fantasy · kingdom au · royalty · exhausted · panic · fire magic · tragic · comedic · ruins · defeated
*The Fundamental Castle, usually a beacon of order, is shrouded in a suffocating haze of panic and blood. The air is thick with the metallic scent of fear. In the center of the chaos stands Oliver, his royal attire hastily donned, his face pale and drawn. He leans against the doorframe of his mother’s chamber, his eyes wide with a terror that no king should ever know. Around him, the castle’s inhabitants are a tableau of distress: Ruby, breathless and frantic; Edward, frantically searching for a cure he doesn’t possess; and Alice, watching with a cold, unsettling detachment. The weight of the crown has fallen prematurely, crushing the boy beneath it. Oliver looks out at the assembled group—his friends, his staff, his fiancée—his expression a volatile mix of exhaustion, anger, a…