Desert Fantasy AU 1
7 Aug 2012 20:05From the time he was young, he sat at his father's side on the softest of pillows to watch the movements of Court. Great books, of fantasy and adventure or of scholarly pursuits, served as his barrier between the social aspects and gave him the chance to learn even more without seeming to do so.
When the new vizier came to power he knew something was wrong, stripling though he was, and retreated farther into his books to instinctively hide himself from the too-knowing eyes. He watched his father change from a gregarious man of stern discipline and certainty into a vague and ineffectual leader. He saw his own lessons go from being about rule and law to being nothing more than distractions and how the vizier was always there with a new toy to keep him from seeking true knowledge.
It didn't stop him from learning, from striving to be the best prince that he could be, from fighting in small, slow ways to keep his people safe, but it taught him to be small, and subtle, and quiet while appearing to be indolent, larger than life, and loud.
He was riding the desert in a bid for some small freedom from watching eyes and listening ears as he turned over the latest changes the vizier had made to the castle's servants and he attempted to figure out how to keep his own still employed and still his, and how to keep the harem safe from the vizier's appetites.
When the new vizier came to power he knew something was wrong, stripling though he was, and retreated farther into his books to instinctively hide himself from the too-knowing eyes. He watched his father change from a gregarious man of stern discipline and certainty into a vague and ineffectual leader. He saw his own lessons go from being about rule and law to being nothing more than distractions and how the vizier was always there with a new toy to keep him from seeking true knowledge.
It didn't stop him from learning, from striving to be the best prince that he could be, from fighting in small, slow ways to keep his people safe, but it taught him to be small, and subtle, and quiet while appearing to be indolent, larger than life, and loud.
He was riding the desert in a bid for some small freedom from watching eyes and listening ears as he turned over the latest changes the vizier had made to the castle's servants and he attempted to figure out how to keep his own still employed and still his, and how to keep the harem safe from the vizier's appetites.