He Said Yes
Both carriages finally arrived to the center meeting court, one of the few buildings built right in between the sister nations of Zaun and Piltover. In the white, gold, and red carriage a single tan man walks out, looking nothing like who he started as. The once clean shaven gentle looking councilor has since then become a bearded and harsh looking king.
He looks over to the black, silver, and green carriage where the two kings of Zaun stepped out. One with a blind eye, injured from disagreement, the other rough and tired from war and bigger than Piltover’s king himself. Jayce gives a small nod of acknowledgment before stepping into the building alongside the other two kings.
All three sat down with advisors and servants nearby to keep watch on the meeting. Silco lowers his head and lets out a sigh. “I’m sure we can all agree this war is devastating, and we would all like for it to say it’s goodbyes.” Jayce nods “my councilors have come up with a plan, however, I’m not sure how much you two would be up for it.” Vander opens his mouth but stays silent for a few seconds before finally letting out his thoughts.“We would still like to listen, this may be our last chance.”
Jayce clasps both of his hands together, hands that have now gotten rough from his work in the forge and in war. “They have asked for me to choose a bride, to show out people that we can be united, and that the bride would have a child, to be the visual proof of the peace.” Silco immediately looks up at the word ‘bride’ and both him and Vander tense. Jayce and sense the hesitance they both have before coming to a conclusion. “Not a bride, but a husband” Vander starts “our eldest is your only option in afraid, his uterus and breasts are still intact, our other children either aren’t interested in men or they already have a partner.”
Jayce feels more tense at his words the more Vander has to add on “I don’t know if he would be up for this marriage however.” Silco stares deep into Jayce’s eyes, “our son is a scholar, one who always works his hardest even when bedridden.” He leans forward to put more emphasis on his words “if he does agree to this arrangement, you must respect his wishes, we don’t send our children off to marry just anybody.”
Jayce nods “yes of course, I agree wholeheartedly… may I meet this son of yours? I don’t believe I’ve ever met him.” It was true, he’s seen their second oldest, Violet, fight at the front lines, a princess who gave up her title to fight as a knight. Their middle children, Claggor and Mylo who would set up the weapons used for war. Of course, their youngest, Powder, who used the fighter name of ‘Jinx’ who would set off bombs costing many lives. He’d seen and fought all of Zaunite royalty, all except one.
The Zaunite kings go quiet and then look at the advisors and give a nod “I suppose a meeting of your potential fiancé is in order.”
~pikmin~
The two carriages arrive at the castle of Zaun, despite the war it stands as proud as it did when it was first built. The kings step out and Vander asks a servant to bring over ‘Viktor.’ Jayce had never heard of their eldest’s name but it had added to his interest. They entered the castle and after waiting sometime in the living room they had not too far from the throne, Jayce heard some unusual tapping sounds alongside footsteps. Step. Tap. Step. Tap.
Then, Viktor comes into view. Jayce’s eyes widen seeing him for the first time. He was a pale man with a thin frame, taking after Silco. Two moles adorned his face, one under the eye and the other by his lips. His eyes were golden and his face was sharp, in his eyes and his cheekbones. He relied on a can carefully crafted out of metal. He tilted his head and in a beautiful accent Jayce had never heard of, Viktor spoke. “What is the king of Piltover doing here?”
Vander motions for Viktor to sit down and he complies. “There was an agreement offered to us by King Talis” Viktor raises an eyebrow and glances over to Jayce. Jayce felt nervous, but why would he feel nervous? He was a king, a leader, one who had many who were loyal to him, so why did a prince who clearly spent his days inside all the time made him feel nearly the same anxiousness he had felt when he first became king?
”A proposal… A marriage proposal” Jayce finally lets out. Viktor’s eyes widen and then relaxed as he gripped his cane tighter “of course, the others would never say yes” Vander puts his hand on Viktor’s shoulder, Jayce goes into a small shock seeing how small he was in comparison to his father. “You don’t have to say yes-”
”But I do.” Viktor cuts him off “I accept the proposal, if you promise me this war will stop” Viktor looks back at Jayce. “We’ve lost so many citizens as you have too, I don’t want to lose my family in addition to that.” Jayce immediately nods “I understand.”
Zaun’s kings nod “it’s official then, the wedding will take place in the center meeting court in 4 weeks. Once the wedding is established we will send Viktor to you.” Viktor doesn’t respond and immediately gets up and leaves as soon as the agreement is verbally agreed with. Jayce watches him as he walks off and then looks back at Silco and Vander one last time before he leaves with a promise.
”I’ll take care of your son until the day I die. If he were to pass first I will protect his grave for as long as I stand.”