100 Days of NorIce
Prompt 62- Game
GAME (noun): 1. An activity engaged in for diversion or amusement.
2. An animal that is hunted for either food or sport.
By Decree of His Royal Highness King Jarl Fritjofsson of the Kingdom of Thule, in Honour of the Sacrifice of our Brothers In Arms in the Conquest of this Fair Land, the Royal Family will partake in a Great Honour when the time comes for the Prince or Princess to take the Throne.
If there is Only One Heir, then they shall show they have the Right to take the Throne by competing in the Annual Fighting Tournament.
If there is More Than One Heir, then the Heirs will Fight To The Death to prove that the Victor is capable of leading this Great Country.
By Order of the Royal Court this Decree will be Upheld by Thule Law.
Year Of Our Lord 2347
"One last night."
"Ja…"
Violet eyes burned brightly with rage, disgust and…fear. Lukas slid an arm around his brother's shoulders, pulling him close. They were both lying on the large double bed in Eiríkur's quarters, wrapped in each other's arms for the last time. Eiríkur had already shut the door tight, ordering the guard outside not to disturb them for anything.
The two princes shook with repressed emotions, almost unnoticeably, but they were so close, almost one being and could feel everything, including the beating heart of the one in their arms. Tomorrow, one of those heat beats would be silenced forever…
Something inside the younger broke.
"I don't want to…please, this is crazy! How can they expect us to- to do that to each other! All for a stupid throne!"
Tears were now dripping down Eiríkur's flushed face, lilac eyes pleading helplessly with his equally helpless older brother. It was wrong; it was so, so wrong. But they didn't have the power to change anything…not yet.
"It is the way it is, lillebror." Lukas pressed a tender kiss to his younger brother's forehead, bringing up his hands to wipe away Eiríkur's tears. "I like it just as much as you, however what happens tomorrow will happen whatever we do."
"I know…it's just so…so unfair. Unfair that we're trapped in this obligation, just because we are royalty. Is this all just a game to them? To throw siblings into an arena and tell them to kill each other? Because of our stupid ancestors who died centuries ago with their ridiculous traditions, who didn't give a damn about anyone or anything!"
Lukas pulled his little one into a tight hug, pressing light kisses all over Eiríkur's face. The silver haired prince had stopped crying, but looked so heart-wrenchingly sad, like he was beyond tears at this point. He looked like he was still crying, his face was pulled into that terrible expression, but his eyes had run dry. Eiríkur buried his head into Lukas' firm chest, their clothes having been torn away their bodies earlier in the evening. The thick blankets pooled around their hips, leaving their bare chests to play with shadows cast by the pale moon through the window, curtains opened.
Lukas rubbed his hands up and down his young lover's back, massaging the tense muscles in Eiríkur's shoulders and gently tugging the short hair tufting at the back of his brother's neck, finger running through tangles acquired due to earlier activities. He appeared collected on the surface, but both brothers knew that Lukas' emotions were a great maelstrom of whipping anger, flashing pain, lashing fear and furious yet soothing feeling of love that permeated everything.
He was strong and emotionless on the outside. Only those closest to him knew it wasn't all the way through.
"We can change things, you know." Lukas whispered into the darkness of the room, threading the fingers of both his hands into Eiríkur's hair, nuzzling his face into it.
"Huh?"
"We can change things," Lukas stopped, but after taking a deep breath, continued, nearly choking on his next words. "Whichever of us…survives…can change things. They will take the throne and can then undo this stupid tradition. Can undo all the harmful things our father has done to Thule. Can stop all of this, this madness…"
Violet eyes met swirling blue. "Já…they can." Eiríkur agreed, swallowing uncomfortably at the thought of a time after tonight. When there would only be one brother left. It seemed an impossible thought- Lukas had always been there for him. But now it seeped into his thoughts slowly, like a spreading cloud of poison, creeping and deadly. It rolled into his feelings, into his thoughts, into his memories, tainting them with a touch of bittersweet pain.
Eiríkur suddenly leant forward pushing his lips over Lukas', tightening his grip around his older brother's upper arms and kissing him deeply, passionately. Lukas kissed back, and time was lost to them for a while.
When the younger brother pulled back, he whispered desperately, sadness catching his throat. "I don't want tonight to be over. I don't want morning to come."
Lukas sighed, "Time will always pass, lillebror. Even when you do not want it to. Morning will always come, even when it seems impossible. No matter how hard you wish for it, Mother Nature does not abide by the whims of man. That is just the way it is, and you have to keep moving along with it. It is more painful to let yourself get caught in the undertow, then you will be dragged along, hitting obstacles every bump of the way. You have to move, even if you just crawl."
The moonlight glimmered across the bed. The brothers settled down together, for the last time. They kissed again.
"Ég elska þig." Eiríkur murmured.
A sad, loving smile. "Jeg elsker deg også, lillebror."
The crowd cheered, the sound echoing around the stadium from the colourful stands. Across the wide arena, the brothers could see each other being fitted up with their gear, being handed their weapons.
Then all went silent. They were both in the middle, just metres away from each other, ready to begin.
'Love you.' Eiríkur mouthed.
Lukas smiled.
They raised their swords.
"Begin!"
Yay, this is finally up! I'm very sorry for not posting earlier, but school just started again from a holiday and the sudden change hit me quite hard. As I said before, I now cannot update everyday, but I will try my best to get at least a couple of chapters up each week. I cannot make any promises, though, because this is basically exams year and I have a Drama exam next week, a German writing exam and a German speaking exam in two weeks and about six mock exams coming up in around four weeks (all in one week). So I'm going to be busy, and I'm sorry but school work takes priority over fanfiction.
On a lighter note, a massive thank you to my reviewers JustMakeLeftTurns, Guest, AimIsTalking, Iggy and Smileey who found the time to drop a comment. I really love reviews (hint, hint). Also a thank you to Phyripo, SullyWullybunny and TheLandOfIce for favouriting and TheLandOfIce and SullyWullybunny again for following.
'Game' is set in a Human!AU far into the future. Just assume that a massive war has taken place and the map has changed a fair bit. Technology has also gone backwards, knowledge being destroyed and not taught as well as the sheer destruction of the war. Thule is an old name for Iceland and this is where it is set. The decree in the beginning came about centuries before the actual story, and sets the traditions of royalty in the isolated island of Thule. As two princes, Norway and Iceland have to fight to the death for the right to claim the throne- by which they can restore sanity to their country. This is the night before the duel.
By the way, 'Jarl', the name of the king at the beginning is a Norwegian name meaning 'leader/chieftan' and the name 'Fritjof' means 'thief of peace'. Fritjof is the one who invaded Iceland and turned it into Thule (becoming the king) and Jarl is his son. They are both ancestors of Norway and Iceland and definately weren't the nicest people in the world.
Honestly? When I got the prompt 'Game', something like 'The Hunger Games' sprang to mind, but that's too big and I feel like that is unimaginative to use. My universes have to be original! So I used the thought of 'playing around with people (Norway and Iceland)' but not in a nice way. The whole tradition where everyone comes to watch (like the Roman Collusseum) does make it seem like a sick game.
Read and Review, please!
~Variegata~