George's POV
George sat up in bed suddenly at the knocking at his door. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and strode over to his door. He peeked out, seeing a servant.
"Prince George. This is your reminder that the first event starts in exactly one hour," the servant said before quickly curtsying and leaving.
George dragged a hand down his face and muttered, "Fan-fucking-tastic."
He dressed quickly in simple, but princely, attire. He had no idea what to expect for the first event, it could be anything. George quickly brushed his hair, rushing so he could get a good breakfast.
He mentally sorted through the map in his head of all the halls and rooms that he'd created yesterday. George could feel a headache forming as he closed the door to his room, stopping abruptly when he saw his mother.
"Good morning, George! Are you ready for today?" she asked with an excited smile as they started the walk to the dining hall, their arms linked.
"I've never been more ready," George replied, trying not to sound sarcastic.
His mother frowned. "George, we went over this. You are a talented young man and I know you can do great things. Don't let your fear of marriage stop this alliance that would benefit us in so many ways."
"I'm not afraid of marriage, Mother, I just don't want to marry some random prince."
"Some random prince? George, you're talking about Prince Clay. The prince. This is the wealthiest kingdom in all of the lands. A marriage with Prince Clay would boost the welfare of our home... Not to mention, he isn't so bad on the eyes, is he?" his mother added with a nudge in George's side.
"Mother!" George protested.
I'm not into guys, he almost said.
His mother just giggled softly. "Oh, George, please try," she said, becoming serious, "I know you have the potential to win. You partake in so many activities at home, all of which could possibly come to your advantage."
George didn't reply. He did participate in many things back at his home, but he wasn't going to use those skills in the tournament. He wasn't going to win... he'd make sure of it.
~
George held his breath in anticipation as a man walked up to the raised podium.
"Hello princes and princesses! Welcome to the first event!" the man exclaimed. "I'm Wilbur, the eldest prince and the Royal Advisor of the Southern Mainland Populace. I will be announcing and directing the events every week. Let's go through the rules...
"There is to be no cheating whatsoever. If you are caught being assisted by outside help or through other methods, you will be disqualified. You may not sabotage another competitor's chances at winning. If you don't win, please be a good sport and take it nicely.
"As you all know, there is no set amount of challenges. They will keep going until we are down to the last prince or princess. In each event you will either gain or lose points. Once you lose too many points, you lose, but you are able to stay and watch the rest of the tournament or you can return home.
"You have already been given the rest of the rules. Remember, if you are caught breaking one you will be disqualified... Alright, now let's get to today's event."
Wilbur's voice was commanding, yet kind. George felt compelled to listen, Wilbur had a way with words. George could barely tell that he was Prince Clay's brother. They acted and looked completely different.
Wilbur continued, "Each one of you has been raised to rule. You have all been preparing to become king or queen of your land one day, use those skills you have gained to help you in today's challenge. Alright... now let's begin.
"For today," Wilbur paused for dramatic effect before continuing, "For today, we are starting it off simple. Each of you are going to answer a riddle."
A riddle? George looked around and met equally confused princes and princesses' glances.
"I sense your confusion," Wilbur said with a chuckle, "your ability to answer the riddle correctly will give us insight into your abstract thinking and how much you can think out of the box. This could come in handy when devising war strategies or solutions to help the people. You will be timed, so there will be pressure on your completion time. I will be asking you all individually and afterwards, you will leave through a different door from which you came so there will be no cheating."
Wilbur went over a couple other instructions before directing everyone to sit and wait. The volunteering princes or princesses went first. One at a time, they entered a room.
George shifted in his seat uneasily. He was good at riddles, after all, he spent a lot of his time at home reading. He used to read about a mythical creature known as the sphinx, a being who asked questions in riddles.
George felt pretty confident that he could figure out an answer in a decent time, but that wasn't his plan. His plan was to lose the tournament without making it look like he did it on purpose.
He met Maia's gaze from across the room and smiled. She smiled back nervously. George looked away as he saw the first prince enter the room. George chewed on his lip as he thought.
His heart started to beat inexplicably fast. Relax, I just need to time this out, George thought as he took a deep breath and watched the next royal enter the room. The time differed with everyone; some took as much as twenty minutes, others took only one.
George waited a while before it was his turn. He stood up and nervously walked into the room. He sat at a table across from Wilbur.
Prince Clay's face lit up in a smirk at the sight of George and George had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. The prince was seated behind Wilbur next to a man George didn't recognize. The man had a scroll and a small circular object, which George assumed was a pocket watch for the timer.
Wilbur studied him for a moment, "Alright, Prince George, are you ready?"
George nodded slowly. Wilbur hummed something to himself and wrote on the scroll in front of him. He looked at George and took a deep breath.
"Remember, you are being timed. You will be scored on how long it takes you to answer and if you answer correctly, got it?"
"Yes," George replied, glancing at Prince Clay, who was watching him curiously.
George looked back to Wilbur as he started, "Let's begin... this is the riddle now: I am something people love or hate. I change peoples appearances and thoughts. If a person takes care of themselves, I will go up higher. To some people I will fool them... to others I am a mystery. Some people might want to try and hide me but I will show. No matter how hard people try I will never go down. What am I?"
George let the words settle in his head.
"Let me know if you need it repeated," Wilbur said quietly.
George chewed on his lower lip. Something people love OR hate... changing appearances... can be fooling and mysterious... never goes down.
"Never goes down," George muttered quietly to himself.
Suddenly it clicked and George had the answer. It hadn't taken him long, so he pretended to still be in deep thought.
He couldn't say the answer right away, that would give him too many points. George picked at his nails for a moment, stalling himself.
George dared to glance at Prince Clay. He found the prince staring at him with narrowed eyes. George couldn't identify what the prince was feeling, so he looked away. He met Wilbur's patient gaze.
"Age," George said quickly. Shit. Why did I rush myself? George figured it had something to do with how the prince looked at him. George sighed and repeated, "Age... the answer is age."
Wilbur nodded in approval and wrote something down on his scroll, the man beside Prince Clay doing something similar.
"Congratulations, Prince George! You got it right," Wilbur said, "You may leave now, don't worry about the door on your way out."
George nodded and mumbled his thanks. He looked at Prince Clay one last time. The prince was staring at some speck on the table, a bothered expression on his face. George furrowed his eyebrows and left.
Now he could go back to sleep.
~
Clay's POV
Clay sighed in relief as the last princess left the room. Even though the event had only taken a couple hours, he was tired of sitting and listening to the same boring riddle over and over again.
Wilbur and the servant who timed the responses were talking and reviewing their notes. Clay took that as his cue to leave. He walked past them and headed for the door.
"Clay, wait a moment," Wilbur said.
Clay internally groaned. He turned back around and watched the servant run off, his arms filled with papers.
"Yes, Wilbur, do you need something?"
Wilbur studied Clay for a moment before replying, "Did you pay attention to the royals and their responses?"
"Of course."
Wilbur had a skeptical look and he asked, "Do you have any predictions for the winner?"
Clay shrugged. "It's too early to tell."
"True... remember you need to interact with the princes and princesses. Make sure they feel welcome here. They need to know who they're marrying."
"Yeah," Clay said, inching towards the door, "Wilbur I know this already. I'm not completely useless."
"That's not what I meant."
"Whatever," Clay muttered and left the room quickly, avoiding Wilbur's scrutinizing stare.
He sighed in relief and dragged a hand through his hair. Now that the event was over, his day was free.
There was one thing that nagged at him― the one prince. Prince George. Clay remembered seeing the prince's face light up before it was changed into a faux look that pretended to be deep in thought. Clay could tell that Prince George knew the answer, but why didn't he say it right away?
Clay had no idea and that bothered him. Why would someone want to delay their response time? Unless... was Prince George trying to lose?
No, that wouldn't make sense, Clay thought to himself. He could feel a headache forming, so he left the thought alone.
Clay then went out in search of the only person who he could actually have fun with, his best friend.
"Sapnap!" Clay exclaimed when he saw his best friend leaving the training yard.
"Clay!" His friend greeted, "How was the event?"
"Meh, it was okay," Clay responded with less enthusiasm.
Sapnap nodded. He looked down at himself and then asked, "Wanna hang out? After I get out of my armor of course."
Clay nodded enthusiastically. Sapnap was a guard in the Royal Guard and he had training every morning and then the rest of the day off. Since there was no current war or conflict, the army wasn't active, so he had more free time, but he still had several duties within the castle.
Part of Clay envied Sapnap for his loose schedule and no royal duties, but it wasn't like he could do anything about it. Clay was a prince and Sapnap was not.
~
Later that evening, Clay and Sapnap snuck out of the castle. It was their routine they had going for quite a few years now.
Clay was shown little to no affection growing up, so he sought attention in other ways like rebelling or pranks... or, in tonight's case, partying.
Clay and Sapnap had met at one of the many parties Clay had attended and the two just stuck together since then. These 'parties' were nothing special. They were in barns with trashy lighting and horrible music that was played by some drunk band.
Clay liked them for that reason. The parties were nothing like his life in the castle. There weren't rules or restrictions, you could do what you want. And that's what Clay did. He and Sapnap would sneak some of the castle's wine out of the castle and into the parties. They would trade it out for some of the town's ale or beer that was less expensive and lower in quality, but different and something that Clay preferred.
The parties were always in town, never near the castle. Clay enjoyed the salty smell of the ocean and the ringing of the bells of the harbor. He didn't spend much time walking through the slums of the city, but if he did, he never bragged about being prince. He came to the parties to get away from that part of his life. It's not like anyone recognized him when they were all drunk or high anyways.
His parents had never noticed Clay coming home in the middle of the night or early in the mornings, they never cared about what he did. That worked in Clay's favor. It was Wilbur who always caught on. He was the one who noticed when Clay was hungover and sometimes still wasted in the mornings.
Wilbur tried talking to Clay about it, but Clay always pushed him away. He assumed the 'favorite child' wouldn't understand. Wilbur was never ignored. Clay was, and he sought action and fun to fill that part of him that wanted―that craved―attention.
His time spent partying with Sapnap wasn't exactly filling the void that wanted care, but it helped him. And Clay figured that that was enough.
So Clay and Sapnap headed into yet another party in a barn with no other expectations than to have fun. Oh, and yeah, to get wasted.