#fridayflash "Kingdom Come"

This story is pre-Pull of Gravity and takes place on the planet Cupidis with Prince Edonys and his father.

Kingdom Come

“Come with me, Edonys,” King Jypitr, his father, unfolded his golden wings and offered his hand to the boy.

“Sure, papa.” His smaller hand slipped into his father’s large one as they took off into the air.

The city unfolded around them. It gleamed white in the afternoon sun. Edonys lifted his other hand and shielded his eyes from the glare. The marbled walls soon gave away to glittering water. Dolphins played, and the glimpse of a whale’s spout erupted from the lapping waves.

His father and he flew into the purplish sky and toward the snow-encrusted mountains. Ice crusted over his wings before they swooped toward the desert filled with its golden and red sands.

After hours of soaring through pink-cottoned clouds, they rested upon a cliff’s edge, overlooking their vast kingdom.

His father tossed him a yellow-hued apple, and Edonys munched on it. The sweet liquid dampened his parched tongue and refreshed him from their long flight. He didn’t think he would ever fly so far.

They sat in silence until the apples were gone and their breathing had returned to normal.

“Do you know why I brought you here,” his father asked.

“No, papa.” Edonys fluttered his wings before licking off the apple juice from his fingers.

“One day, this planet will be yours. The Cupidians will look up to you as their king.” His father motioned toward the expanse of land before them.

“Why won’t you be king?” Edonys’s hand fluttered to his side as he stared at his father. When had his hair grown so white? It reminded him of the city walls.

“I can’t be king forever, my child. Someday, you’ll find love and I’ll have to leave you then.” He patted his son on the back. “You’ll do the right thing when the time comes, just as I did with my own father.”

The gesture was meant for comfort, but it just confused Edonys. This talk of love, departure, and kingdoms had to wait. He wasn’t ready to listen. Nothing should ever change.

Was that too much to ask?

#fridayflash "Love's Choice"

Love’s Choice

His eyelids slipped closed as he sank further into the warm water. Gentle music from a harp glistened along the marble tiles. His fingers pushed bubbles across the pool’s water. A sigh tumbled from his lips before he heard the splash and felt the waves lapping against his bare chest.

“Go away,” he said, refusing to open his eyes.

“Oh, Edonys, get over yourself, dear brother.” A burble of laughter struck him at the same time the water did.

He sputtered and wiped the suds from his face. “Dite, go away.”

She pouted with her full lips, and if she wasn’t his blood kin, she might’ve gotten away with that look. “Don’t you want to know why I came?”

“I don’t really care.” He settled back on the pool’s bench. Nothing she could say would make him care.

“Father’s looking for you.” She reclined in the water, her golden skin glistened under the sun’s rays. Her reddish-blond feathers on her wings appeared almost crimson from the water.

“Then he can find me.”

“He says it’s time.”

“Time for what?” His gaze focused upon her as she stood in the water. Drops splattered into the pool from her body.

Drop, drop.

“Don’t you know?” She crossed her arms and stared at him.

No playing coy now. His heart dropped to his toes like water draining from the pool. He lifted himself out of the water, shook his own golden wings, and padded over to his towel.

“I don’t have time for this.” His ran the cloth over his body, but it couldn’t remove his knowledge. Of course Father would send her, but couldn’t she see he wasn’t ready? If he didn’t accept, then his father couldn’t—

“You must take a wife, my dear princeling.” Dite’s voice grew soft, nearly melancholic in its beauty. She’d gotten out of the pool and touched his arm with her damp hand. He gazed at those perfectly manicured fingers. “The Cupidians need our next king before our dear father dies.”

“I know.” But they couldn’t have a new king until he found a wife, and he refused to choose because his new wife meant his father’s death.

Their planet couldn’t ask this of him, could it?

He wouldn’t choose.