February Mini-Prompt
Name a romance that caused problems. This can be because it was taboo, because it was politically dangerous, was one sided, etc. How did this romance effect those around it? What did bystanders have to say about it? How were the problems resolved, if they were at all. Try to think of a problem that might not crop up in our society, or is culturally significant.
Likewise, name a romance that is considered successful or a perfect match. What is so good about it? Is it because the couple was famous? Because they did everything right?
(Minimum wordcount to win the prize is 200 words.)
(Note: These names are subject to change. They’re my current placeholders.)
A romance that caused great problems for its kingdom was that of Prince Peter and his mentor, Arhan.
In the Kingdom of Man, the eldest Prince is raised by a sort of surrogate father – a mentor known as the ‘Voice’ (the voice commands, the hand obeys), along with various teachers more knowledgeable in their craft (art, philosophy, fighting). The Prince’s first Voice was secretly part of a pacifist group and was trying to raise the Prince according to those ideals; one of the members of the castle found out and reported him. The Voice killed himself and most of his society was either publicly executed or sent off to war.
As a replacement, they brought in Arhan. It’s a little plothole-esque right now, but essentially Arhan was a small child found when the Kingdom curb-stomped his nation, and someone took pity and took the child in. His blond hair is an obvious hallmark of where he comes from, unfortunately, and the Kingdom loathes the people of the mountains (where he is from). It doesn’t make sense how he survived, why he would ascend the ranks, or even if he’d be forced to dye his hair.
Anyways. Part of the Voice’s job is to school the Prince in love, and how to be intimate and a loving partner (think dolphins, or even the Greek student/teacher). Arhan becomes attached to the Prince and likes him, falling inlove. This was not only highly inappropriate for his station, but also one-sided as the Prince saw him solely as the Voice. Arhan struggled with his infatuation with the Prince, and when the Kingdom came under attack he urged the Prince to flee and survive. When the Prince didn’t, the Voice slew him. The Voice was a traitor all along, who had struggled even in the last moments with betraying the Prince.
Later, he struggles with the guilt and uncertainty. Shortly after killing the Prince he transforms/reveals himself to be a dragon, and with this any way to communicate with the dead is lost. (There are certain stones where you can hear the dead speak, and even places where the veil is thin. However, to be immortal many creatures had to swear off this land and so must sit patiently while others can converse with the dead). It’s a tragic, one-sided romance that helps no one, in the end.
Several romances are considered to have been successful. The most famous example is that of Vryko and Lakas, two unrelated women that called each other sister thousands of years ago.
Vampires in this world are all women. It isn’t clear if it has to do with the venom reacting differently to certain hormones and chemicals or just a mentality. Legends abound of men who have managed to turn vampire, but they have all so far proven false. For the most part, men turn into mindless corpses with some vague reanimation qualities before the flesh soughs completely or the bugs clean their carcass. Women remain eternally poised and beautiful at the age they were turned.
The legend goes that vampirism started when a woman named Lakas became ill and her soul sister, Vryko, became obsessed with saving her. Vykro sought out wizards and healers, potions and items of power, performed incantations and rituals. Nothing she did helped; Lakas grew more and more ill. Desperate, her sister learned of a curse after traveling far north; if Vykro would take her own life her spirit would transfer to an empty vessel, and in ten years she would muster the power to return to her own body. Her body would no longer age, bleed or alter but she would at least be with her sister – who would be instantly cured of her ailments and be made healthy thanks to such sacrifice.
Vykro performed it. She sought out a black cat, which she thought might not be so hard to live as for ten years, and killed it. When she awoke, she was far from her home and struggled to find her way back. Over the course of ten years she never managed, and after that time she was finally returned to her body – which had been set afire on a small raft, drifting in the water. Burnt flesh unravelled and moistened, her skeleton returning to the body it had been ten years prior.
The sister swam as hard and fast as she could, which was much greater than anything she might have accomplished as a human. On the shore she crossed nude through the forest, the animals and insects instinctively avoiding her. She reached the ancient grounds of her sisterhood, and moved amongst them as they stared in silent awe. Past them all she found the body of her sister, wrapped in linen and touched by fragrances, sat upon a fresh raft.
“She sought to join you, in the next life.”
She would have her in this.
Or so she thought. She had little knowledge as to how to resurrect the dead then, and while animating a corpse was a magic known to the world, an intelligent corpse was not. The sister took her anyways, storing her away in a tower to always guard her. Even one hundred years later, when her body had begun to deteriorate and her only means of sustenance was the flesh and blood of living things, she could not awaken her sister. One thousand years later she was capable of controlling floods, mass droughts, and storms – she could take the form of a shadow, of the little black cat she had inhabited; play tricks from afar on objects and manipulate the living into performing her will. At houses she would knock on the door, calling out the names of the residents within. Those who answered would become her victims much later, after being compelled to murder their family in gruesome manners.
She turned many into her kind this way. It was not difficult and all of them showed signs of similar powers (though none quite as powerful as she). By now her sister was dust, but still she did not disturb her slumber. After an existence with little emotion and no pain, she did not wish to subject her sister to a pseudo-life just to be with her. As with dragons she was barred from ever speaking to the dead, but she whispered to the ashes each night just as well.
While not necessarily a happy ending, it is a romantic tale that is uncharacteristic of the legends, given the fear and hate most have for vampires.
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