ok i can’t say much because it is literally PAST MIDNIGHT and my mom might wake up at any second and i may never be heard from again
adrian’s tattoo is a magic sigil that allows him to cast Cool Spells; most magic-users take a paper charm with their sigil of choice on it, which allows them to switch out sigils and thus cast different types of spells, but adrian has chosen to focus on one form of magic (fire) permanently with his tattoo; as a result, he’s Really good at fire magic but can’t cast any other magic. and also he doesn’t have to carry paper charms all over the place which thank gosh bc they’re pretty annoying to handle
perdix’s home kingdom is in a mountainous forest region that’s quite cold and gets little sunlight in the winter months. thus he is a pasty blonde and prefers lots of layers
he also thus had lots of trouble adjusting to the northern kingdom’s climate/blazing sunlight/lack of layers
adrian loves perdix’s like. face. like sometimes adrian wakes up early just to look at perdix’s face while he’s asleep
perdix loves adrian’s smile (as discussed in depth in an older post) and especially his hands. he thinks they’re so elegant and pretty :’)
theirrrrrr first kiss was probably like. they snuck out at night into the depths of the northern palace’s rose garden (of course) and look around to see if anyone else is looking more than they look at each other, and then then they turn around at the same time and adrian grabs perdix’s face and they kiss for like a millisecond and then they’re like , okay, and then they run away and don’t talk for like a week
perdix has attempted fire magic before
adrian has nearly burned to death
perdix’s old kingdom once sent an envoy with a letter from his parents, and perdix ripped up the letter in the envoy’s hands and sent them away
perdix has struggled a while with frustration that his parents’ decision to marry him off to adrian allowed him to meet the love of his life; he has always tried to keep himself from thinking about them because it just drives him crazy because his present happiness is because of them and he hates them and they meant to humiliate him, but if he shows that he’s miserable then it just makes them feel better. these envoy visits often end with him feeling hateful and lonely
adrian can’t cook (except for making honeyed tea and like. arranging cookies on a plate) and perdix can only cook one dish, lamb chops. on the 5th anniversary of their marriage, perdix wanted to cook this for adrian and used the palace kitchen, and the northern kingdom chefs learned a new southern mountains dish that day :)
perdix eventually tried the chefs’ rendition of the lamb and was kinda upset because it was so much better
adrian is 5′6.5″ and perdix is 5′8″ (adrian always tacks on the extra .5 and the royal doctors do not try to correct him)
fellas is it gay to fall in love with your homie’s smile
you’ve found the notes. call now to redeem your $500 cash prize
just a summary of how this all Came To Be [tldr at the end]:
perdix is the heir to a small kingdom who accidentally gives himself and his family a very negative first impression at a gathering of the nations. his family is infuriated with him bc their reputation is all but gone (whatever reputation a budding nation such as theirs could have) and they want to get rid of him, whilst building their kingdom back up from the ground.
they ask a powerful kingdom to the north, “please annex us, our resources and manpower will surely benefit you god please we’re so useless rn” and the northern kingdom is like “lol aren’t you the guys who looked stupid at the gathering of the nations” and they’re like “YES please just take our son he’s a walking cringe comp bro”
with some negotiation and some salt, perdix’s parents, the king and queen of dumbtopia, arrange a marriage for him: he is to be wed into the northern kingdom’s family to unite the two kingdoms. except, instead of being married to the northern princess, who is supposedly very beautiful and intelligent, perdix is to be wed to the northern prince to humiliate him further (plus, the young prince of the north got himself into a bit of trouble with his parents, too)
perdix is infuriated he’s like “you can’t just kick me out of my own home like this” “also im straight lol” and his family is like “lol” and send him to the north. they don’t attend his wedding, and he is just as humiliated as they wanted him to be, because everyone knows him as the prince who destroyed his kingdom’s reputation (idk what he even did, he probably got food poisoning and threw up on a duchess)
adrian isn’t into this whole thing either. he swings both ways but he’s like “i don’t want this, i don’t know this guy and i certainly don’t love him. also wasn’t he the one who like threw up on a duchess lmao” but he knows refusing would get him in more trouble. and besides, then this poor perdix guy’s lineage will practically be unsalvageable
for the first couple months, prince regent perdix is followed everywhere by guards. he asks them what they want and they say to keep him from running away or ending his own life. perdix says “if i wanted to die, i’d have been dead before i’d set foot on the altar.” he is never escorted about by guards again
then blah blah perdix sees adrian’s smile and is smitten and nurses a crush on him for a little while and they end their “don’t touch me” arrangement and share a tentative kiss in the palace courtyard it’s great
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squireling (she’s barely a squire) is a girl who wants to be a knight for the northern kingdom. she’s not too good at anything but she’s got so much heart, the knights’ academy feels kinda bad; so they ask the chief captain of the northern knights to assess her and see if she’s worth teaching. chief captain perdix agrees, and as he runs squireling through some drills he’s like “dear god she really is terrible at everything” but thinks she deserves a chance and offers to work with her personally.
she gets to know him and crown prince adrian quite well, and they sort of become her big brothers as she begins her own journey as a knight-in-training of the northern army.
--
one evening while prince adrian is at a diplomatic meeting and squireling is polishing perdix’s sword by the hearth, squireling asks him how he and adrian met. the prince regent huffs and says, “when i was a younger man, i’d made a fool of myself and my kingdom at a gathering of the nations. my parents were furious i’ll tell you that. but they couldn’t banish or off me, because i was their only heir. so to try and make up for my follies and to further humiliate me, they arranged a marriage between myself and the prince of a northern kingdom, instead of the princess i should’ve married.”
prince regent perdix shakes his head, gazing into the fire. “certainly didn’t help that that prince was the most handsome man i’ve ever met.”
tldr: perdix acted stupid at a big event and his family was so embarrassed they wed him to another guy, prince adrian of the north, to embarrass him but uh oh! perdix has his gay awakening and they fall in love
