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Beneath the silent,
watchful skies,
where stars like memories lie,
Each twinkle echoes ancient tales,
of lives that passed us by.
Through cosmic tears and endless nights,
their whispers softly speak,
Of love and loss,
of dreams once bright,
now hidden in the deep.
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✯ • ✧ — 🜲 -• ❀ •- 🜲 — ✧ • ✯
Night was falling over the Morningstar Kingdom, sky darkening and the windows of the homes starting to glow with lanternlight.
The castle stood proud on the crest of the hill, watching over the village as it slowly mirrored the sky above- the light from the lanterns dotting the snowy area like the stars above.
As the night began to age, all the lights in the village started to go out- one by one until only the castle still glowed. The large window to the library illuminated the soft snow piles outside- the three sets of footsteps and snow angels slowly being filled in and the small snowman still with his crooked, coal lump smile.
King Raemond Morningstar sat on a sofa nestled between the tall bookcases filled to bursting with all kinds of books.
He was reading aloud from a book of constellations, speaking softly to the little girl curled up in his lap.
“Long ago, there was a virtuous and kind king named Periphas.. and this king did so much good for his kingdom and was beloved by the citizens, so much so, he was honoured like a god..”
She didn’t look older than around seven years old, with her head was in his lap and using his leg like a pillow. She let his hand card through her long blonde hair that mirrored his own, slightly curly from where it’d been in a braid for the past few days.
“The king of the gods, Zeus, was angry about this. He was about to smite him with a bolt of lightning before being stopped by Apollo, the god of the sun, music and medecine. He transformed King Periphas into a golden eagle to save him, placing him by Zeus’s throne,”
She was dressed in a white nightgown with small blue orchids on it that went just below her knees and a pair of fluffy white slippers on her feet. She had a thick blanket around her shoulders and a silver locket shaped like an orchid bloom around her neck. It had a small engraving on the front side: I ❀ M
“The eagle was adopted by Zeus, and later sent to bring a boy named Ganymedes to Olympus to be cupbearer to the gods.. the story says he served the old gods until the very last day of their pantheon, bringing those believed to be worthy up to Olympus to claim their godhood and allow them to take their place among our history books forever..”
Raemond closed the book, setting it down on the cushion beside him and looking down at his little girl, stilling his hand and moving it to gently cup her cheek.
Isla let out a tired noise, yawning and rubbing her light blue eyes with her small pale hands that matched her father’s.
“I.. I like that story Dadi..”
His soft smile widened as he gently stroked her cheek with his thumb, tucking a bit of her hair behind her ears.
“I know you do sweetheart. Would you like another story or is it time for bed?”
She yawned again, leaning into his hand and looking up at her father’s kind face and soft eyes.
“Bedtime..” She mumbled, “‘m tired..”
The princess and her blanket were gently bundled into Raemond’s arms, her head lightly hitting his collarbone as she shifted to get more comfortable and to fit her head under his chin.
He smiled, standing up and starting to walk up the many stairs to her bedroom in the uppermost room of the castle.
When he got to her room, his daughter was already half asleep and it didn’t take her long to drift into sleep once she was tucked into bed, a cow plushie slipped under her arm.
Raemond smiled at her, reaching for a small collection of stars on a small circular platform on the nightstand. He took a small key and inserting it into the keyhole at the base, slowly winding it up.
The mechanism clicked and whirred and the planets started moving slowly, a music box inside playing a quiet lullaby. The largest star, in the centre, lit up as a nightlight for the princess.
Raemond pressed a gentle kiss onto her forehead, pulling the covers up a little higher to her chin.
“Goodnight, little orchid, sleep well..”
𓊈 -ˋ⋆ˏ ༻✩★✩༺ ˎ⋆ˊ- 𓊉
Everett Morningstar wandered around his workshop with his notebook in hand, pencil spinning across his fingers.
“Come on- I have to make this work-“ He muttered, putting his notebook back on the desk and leaning over it, looking over his notes again, scribbling out the neat annotations around a small diagram, “Oh c’mon c’mon, I can work this out- why won’t that work?-“
The inventor huffed, covering his face in one hand and was about to push himself away from the desk and start pacing when he heard the door open.
He looked up and saw it was Raemond peeking his head into the workshop, smiling softly at him.
“May I come in love?”
Everett nodded with a sigh, “Yeah, sure..”
The king walked over to him, avoiding stepping on small machine parts and balls of crumpled up paper.
“Is Isla asleep?”
“Mhm yeah, she’s in bed,”
“How many stories did it take tonight?”
“Five,” He smiled, looking over at the inventor’s notebook, “How’s the inventing going?”
He sighed again, rubbing his eyes, “Not very good admittedly..”
“Oh, I’m sorry it’s not going well,”
“It’s not your fault, I’m just being an idiot and I can’t figure it out- I should be able to figure this out-“
“Hey..” Everett felt a soft skinned hand gently cup his cheek and turn his face to look at the king, “You’re not an idiot love,”
The inventor leaned into his husband’s warm touch, his dark blue eyes meeting Raemond’s own sky blue.
His tone was just as firm, gentle and soft as his touch, making him realise just how tired and lonely he felt.
“You are the smartest man I have ever met, and you’re the only man I could ever love,” He put his forehead to his inventor’s, “You’ve been working for too long and your brain is telling you that you need a break,”
“I..yeah, I guess..”
Raemond closed the notebook before taking one of his husband’s hands, lacing their fingers together.
“C’mon Ev, lets go to bed; everything will still be here in the morning,”
𓊈 -ˋ⋆ˏ ༻✩★✩༺ ˎ⋆ˊ- 𓊉
Everett smiled softly, sitting between Raemond’s legs, shirt discarded beside him with his bare back to his husband.
He leaned back and into his husband’s touch as his fingers gently and skillfully worked out the knots in his shoulders and back.
“I don’t know how you’re so good at this baby, but by the gods it feels really good..”
Raemond giggled, “Yeah? I’m glad you’re enjoying it love,”
The inventor nodded, more focussed on trying to keep his eyes open than using words, making his husband giggle more.
“It really is just practise at the end of the day,” He still talked despite his inventor’s yawns, hoping his voice would help him relax a bit more, “I originally learned it from a book actually-“
“Of course you did-“ Everett mumbled, smiling.
“Hey- uncalled for-“
“After everything you’ve admitted to learning from books, this is one of the more.. tame-“
“Okay- you can be quiet now Ev-“
Everett turned to smile at his husband’s giggling and reddening face he was trying to hide behind his long hair.
He cupped Raemond’s face, smiling as the man brought up one of his hands to hold the inventor’s there.
“I’m just kidding around my love,”
“I know..” He smiled back, lacing the fingers of their spare hands together, “C’mere-“
The king moved suddenly, wrapping his arms around Everett and pulling him to his chest, drawing a laugh from his husband.
“Is this really necesarry?-“
“Yes, most definately,”
“In what world is this necesarry?-“
“The one where I don’t want you sneaking off in the middle of the night to work yourself into stress and exhaustion,”
Everett smiled up at Raemond as he shifted to have them both laying down, nuzzling his head into his chest, fully relaxing in his arms.
“Yknow.. that’s fair..”
The king smiled, holding him closer and tighter, pulling the covers up higher. He pressed a kiss to his head and smiling wider as his inventor tilted his head to kiss him properly.
“I love you Ev,”
“Love you too Rae..”
𓊈 -ˋ⋆ˏ ༻✩★✩༺ ˎ⋆ˊ- 𓊉