|Morning|
Jully•13•xxxx
The night had shed its starry coat, ushering in the dawn of another day. The scent of rain hung in the air and the normally warm environment was chilled by an unusually cool breeze. It was as if the land itself knew that it would be losing one of its precious suns today. Citizens gathered at the Western Passages under Mount Solaris. Six years ago, these passages were the scene of great joy as Tobi and Nikiro were welcomed into the Solarian court. Today, it was the place where a treasured Prince would leave his family behind for good. Ea was never as socially inclined as Sin, nor as insightful as Ri-is or as athletic as Avarice, but he was a righteous and dutiful man with a kind soul and the brilliance worthy of the title of Prince of Solaria. Illya was draped in a cloak and forcing herself to stand upright. Her sons and daughters stood behind her as Callisto assisted her through the passages.
"...Today...is a day I wished would have never come. Today we lose a beloved sun in Solaria's sky. My second Son, Prince Ea, has chosen to step down as Prince and go into exile to atone for his sins with regards to the death of our Priestess of Fire, Tah Min Haan. Words cannot begin to describe the pain it brings me to banish my own blood. Nevertheless, he has thought it over and has made a decision by his own choice. As per tradition, the next in line after the Prince to be exiled will perform the rites."
Ri-is stepped forward and walked over to his brother. Bandages were wrapped tightly around Ea's eyes, his expression held nothing. There was just...stillness. Ri-is looked down at the Solarian crest on Ea's cloak. He wrapped his fingers around it and pulled on it. It had been firmly pinned in place and didn't seem to budge. He tried again with the same result. A frustrated huff echoed past Ri-is' lips.
Avarice tapped his shoulder and leaned in to whisper. "Do you need help?"
Ri-is shook him off in an uncharacteristic burst of anger. "I can do it!"
He resumed his minstrations but trying to untangle the pin from the cloak was significantly harder with one hand. Before he could get any more frustrated, hands placed themselves over his own. Ri-is looked up at Ea. He had grabbed Ri-is' hand and moved it with his own, pulling the pin from his cloak. The cloaked slipped off of his shoulders and was caught by Yiran who had stood behind Ea. Ri-is' gaze shifted downwards as he stepped to the side, allowing Ea to step forwards.
"Prince Ea Altair Omarosa has admitted to his involvement in the unfortunate death of the sacred Priestess of Fire, Tah Min Haan."
Despite his seemingly stone cold composure, Ri-is and Yiran both noticed the way Ea's hands closed into fists as Ri-is read out his offence.
"By his own choice, Prince Ea is to step down as Second Prince and is hereby exiled from Solaria. Are there any final words you'd like to say to the people?"
Ea took a deep breath. "I sincerely apologize for letting you all down. It was never my intention to cause harm to anyone, but even well intentions can turn fatal when one loses their composure. I should have taken extra precaution given the injury to my eyes. I should have remained calm, but I did not and the blood of the innocent is the price I paid for my negligence. Today I stand before you, not as your Prince, but as a man who has just slaughtered his greatest friend with the very blade he swore to protect her with. I don't know if she's watching, but Tah Min..." A long pause followed as Ea's voice cracked and he could feel his throat constricting, desperately trying to repress the cries that began to rise from within him. "Tah Min...I am truly sorry that I wasn't able to...to tell you how much I loved you...how much I still do and how it absolutely kills me to know that I am the reason for your death. So Tah Min if you're really watching right now, thank you for your many years of friendship. I love you, goodbye."
Ea stepped back, the silence lay on his skin like a poison. It seeped into his blood and paralyzed him. Tensing against the shaking of his limbs was useless, but he did so anyway. The silence felt like chains that strangled him mercilessly. He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Yiran, who judging from his labored breaths, was biting back his own cries as well. The gathering ended with a closing word from Illya, who spoke with the wariness and fatigue of a mother who could do nothing but watch her son crumble under his own guilt.
When it ended, Ea wasted no time in getting Yiran to bring him to the docks. The wood groaned beneath their feet as they walked upon it. What little daylight there was, seeped through the gaps in the wooden planks, shimmering on the water below. By then, Ea had been fully stripped of his princely garb, now dressed in much simpler garments. A dark cloak draped over his shoulders and covered his head as the sky began to weep. Illya had held him for what felt like hours. She choked out reassuring words, desperately wanting to ease his pain and he rambled out more apologies for leaving when she was so sick. As a mother, she thought she should honour her son's resolve, but it was much easier said than done. When Callisto finally got her to let go, Ea was promptly enveloped by everyone else, his brothers and sisters unable to mask their heartache. A gentle tug on his fingers alerted him to his side.
"...where will you go?" Came Egan's shaky voice.
Ea smiled. "I don't know. On an adventure perhaps?" He laughed weakly, ruffling the boy's hair.
"Can I come with you?" He had spent quite a bit of time hanging around the palace, but the boy had come to the realization that the place he felt the most comfortable, was at Ea's side. The news that he would be going into exile hit him hard.
"I'm afraid you'll have to stay here kiddo...you won't be alone...I promise. You'll have a good life here. A roof over your head, warm clothes, food. You probably won't get that if you come with me."
"I don't care! Please take me with you! None of that stuff will even matter if you're not gonna be there!"
Ea knelt pulling Egan into his arms. "I'm sorry buddy. Can you do something for me?"
Egan, clinging to Ea's cloak nodded quickly.
"Since I won't be around anymore, I'm going to need someone to look out for everyone else here. Things like making sure my brothers and sisters are safe, mother is healthy, father doesn't lose his mind trying to do too much to keep things together. I can think of no one better for the task than you. You think you can do that for me?"
Egan nodded again, mumbling out a "yeah" and Ea stood up.
"Thank you. Take care of yourself too alright. If you ever get lonely, try talking to Isabelle, I'm sure she'd be more than willing to help you out...her favourite flowers are forget me nots...y'know...just in case you wanna get her something...in the future maybe."
Egan swatted his hand with a huff and Ea laughed. Before he let Yiran lead him onto the ship, he reached out for Sin and Sin grabbed his hand to let him know he was there.
"Don't beat yourself up too much okay. I know you like to take responsibility for our safety and wellbeing but we're adults now. We made our choices, some may not have resulted in the outcomes we expected but we made them nonetheless. You don't have to feel responsible for that okay. I'll...move on...there's nothing else I can do really..."
Sin pulled him in for a hug. "Alright...I get it. Please just...be okay...you'll be okay."
"...yeah..."
Callisto was the last to smother Ea in a hug, giving him a bag of food and extra clothes to tide him over until the ship reaches its destination. Ea leaned towards Yiran as he led the former prince up the ramp to and onto the ship. As their heads disappeared over the railing of the ship, the rain began to pour even harder and for once, the warm, sunny country of Solaria was misted over by the clouds and rain.
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