Gladiolus: Rememberance and Integrity

[binary_sunset]

I wanted to get at least one fan work done for Sunshine Challenge this year, and the prompt was perfect! Gladioli represent strength of character, faithfulness, and moral integrity, which I felt matched Damianos of Akielos to a T! I also managed to work "remembrance" in there too. Please enjoy this double drabble!


Title: Gladiolus
Fandom: Captive Prince (CS Pacat)
Ship: N/A
Rating: Teen & Up
Content Warnings: Canon Character Death, Brief Descriptions of Violence, Allusions to Abuse
Other Tags: Pre-Canon
Length: 200 words
Summary: Damen had killed a prince.

Damen had killed a prince. It wasn’t a point of pride or shame. Just a fact.
It had been an honourable way to die. They’d fought in single combat. Face-to-face. Auguste had run him through his shoulder, and Damen had run him through his heart. A quick death. Painless. Merciful, even. Had Auguste been an Akeilon, there would have been funeral games; he would have been offered their most joyous and noble afterlife.
Auguste had been his enemy, but he’d still had Damen’s respect. And Damen had given him a death reflective of that respect. The type of death he’d wish for himself.
He couldn’t have known that deep in the heart of Vere, there was now a boy who had no one to protect him. He wouldn’t know everything Auguste had shielded him from until it was too late.
There was a boy who fell into the clutches of evil because his brother wasn’t here to keep it from him. And that boy would become twisted and cold as he attempted to protect himself.
Because a death, even a painless and honourable one, is still a death. It leaves a hole. And, sometimes, that’s how the nightmares get in.

Comments

[vriddy]

So good and poignant and haunting! I've heard the book's name before but I haven't read it myself. It doesn't make the insights any less intriguing, wonderful drabble!

[binary_sunset]

Thanks so much for reading anyway! Captive Prince is possibly one of my favourite books. If you want to read it, I'd definitely Google some trigger warnings first, though. It's... a lot.

[enemytosleep]

The introspective is haunting and detached and makes me keen to know the context. Very well done.

They’d fought in single combat. Face-to-face. Auguste had run him through his shoulder, and Damen had run him through his heart.

I especially like the simplicity and heaviness of this line.

[binary_sunset]

Thank you so much! I had great source material, honestly. The original books are incredibly and I highly recommend checking them out if they seem like something you're into! Though I told a previous commenter to google some trigger warning and I definitely stand by that. These books are good but they're *heavy*.

[dr_zook]

I know 0% about canon/the fandom, but I really loved this last paragraph:

Because a death, even a painless and honourable one, is still a death. It leaves a hole. And, sometimes, that’s how the nightmares get in.

Excellent! Thank you for sharing. :)

[binary_sunset]

Thank you! It's my first time really limiting my word count, so I decided to have some fun with it. Luckily I didn't have to change very much!