#◟there will come a ruler whose brow is laid in thorn | ↳ wren liu lang / royalty verse◝

[willowswriting]

Henry wasn't wrong to assume that something had shifted in Wren, it had. She had started to realize that she was developing feelings for the prince, feelings that didn't stop at just wanting to be his friend. She had started to long for something more, something that could never became a reality. Even if Henry shared similar feelings his family would never allow the two of them to explore something along those lines. The more time she spent in his presence the harder she fell so in an attempt to save her heart the inevitable heart break, that would come when he finally did wed one of those women his mother was constantly pushing on him, she was pulling away.

"You want me to lie to your mother?" She questioned raising a brow "You know if she found out she'd have my head right?" She questioned. She couldn't lie though, the thought of the two of them sneaking away from the palace while the others were preoccupied with the gala had her heart racing. "What do you propose we do instead?" She questioned "You have to make it worth my while if I'm going to be putting my safety at risk." She was only joking. The queen wouldn't kill her for skipping out on her duties but she would more than likely make her life a living hell for the next few months to follow.

"ah, did she? hm. probably wise of you. although, i might pay to witness someone telling my mum to 'buzz off'." smirk slowly rises as his gaze glances towards his companion. it hadn't slipped henry's attention something had shifted in wren lately. it was simply hard for him to pin down exactly what. perhaps if she was shifting further away from him, he figured, maybe hoped, he could bridge their distance by being evermore present. anybody who knew henry well enough at all, afterall, knew that wren was the one real light in his life. he let out a sigh, broke their gaze to look ahead. "you could always say you're coming down with some kind of fever? mono? but in all seriousness... these galas aren't half as fun as they're made out to be. i... feel like you'd thank me if we just skipped it." maybe more than avoiding his mother's latest 'match' for him, he didn't want wren there because he knew they'd treat her different -- like she didn't belong in their upper-class nobility.

[willowswriting]

"Your mother wants me to work that 'awful' gala. It isn't like I could have told her to buzz off" Wren spoke lowly, as if the realization that she was simply the help in his family's eyes might register and cause him to pull away. Wren might have been raised within the palace walls but it had been by the maids and the gardeners, a completely different experience to Henry's upbringing although the two had been near inseparable at first. She had been thirteen the first time she had been sat down, informed that she wasn't in the same level as he was despite his kindness. Wren had never attended an event as extravagant at the royal galas were rumored to be but there was a part of her that was excited for it, although it was never something that she would admit to Henry.

open to f ! muse: henry ix, prince of wales. 23 - 26. plot: linked in the source.

"wait, you have plans tonight? what plans?" that caught him off guard. she was the only one he wanted to spend time with tonight. her way of seeing him through his title a refreshing salvation for his nearing-entirely fucked sanity. "it's just... i was hoping you'd keep me company while i bailed on this awful gala tonight...?" between the vacant small-talk, his father's growing (suffocating) expectations, and his mother's latest nudging toward the middle daughter of an earl cawley --- he needed an out.