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The words seemed to be flying off the page at this point. They were changing shapes and sizes, twisting and winding around each other with each passing second that he looked at it.
Sunstone groggily rubbed at his eyes as he tried once more to read the report in front of him. How many days was it at this point that he had gone without sleep? One, two, maybe three? He wasn’t sure. All that he knew was that he was tired. Tired out of his goddamn mind.
He would go to sleep. He really would. Hell. He promised both Amber and Obsidian that he would go to sleep soon. The problem was that there was so much that he had to get done now that the war was finally coming to a close. He had to figure out a way to fix damaged lands, get medical attention to all who needed it, find a way to get his soldiers off the battle field and back home, restore a sense of calm to his people, and figure out a peace agreement with not only Midnight, but Moonstone and Florosa as well.
There was just so much to do with so little time to do so.
So he worked. Sunstone worked all hours of the day and into the night. There were few breaks, he would work while he ate the little he could stomach and naps were few in between. If anything most of his naps came from him passing out in the middle of work.
He could also feel his temper begin to dwindle easily. He snapped and shouted much easier now. The constant questions were like flies in the middle of the night and non-stop whispering around him sounded like nails on a chalkboard.
He was tired to say the least.
Even now he sat in his room staring blankly at the documents in front of him. The sun was at its peak in the sky. Even the thought of it hurt his eyes. He was sure that in a few minutes a maid, though meaning well, would come in and distract him from his work and causing him to have to start all over again. On that note, where the hell was he supposed to be even?
Sunstone groaned and rubbed at his eyes once more, dropping his head into his hands. Suddenly he heard a noise and jumped, slamming his knees into the desk.
Sunstone hadn’t realized that the door had been opened until he heard it quickly click shut again. He stood up slowly, his hands still soothing the sore sting of his knees.
“Who’s there.” Sunstone called out to the seemingly empty room, “Show yourself.”
When he got no answer from the messy room Sunstone laughed. “Maybe I am going crazy…” He said to himself.
He was about to sit back down again, but he heard something fall.
Sunstone froze where he stood. He snapped around to where the sound had come from. It was a good ways away from his not so cozy desk and near the heavily covered window.
Sunstone crouched down to pick up what had fallen.
It was an old nick-nack from when he was younger, about 13 he would say. It was simple, just to keep him occupied while he studied. Bars of metal that looped around each other in a seemingly never ending cycle. Though the person that he had gotten it from said other wise.
The question was, why was it over here? He last left it on the bookshelf. He knew this because it was just two mornings ago that he emptied the shelves of all of their books while looking for advice.
“What in the…” He began slowly.
Suddenly, something wizzed by his head. Something, silver and very, very sharp.
Sunstone snapped around to face who had thrown the knife, ignoring when it crashed out the window.
He faced the intruder. He was cloaked heavily in dark colors, and Sunstone could see no face. The person was in a battle stance, a new knife on standby. Sunstone quickly caught sight of the Shadow Emblem.
So this is his all fails , Sunstone though to himself.
“I was hoping I wasn’t going crazy,” Sunstone said to the intruder, “That would have been unfortunate.”
The person said nothing. Sunstone would say that they were watching him but then again he couldn’t tell.
The silence went on for what felt like hours. The two staring each other down (maybe) unblinkingly. Sunstone swears that you could hear a pin drop.
Suddenly, the person threw their second knife. Sunstone jumps out of the way and begins to summon a blast of magic from the palm of his hands.
Only…
It didn’t come.
Sunstone paused for a second to stare at his hands in confusion before having to dodge out of the path of another blade. When safely out of the way of the blade he tried once more to focus his power to his hands. He felt a small flicker of power there, but if anything it felt closer to a dying flame than the raging wildfire he was used to.
Once more he wasn’t given much more than a second to think on it as once again a blade was headed straight for his chest. He quickly dodged out of the way, falling into a stack of books he had piled away for later use. Sunstone tried to focus his magic into throwing the books around him at the assassin, but once more he was unable to. That made no sense. Why couldn’t he use his magic? He thought for a few seconds more. What could he have done wrong? If anything all he could think of was… oh no.
With a horrific realization, Sunstone realized exactly why he couldn’t use his magic. Not only had he not seen the sun in several days on end, it’s been even longer since he’s been in its rays of light, and him being bone dead tried doesn’t help at all.
It was when he heard the soft padding of feet walking over to him when Sunstone tuned back into the world around him. He felt a boot kick at his foot a couple of times before the person muttered something under their breath. Sunstone dared not to move when he heard them pad away, grumbling about how they lost all their weapons already. All he could think in that moment was, where the hell was everyone right now? With all the noise they’ve made by this point surely someone must have noticed.
Sunstone froze over when he felt hands grab him, one under his knees and one behind his shoulder blades. He could feel them walking, he just wasn’t sure where. It was only when he felt a warmth on his face and saw a bright light behind his closed eyelids did he realize where he was being taken.
The window.
This person was going to throw him out the window.
His office was at the tallest point in the palace next to his bedroom. He wouldn’t make it out alive, especially with him being unable to use his magic. He was going to die.
Sunstone knew he had to act quick, lest this end horribly. He thought back to what had happened earlier. He remembered that the first knife had gone through the window, leaving glass shards behind it all over the floor. If he is able to get out of this person’s grip then he might be able to get a hold of one and fight back. Of course that also means that if he can’t get out fast enough he wouldn’t be able to grab onto the ledge as last resort, as its edges are covered in broken glass.
“Well then…” Sunstone tuned back into what was going on, “I guess this is the end, your majesty. You fought hard that’s for sure.”
Thinking fast, Sunstone threw his knee upwards and into what he thought was the person’s nose.
Swearing the intruder dropped him to grab at his hidden face. Using this moment, Sunstone grabs a shard of glass from the floor around him, careful of the sharp edges.
When the intruder finally pulled himself back together he stared down Sunstone with an invisible gaze.
“I thought that you knocked yourself out.” He said.
Sunstone didn’t waver in his words or his grip on the improv blade he had. “You’d be surprised.”
The person chuckled, “I am.” In the moment that they pulled their head up Sunstone could swear he saw amber eyes with red makeup. “But not at surprised as you’re about to be.”
Before he could even question their words, the person had thrown themselves at him. Sunstone struggled against their grip the best he could, trying to defend himself with the shard of glass he held. There was a sudden grip at his wrists, squeezing harshly and forcing Sunstone to left go of the glass. Once that was done he shoved him once more.
Sunstone felt the shard of glass digging harshly into his back, the soft breeze quickly cooling the blood that now dribbled down his spine. He could swear that he heard someone scream from below him but that wasn’t his main concern.
Sunstone tried his best to fight back, but at this point it was pretty much useless. Another shove was felt from the intruder, the glass behind him cracking under his weight, digging even more shards deeper into his back.
Sunstone pushed back with all his might, he couldn’t let himself die, no matter what. He could dully hear banging against his door, muffled voices shouting for him to open it. He wanted to yell for help, but he was terrified to even take his eyes off the man in front of him.
Suddenly the banging increased in strength and volume. Even the intruder turned back to see what was going on. With each slam the door loudly creaked. It was only when it started cracking did they realize what they were doing. They were going to break down the door.
Suddenly a foot sweeper behind his ankles, and he was falling backwards. The intruder let go of him, watching anxiously as he fell.
Sunstone struggled to get his bearing in the air. He could feel the sharp cold biting snap of the wind against his face as he fell. He tried and tried again and again to try and light that burning flame inside of him, but it was no use. It was hopeless. He was going to die. Just like his mother, he was going to die.
All he could do was laugh bitterly. What a fitting death for a failure of a king, he couldn’t even produce an heir. At least his mother had him and his sister, but now Soltartrus’ line would die with him. What a failure.
Suddenly Sunstone was wrapped up in a strong hold. His gaze snapped back into focus to see what had happened.
He looked up to see a strong jawline and broad nose, his pale skin seemingly glowing in the midday sun. He had black hair with long bangs, obscuring part of his face from Sunstone’s view. But what stood out most to Sunstone was those gray eyes. Those same gray eyes. The same as a boy he met nearly 8 years ago. The same as Ryker Stone.