Chapter Text
The sand dunes of Polunka go on for as far as the eye can see. The vibrant blue sky merges with fine grains of sand on the horizon, like two lovers meeting after a long journey. Wind agitates the sand, blowing it astray, before it settles as if to bury everything that isn’t of their sort. Two travelers walk through the punishing weather in discomfort, their eyes straining against the barrage of sand.
“You don’t regret leaving, do you?” Asks the former prince of Polunka, Nicolai Perelman. He grimaces slightly at the taste of iron that spreads through his mouth from his chapped lips. Next to him, 101-- or should he call the man Sergei now, since they’re no longer prince-and-subject-- smiles weakly. Looking over at his former owner, he pulls him into a kiss, a sweet yet passionate reminder of their bond.
They lean into each other, savoring each other’s touch-- words feel inadequate to describe their love, constant yet passionate. Slowly pulling away from each other, they look into each other’s eyes, a little bashful. Sweat beads glisten against their skin, red from the sun’s unrelenting rays.
“What is there to regret, my prince?” Sergei, dear Sergei asks.
Albeit the assured smile on his face, Nicolai can’t help but sense the fear in his voice. To find the suffering of one man more distressing than the uncertainty of all his people...Nicolai doesn’t know how to feel. I don’t deserve to be a ruler , Nicolai thinks to himself, as he takes in Sergei's beauty once more. If only I was born Sergei’s slave... I could serve him well.
“You are right, my love.” Nicolai replies. “There’s nothing to regret.”
Nicolai extends his fair, unmarred hand to Sergei, whose smaller, calloused hand fits perfectly in it.
“Let’s pick up the pace, shall we?”
The two walk in silence for a while. A prince from a far-away land, running off with a slave on the day of his betrothal… Nicolai wonders how he’ll be remembered-- if he would be remembered at all.
Most likely not.
“Sergei-- Do you remember that night we ventured into the dunes, when we were still children? When we looked at the stars and you taught me that song?”
Sergei nods. They had snuck out of their castle at midnight, the prince almost unidentifiable in Sergei’s clothes. An oversized hood cloaked the Prince’s distinct silver hair. With the castle behind him, Perelman had giggled in excitement.
“That’s Cepheus, right under Ursa Minor, and next to it, Cassiopeia…” Nicolai had whispered under his breath as he pointed out constellation after constellation. Sergei listened attentively, though he too knew the names from listening to Nicolai’s astrology classes. It was his favorite class, for nothing fascinated his prince more than astrology. Sitting there next to Nicolai, he was sure the stars shone extra bright for the two of them.
And it was on that night that he taught Nicolai the song his parents had brought with them from earth, the song of Queen Amhul Dahlia.
“It was a nice, cool night, that night…” Sergei replies before he starts to sing. A song of longing, a song from before Polunka was called Polunka, from when Mercury was just a planet in the solar system.
They speak of somewhere in the world-- a place of unparalleled beauty.
A golden sea of sand, the sun’s rays refracting like fragmented shards, like fragmented shards...
Nicolai joins him.
The sand dunes glimmer, for two wandering souls--.
Where do you lead, oh scorching sands?
“You have a beautiful voice, my prince.” Sergei compliments Nicolai.
“Stop calling me prince, Sergei. We are just two lovers walking across a golden sea of sand.”
“Two lovers walking across a golden sea of sand…” Sergei repeats, as if he’s savoring the words. A small smile graces his lips, genuine unlike the one he forced before. Nicolai chuckles in relief.
“What do you think will be there when we reach the center of SAPA?” Sergei asks.
“We’ll find out when we get there.” Nicolai answers, his eyes trained on the horizon before them. “I’m sure it’ll be beautiful, as long as I’m with you.”