Chasing Shadows

Chapter One: Just another awful night

He clipped a gold ear ring onto each of his ears, and then decided to also wear the one piece of jewelry he actually liked.

He lifted a silver necklace over his head and let it rest on his shoulders, looking at it in the mirror. A big, silver snowflake hung in the necklace, and two smaller ones flanked it to either side. A few diamonds and opals were worked into the snowflakes, making them catch the light beautifully.

He loved it for a multitude of reasons. One of them was because his father hated it. He always told him it clashed with his colours, and with the robes he usually wore and all the wonderful golden accessories he'd gotten him. Sov agreed that it did clash, it stood out for miles, and that's kind of why he liked it too.

He'd also bought it for himself. It wasn't just another piece of just some royal treasure, it was his. It was his spark of defiance and individuality again his father, and no matter what he said, he wouldn't be able to make him stop wearing it, ever.

Sov lastly decided to stick golden caps onto each of his talons, thinking that that's enough. He already looked bedazzled enough, anything more and he'd be seriously ridiculous.
He looked at himself in the mirror, and quickly groomed his wings a little, making them look more proper too, before finally opening his door and stepping out of his dark room into the blinding light of the palace hallways.

It was dark outside, only the moon was shining in though the big windows, but the walls of the royal wing of the palace were inlaid with a ridiculous amount of gems and crystals, making it shimmer even in just a sliver of moonlight.

Sov blinked a few times, letting his eyes adjust and then hurried down the hallway, his wings swishing across the floor behind him.

As dreadful as the announcement may be, he had to admit that he was curious. Something in his mind told him that today was different. That today it wouldn't be about him at all, and it would actually be something interesting and not humiliating.

He stopped before the throne room, taking a deep breath to collect himself and then opened the door, stepping inside with as much grace as he could muster, even if it felt a bit theatrical.

"Ah," His father's voice echoed through the room. "There you are."

Sov looked up the steps that lead to the two thrones on the top. One was small, and silver, glittering with a few gems that were scattered over the throne like water droplets. It had purple, comfortable pillows, making it a bit more bearable to sit in it. The other throne beside him was huge, and golden, shining with rubies and diamonds. It had complex patterns reaching over it, most of them were war and victory themed.

His father towered on it, looking down at him with that same disapproving gaze as always. Sov knew that he was particularly glancing at his necklace again and he felt a pinch of triumph.

"Father," Sov bowed slightly and made his way over to his throne.
He felt someone else's gaze burn on him and he glanced towards them, despite already knowing who it was.

It was Ame, another royal, just beneath Soviet's ranking.

He had to squint slightly at the bright colours and insane amount of jewelry that covered the man. Sov always thought he looked like a clown who just stumbled into the palace and pretended to be a prince, but for some reason his father seemed more approving of Ame at times than he did of him. Which was fine obviously. If he had to dress like some clown who's outfit assaulted one's eyes then he wasn't sure if he really needed his approval after all.

Ame shot him one of his smug and snarky grins but Sov just rolled his eyes and looked away. His favourite activity appearently was to torment him, but thankfully he mostly left him alone when they were in public.