Chapter Text
In his one-hundred and seventy-five years of life thus far, Malleus had only talked to his grandmother exactly once about love and marriage.
“Thank you for clearing up our understanding, Your Highness,”
Grandmother had easily dismissed his pointed questions about love and focused on how marriage would factor into his future role as king of Briar Valley— how with so few fae left, it was important for the future of Briar Valley that he strengthen alliances with the isolated fae enclaves across Twisted Wonderland. He should expect to marry at least twice, but most likely three times in his long lifespan, because there were very few fae left, let alone other dragons, that would be able to stay by his side until death.
But what about love? he still remembered asking, no more than sixty years old and still tripping over his own tail at times. Like in the stories I've read and the ones Lilia tells me when he visits. What does it feel like? Do I get to love the fae I marry?
Malleus's grandmother had ended the meal together rather quickly after that, but her response still echoed in his mind on occasion.
"I haven't felt the love you seek for me to describe in over a thousand years, and there is a slim chance you will ever feel it too."
“Allow us to extend our gratitude towards you for indulging in my husband’s younger brother-"
It was only later, during his lessons, that Malleus discovered the importance of love to their species' survival. He better understood by then the depths of his strength and the ease with which he harmed, and as much as he yearned for the unknowable concept he'd heard forbidden whisperings of in association with his parents, he'd slowly begun to accept the fate Grandmother had spoken over him, the death knell ringing over his little family.
But surely.
Surely-
“Is there anything Sunset Savanna can help Briar Valley with?” the queen of Sunset Savanna— Neema Kingscholar née Sunbrand if Malleus remembered correctly— asked with the same grace and charm that he had heard his late mother described with. Her question was straight out of the etiquette books Malleus had grown up reading as a part of his royal tutoring, familiar in a way that distracted him from the awful clenching in his chest, potent dragonfire sparking beneath his skin and threatening to burst forth.
His eyes fell upon the reason why he was feeling this ache, this longing, howling want. When their gazes locked, something foreign and fuzzy sang in his bones, his beloved's lush, verdant eyes magnetic and luring words from betwixt his lips. "Y-"
Yes. Help me by giving me him.
And then Malleus remembered himself.
He tore his gaze away from Leona, from Prince Leona, Prince Leona Kingscholar of Sunset Savanna. It was a country a world away, one that Lilia spoke of visiting once or twice, one that Malleus had read about but not as extensively as others. At that moment, all he could recall of it besides how it hosted the largest therian population in Twisted Wonderland and the antagonistic attitude it shared with his own country toward industrialization was that it was a country marked by sunlight, and it was not until that night that he truly felt sunlight himself for the first time.
"At the present moment, no." Malleus forced himself to say, swallowing back draconic instincts he'd seldom felt before. Just like everything else in life, his position as future king of Briar Valley prevented him from obtaining what he wanted, especially in the face of these fragile mortals. He switched his stare to Queen Neema in an attempt to spare the ever-present void wailing in his heart over his restraint. "But my grandmother and I will remember the kindness your young prince has shown me."
He watched silently as Queen Neema corralled her husband, Prince Leona, and their guards back into the hedge maze, Lilia saying something to his guards in militant faespeak that he did not comprehend. Instead, his attention was on the bright, searing sun that had entered his life in a flash and seemed to be leaving just as quickly. Prince Leona was 'dragging his feet' as General Zigvolt's human son-in-law sometimes would say, moving lethargically in the back of the group and staring at him from over his broad shoulder.
Before Malleus even truly registered what he was doing, Leona's hand was in his. His dark skin was pleasantly warm to the touch, Malleus making sure to hold his hand with the same gentleness he would handle a thirty-thousand year old book with, and his palm was wonderfully calloused, betraying a sporting bent to his beloved that Leona had not let slip in their brief but fateful encounter. Leona's rich green eyes, rich like the moss that grows on the castle ruins deep in the forest surrounding Dragonopolis, never wavered while he was in Malleus's grasp. Just like earlier in the evening, Leona displayed no fear toward his touch— no pain, just curiosity from behind protective walls.
Now that they were in the company of others, Malleus kept his joy restrained, lest he hurt some onlooker. "Thank you for a splendid first time outside of Briar Valley, Prince Leona."
Fascinatingly, Leona's cheeks darkened ever so slightly. "Yeah, sure."
Malleus's heart skipped a beat. He let his beloved slip out of his grasp and scramble to catch up to his family as he stepped back, watching the fluffy tip of his thin tail disappear behind a hedge seconds later. In Leona's place, the ever-present roar of loneliness in Malleus's chest whipped up a lightning storm, spilling forth from his skin and making the air staticky. He took a deep breath and exhaled smoke from between clenched fangs.
Had he just experienced love? Malleus wasn't sure how else to comprehend the sensations he'd been feeling up until the Kingscholars' departure. Whatever it had been, he needed more of it, craved more of it.
Craved him and his companionship—
"Malleus, we need to leave," Lilia's deep voice was muffled in his ears. Still, it was enough to break through his thoughts. "Maleficia will be expecting us back soon, and we- I need to report to her about the failure to-"
"This excursion was not a failure," Malleus declared, his voice clipped. He frowned when he saw his other guards wince slightly at his tone, Lilia alone seemingly unaffected. He softened his cadence. "We will report to Grandmother that although I did not attend the world leader meeting as planned, I still made favorable contact with a mortal nation, and have secured a future betrothed."
"I-" Lilia blinked dumbly at him. Behind his oldest friend, his guards shared weirdly alarmed looks. "Malleus, what? Someone proposed to you?"
"Nay, as the crown prince, I must be the one to propose," Malleus said, mostly to himself. He folded his arms, his thoughts churning like the butter the maidservants would churn outside the castle kitchen. He watched them sometimes whenever he was reading by one of the library's grand windows, the ones that let the moonlight in the most. "Grandmother will not approve of my consort not being a fae, but surely the potential economic advantages…"
Lilia said something in a panicked voice, but Malleus could scarcely hear him, getting absorbed in the plots brewing in his mind. He would first have to ensure Grandmother's support of their impending union. After this, he could make contact with King Falena to determine if a favorable deal can be struck between their nations in exchange for Prince Leona's hand in marriage. There was also the matter of finding a way to see him once Malleus started his tenure as a student at Night Raven College….
Malleus frowned to himself as he started to pace, his thin brows furrowed and his long, pointed ears twitching.
Would Leona even accept his hand? He reminisced on the events of the evening with a contemplative hum. If he had been reading the lion therian's body language correctly, then the enamorment was mutual. Perhaps the most astounding aspect was Leona's distinct lack of fear, especially towards him in the moments his control over his emotions slipped. To think, to find someone unaffected by the Senate's blessings upon him…
Malleus's frown melted into a grin. Oh yes. He could see their future together already, full of chess games and time together in the palace library, and perhaps exploring ruins together on days of lighter royal obligations. With the love they would cultivate, they would have many eggs together. Hatchlings would fill the empty, echoing halls of Blackscale Castle with laughter and mischief he'd only witnessed during his rare visits to the Zigvolts' and Lilia's cottage after he came home with Silver as a baby. After all, if General Zigvolt's daughter can create hybrid offspring, could not he?
Yes. Yes. This was what he was missing. His key to happiness and an end to the direbeast of loneliness that raged in his heart all lay within Leona's warm, calloused hands.
By his estimation, should his careful planning pan out, they would be betrothed and wed in a mere twenty years.