Chapter Text
There was sunlight streaming through the ornate stained glass windows lining the east hallway of the castle. From the angle of the sunbeams, it had to be past midday. In Tommy’s case, this was rather upsetting news.
His father had promised that his dumb little counsel meeting wouldn’t be more than an hour. It was bad enough that he wasn’t invited in when his other brothers were, but going two hours overtime was just plain rude.
He’d been sitting on the lengthy windowsill for about an hour, asking guards is passing when the ETA of meeting completion was. Naturally, this question, like any other, was met with blatant disregard, which was really starting to piss him off.
Honestly, it wasn’t even his fault that his ear ended up magically pressed against thick wooden doors, eavesdropping on the conversation inside. Those pricks were practically asking for it.
Yet a voice in the back of his mind that sounded just like Wilbur reminded him that listening in on private conversation was a bad way to gain trust, and not an appropriate action for a future diplomat.
Fuck that, he was bored out of his mind.
The murmurs of dissent and disagreement inside were rather quiet, like someone dropped a bombshell in there. The silence was deafening until someone spoke up.
“This is bullshit, you can’t possibly expect us to just give into this!”
And then the meeting room exploded into noises of chaos. Insults were thrown, maybe chairs were too. Tommy couldn’t hear shit anymore it was so loud, but he definitely recognized that first voice. Jadon? Maybe it was Jacob? Wilbur’s stupid ass voice would be hounding him for forgetting the name of an important ally and valued king.
“ Silence.”
And then it was silent. Damn, even after hearing that voice a thousand times, it still sends chills down his spine. His father wasn’t even shouting, just simply commanding and everyone listened. It was you did when you were in the presence of true power.
“I appreciate your concerns, Schlatt, but it is clear that my offer is the most favorable solution to a common problem that we all face, and I will assist you in reconsidering.”
Right, his name was JSchlatt, obviously. Tommy could tell the battle was heating up, and scooted his entire body closer to the door. This was the closest Tommy was going to get to being in a meeting unless his father and brothers dropped dead tomorrow.
“Unruly thieves have ravaged the lands, dirty lowlifes dealing in organized crime have attempted takeovers in poor districts, pirates have looted traders and massacred navy ships. I understand because all of our countries face the same problems.”
“But Emperor Philza..” Schlatt’s annoyed tone didn’t go unnoticed.
“Anyway, it is clear than the Antarctic Empire has the strongest military and most fortified defenses. We are entirely willing to provide assistance in return for reimbursement of equal value.”
Once again, silence overtook the room. Tommy was sensing it was probably time to get out of there and pretend he had been studying in his chambers for the past few hours. He pulled ear away from the door as he heard his father announce,
“I’ll give you all a month to mill it over, but for now, meeting adjourned.”
Shit, he needed to move as fast as his scrawny legs could carry him. Tommy had barely heard anything from the meeting, but has gotten enough information to feel some sense of satisfaction.
Then those wide wooden doors opened and out rushed the diplomats. They rushed like they had a date with destiny in 5 minutes that they were going to be late for. The only three that didn’t clear out were the residents of the castle themselves.
Prince Technoblade, Prince Wilbur, and Emperor Philza. Even the names of his familial figures felt powerful. Prince Tommy didn’t sound nearly as intimidating or badass in comparison.
Tommy was pretty much standing in the middle of the sun-soaked hallway, like a deer in headlights, but his brother didn’t seem too concerned as he approached.
“Looks like a gremlin skipped out on his studies this morning.” Wilbur teased him casually, but he was feeling snarky this morning.
“Looks like some pricks finished their meeting two hours later than promised.”
Wilbur paled, clearly not expecting Tommy to bite back. “Our duties are important, as is your education. But I suppose we apologize.”
Since Wilbur was being as insincere as always, Tommy doubted he’d have any luck with Techno or Philza.
The prick trio passed by, somehow managing to completely ignore his presence. It was almost a talent how good they were at acknowledging he didn’t exist. The closest Tommy gets to recognition is when Wilbur trains him in foreign affairs and political bullshit.
Those pirate obsessed lunatics would only pay attention to him if he brought back one of those sea bastards in chains and a pretty little bow on top. Tommy wasn’t even kidding, they were obsessed.
For starters, Wilbur fucked a pirate a couple years ago. Tommy thinks her name was Sally. Anyway, their relationship wasn’t official or even existant. The only reason anyone found out about it was because Sally dropped off a baby on the doorstep 9 months later and no one saw her again.
Yeah, he had a nephew, kinda weird. His name was Fundy, he was 18 months old, and he was kinda cute but Tommy would never let anyone catch him saying that. Techno was even weirder, somehow.
Techno’s a military general. He used to patrol the streets when crime was really bad, like even worse than now bad. Tommy had never heard it directly from Techno, but the basic story was that he had been ambushed by evil pirates on patrol and almost died. If you ask Tommy, that sounds like pussy behavior.
Probably why nobody asks him anymore.
Plus, if anyone in the royal ‘family’ was a pussy, it was his father. That man had never seen a pirate in his life and still had the audacity to act like a little bitch about it. Maybe Tommy was pissed off about it, maybe he was jealous he never met a pirate, who knows.
Tommy had never met a lot of people, since he was a prince or whatever. He didn’t go outside too often, unless it was for politics.
The hallway was still sunny, but daylight burns fast. Tommy still had a lot of nothing to catch up on for today.
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Dinner was hell.
Even on normal occasions, Tommy absolutely despised sitting in silence and watching his family attempt conversation. But international banquet days were even worse. Because of the immense amount of people, they stuck Tommy at the kiddy table with the snot-nosed six year olds.
It was even worse than being ignored because the only person acknowledging him was the preteen on Tommy’s left playing with a piece of chicken on her plate. It was downright humiliating, and the temptation to leave was getting stronger every minute.
Tommy scanned the adults table to discover Wilbur making direct eye contact with him, smiling in a uncomfortable way. Wilbur stood up and motioned with his head to follow. He figured it was better than this shit.
He followed Wilbur out of the dining hall into the normal hall until they stopped in front of the entrance to the castle. Wilbur stared out a window pensively.
“I can tell you haven’t been the happiest lately.”
Tommy scoffed. “No shit, what gave that away.” He didn’t really care what he had to say, and he wasn’t in the mood to put up with bullshit today.
“Phil told me after the meeting that I had to get your act together. You’re turning 18 soon, which means you’ll have to start taking some fucking responsibility for your actions.” There was an edge to those words, that usually meant he was a lot more pissed off than he was letting on.
“If you want to keep fucking around, fine by me. Just know that Phil won’t tolerate insolence. My advice is that you shut up and pay attention when superiors talk to you, then maybe your lessons will start to sink in.”
And then Wilbur left, likely back to the dinner table to enjoy diplomatic bullshit like a fucking weirdo. Tommy was getting really pissed, and it was times like these he questioned how he tolerated these bitches for 17 years.
All this bullshit was just piling up on him. Tommy wasn’t sure how much of their shit he could take. It wasn’t like other kids, who could leave their shitty families once they turn 18, he was stuck for life.
He just needed a breath of fresh air, that’s all. Tommy needed to get out of stuffy, fancy prince clothes and get out of here. Not for too long, but he would probably feel better when he returned.