Chapter Text
Prince!
The guard exclaims when he’s almost run over by a very hurried prince Nimlo. He is LATE, very late. If there is one thing he shouldn't be today, it is late.
Hopping the last few meters on one leg to finally wiggle his foot into the ceremonial boot he barely fit. Right in front of the oak doors he halts, which is the entry to the great hall. He straightens up his hair one more time and tries to catch his breath before he gets summoned inside.
When the heavy doors open he’s met by many faces and lots of noises. While looking around he sees fewer faces he recognize. Some he remembers from balls and festivities held inside the castle over the years. But most are unfamiliar.
Upfront he meets the eyes of his loyal servant, who is also still out of breath from hurrying up and the servant gives him a small wink. It’s to assure him, he never doubted Nimlo’s ability to arrive on time.
Next his eyes fall upon his father and mother in the middle of the room. His father is looking directly at him with a mixture of fury and disbelief, his mother looks a little pale and get even paler when she gives him a once over.
Understanding dawns, his parents are apparently aware of the reason why he was almost too late on his own choosing ceremony. Red blush creeps on his cheeks and turns his ears pink. Luckily the guests are a little too busy talking among each other to notice.
"OK Nimlo, keep it casual." He thinks to himself.
"As long as I'm not showing any signs of discomfort, no one will notice. Mom and dad wouldn't address it till much later. So I'm safe... at least for now." With the little comfort he gains out of his feeble pep talk, he steps forwards, towards his parents.
His father's eyes radiate a shine off fury but otherwise he looks composed again. The queen continues to be pale but her emotions are much harder to read.
"Silence, silence!"
The king's voice rings through the hall. It is time to commence the orders of the day.
"Today we're all gathered because my son will be turning 20 in a couple of weeks. Which means he will transition from being the prince, to being the king in waiting. In a little over two years, he possibly will ascend the throne as the king of Antar."
The crowd starts clapping after these words. Nimlo finally reached the bottom of the three stone stairs that indicate the beginning of the platform where his parents are standing.
Just before the first step there is a small red cushion where he's supposed to kneel. He looks at the cushion with envy, because this will hurt. He'll be sitting on his knees for at least a solid 15 minutes while his father reads from the ancient scrolls that dictates the laws and regulations he has to take into account for his quest.
It does hurt and the king recites like he has all the time in the world. Nimlo should've seen it coming that his father would punish him in this way. He finally scrunches the rolls back together.
Meanwhile, telling the crowd the prince has until his birthday to find an appropriate quest to prove his worth. Finally, the queen declares that there will be a giant banquet in his honour and the following 3 days will be full of festivities to celebrate the prince for good luck and fortune.
'MEANWHILE'
Captain Dho is in their cabin when Vincent the first mate enquiries them the docking will start in approximately two hours.
They look up and lay their eyes upon there trusted mate. The man standing before them has been their companion for almost 11 years.
He looks a bit meager and some grey hairs start to peek out under the royal purple scarf he wears. In his beard the grey is noticeable too, when you look past the parts where no hair grows because of the scars. If you see them next to each other it would provide an odd picture because of their complete opposite appearance.
Now that more than a decade has passed, Vincent feels like the father they never had. Still after all these years Vincent still get nervous when delivering bad news. Captain Dho never gets sick of playing into the nervousness and likes to give his mate a hard time.
The captain took their feet off the desk and stood. They stepped closer to the first mate who had mixed feelings visible on his face.
Dho was at least an inch taller and with both irises as black as coal, slim but elegant shoulders, long raven black hair tight up in a bun with an undercut and clean-shaven jaw and chin they was quite a sight to behold.
"Vincent, my old friend."
They said almost in a whisper,
"is the ship ready?"
They took a step back and watched the man fiddle with the ring on his left thumb.
The mate hesitated and stuttered "n.. no c.. cap.. captain, I.. I.. I'm afr.. afraid we're n.. not. The.. there were a.. a few ince... incidents below d... de... deck. B... b... but nothing to ma... major."
Their friend had stutterd long before they even met, Dho always found it quite endearing but it was also Vincent's biggest telltale. They knew that he was nervous but they trusted him more than anything.
"So Vincent, tell me I insist ...what exactly went wrong?" stated Captain Dho impatiently, the playful smirk around his lips was mistaken by Vincent as rising irritation.
The first mate hesitated, "s.. so ma.. many pr.. problems cap... captain, I... I... do.. do.. don't even kn... kno.. know... wh.. where to start."
He was fidgeting even more now. They took pity on their friend, "It's alright Vincent I was just teasing. Though you will be ready when we arrive I hope?"
The first mate visibly relaxed and stated "almost cap... captain, give us an... another hour and the p... problem will be dealt wi.. wi.. with, I as.. sure you."
Vincent turned on his heel and walked straight out of the cabin, determination fixated on his face. When the door closed, the captain snorted while shaking their head fondly. Men did they love that man.
When they were sure Vincent was gone they crouched behind the desk and pushed a hidden compartment. It contained a letter of the guy who previously did the delivery to the market. They grabbed the letter and got seated again. Dho sorted through some papers on their desk. Looking for a map of the portvillage they were approaching.