded up his bow with yet another arrow. "And you best be grateful," He told me. "You hear this from me, directly and shortly, or you hear it from mother and father, all buttered up and dramatic."

"What part of brief confuses you, Mycroft?" I sighed. "Your message?"

His face remained stark and he didn't look at me. "You're getting married, Sherlock," He said, as he fired another arrow. It laid just between the two previous, even more in the center than the others. I smiled softly in disbelief, but admittedly, my stomach was churning with concern.

"No, I'm not," I said.
"Sorry, it's not up for negotiation," He said, as he loaded and aimed his final arrow. "We need to make peace with the kingdom of Allearad, and the best way to do that is to bring together two families of royalty. There is no other way. If we do not go through with it, there is no way of avoiding it."

"Avoiding what?" I asked.

He fired his final arrow, and the point split right through the wooden shaft and landed in the dead center between the two halves of the broken arrow. "War," He said. He stood for a moment, looking at the target, before he heavily sighed. "Well, I best be getting inside." He told me.

"I will not marry her, Mycroft."

"Him."

"What?"

"A young prince, around your age." I scowled and crossed my arms. I had no preference, but I'd rather not be entangled with either.

"You say that as though that changes the fact that I will not marry him!" I insisted.

"Don't be so closed-minded, Sherlock!" He called back to me, as he began walking back inside. "You ought to meet him, at least!"

"I won't do it, Mycroft!" I called after him. "And you can't make me!"

"Now, don't be so childish." He said turning around. "I have every intention of making you." I opened my mouth to speak, but at that point, he was already past the gates and there was no way he would hear me.

I snuck out again that time. This time I actually brought a little money in case I wanted to get anything, but everything was too chaotic for me to focus on buying things. It took me a moment to recognize a name was being called, and another moment to realize it was mine. Well, the one I'd made up anyway. My head whipped around to try and find the source of the voice. It didn't sound all that far off at all, but I could hardly hear anything here. Suddenly, there was a firm hand on my back and I turned around to see John.

"Hey, Peter!" He greeted.

"John, hello!" I said, still rather frazzled from the chaotic atmosphere.

"You seem to be stressed," He told me honestly. "And you were near dead last time I found you. Tell me, what are things like in the East?"

"Less crowded," I told him.

"I can tell," He laughed. "Come on, wanna go to my house again?" He asked. I nodded. It was plenty early, and his house really wasn't far. "Sure," I said.

We ventured back to his house. He followed the same routine as he had done yesterday, throwing a log onto the fire and sitting on his giant hay bale beside me. He started talking about something, but I wasn't really paying attention. I looked down and thought about what Mycroft had said. No way. Never.

"Peter!" He finally jolted me out of my trance, and I looked up.

"Yes?" I asked him.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yes I… I'm fine." I lied. In truth, I was incredibly worried.

"I don't believe you!" He said in a sing-songy voice. "Come on, Peter, what is it? We're out of the town, it's all alright now."

I looked at him for a moment. We had only met yesterday, and he was treating me like his best friend. It was rather odd, but then again, with everyone in the castle being so cold and silent, it was sort of refreshing. Why not tell him? How and why would he hold it against me?

"Something someone said to me," I said vaguely. "I have to do something I don't want to do."

"And what's that?" He asked with a grin. I looked up distrustfully. Not yet. I'd already told him too much, to tell him more would just be foolish.

"I can't say," I said honestly.

"You've got a lot of secrets, don't you Peter?" He asked me like he did last night.

"I do," I admitted.

"Then how about this," He said, settling a little more comfortable in the hay and putting his hands behind his head. "Every day you see me, you have to tell me one thing about you."

"Of any sort?"

"Yeah, anything."

I considered it for a moment. I could tell him plenty without telling him anything at all, and who knows, maybe it would be fun? I had never really had a friend before, and so far, the concept was intriguing.

"Deal," I said sternly. He sat up, his face lighting up in a grin.

"Really?!" He asked eagerly. I stood up, knowing I should really go if I wanted any sleep. "Really," I said, as I adjusted my coat.

"And for today?"

I went over to the door and opened it up, before giving him a bit of a smile. "I'm not really from the East," I told him honestly. And then, I headed out the door and back home.