There were too many emotions flooding through Forsburn.
He was not far down the hall from the throne room when he had heard Maypul's voice. He also heard Zetterburn and his loud, haughty voice. He hadn't heard exactly what they were saying, he only had a chance to hear Zetterburn offer to court her. Maypul was blushing, though seemingly not upset at. She looked over to Forsburn and his heart sank as she accepted the proposal and immediately broke the eye contact. Forsburn pulled himself back out of the doorway and against the wall. He never felt so crushed.
He fled to his room. The maelstrom of negative feelings crashing against him. Had he misread the message? No, the small symbol at the bottom of the letter had meant she wanted him. Forsburn.
Yet she so willingly accepted Zetterburn as her suitor. Was she trying to tell Forsburn to compete against his own brother, the emperor, to win her affections? She had seemed such a kind spirit, but she certainly wasn't like the average female. Perhaps she wanted to see competition over her.
Forsburn's mind went back and forth between feelings of defeat and angry resentment. The ire never lasted long in the pendulum of torture that was his emotions.
He wasn't sure what to feel or think, and as he returned to his bed the feelings broke him. He quietly cried himself to sleep, and hated himself for it all the while.
Dawn, some days later. The Fire Capitol War Room.
Forsburn stood on the far side of the long table across from his brother. Zetterburn had insisted that they stand beside each other, but Forsburn explained that he needed to see things from the other viewpoint. In truth, Forsburn simply couldn't stand to be anywhere near his brother. The last few days, he had barely left his room, and through his window he could sometime see Zetterburn and Maypul taking strolls out in the grounds. The sight tore him apart, though Maypul did seem to enjoy Zetterburn's company.
Forsburn often had to shake the memory of these frequent sightings out of his head. Doing so, yet again, he returned his attention to the conversation at hand.
With negotiations with the Water Trading Company planned, Zetterburn intended to take both Forsburn as his chief advisor, and Maypul as his Empress-to-be. Zetterburn had expressed that, as a team of negotiators, they could ensure the best possible outcome. Yet, Forsburn has assured his brother that the Chief Advisor's presence would only weaken any respect the WTC had for the Fire Kingdom's leader.
While this was surely a possibility, it was highly unlikely. Forsburn simply did not want to put himself in that awkward position next to his heart's desire and her betrothed. Forsburn saw many reasons to go with them to negotiate, but he also had legitimate confidence that Zetterburn could negotiate a deal without him. Maypul could most certainly assist, having a different perspective than either of them.
Damn… It still hurt so much to think about her being with his brother.
Forsburn shook himself out of it once more. Thankfully, Zetterburn had approved of his request to seek out allies elsewhere. The most reclusive of folk in Aether, the Treetop Dwellers, had been in contact and, on that front, all seemed well enough. Additionally, Smoke Clan was now completely on board with aligning itself with the Fire Kingdom, although it was perhaps the most fragile alliance in history. However, the Air Armada needed to be contacted. The Air Elders were nearly impossible to reach, and no one had done it yet, but Forsburn felt that the Air Alliance needed to be restored. He supposed that, speaking truthfully, the Air Elders were more reclusive than the Treetop Dwellers.
Zetterburn had agreed to send Forsburn out as an envoy to the Air Armada. If they could ensure their neighbors were allies, than the next logical step would be to bring the Air Armada into the fold. Zetterburn recognized this, but he could never know Forsburn's feelings.
Forsburn would leave at dawn the next day, although he secretly planned to leave before midnight so as to avoid unwanted interactions.
Midnight, later on. Just outside the palace grounds.
The plan had worked well enough. Forsburn had managed to sneak past all the guards and avoid every single occupant of the castle. It barely took him 10 minutes to sneak out. He would have rather used a smoke portal to get out, but he hadn't been able to use much of his smoke abilities the last few days.
As he snuck across the grounds, he looked back at the castle with one last, somber gaze. There were not many lights to see; most of the occupants had already blown out their candles for the night. However, his room did have light shining through the left of the two embrasures. The right one seemed dimly lit, as if something was set against it to block most the light.
Maypul stood in Forsburn's room, staring through the embrasure at the dark palace grounds at the barely visible prince himself. She had heard from Zetterburn, just hours ago, that Forsburn was to go out to the far west at dawn to seek new alliances. Tonight was Maypul's last chance to make amends with him and explain everything. She hadn't expected him to have left so much earlier.
'He probably knew I was coming and must have used a smoke portal to escape.' She felt both disappointed and hurt. Forsburn had been noticeably avoiding her for days, but this was different. If he somehow sensed her approaching, why did he flee? Why not stay and be honest with her or at least be willing to listen to what she had to say?
She had to assume the worst. Forsburn simply disliked her so much now, that he couldn't even bare to look at her. He would rather be out walking across the countryside alone than see her.
Her chest felt heavy, as if being crushed under the Rock Wall. She wiped away the few tears that ran down her face, turned around, and grabbed her lit candle holder on her way out of the room. She wasn't angry this time, just hurt. She didn't know what she wanted anymore. She cried the whole while she walked, lucky enough to not see anyone on her way to her room.
'Why am I even crying over this? I knew it would happen.' She wasn't even sure if she would be able to sleep, but she wanted to so badly. To dream of anything else, and forget Forsburn forever. She would give anything to erase this pain.
Anything…
Forsburn continued out of the city. When he did look back, the lights within his bedchambers were already snuffed out. He couldn't guess who would come to his room late at night. They must have known he was supposed to leave by dawn. Perhaps Zetterburn sent some females for Forsburn to enjoy the night before long travels. Zetterburn used to do that all the time when they were younger. It certainly wouldn't be a surprise.
Once he was finally out of the Capitol, he glanced over his shoulder. His mind drifted back to Maypul. Painful images hopped into his mind of her and Zetterburn, and it made him only move faster away. He began to run, then break into a wild dash. He wanted to distance himself as much as possible from all of it. That was the real reason he wanted this mission.
As he finally tired out, the Fire Capitol was now far away on the horizon. Forsburn fell to the ground, his face drenched from the streaming river of tears. He was shaking, though it could have been from the wild sprinting he had just finished. He fought the urge to scream out his emotional agony; he couldn't afford to have anyone near the Capitol hear him.
When he finally managed to recollect himself, he stood up, brushed himself off, and continued to walk towards his destination. It would be a long travel, and while he had some food packed for the journey, he was intent on riding a boat from Merchant Port to hasten the journey.
A/N: A shorter one, to be sure. Been on a little bit of a struggle bus so i haven't been able to give this my full attention until yesterday/today. so its out now, but im sorry if it's not nearly as much as you may have wanted.
no other excuses right now. just wanted to continue to breaking hearts today.
take care, maybe things will get better for Fors and May in the future?
P.S.: Why is this STILL the only story on this site?
