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Grian woke to find his family’s manor in a mess trying to clean up and pack Grian’s stuff? Grian gets called to his father’s office hoping that his father will tell him what is happening.
“Enter.” Grian’s father says before Grian even gets a chance to knock on the doors.
“Father, I heard that you called for me.” Grian said while bowing to his father.
“Yes, I did. I’m guessing you have seen that almost all of your belongings have been packed away or are in the process of being packed.” His father responded, not looking up from the paperwork on his desk.
“Yes, I saw. May I learn the reason why my belongings are being packed up?” Grian asked, finding more interest in the floorboards than his father.
“Well the reason is that today you’ll be moving to live with your betrothed, King Scar.” His father answered calmly.
Grian’s eyes shot up from where they laid on the floor. “K-king Scar??”
“Yes, apparently King Scar has been looking for a betrothed and picked you out of the lords and ladies in this area.” His father said, finally looking up from his papers.
Grian had been in such a state of shock that he barely heard his father’s words. King Scar was to marry him, a minor lord of the Xelqua family. Before Grian could get over his shock he felt like something suspicious might be going behind the scenes but said nothing.
“Is that so?” Grian asked his father. “Is there anything else you wish to tell me?”
“I have one thing.” Grian’s father said, walking over to him. “You must make sure King Scar goes through with the marriage if you don’t want to bring shame to this family.”
Grian could feel his father’s glare penetrate his soul. “I will, father.” He replied.
“You are dismissed.” His father said, turning back to his desk.
Grian walked out of his father’s office and began walking back to his chambers. Once he entered he could see that all his belongings had been packed and put somewhere. Well I guess there’s nothing to do here. Grian thought before he walked to the main hall. Grian could see his mother standing at the entrance telling servants where to put what Grian could only guess was his stuff.
“There you are! Finally you decide to show up after making the servants do all the work.” His mother yelled at him.
Grian ignored his mother’s taunt and continued towards his mother.
“You’re going to wear that to meet King Scar?” His mother taunted. “Can one of the maids find one of my sons better outfits and have him change to that?”
Before Grian could argue one of the maids was ushering him back to his room with outfit in hand to change to. The outfit was a simple red vest with gold embellishments paired with a matching tie and black slacks. If it wasn’t for the embellishments someone could mistake Grian for one of his family’s servants.
“That's better,” His mother said looking at his attire. “And you have your wings binded under there?”
Grian had been binded his wings for years after being told that if he was seen with wings people would come and steal him from his family. Grian that it was absurd that he had to bind his wings when his family never allowed him to leave the manor before this.
“Yes, I’ve binded them nice and tight today.” Grian responded.
“Okay now let’s hurry before we leave King Scar waiting too long.” His mother said.
~~~~~~~~~
“Excuse me, what's happening today?” Scar asked his assistant, Bdubs.
“Today your betrothed is arriving.” Bdubs replied.
“Since when have I been betrothed?” Scar asked.
“Since your mother complained to the court about you not being betrothed. I have no idea how the court picked them though.” Bdubs responded.
“That woman is still trying to choose my life even after years of me ruling.” Scar signed. “While I guess there’s no way I can call off this engagement now?”
“Nope, no way considering they should be in 20 minutes.” Bdubs said checking his watch.
“Welp guess we should get ready for them then.” Scar said rather happily. “Have the room next to mine prepared for them.”
“You’re not going to have your betrothed sleep in the same room as you?” Bdubs questioned.
“I want them to get used to me before they’re forced to share a room let alone a bed with me.” Scar reasoned.
“Roger that.” Bdubs said before leaving Scar alone in his study again.
“Well I guess I learn new things every day.” Scar said before getting up to ready himself.
~~~~~~~~
Grian stepped out of his carriage and was met with the beauty that was King Scar’s palace. The palace was bigger than Grian expected and was made out of white marble with blue bricks acting as accent. Grian expected the palace to be like the ones he read as a child but this was unexpected. Grian could see what he guessed was King Scar and his personal assistant waiting at the doors. He walked up to the door with his mother following in tow.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Scar somehow felt nervous when he saw Grian’s carriage arrive. He did spend almost all of the last 20 minutes looking up information on his betrothed such as his name, his family, and their status even though Scar really didn’t care about that last one. So Scar knew that Grian was of the Xelqua family, a minor royal family that was so minor that it was hard to figure out if their family was even in charge of anything in the kingdom. The greeting between Scar and Lady Xelqua was brief as she almost immediately left when she greeted and saw that all of Grian’s stuff was being let inside.
~~~~~~~~~~
Grian almost immediately noticed how tall the King was seeing as he stood at almost a whole head taller than Grian. Scar tried to start some idle chatter with Grian as he was shown around the castle and his room. Grian was relieved that he wasn’t immediately going to be sharing a room with Scar and that he was going to have a room to use until he was I guess comfortable.
“And your room is conveniently attached to mine in case you need any help during the night unless I’m still in my office doing work.” Scar said, smiling at Grian.
“Thank you, your highness. I hope this betrothal isn’t too much of a trouble for you.” Grian replied.
“Oh no it’s not and please call me Scar you don’t have to be formal with me since we’ll be married soon.” Scar said, before he left Grian to unpack in his room.
Grian was shocked to see how laid back King Sc- I mean Scar was after meeting him. He knew that Scar was one of the most gentle kings the land has ever seen. Even all the servants just called him Scar like it was normal practice. While Grian was unpacking he heard his door open and saw one of the servants Grian was introduced to earlier, if he remembered correctly his name was Mumbo. Mumbo was the resident redstoner and was on Scar’s royal court.
“Oh why hello there Mumbo, may I help you?” Grian asked.
“Scar wanted me to help you get settled in because my latest redstone invention “can take a break”.” Mumbo chuckled as he said the air quotes.
“Oh well I guess you can help me put my clothes into this.” Grian replied.
Grian and Mumbo continued with small idle chatter and Grian could see a nice friendship form between the two of them. At least Grian was assuming it was because he didn't have any friends at his family’s manor. Before Grian and Mumbo realized the whole day and passed and was time for dinner.
“We should probably head to the meal hall before Scar thinks the boxes have overtaken us.” Mumbo said, checking his watch.
“Is King Scar really that gullible?” Grian asked, following Mumbo.
“Oh yes he is. For the longest time me and Bdubs managed to make him think that castle hippos existed. We eventually told him the truth after he almost tried to buy one for the castle.” Mumbo replied.
Even though Grian saw the dining hall earlier he was kinda shocked that Scar ate with the entirety of his court. Once Scar saw Grian enter he got flagged down to his stop. Grian sat to the left of Scar while his cat Jellie sat to the right of Scar.
“Thank you.” Grian said.
“For what?” Scar asked.
“For sending Mumbo down to help me unpack, he was nice company.” Grian replied.
“You're welcome. I just thought it would be lonely and sad to do it by yourself.” Scar said. “I would’ve helped you but there’s surprisingly a lot of kingdom work I need to do recently.”
“That must be pretty stressful along with adding a marriage on top of that. I hope I won’t be too much of a bother.” Grian responded with a somber look.
“Oh you’re not being a bother at all.” Scar replied “To be honest you might be of some help.”
“Really?” Grian asked.
“Yeah you could probably work on some of the wedding stuff. I’ll still have some input since it’s our wedding but it will definitely be some help.” Scar said.
Grian gave Scar a small smile and they continued with their meal. Once the meal was over Grian got up to leave along with some other member of the court.
“Wait Grian!” Scar said as Grian got up to leave.
“Yeah what is it?” Grian asked.
“I just want you to know that if you ever feel sad, lonely, or literally anything you can come and talk to me.” Scar replied. “I don’t want you to be in any pain when it can be solved easily.”
“I remember that.” Grian said, giving Scar an uneasy smile.
Grian continued walkin back to his room feeling his wings begging for freedom. Why did Grian keep binding them so tight when he knew he would be left with rope burns for days. His chest was also starting to hurt being he was starting to get some rope burn there.
Once Grian was in the safety of his room he started removing his shirt to access the ropes. Once the ropes were gone Grian looked at the wreckage the ropes did. There was a line going through his wings where the ropes were pressing, a lot of the feathers in the area were falling off or barely hanging on. He started preening what he could reach to get some relief from the pain his wings were causing. Grian realized that at some point Scar will have to find out about his wings. He was scared for when that would happen and instinctively covered himself with his wings.
Grian looked at the time and decided he would get an early start on his sleep since most nights left him restless anyways. He picked up the pile of feathers he accumulated from his preening and put them in one of his boxes since it felt wrong to throw the feathers away. After Grian had the feathers hidden in a box he put his night close and went to sleep.
Grian woke to a knock on his chambers doors.
“Hello Lord Grian, are you awake?” He heard a feminine say from the other side of the door.
“Yes, what do you need?” Grian said while trying to hide his wings in case they entered.
“I have a trolley with your breakfast, you didn’t wake up earlier so he requested it to be sent to you.” The servant said.
“Oh, just leave the trolley there I’ll get it myself.” Grian replied.
“Okay your highness.” The servant said.
Grian binded his wings and put a shirt on just to grab the trolley without the risk. Grian looked at the meal with a slight smile knowing that Scar was thinking of him. He saw that there was a letter with an outfit on the lower rack of the trolley. For a while Grian questioned how the castle's tailor was able to make an outfit for him so fast without his measurements. Grian just guessed they got their information from his parents' tailor.
Grian ate the meal before grabbing the outfit and heading to take a shower. Grian was starting to realize how different the castle was to his family’s manor. Other than the castle being bigger there were many just left empty rooms along with almost the entirety of the center of the castle dedicated to room to hold meetings, have offices, and ballrooms. Grian put the outfit Scar gifted him, the outfit was a maroon suit paired with black slacks. The suit did fit him pretty well and was one of the best outfits he has ever owned. He decided he might as well thank Scar for gifting him the suit. Grian walked to Scar’s offices while getting fairly lost along the way, at some point Grian managed to reach Scar’s office. The office had dark oak walls with dark floors which was a contrast to the other rooms in the castles which were mostly golds and creams. The walls on the left and right were filled to the brim with books and bookshelves, with a little sitting area in each corner. On the back wall held a giant window that showed a garden area with a gazebo. Scar’s desk sat in front of the window and Scar sat there lazily looking at a random document. Once he heard the door close he looked up.
“Why hello there Grian.” Scar beamed.
“Scar, do you seriously not have guards stationed at your office doors?” Grian asked.
“No, why would I there’s guards almost at every corner or that’s what False would like but that’s besides the point.” Scar replied.
“My father’s office has better protection than yours and he's a minor lord how the great have fallen.” Grian teased.
“Oh you didn’t!” Scar said, standing up from his desk.
“Oh I did. What are you going to do about it, your highness?” Grian asked, mocking a bow.
“I really can’t do much, my darling.” Scar replied, walking up to Grian and tilting his head up.
Grian felt his face heat up due to close proximity and pet name. “I- I uh-” Grian stuttered.
Scar let out a little laugh. “I’m sorry, but your face is really cute when you do that.” Scar smiled down at Grian. “ Is there anything else you wanted?”
“I was coming to thank you for the suit.” Grian replied.
“Oh yeah I just realized you're wearing it. It looks really good on you.” Scar beamed.
“Yeah it feels really nice as well. It’s definitely the best suit I’ve ever owned.” Grian said.
“Well I’m glad you like it.” Scar said, walking back to his desk.
“Scar, quick question but why is my room connected to yours with a door?” Grian asked.
“Oh, your room used to be used as a nursery and my room is where the king and queen would sleep. They were connected so you could reach the baby sooner and hear them cry.” Scar explained. “But they haven’t been used for that purpose in years.”
“Okay that's all I need thanks Scar.” Grian said.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Grian decided it would be good to pass time by maybe reading a book in one of the multiple gardens, little did Grian know that the royal library was absolutely massive and full of many books. Once he walked in he knew that just finding a single book was a mammoth of a task. If you compared Scar’s personal library in his office to the actual library it would be equivalent to comparing Grian’s manor to the castle. Grian made quick work of trying to find a book but once he found one interesting book, after what felt like hours, the bells for lunch rang. Grian thought if he should skip the meal or join the others, quickly after his stomach answered the question.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Grian decided to grab his lunch to go so he could eat while he read his book. He settled to eat at the gazebo he saw earlier and luckily there was a table inside it. He sat at that gazebo for hours reading his book, at one point Jellie decided to join him in his reading. Without realizing Grian fell asleep at the table with the cat.
~~~~~~~
Scar walked around the castle looking for Jellie in her usual hangout spots so he could fall asleep with her. Scar then found her cuddled up with Grian out at the gazebo. Well that explains why Grian didn’t show up to dinner, Scar thought. He picked up the sleeping lord and nudged Jellie to wake her up.
“Jellie, you won’t mind walking back to the room instead of how we usually do it?” Scar asked the feline.
Jellie meowed before standing by Scar’s feet waiting for him to move. As Scar was setting Grian in his bed he heard Grian mumble something.
“My wings……… don’t take ‘em…” Grian mumbled.
Scar stood in minor confusion deciding if he should wake the other. Grian looked very uncomfortable and like he was in pain so Scar decided to wake him.
“Grian wake up!” Scar said, slightly shaking the other.
Grian rose quickly and grabbed onto Scar's shirt.
“They were here. They brought me back to their hell. Please don’t make me go back.” Grian cried into Scar.
“Shhh it’s okay Grian I’m here.” Scar said soothing the other.
“Can you stay here so I know I’ll be safe?” Grian muttered through his tears.
“Yes, I will.” Scar replied climbing to the bed with Grian.
Grian cuddled closer to Scar before drifting into a safe slumber.
~~~~~~~~~~
Grian woke in a warm grasp cuddling closer to it before he realized he didn’t know what or who he was cuddling. He opened his eyes to see Scar sleeping peacefully, and extremely close to his face. Grian tried to scoot a little bit back only to have Scar pull him back and closer. Seeing that there was no point in escaping Scar’s grasp Grian just settled and stared at Scar’s face. He noticed that Scar has multiple scars covering his face. All of them probably hold different stories Grian thought while running his hand over some of them. Scar started to shift as Grian ran his hand on the lower scars, and with that Scar woke.
“Why good morning beautiful.” He started.
Grian immediately shoved a pillow on his face. “You- you just can’t say that!” Grian stuttered.
“What? It’s not like I’m lying~” Scar said, climbing over Grian.
Grian could feel his face heat up to extreme measures as Scar looked down at him. “I… I-” he stuttered.
“Grian, there’s no need to deny it.” Scar replied, getting closer to his face.
Grian curled himself into a ball beneath Scar.
“Oh no, did I go too far?” Scar asked, sitting back up from Grian.
“No! But kinda?” Grian started, “I’ve just never experienced stuff like this before, so it’s kinda overwhelming.”
“Oh I see! I also have no experience in this field I guess you can call it.” Scar said. “But you know I’ll remember that from now on.”
Scar smiled down at Grian filling him with a warm feeling.
~~~~~~~~~~
“It feels so weird to watch all the flowers wilt after only seeing them thrive the whole time I’ve been here.” Grian stated.
Jellie looked up at him and meowed.
“Yep I knew you would feel the same.” He said to the feline.
Grian has managed to live in the castle for two months without anyone finding out about his wings, but he felt someone was going to have to find out soon. See going for years binding your wings was starting to affect them. Chunks of feathers were falling off when he would unbind and some times after unbinding he would find parts of wings bleeding. Grian could feel the effects start to hit him, like this morning he could barely get out of bed because he almost fainted when he stood up. Now thinking about it he should really get back to his room before he accidentally faints while walking about the castle.
So now Grian is sitting in his room, his wings unbinded and looking them over. They looked absolutely horrendous, covered in blood and chunks missing. Grian wished he told someone sooner but he knew what he feared would happen afterwards, but he wouldn’t have to fear anymore after what was about to happen.
“Grian are you okay!? One of the maids said they saw you…” Scar stated as he barged into Grian’s room.
Scar couldn’t believe his eyes, Grian had wings. The wings were fully spread out showing the multiple colors they held. Even though many, and I mean many, feathers were missing, the wings were beautiful.
“Scar- I…” Grian said weakly before passing out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grian woke and looked around. It was dark outside and there was a weight right next to him, which appeared to be a Scar and Jellie. He saw that his wings in areas were covered in bandages to probably help with the bleeding.
“Grian? Is that you?” A sleepy Scar asked.
“Yes, Scar it’s me. I think I just woke up from when I fainted earlier.” Grian replied.
Scar reached out with his arms doing grabby hands. Grian rolled his eyes before laying into the others arms. “You scared me earlier when you fainted.” Scar muttered into Grian’s hair.
“Really?” Grian asked looking up at the other.
“Yes! Not everyday do you walk into your partner’s room and find out they’re Avian and then they proceed to faint.” Scar argued.
“I’m sorry for scaring you.” Grian laughed.
“But on a serious note, why have you been hiding your wings this whole time?” Scar asked.
“It’s a long story but to make it short and sweet. I was taught that if I was found to have wings they would be cut off and sold, so I binded them for years for rope. My parents also looked down on hybrids and all that so I was forced to stay in the manor because they thought me being seen by others would be a crime to others eyes.” Grian replied, pulling closer to Scar’s chest.
“But aren’t at least one of your parents a hybrid for you have Avian wings.” Scar questioned.
“The Xelqua’s aren’t my real parents, my real parents were a humbled common family that worked for them. But one day a horrible illness struck the Xelqua manor and it led to them dying.” Grian explained. “I survived but the Xelqua’s family’s only heir died due to the illness, so they took me to be their heir and then I started binding my wings.” Grian could feel tears welling in his eyes at the old memories.
“I’m so sorry you had to deal with that for so many years.” Scar said, hugging Grian closer.
“It’s fine though now, I have you and the entire royal court here to protect me and comfort me.” Grian smiled.
“I suppose so but if I have to see those bastards again I will rip their title from them.” Scar replied.
And with that conversation Grian fell into a peaceful sleep knowing that he was loved and protected even though he had what he thought were a curse.