It is April, is it not?
AN: Angsty April, yes? While the rest of y’all kill it with the 40 days of SM, I’m taking a quick breather from other projects for this dark one. V/K because if I only have time to write one thing this month, it’s going to be them and let’s call this a ‘follow up’ of sorts to Rule the World.
"I had a thought, dear
However scary
About that night
The bugs and the dirt
Why were you digging?
What did you bury
Before those hands pulled me
From the earth?
I will not ask you where you came from
I will not ask and neither should you
Honey just put your sweet lips on my lips
We should just kiss like real people do."
Like Real People Do, Hozier
The roses bloomed, the same blood red as they always did, in the first week of April. Their sweet fragrance annexed the royal gardens, wafting throughout and permeating the space with their heavy, cloying scent. The timing of the event was among two moments on a calendar she cared to remember. In the world they inhabited, things like months and weeks and days meant nothing. However, the blooms marked a change of season and of memories long buried.
He would watch her - she knew. They had unspoken traditions and hers was to retrieve the Sword of the Moon, deftly remove the most beautiful flowers from their stems and create a perfect bouquet to present to him. Yes, there were others at the palace who would do this for her, but they knew better than to dare touch the Queen’s garden. She hummed to herself as she performed the task…a tune of love lost, never to be found again.
Would he ask?
Would this be the year?
Each time she presented the flowers, without a trace of irony, she saw the look on his face. As severe and collected as he was, the tiniest contraction around his quicksilver eyes was a giveaway few would notice. To anyone who might be looking on, they would only see polite and sincere gratitude for the posy, but she wondered.
There had been a coup. Years ago, barely a distant memory now. There were few who remembered or dared speak of the former golden couple. Serenity… Endymion… These were names now lost to history.
It had been an evening in early April when the Prince had gone missing, never to be found again. To this day no one knew where he lay. Initially, there had been searches - then a great reward offered, but there was only one who knew his final resting place and another who had never asked. After a year, the Princess, in deep despair had taken to her chambers and then, no one knew the exact specifics or series of events, had taken a draught which had ended her young life.
Events fell into place shortly after. The next in line took the throne.
"Here you are, dearest," she said, curtseying slightly. "They are exceptional this year."
"Thank you, my love," placing a soft kiss on her cheek.