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A crown of black iron and crystals glittered in the dim light. Lethe sat on his father’s throne, an empty pit settling in their stomach. He was alone.
His mother had died a few years prior, his father had just been killed in a war, and now they were left with the crown at an age too young, thrown into his father’s war against his best friends’ kingdom. He may be the king now, but the crown and throne would never be theirs, as nothing had ever been before. It all belongs to someone else, someone before him.
Lethe had no one, and nothing. His brother, Mneme, couldn’t be relied on, not the way Lethe needed to rely on him. He couldn’t see his friends, not under the circumstances. Their parents had never truly been there for him, and they were no longer on this earth.
He buried his head in his hands. He wasn’t ready for this, he couldn't rule a kingdom. He couldn't go into war against his only two friends, knowing full well one of them could be killed. And it'd be his fault, as most things were. He couldn't do this, and he had no one to turn to, nowhere to go.
Lethe would fail.
He would fail his parents.
His kingdom.
Himself.
His friends.
Everyone and everything of value to him.
He was going to fail.
They shakily stood up from the throne, only to collapse on the floor as tears began flowing freely down his face, stinging and burning his cheeks.
Despite the grand size of the throne room, the walls started to feel as if they were pushing in on him, suffocating him, as he spiraled further and further into the darkness of his own mind. After what felt like hours, they felt a gentle hand on their shoulder. He flinched, curling deeper into a little ball on the floor, covering his head with his arms. He didn’t care who was seeing the failure of a ruler on the floor. At that moment, he wouldn’t care if the enemy army barged into the castle and killed him. Everyone would be better off for it.
“Lethe.”
“Lethe?”
“Is he alright?”
“I don’t know…”
Lethe opened his heterochromatic eyes, he recognized those voices. What were they doing here?
“He’s alive.” said the blonde boy with eyes as blue as the ocean, who stood over Lethe.
“I never said he was dead.” his companion deadpanned, brushing his brown hair out of his emerald eyes.
“Aegis, Theseus?” Lethe asked, squinting up at them, his eyes going wide upon realizing, yes, that in fact was them. What on earth are they doing here in a time of war?
“Yeah, it's us.” Theseus shrugged. Lethe took notice of the dark bags under his friend’s normally energetic blue eyes.
“What are you…” he trailed off, as Aegis pulled him to his feet.
“We’re really sorry about your dad and… we don’t want to fight you.” He said.
“What…”
“We ditched.” Theseus interrupted. “Or more accurately, Aegis ditched and I’m not letting my best friend do something stupid all by himself.”
Aegis nudged him with his elbow.
“Alright and maybe I also came because I wanted to see how you’re doing.” He admitted begrudgingly, looking away and crossing his arms stubbornly.
“But… why?!” he asked incredulously. “I appreciate it, more than you know, but that's your home, your kingdom you’re leaving behind. For me??? I don’t think I’m worth all that…” He added quietly.
Aegis pulled Lethe into a hug, dragging Theseus with him. Theseus protested weakly, but gave into the display of affection. Lethe desperately scrubbed at his eyes, trying to chase away the burning tears that threatened to fall.
“Our friendship is worth more than titles.” Aegis mumbled, releasing them from the hug.
“Wait, how did you get in here???” Lethe asked, bewildered. “There's no way you could’ve snuck past the guards without me hearing something…”
“Oh yeah you have a cool secret passageway leading from the back to here.” Theseus told him casually.
“... What? I did not know about that…”
Theseus stood up, going to look out one of the palace windows. “Uh oh. Aegis, looks like your so-called “sneaking skills” aren't actually that good.” he jerked his thumb towards the window, where a group of soldiers bearing the crest embroidered on Theseus and Aegis’ clothes could be seen approaching the castle.
Aegis came up beside him. “… They’re about 30 minutes out.”
Behind them, Lethe was planning, he stood up, taking off his crown and turning it over in his hands.
“Let’s leave.”
Aegis and Theseus turned to him. “Huh?”
“Let’s go, get out of here, away from the kingdoms and the fighting.” he said, his voice raising, from excitement or panic he couldn’t be sure, but he felt a sudden, uncharacteristic burst of confidence fill him.
“Are you sure, Lethe?” Aegis asked. “You’re the most loyal person I know, are you sure you want to leave…?”
“I don’t care much, as long as you two are with me…” he said in his usual quiet tone. “Only if you want to come with me, of course…”
Aegis and Theseus glanced at each other.
“We just left our kingdom, crossed into hostile territory, and snuck into a castle for you,” Theseus said, raising his eyebrow. “And you think we aren’t going to go with you?”
“Friends stick together.” Aegis agreed. “Of course we want to go with you.”
Lethe smiled, and the trio soon left the throne room. All that remained were two jackets with the crests of an enemy kingdom, and sat on the throne, a crown of black iron and gems glittering in the night light.
. . .
A few years later once the war had passed, three young men sat on the porch of their home, laughing and teasing. One had brown hair, whose bangs hung over his green eyes. The second had hair yellow like straw and eyes blue like an ocean. And the last was taller than his companions, black and white hair falling down in curls over odd-colored eyes. He smiled wider than he ever had before, his entire being filled with pure joy and freedom. Beside where they sat, grew bushes of full golden yellow roses.