The next morning, you find yourself sitting beside Karkat, feeding your crow breakfast and waiting for the troll to wake up. He's sleeping so peacefully, practically dead to the world. You didn't know he could purr. Guess you're not that far in your "How To Troll" book yet. You should really give that a read sometime. You push the hair out of his face, watching him carefully. His nose twitches, but otherwise he stays asleep. You consider kissing him awake, like in the fairy tales, but instead you gently set your crow on the princes shoulder. Your feathered friend pecks at his hair, finally causing Karkat to stir. He opens an eye half way, grumbling in a groggy voice, "Equius...?"
"No, who is this Equius fellow you keep mentioning? Does he usually peck you good morning? What's going on here?" you start blabbering, since you had a lot to say and had been waiting all night to say it, "Well, the good news is that I got the vials correct and your guards are all alive, so congratulations on that. Also, I heard you had a speech today. Officially announcing the marriage, hm? Just remember that I can't protect you if you chose incorrectly. Either way, I think your ability to public speak is endearing. I'm not much of a public speaker myself, actually I'm not much of a public anything. Maybe some sort of sick, twisted icon, but nothing worth bragging about."
He sits up and the crow flies from his shoulder, causing him to yelp and point, "Is...Is that a bird...? In my room?"
You watch the crow move back to your shoulder. "Yes," you glance up at it, "I'm sure it is. I didn't ask him if he was otherwise."
Karkat chuckles at that and cocks his head to the side, "Did you name him?"
You panic. You'd never once thought to name him, "Uh, Crother," You mentally slap yourself for such a stupid name, but you panicked and decided to smash together the first two words that popped into your head, Crow and Brother. Hopefully the prince doesn't notice.
He seems to pay it no mind. "Crother...I like it. Very unique. I suppose I should give you an answer for an answer, so no. Equius is my personal guard. He normally wakes me up in the morning. Speaking of which, what are you doing here? You could've killed me in my sleep."
"But I didn't," you say calmly, "I told you, I don't have to kill you if you make the right decisions."
He frowns, "...what if i don't know what the right decision is? What if..." he trails off.
"What if what?"
Karkat hesitates a moment before speaking, refusing to meet your eyes, "What if my mind is telling me what I'm supposed to do...but my heart is telling me what I really want? What do I do then?" He glances up at you.
"Depends on what you're being told," you sit straighter. You may look calm on the outside, but on the inside you've already had three major heart attacks.
He looks away and nods, standing, "I should get ready. Equius will be here to collect me soon."
You hesitate for a moment before asking, quietly, "what is your 'heart' telling you to do?"
The prince stops dead in his track, his heart skipping a beat as he looks back at you, a small, weak smile forming on his lips, "...I'm not sure yet...We're still trying to straighten that out..."
You clear your throat, blushing slightly and stand up, "Of course. Should I leave? Since you need to get ready and all..."
He shrugs, opening his closet doors, "I suppose if you must...will you be there?"
You nod, staring at him for a moment, "Yes, I will, but I don't think I'll get to talk to you there."
The troll chuckles softly, "We both know you'll be here tonight."
You smile, "Yes, I suppose I'll see you tonight then."
He bites his lip, staring at you a moment before he leans forward and presses a gentle kiss to your cheek, slowly pulling away and muttering, "My heart told me to do it," You blush and smile wider, your heart racing as you walk backwards to the balcony, "P-Please do be careful, David. I look forward to seeing you later..." he rubs the back of his neck nervously.
"Yes, I will. I mean, me too. I mean-" you bump into the ledge, "Okay..." He cracks a smile, biting his lip and offering a small wave. You wave back before climbing up and jumping back off the ledge.
~
Your name is PRINCE KARKAT VANTAS OF THE LAND DWELLING TROLLS and you're currently shaking in your boots. You're standing in front of MILLIONS OF PEOPLE, both troll and human, from all three lands. Everyone came to see you, PRINCESS FEFERI OF THE SEA DWELLING TROLLS, and PRINCE DIRK OF THE HUMANS. They're waiting for you to make your decision. No one but David and yourself knows who you are going to choose. You bow before the princess, your eyes scanning the crowd for David. You finally catch his eye. He's in the back, sitting on one of the highest pillars to watch. It's a surprise no one noticed him but he sends Crother to go perch on your shoulder. You flush and the crowd gasps. They know he is near, seeing how they fearfully scan the sky and everywhere around, and they all know they're lives are in danger. Or so they think.
You mutter for the bird to return to its master. As it flies off, you address the crowd, "Everyone, calm down. He will do us no harm. I swear on my life. He is no threat to us. Not today."
Prince Dirk takes your hand in his own, leaning down and brushing his lips over it. "I couldn't have said it better myself, my prince," He flashes you a smile, his bright orange irises gleaming. David frowns and glares at a tree nearby. You're beginning to sense that he's jealous. Crother returns and perches back on his shoulder. As you look between David and Dirk, you begin to notice slight similarities. They both had whitish blonde hair, unusually colored eyes, and similar facial structures. Then you realize why they look so similar. They're related. Dirk turns you towards the crowd to address the people. David glares at you, or rather seems to be. He crosses his arms and locks his jaw. Oh yes, he was jealous.
You clear your throat and stand up straighter as you begin to speak, "After much consideration, I have come to a conclusion. As you all know by now, I am to be wed to unify the lands. I have finally made my decision. Though I'm well aware that the unity of the land dwellers side of Alternia and the sea dwellers side of Alternia is very important, I've decided to take the first step in bringing our human neighbors closer to us. So," You turn to Dirk, take his hand, and look up at him. "Prince Dirk, would you do me the honor of marrying me and unifying our lands?"
He smiles and nods, "The pleasure would be all mine," The crowd cheers at the news, but David doesn't. You watch him from the corner of your eye as he stands up, turns, and jumps off the pillar. He pulls his hood on, trying to blend into the crowd, who didn't seem to notice him or just didn't care. You'd love to reach out and stop him, but he's already gone.
~
After the speech, you return to Karkat's palace. You're sitting on the prince's bed, legs crossed. You didn't even bother to take your boots off. Crother is no longer there. You've been casually carving a tiny statue out of the wood in your hands for the past few hours, waiting for the troll to arrive. It seems like eternity before Karkat quietly steps into the room, closing the door behind him, "...Hello..."
You look up and give him a smile that may or may not have been forced, "What do you think? It's you and the, uh, human prince" you hold up the statuette. The prince's hair was all wrong, but that's because you were making yourself before you started to correct it.
He purses his lips, "You mean your brother."
You freeze before calmly saying, "I mean the human prince."
"Who is your brother," He sighs softly, "...come...I want to show you something..." You get up, following him and trying to act calm. He leads you to the tallest watchtower in the palace. There is no roof so you have an amazing view of the stars, "Beautiful, isn't it?"
"They're just stars" you say, even though you love them.
He frowns, sitting on the ground, "You don't think they're beautiful?"
You try to sound cold and distant but Karkat could see it on your face that you admired them, "No. You don't look at a wall and say its beautiful, do you?"
"You might. Maybe the wall has a beautiful mural painted on it. Remember, this isn't a wall, David," He's silent for a minute or two, just staring at the sky, "My father used to bring me up here all the time..." He says as he lays back, "He would tell me about our ancestors...how they over threw the grand high blood and broke away from the sea dwellers...of course, this was back when he had time for me..."
You hesitantly sit beside him, "Tell me about him," You quickly add, "Not as an assassin asking for information. As a friend, interested in your life."
"My ancestor? Or my father?" He asks, looking up at you.
"Your father telling you about your ancestor," you lie next to him, "I'd like to think that's the just about as interesting as it could get."
He stares up at the stars, "He used to tell me about how our ancestor, the Signless, was persecuted because my family has mutated blood. He had a large group of followers who helped him dethrone the high bloods. They made us all equal. The sea dwellers broke away to keep their hemospectrum. All the land dwelling trolls are equal now. My family was made the rulers of our new land as compensation for the other classes wrongdoings."
"How old were you then?" you turn to face him.
"This all happened far before I was born... My dad would tell me these stories when I was young. Three, maybe four sweeps old..."
"So you would sit here and he'd tell you stories?" you stare at him, a little envious.
He nods, "Yes..." he smiles fondly, "He's far too busy now..." He pauses before glancing over at you, "David?"
"Yes?" You pretend you weren't staring at him, glancing up at the sky.
"Do you ever fantasize about your dream life?"
You purse your lips, "Yes, I do. Why?"
He turns on his side so he's facing you, "I try not to think about it. It makes me sad, yet I catch myself daydreaming all the time..."
"What do you fantasize about?" You ask, pushing a bit of hair out of Karkat's face.
He smiles weakly, "Becoming an actor. Being in romantic plays where I would meet my true love. We'd travel all over the lands to preform, and once I got too old, we would move out to the country. We'd have a nice little house, maybe an acre or two. We'd have a garden, one bedroom, one bath, a living room with a fireplace, and a kitchen. In the winter we would curl up by the fire together. No more controlling millions of people on thousands of acres of land. Just me in control of me and my land...and I'd die happy. Free... Doesn't that sound nice? I could go on for hours about it."
"It's a beautiful dream. I'd love to hear more about it," You smile, "How about I sneak you out for a play tomorrow? Would you go with me?"
He blinks in shock and then breaks into a huge grin, "Of course. I'd love to."
"It will be later in the night though," You point out, "You'd have to stay up."
His hand slips into yours, "I don't mind."
You smile wider, "Great," you gently squeezes the prince's hand, even though you mentally tell yourself you shouldn't.
Karkat bites his lip, returning his gaze to the sky, "I'll be at your palace in a few days for dinner. A celebration of the marriage or something of the sort."
"It's not my palace," you correct him, letting go of his hand.
The troll frowns, turning on his back, "...So then you wont be there?"
"I doubt I will. I don't have much of a reason to come," The troll stays quiet. You look up at the stars, "Unless you want me there..." You mutter.
He shakes his head, "If you don't want to go, it's alright..."
"I'd only go if you'd be there to talk to me," You glance at him, "I don't care for the rest of them."
"It would mean a lot to me..." Karkat mumbles.
"I'll be there," you smile a little.
He smiles in return, though its forced, "Good."
You don't seem to notice, looking back up at the stars, "So do you like my brother?"
"That's the first time I've ever even seen him..." he says quietly.
"It's not the first time he's seen you though," you stretch a bit.
"It isn't?" He looks confused.
"No. We- He, saw you give your first speech," You tell him, and no, you aren't blushing. It's just the lighting.
He turns to look at you, obviously catching the 'we', "...did you think it was good?"
"It was great," You give him a small smile, "You're a natural."
He grins, "Good...do you think he liked it too?"
You nod, "He told me he did."
"...Do you think he likes me?"
You scoff, "Who doesn't?"
"I'd like to say a lot of people loathe me..."
"Prove it," You retort.
Karkat frowns, "How?"
"If you can't, its false. I don't think anyone loathes you. Envy, sure. Loathe? I think not."
He seems to call your bluff, "Obviously if someone wanted my head then at least one person does..."
"Envy, Karkat. They envy you."
The troll sighs and looks up at the sky, "It's getting late..."
You frown, "Should I leave?"
He hesitates, weighing the options, "At this point I see no reason for you to. If we both know you're going to be watching me either way and that you'll be sitting at my side waiting for me to wake up tomorrow morning, why bother leaving?"
"Are you suggesting I stay the night?" You prop yourself up on your elbows to look at him.
The prince sits up, "I suppose so."
You chuckle, "That's not the best thing to say to an assassin. Why do you even trust me?
He stops, staring at you for a long moment before saying in a hushed voice, "Because my heart is telling me to."
You smile slightly, "Alright. I'll stay then."
The troll smiles a little and stands, holding a hand out to you to help you up, "I knew you would."
"You know me too well already then," you take his hand, standing up.
"I'd like to think we're getting to know each other fairly well. This is an odd relationship that we have, but it's functional, and although you were originally sent here to kill me, I'm very glad to have you here now."
"I'm glad to be here," you put your arm around Karkat's shoulder, "No matter how confusing the relationship is, " He smiles softly, taking your hand in own and leading you back to his room. You feel a flutter in your stomach and you know exactly what it means. You've known since you first saw the troll when you were fourteen years old. You truly have fallen in love. You just wish he wasn't engaged to your brother.