Living on the Wild Side (with Silvery_Lady)

[gutterpupper]

Auveren sighed. He sighed a lot. Even he recognised that he did. But it was his only way of letting out the frustration of being cooped up in the castle walls all day, every day. Well… not for the days he sneaks out and mingles with the local common folk. Those were the days when he felt free from the invisible blood chains the tied him to the castle. His father wouldn’t let him out on such trivial matters to browse the market, drinking with the inn-keep, prance with a pretty girl in the forest or wrestle with another man in the dirt. No, he had to keep up an image for the Royal Court. And he had already get caught dirtying that image a couple of times.

“Father is on trying to protect you and I wish you could understand that. With you being second in line to the throne, you are at high risk of kidnap, blackmail, murder, among only a handful of hideous acts that can befall on you.” His older brother Tannivh constantly tried to remind him, as he did now, on the dangers of the outside. He had placed a hand on the young male’s shoulder, only for Auveren to shrug it off.

“It’s only dangerous because we sit on higher ground, looking down on the folk as loyal minions. If you stand with them on their level, you begin to see they are just like us,” he argued. “But what do you know. You’ve only ever walked the high road like father has.” He didn’t make eye contact, choosing to ignore the old man.

“I don’t want to be the one telling you what you can and cannot do, but you know as well as I do the expectations upon us. And some of them come from those common folk you galivant with. If you choose to defy father’s wishes, I cannot protect you from that dear brother. Just don’t muddy the Royal name.”

With that, Tannivh left the room before Auveren had a chance to retaliate further. Instead, the young elven prince let out another sigh as he looked out the window over towards the market place, watching people go about their day-to-day business. He wanted dearly to go out and have a look around but there were too many guards out on the street today after one of the city’s well-known merchants was brutally murdered in two days previous. There was too much of a risk of being spotted, though he was close to still chancing his luck.

[Silvery_Lady]

When Dalidaysa walked into the room, the prince was still looking outside of the window, with his usual annoyed expression, the same that he was always "wearing" when he was brooding about something and thinking about how to get away from his duties.
She had raised him since his birth, being his Nanny first, his Teacher after that and his Disciplinarian during all his life, so she knew him all too well.

So, the female elf sighed, walking toward him, carrying a bunch of parchments in her arms, her long and silvery hair waving behind her back at every step.
-What is troubling you, lad?- she asked softly, putting on a smile and leaving all the documents she had with her on the nearby table; she had never used his honorific titles in private, since she was used to think about him like her own son and since he was still a child in her eyes, being so young -I know that face. But don't you even think about sneaking out today, Auveren, are you listening to me?- she went on -First: you don't have permission to do that, like always. And second, the delegation from the nearby kingdom will be here in a couple of weeks and you need to read these parchments. They have different manners and you have to study about them, to avoid any misunderstanding...your Father expects you to be at your best behaviour.-

The woman gave him a glance, before reaching him and stretching out one of her thin hands to tap his arm in a loving way, her silk dress producing a muffled sound at every movement.
-Come on, forget about your dreams of glory for now, and sit down.- she told him, with her most calm voice -I know that you don't like lessons, but you'll have to bear a few more, i'm afraid.- was the conclusion.

[gutterpupper]

"Of course he does," Auveren scoffed at Dalidaysa's mention of his father's expectations. Whenever anyone made this type of comment to him, it always got on his nerves. Expectations. What his father expects. Yet no-one is interested about what Auveren wanted or expected from life. Instead he was always bowing down and following rules.

The young elf did as he was told, snatching up the parchments from the table and looking over what was written on them. It was true, a delegation was on it's way, he had heard that from one of the servents wandering past his room the day before. But what manners did Dalidaysa speak of? How different were they?

"I don't know why I have to met these outsiders. It's not that they'll be interested in what I have to say. It's all treaties and political rubbish that is usually for my father and his Royal advisories to answer for. I'm a mere decoration." he ranted, skimming through the documents.