“Enter.” Evander Featherdash’s voice calls out from behind the heavy oak doors. Taking a deep breath, and steeling himself as much as he can, Ceridwen Starhawk hesitantly pushes them open, entering the chamber with his father, two guardsponies standing guard on either side.
“Leave us.” Featherdash instructs, and the two guards file out of the room, shutting the gates behind them, leaving Ceridwen alone with the older stallion. Crossing his hooves on the desk and leaning forwards, Featherdash’s gaze seems to burrow into Ceridwen’s soul. “Explain yourself.” The question was simple, emotionless, and straightforward, just as Ceridwen would expect from his father.
“Seren was in heat, drunk, and drugged, Sir.” Ceridwen states icily. “I was unwilling to trust anypony I didn’t personally know with her given her present state. She would have flirted with anypony you sent with her at the time.” There was a very good reason that ponies tended to avoid drinking when in heat, after all.
Featherdash sighs. “You don’t think I know that? I would have sent her with female guardsponies. Should I interpret this as a lack of trust in my own judgement, son?” There is the barest hint of reproach, or perhaps annoyance, in his otherwise flat tone.
Ceridwen shakes his head. “No, Sir, of course not. Only, with all due respect, I wouldn't trust the female guards with her either. Seren can be... Quite charming, and I did mean she’d have flirted with anypony.”
Featherdash snorts derisively. “Big deal. Such a liaison wouldn’t get her pregnant, it would be easy enough to cover up. At your ages our main concern must be to form alliances, and now the best opportunity has passed for both of you. You should have been betrothed years ago, now look at you.”
It takes all of Ceridwen’s mental fortitude to resist lunging at the dastard in front of him, or at least screaming at him. So instead, he simply remains silent, staring his father down with grim intensity.
“Nothing else to say for yourself, then?” Featherdash remarks. “You know perfectly well the needs of the family outweigh that of any individual pony. As it is, we’ll have to compensate for your lapse of judgement.” Sighing, Featherdash removes the pair of spectacles he is wearing and leans back in his chair. “You will be taking more etiquette classes and attending every formal event you can reach until you find a suitable partner. You and Seren are both popular with the opposite gender, I’m frankly in shock you haven’t managed to acquire any value for us yet. I was married when I was fifteen years old.”
Ceridwen barely resists rolling his eyes or groaning in response. Yeah, and Mom’s regretted it ever since. “Of course, sir.” Is all he actually states in response, though.
“Fortunately for you, I do not have time to discipline you further. I have work to attend to on the frontier, and much to take care of before I leave. But if I learn you’ve been shirking in your role any further next time I return, you can say goodbye to all of your precious books.” Evander dictates, turning back to the graphs and financial charts littering his desk. “That will be all. Dismissed.”
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Ceridwen is largely left to his own devices until lunch later that day. As usual, his mother drags him out of his observatory three times a day; breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Ceridwen figures that she probably just wants to make sure he gets at least some social contact and doesn't completely isolate himself.
Closing the doors behind him, Ceridwen looks around the mess hall. “Where is Father?” He asks, idly, as he strolls up to take a seat by his mother. He could have sat anywhere at the immense table, of course, but if it's just the two of them he might as well sit next to her.
Beira Snowgleam sighs, shaking her head. “He’s left again, already. I suppose something came up during the promenade that he wanted to deal with.” Ceridwen nods, feeling more than a little relieved by that.
His mother did not seem to feel the same way, however. Frowning, she looks over at her son. “He seemed upset by something, and I haven’t seen Seren since yesterday. Did something happen at the Promenade?”
Ceridwen nods. He guesses he shouldn’t be surprised that nopony had bothered to tell her; after all, father probably wanted to keep it as under wraps as possible. He briefly considers being all delicate and vague like most aristocrats probably would be, but quickly decides that isn’t his style. “Some rotten dastard from the Powell family drugged Seren and tried to rape her.” He explains bluntly. “The guards got to me before I could beat the pulp out of him, but I at least kicked him off her. She’s still in her room, I’d guess.”
Perhaps as was to be expected, his mother stares at him utterly aghast. “He did what?” She asks, as though she hadn’t heard him correctly, or thought the explanation would change.
“You heard me.” Ceridwen states, clenching his jaw and looking off to the side. “Father won’t let me go after the dastard though.” His spartan expression slips as he snarls. “I should have killed him when I had the chance. I had him right there in my hooves... I could have killed him. I should have killed him.” Somehow, he feels that he will feel regret from that for the rest of his life.
Beira leans over forwards and puts a hoof to her head, in shock. “Oh dear heavens... To think such a thing was happening right under my nose. Thank the stars that you were there.” She breathes out, almost in awe. “I’m glad that you’re both okay, that’s what’s most important. I can’t stomach the thought of anything happening, to either of you.”
Neither pony says anything, nor touches their food, for some time, seemingly processing events. Eventually, Ceridwen looks up. “Well, that’s one of you, anyways.” He mutters, sullenly.
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Beira frowns. “Whatever do you mean, dear? You know I’m immensely proud of you.”
Starhawk scrunches up his face, thinking back to the previous conversation with Evander. “Father didn’t seem to feel the same. He was upset that we didn’t make any matches at the promenade.” He explains, trying to keep the venom from his voice.
“Oh, honey...” Beira says slowly, her brow curled in an expression of sympathy, as she reaches over to take his hoof in her own. “You know how he is. As long as he’s gone, we all at least have each other. We need to look after one another, right?” She smiles at him, as she reaches over to gently part his mane. “You did a wonderful job, Hawky. Whenever you one day find a match, she’ll be a lucky mare indeed to have such a dashing and gallant young stallion.”
Ceridwen smiles faintly at the praise, but remains somber. There is another long moment of silence, before Ceridwen finally responds. “...Why did you marry him?” He frowns, looking over at her. “He’s so different from you, he’s so... Cold.”
There is an awkward moment of silence at the question. Ceridwen knows that he isn’t supposed to say such disrespectful things about his father, and he wagers that his mother is debating whether or not to scold him for it as she hesitates, but recent events have him feeling perhaps a little more bold than usual.
Sighing, Beira relents, gaze becoming distant as she looks forwards. “You didn’t know him, back then. He was... Courteous, refined, dashing, handsome. The spitting image of the gentlecolt knight he portrayed.” For a moment, she smiles, thinking back, and giggles softly. “In a way, you remind me of him, actually, though he was certainly not as intellectual.”
Beira grows solemn once more, continuing. “It was only... After you two were born, that he changed. He started becoming more distant, spending more time at work. Before I knew it, he’d cut me out of his life. In retrospect, I realized he only wanted me for my family name and to produce heirs for him. A real social climber, no matter what he broke on the way.”
The mare smiles wistfully at Ceridwen. “But in the end, I don’t regret a thing. Because that got me you and Seren, and I couldn’t be more proud of either of you.” Sighing, she shakes her head. “Still. Its a good lesson for you to learn, and doubly so Seren. She reminds me too much of myself when I was younger, and it frightens me. You deserve better than that.”
Ceridwen frowns, sympathetically. It was the exact reason he hated formal events; Everypony with their own agenda, none saying what they mean. Trust was merely an illusion at the top of society. Staring down at his food, he struggles to work up an appetite. "I see." He ends up replying, simply.
At some point, Beira places her hoof over his, drawing his gaze up to the deep blue eyes both he and his sister had inherited from her. "Just promise me you two will look after each-other, alright?"
Ceridwen nods. "Of course. You know I'll try." That's all he can truly be sure of, and he wouldn't vow things he wasn’t certain he could keep.
Beira leans back in her chair, still processing the conversation. "Well... For now, you ought to eat. We can worry about such things... later. Just try and relax."
Ceridwen nods and, albeit with a strong sense of reluctance, stabs his fork into his food.
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Seren had been on her balcony for hours.
Ceridwen had first seen her standing there shortly after lunch. Not doing anything, just... sitting there. He'd caught sight of her when he'd entered the observatory, due to its fantastic view of the other tower that jutted up from the palace. But, she'd asked him to give her some time to herself, so he did so.
But when he was on his way to his bedroom that night, she was still there. Staring off into the sky, like his sister had been replaced with a statue. He tried to just brush past it, go to bed and try to sleep, but he found the thought was bugging him. Eventually, he went and checked again, and surely enough, there she was, only dimly visible silhouetted against a starlit sky, night-toned coat blending into the darkness beyond. The nights were dark, almost pitch black, ever since the moon had vanished; he barely remembers what they used to look like, with how young he'd been at the time. At least the lesser amount of light in the sky made the stars more visible.
Ceridwen stands there, gazing out the window towards his sister's repose for a long moment, before reluctantly sighing and taking flight. He had to make sure she was okay.
His sister doesn’t react as he lands on the platform some ways away from her. “Seren?” Ceridwen Starhawk starts, uncertainly. “Are you alright? It’s late, you should really get some sleep.”
“Do you remember what happened yesterday, after the incident?” The response from Seren came without any apparent relevance to what Ceridwen had asked, causing the pegasus to frown.
“What?” Ceridwen scratches his head in confusion. “Seren, what's bothering you?” Frowning, the midnight blue pegasus sits down beside his sister. Was she angry at him for not pushing her away more when she’d been drugged..?
Seren takes a deep breath and huffs it out, setting her jaw fiercely. “ ‘This fiasco could have had dire ramifications for our family if word had gotten out.’ That’s what he said. I might not have been in my most fit mindset, but I was still right there, I heard the whole conversation. And he had the audacity to say that, right. In front of me.” She snarls, suddenly standing bolt upright and rounding on Ceridwen furiously. “He’s never been around! He’s always on one of his damn political missions. And when somepony tries to... To... Rape me...” Seren almost gags as she says that, choking up at the thought before abruptly turning back on her heel towards the night sky again. “That’s all he has to say. That it would be bad if word got out. Nopony wants ‘used goods’, after all, right?”
Ceridwen recoils, unsure what to say. “S-Seren... You know he’s never exactly been-”
“I know! I know exactly what he is!” Seren cuts Ceridwen off. “I’ve always known. I guess I just... Wanted to believe otherwise...” The mare stares down at the ground, tears collecting in the corners of her eyes, but her expression is not one of sorrow but cold, implacable resolve. “Well. I’m not going to just sit here and take it. I refuse to just be a pawn in his stupid heavensdamned politics and intrigue.” Shaking her head furiously, Seren stomps a hoof down. “I’m going to make my own future, father be damned.”
Ceridwen steps back, unsure what to say. He wants to comfort her, to make her feel better, yet he can't do so without lying. She is, ultimately, right; he feels the same way. Maybe all he can offer is solidarity. So, he eventually nods. "I'm sorry. But, you still have me, and Mom, and Saoirse too. We'll be right there with you." He tries to offer, reassuringly.
But it doesn't seem to quite have the desired effect. For some reason Ceridwen can't understand, Seren just winces and looks away. "It's... Fine, Ceridwen." She responds in a cold tone that sounds painfully similar to the one his father usually used. "Don't worry about it. Just... Go and get some sleep. I'll be here."
Ceridwen instinctively reaches out, a pang of loneliness hitting his heart at that reaction. Why was she cutting him off like that? But... She'd had a difficult day. He understood that. So, with more than a hint of reluctance, he turns around. "Alright, Seren. Just... Take care, okay?" The only response he gets is a 'mhm' sound, as she sits there and stares up towards the stars. Unsurely, Ceridwen lifts off, and soars back down to the nearest entrance to the palace proper.