Chapter Text
The end was cold and dark.
Just how the prince liked it.
It was his home, his sanctuary, his favorite place. Spoke had grown up there, and even though he had been everywhere, he was always drawn back to the void.
Spoke sat on top of an end pillar, looking down on the central city surrounding the portal. In the distance, he could see the end stone castle with its stained-glass rose windows, the colors of magenta and purple refracting what little light came to the end. It was the perfect place. His kingdom. He hated the thought of his home being overrun by soldiers from the overworld or nether. In the past few years, the end had been thrust into war. Peace treaties were broken by the power hungry people of the overworld, and the nether sided with the stronger kingdom. The end had been on the losing side for a while now. Even with the high tensions, his brother, Prince Wemmbu, had still managed to find love outside of the kingdom. It was the scandal of the century if the secret came out, but Wemmbu had been secretly dating a human named Jaden from the overworld. They were madly in love, and Spoke was one of the few people who knew.
Spoke considered all of this for long enough, and he thought it good to return to the castle. Even though the end was a pretty safe place, attacks from the other kingdoms were still prominent. Passing through the marketplace, Spoke felt a sense of peace. The simple shops selling food and baked goods filled the air with a pleasant scent, making Spoke hungry. He approached the front doors, and the guards let him in without hesitation.
His father, King Minutetech, and Wemmbu, were waiting for him in the throne room. Wemmbu looked nervous.
"Spoke? Can we talk…?"
Minutetech had been acting strange lately. With the constant war with the nether and overworld kingdoms going on, he was always stressed. Spoke didn't have much to do around the castle, but he always had the company of his friends Mapicc and Eggchan. Egg was a royal advisor, and Mapicc was an immigrant from the nether kingdom.
"Yeah? What do you want to talk about!"
Spoke smiled at his father, hoping to offer him some kind of stress relief. The war had been raging on for 2 years now, and each day Minute seemed to be getting more worried.
"Can we go to a private room?"
"Of course."
Minute led Spoke and Wemmbu to one of the various meeting rooms.
"Why so formal? Why can't we just talk in the open." Wemmbu argued, adjusting the small tiara atop his head.
"I thought… you might want to have a more private space to talk about this."
"So what is it?"
Minute took a seat in one of the purple velvet chairs. He sighed, and his ears twitched, a typical nervous habit for voidlings.
"You know how the war has been getting worse lately. All of our overworld outposts have been completely captured, and the attacks on the capitol have been more frequent."
"Yes. But I thought the royal guard always handles it. They're experts at this stuff."
"Yes. But they grow tired from the relentless work. We all are tired. We need to end this war."
"How? How do we even get them to stop? The trade agreements they made are ridiculous!" Wemmbu interjected.
Minute sighed again.
"I had a meeting with the rulers the other day to discuss peace treaties."
"And?"
"They agreed to stop the attacks on a few conditions. Completely free trade with the end, we lower our tarrifs permanently."
"That's not so bad… we could recover in due time." Spoke sounded relieved.
"There was one more condition. They wanted a marriage between the two kingdoms."
"…What? You aren't saying…"
Wemmbu stared at Minute, looking horrified.
Minute looked at the table, avoiding eye contact.
"No. I can't."
Wemmbu put his hands in his hair, and buried his face in his hands. The soft purple hair covered him like a curtain.
Spoke knew why he was so upset. Because of Jaden, he didn't want to marry anyone else. Jaden was his one and only, his true love. Minutetech didn't know of their relationship, much like most others in the kingdom.
"Wemmbu. It's not so bad. You're the eldest. You would hold quite the power. I'm sure Prince Flame would marry you."
Wemmbu only seemed to spiral worse at that. He had met the prince on the battlefield before, and he had definitely not enjoyed their encounters.
"Please. Please don't make me do this." Wemmbu begged.
"It would be one life for hundreds of our people. Just one simple trade off."
Minute desperately tried to console Wemmbu, which clearly wasn't working. Spoke watched as his beloved brother and father argued, tears in Wemmbu's eyes as they fought.
"I'll do it."
They both turned to stare at him.
"Who all offered marriage? Was it just Flame?"
"Flame offered to marry Wemmbu. The Overworld King offered to marry you."
Spoke was silent.
"You mentioned Flame first. Why?" Spoke was trying to divert the attention away from himself.
"I thought Wemmbu would be able to hold his own with Flame. I don't know much about the Overworld King, but I know about Flame and the nether people from far before the war, when they used to be our allies. Now our list of allies grows thin, and there aren't any better ways to survive with our kingdom intact."
"I'll… consider it." Spoke tried to swallow past the tightness in his throat, and the unsettling panic growing in his stomach.
"Can I have a day to think?" Spoke asked, looking back at Wemmbu.
"Of course. You and Wemmbu can talk it over?"
Spoke nodded, before he and Wemmbu quickly rushed out of the room.
"Thank you." Wemmbu whispered, before turning to run down the hallway.
A few hours later, Spoke was sitting in his bedroom, talking to Jumper, his handmaiden.
"Maybe it won't be so bad." She mentioned while brushing the knots out of his hair. Spoke fidgeted with the rainbow hair ribbon as Jumper gently continued combing it.
"I'm just scared. I know I have to end this war. If I don't, everyone in this kingdom will die or become servants to the overworld. But what if he hurts me? I'll be away from all my friends, and you."
Jumper smiled.
"You won't miss me too much. I do nothing but bother you, remember?"
"Now that I'm leaving I can only remember moments like this. Safe in my own room with my friends."
"I know dear, but think about all of the people you'll be saving. So much bloodshed will be prevented."
Before Spoke could respond to that, there was a loud knock on the door.
"Come in."
"SPOKE!"
It was his closest friend Mapicc, still adorned in his suit of armour.
"Spoke I heard the news. You aren't seriously considering marrying him."
"I have to. It's for the good of the kingdom."
"What about Wemmbu?"
"I'm doing this for him too. He would probably rather die than marry prince Flame, and he wants to marry Jaden."
"Right. I forgot about that."
"It's alright. I just want him and the rest of the kingdom to be happy."
"But I can't lose my best friend…"
"I know. But you won't fully lose me, Im still alive and maybe I can come visit. And you understand the sacrifices we have to make for this kingdom. It's time I made mine."
Mapicc looked at Spoke, head down and full of acceptance.
"You've really grown, haven't you, little prince. We'll make sure that you are sent off safely." Jumper said, setting down the hairbrush. She ran her hands through Spoke's hair, something she often did to comfort him.
Mapicc sighed.
"If this is what you really want, then I'll stand by you for as long as I can. This is what's best for the kingdom, and I swore to protect both you and the people."
"Thank you."
"I'll be off unless you want me to stay."
"Please do. Once Minute sends out the letter, the wedding will probably be soon. I want to spend all my time with you before then."
He nodded, and took off his armour, and kicked it to the corner of the room before sitting down on the bed next to Jumper and Spoke.
"And you never know… maybe he'll be hot?" Mapicc said. Spoke laughed at that.
"I guess he is. I've seen him at meetings before, before the war. He always looked at me strange, but I never thought much of it."
"He's your age, isn't he? Maybe a few years older, but he is one of the younger kings in the history of the overworld." Jumper mentioned, continuing to play with Spoke's hair.
"Yeah, I heard that too. I think he's twenty-two."
"Nineteen and twenty-two isn't so bad. That's barely older than me!" Jumper laughed.
"Thats because you're like the oldest ever!"
"No I'm not!"
The three spent the rest of the night bickering and laughing, just as they usually spend their time.
The next day, Minute had taken to bombarding him with wedding preparations, venues, outfits, and more. Spoke just wanted to be left alone.
"You have to choose ten people, excluding me, for the guest list. And the dress already arrived with the response letter." Minute continued yapping.
"Dress? I have to wear a dress?"
"Yes. The letter stated that the king would have most control over wedding plans. Including the wedding garments."
Spoke surpressed a shudder.
"You have two days to decide about the guest list."
"Ok. Can I just… have a minute to myself?"
"Of course."
A few hours before the wedding, Jumper was helping Spoke get ready.
"You look beautiful, dear." Jumper said as she adjusted the bow in the back of Spoke's hair.
"I don't understand why I have to wear this. It's humiliating."
Spoke stared at himself in the mirror, looking at the beautiful black dress. It was floor length, with long, flowing sleeves that started after his shoulders, leaving them exposed. Chains of small pearl details cascaded around his shoulders and neckline.
"You look perfect. I promise." Jumper reassured.
"I guess. It's just not me."
"I have an idea!"
Jumper moved away from Spoke, and grabbed out some sewing materials and a small wooden box. Inside the box were various rainbow beads and small crystals.
"How about I take off the pearls, and I can sew these on instead."
"Won't they get mad?"
"Over a few beads? If your husband gets mad over some crystals, you have a different problem. And besides. It's your wedding. I want you to feel beautiful."
"It's an arranged marriage."
"Even still. I never got a glamorous wedding like yours. It was small, and my dress was basic."
"What was your wedding like?" Spoke asked.
"I was marrying my now-deceased wife. We both wore a dress, her's was short, and mine long. My dress was maybe even a little like yours, but without the flowing sleeves and fabric, and the top was a light pink corset. There was purple and magenta bows running down the skirt of the dress, and my wife had matching colors as well. We wanted to follow the traditions of the typical ender marriages, so we got married in the voided forest."
"That's a beautiful place to get married."
"Mhm. It was. I can still see it now. The small guest list, the food, the afternoon. It was the most wonderful day of my life. And I know yours won't be filled with the same joy and love, yet I still want to make you feel beautiful." Jumper said while taking out the previous bow, and tying Spoke's rainbow ribbon into a bow at the back of his head.
"Now just give me a few moments. You'll feel more yourself in no time."
Jumper got to quick work replacing the pearls with the rainbow crystals, and making sure to take extra caution with the delicate fabric of the dress.
After what seemed like forever to Spoke, she had finished.
"Do you feel better?"
"Yeah. That looks really nice. Thank you jumper."
"I'm going to miss you. You're always like a little brother to me. I hope you can come visit someday. And I hope you can find it in yourself to try and enjoy the wedding."
"I'll try. It's better with you here."
Jumper smiled, and ran her fingers through his hair one last time.
"Now let's go. You have places to be." Jumper took Spoke's hand, and grabbed the excess fabric of the dress so he could walk easier.
"Maybe the cake will be good."
"I'm sure it will be the best."