#glorien

[tears-and-lilies]

Glorien: short drabbles

Drabbles that aren’t really canon: (Marsi is a bad person), (sad Glorien after a party), (sexy times with Feyros), (Glorien hates being drugged), (just a note on Glorien’s nightmares), (Feyros flats back), (Glorien and his brothers, flashback might come back in the story)

Ask games: (caretaking), (small outfit), (ring gag), (a bath with Marsi), (piercing), (gag Glorien), (Triban used knife threat. It was very effective.), (pliers), (mean dancers)

AU: (X)

[milk-carton-whump]

☆☆Glorien themed poetry☆☆ @tears-and-lilies

Cw: death mention, implied blood

The tile will run red when I'm done

They've had their fun

I'm tired and hated and sad as can be

Now I'll escape, just you wait and see

They'll pay for their crimes

And I'll get my way

Marsi and Loui, they'll rot at my feet

For it's the devil I'll send them to meet

Just you wait, I'm not done today

For soon I'll make sure, it all goes my way.

[liliability]

Be grateful. Obey. Kneel.

Glorien belongs to @tears-and-lilies

[tears-and-lilies]

Alright this is a snippet for an AU where Feyros quits his job and takes Glorien to a villa in Derreia, and they are no longer involved in politics. It’s very sweet and focuses on recovery!

I’m not tagging anyone because it’s just a snippet, but if you do want to be tagged let me know!

CW: trauma recovery

***

Feyros slowly woke up. He moaned and tried to turn onto his side, but stopped when he realised someone was lying next to him. Glorien was all curled up, sleeping cosily. His black hair was a mess and his mouth hung slightly open.

Feyros smiled. Glorien had his own room, where he could sleep if he wanted to sleep alone. But since they moved here, to a villa in the countryside in Derreia, they rarely slept apart. Usually, when night came, Glorien got dressed together with him and went to bed together with him. He didn’t have to. After all that he went through, Feyros wanted to give him as much space as he needed. He had told his lover as much last night. 

Maybe that had been a mistake. He didn’t want to push him toward one way or the other. But Glorien had first shrugged and said he could sleep alone that night. When Feyros clarified that it wasn’t an order, and he could do whatever he wanted, Glorien had simply responded with “I’ll see”. 

So he had changed his mind. And now Feyros was worried that he had made it seem as if he didn’t want the younger man here, which wasn’t true.

Carefully he stroked Glorien’s forehead, brushing some strands of hair out of his face. The boy groaned, and Feyros put an arm under his neck, holding his shoulder and pulling him closer. 

Glorien opened his eyes, and for a moment, there was a hesitation on his face. Feyros froze. Always that familiar hesitation… But it disappeared as soon as it had come, making place for a big, joyful smile. Feyros’s heart fluttered.

‘Hello’, Glorien said hoarsely. 

‘Good morning.’ Feyros leant in and pressed a kiss on his cheek.

This prompted the boy to wriggle closer, pressing his body against the man’s. 

‘Did you sleep well?’

The answer was delayed, a sign that he didn’t.

‘No’, Glorien mumbled. ‘I was scared.’

‘What were you afraid of?’

He hugged his lover as close as he could. Glorien didn’t have many good nights, and it worried him. Of course he understood why. They had left the palace in such a haste. Glorien had been held captive there for six years, and it would take a long time to get used to this sudden new life. 

Glorien… didn’t talk much about the things that clearly troubled his mind. And Feyros didn’t dare to bring them up. Only at the beginning had his lover mentioned them. Those mentions were accompanied by fits of rage. He would start cursing at the Imperial family, at the nobility, and sometimes at the Koians. He would make sarcastic jokes, quickly followed by yelling and screaming and ranting about everything he could think of. And then, slowly, day by day, the anger went away.

And now Glorien barely talked at all. 

‘The usual’, he replied to Feyros’ question. 

At this point, Feyros had no idea what “the usual” meant. 

He kissed the younger man again, and was met with a shower of kisses on his face and neck. They held each other firmly for a while, enjoying the moment. Finally, Feyros sighed and got up.

‘Alright, I have some work to do’, he said. 

Glorien looked at him with such adoration, that he felt guilty to leave the bed. 

‘Have fun’, the boy teased.

[tears-and-lilies]

Glorien is bisexual, right? What was his journey to discovering and exploring that part of himself? And how does his world feel and think about LGBT+ people?

Putting this under a cut because... idk there's things I'm insecure about. Thanks for the ask!

He realised he was bi around the time he met Loryan/Lilian (I prefer to call her Lilian even if she was called Loryan back then). He knew he had a crush on her, but he also found out one of his classmates was attractive to him. He talked about it to Lilian, and she told him she also had similar thoughts. The label of bisexuality doesn't really exist in the world, so that's where it ended.

To Koians, offspring and family heritage is very important. People treat children like their parents. So people who don’t expand the family or do it in a wrong way are judged. But since it’s an empire, there’s a huge mix of all sorts of cultures. Lady Idylla for example is from the west, where there isn’t as much pressure on women to give birth. She had no problems marrying lady Lazulan. Lazulan is Koian, or at least raised in the city, but she doesn’t want children (she’s not against it, but it’s not her goal) and marries Idylla for love and wealth.

There’s more pressure on the members of the imperial family to marry someone from the opposite sex. But they live in a time where same sex marriages are more and more normalised, so that could change in the future :)

Koians are very accepting of trans people. There’s trans people who hold important political positions, and people like Chaïra who is on the opposite side of the social coin. I made a patriarchal society that hasn’t normalised same sex marriages, but I don’t want to write about transphobia😅

[tears-and-lilies]

What would gloriens parents think of him if they could see him now, and about the actions he has been taking? 🔪👀

That's a very interesting question👀

His mother would be angry at the nobility for how cruel they are to him. She'd feel conflicted about his murders. On the one hand, she can see where he's coming from, but on the other hand, she wishes he would make alliances and try to escape that way. Because that's what she would do in that situation.

For his father it's difficult. He hates the nobility so much, and he hates Vasri and Loui even more. For Glorien's course of action... Darren once would have cheered on the murders, and he would still support the idea of revenge. But also he's ashamed of what has become of his precious little son. He's lost his innocence, and it would hurt Darren to see him like this. He'd feel like it's all his fault, but wouldn't know how to deal with that guilt and blame it on everyone else.

[tears-and-lilies]

I know Glorien isn't found of dancing but if he lived in a modern context with more types of it, what would be his favorite dance style?

I don't know that many dance styles😔 I could see him doing Reggae though!

[tears-and-lilies]

Glorien!!! Do u have a favorite instrument and is it the same one you'd like dancing to?

'I like the rythmic sound of a tambourine, it's calming. They make me dance on drum sounds or a flute. I hate that damn flute... I don't like dancing to anything because that's when it stops becoming music and starts being the annoying sound that I have to follow and move to. If I had to pick an instument I'd like dancing to, it'd be a lyre I think. I just wonder what that would be like.'

[tears-and-lilies]

Does Glorien have any middle names?

How do you choose the names for your characters to the shar names with the historical figures they're based off?

He doesn't, his entire name is "Glorien son of Darren".

I have some rules for the names in the story, but generally I just throw together some sounds XD Some of the names are based on real names, like Jeremy -> Jeremi or Mil -> Milsen. There are a few characters whose names I based on the historical characters they were inspired by! You know me haha😅

It's mostly in the imperial family:

Vitellius -> Vasri

Vitellia -> Vasira

Lucius -> Loui

Triaria -> Triban

And then Vitellius's son Germanicus... that name is given after a victory on German tribes, but Vitellius got it when his German army defeated Otho and made him emperor. Vasri's son Vixar was inspired by this. I took the word "victoria" and made it more "Koian" :3

[tears-and-lilies]

I'm cleaning up all my documents and pictures, and I found a picture of a moment in the sims where Glorien called Feyros to ask for advice on what to do if Feyros proposed, and I said yes and that's how they got engaged 😭

[tears-and-lilies]

Glorien

Accurate aaaaaa🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[tears-and-lilies]

Not gonna lie, I dunno if this has been asked before and I don't know too much about Glorien lol but how would he fair in a Modern AU? Any major similarities or differences? Hope you feel better soon! <3

Thank you! I am taking naps to deal with the pain, it kinda works!

I have a modern AU in my head, where the imperial family runs a family company, and Glorien works for them and is a janitor. He feels more a prisoner of his family debt. I know his name is Gloria in the AU, but those are all the things I know XD

[tears-and-lilies]

@myst-in-the-mirror requested a Glorien flashback so here is that!

Glorien is around 12 years old here. Alira belongs to my sister.

CW: mention of fantasy religion

***

Glorien’s aunt got accepted as the head priestess of the Koian religion. The whole day, his mother had been talking to friends and family about the good news about her sister. Glorien felt excited too. It was such an honour to have a close relative hold such an important position. Since all close female family members of Emperor Ravi had died, the position had to go to one of the noble ladies. Glorien had heard some of his mother’s friends say it was thanks to her that her sister even got it.

He entered the atrium of the villa, where his mother and her friends were sitting on couches talking about his aunt. The woman in question was there too, proudly sitting on the middle couch, wearing the starry veil – a veil handmade for the new head priestess, dyed in a deep blue-purple colour with embroidered stars that depicted the wearer’s birth sign. She wore it to show off, and Glorien thought she had all the right to do so. She looked gorgeous, it stood so perfectly with her curly black hair and the white-and-blue dress she had picked today. She was smiling from ear to ear, bringing joy to everyone around her.

Glorien went to sit next to his mother and hugged her. She put her arm around him and petted his arm. She planted a kiss on his forehead.

As he tried to follow the conversation, he noticed Alira sitting two couches away from him. Why wasn’t she with the other kids? She smiled, but he recognized it was insincere. He knew her well enough to see when she was trying to be polite and when she was genuinely enjoying herself. He got up and walked to stand behind her.

‘Hey, Alira’, he whispered. ‘Come.’

She nodded and excused herself to her mother. She stood up and followed Glorien to the garden, where the other kids were playing. They were playing tag, a game she didn’t like. So that’s why she wasn’t here.

He jumped onto the stone fence.

‘Listen, guys’, he said, loud enough so everyone could hear him. ‘I had an idea! What if we show up with flower crowns on our head?’ He smiled and clasped his hands together as if he was plotting something big, and involving everyone in his secret plan.

‘Oh, good idea!’, his best friend said. Glorien knew he could always count on him.

Soon, others declared they wanted to join too.

‘Alright then!’ He looked at Alira. ‘Alira, we need your opinion. What flowers should we use?’

She looked around. ‘Dandelions. There’s an abundance of them in spring, so we don’t have to look too far.’

‘Okay, you heard her! Pick all the dandelions you can find!’

Immediately, everyone was running around and picking flowers. Glorien got off the fence and turned to Alira.

‘Thank you miss! Now that you’re here, do you want to help us?’

She nodded, and started picking flowers too. As they were making the crowns, Glorien glanced at her again. She was focused on her task, her lips curling into a tiny smile. He felt relieved. She never talked much, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t do what she wanted to do.

[tears-and-lilies]

Sending Glorien a (very late-) happy Birthday 🎉

He is very happy with the birthday wishes😊😊

[tears-and-lilies]

Chapter 42 – If you want vengeance

L o n g

Huge huge thanks to my sister for helping me with this! She helped my with the dialogue (there are a few lines she came up with herself) and corrected some of my grammar. Also, Delira, Alira and Olivia belong to her! So many thank yous to her🥰

There are a few new named characters in this chapter (oops), we get to know the princess’s friends better in the next chapter!

(I’m not tagging any of the banned tags on iOS until this all is sorted out, so heed the warnings!)

Tag: @whumpfigure @just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi @green-eyed-whumpster @liliability @sideblogformindtrash @starnight-whump @milk-carton-whump @abitefullofwhump @unicornscotty @myst-in-the-mirror @neverthelass @dont-touch-my-soup

TW: whump, medieval whump, captivity whump, forced to dance, public humiliation, forced to kiss feet, talk of murder, talk of war, blood, dog attack

If this is just another way for him to publicly humiliate me, I swear-

Loui had brought Glorien to the dressing room, where servants decorated him with delicate silver chains with small bells, and painted a pattern of red and yellow spirals on his face. They tied a satin scarf around his waist, the sort of scarf he knew from dance training. When they were done, Loui brought him to the throne room. 

The Houssaian festival was currently being celebrated. It was a newer tradition, which began when the second Koian Emperor realized it was best to keep the Houssaians on friendly terms. For centuries, they had been a powerful enemy to the Empire. 

Just a few days ago, Vasri had greeted the Lord of Houssaia at the haven. Now, he held a party to welcome the man and honour the province of Houssaia. Tomorrow, a bigger event would be held, publicly, in the city. Glorien used to celebrate with his family – his father was born in Houssaia. But the current event took place between palace walls, and was only celebrated among nobles. An event he had no memories of, since only his parents went to it. 

The last time the party was held, the imperial dance group weren’t performing. The only dancer who was ever allowed to perform there, was Jespen. 

The throne room was decorated with candles and hides of bears and wolves. They had placed couches scattered all over the room, to make the guests as comfortable as possible. On the central placed couches, Vasri sat, with his closest friends. With them was a man Glorien had only ever seen from afar: the Lord of Houssaia. He was tall, with a protruding beard and clothes made out of some soft material, dyed a soft grey and white. 

‘For now just play along’, Loui said quietly, while guiding Glorien towards the centre. 

The company was focused on Jespen, who showed a slow and gaceful dance only for them. He had the same bells and face-paint they had given Glorien, though his was blue and green. 

When Vasri noticed them approaching, he narrowed his eyes. 

‘Why did you bring him?’, he asked, when his brother was close enough to talk. 

The Lord turned his head towards the newcomers. His face looked stern. 

Loui gestured to the guards to make everyone quiet. When he had everyone’s attention, he raised his voice.

‘Sir, I hope you are enjoying the night.’ He added an elegant bow. ‘Last time you weren’t able to express Houssaia’s stance on the civil war. May I remind you it’s been six years since that awful war ended. So we’re... waiting in anticipation to hear your thoughts on the matter’, he said. Next, he gestured to Glorien. ‘For the occasion, I wanted to introduce you to Darren’s youngest son. He’s descended from your land, after all.’

While Vasri pressed his lips together out of annoyance, the Lord examined Glorien. The latter had fallen to his knees, just as he was used to.

‘He doesn’t look Houssaian’, he said. 

‘His mother was of Derreian nobility. He inherited most of his mother’s traits.’

The Lord nodded, then turned to Vasri. ‘You never told me you kept one of Darren’s sons alive.’

‘Ah, it’s… not something I easily show off – not to everyone. My closest advisors know of it, but I don’t want to constantly remind my people of the war’, Vasri responded. There was a hesitation in his voice. He took a sip from his wine. 

Glorien tried not to scoff. Vasri liked to show himself as the saviour when Koia was being destroyed by civil war. He gave donations to the cities that were ruined, and paid poets to write about how he made Koia a safe haven. He never visited the wrecked cities of course, nor did he care about how his subjects were affected. 

Loui quickly added: ‘It’s a way of punishing Darren, even in death. The last of his sons lives on as a mere dancer – which may not mean a lot in your culture, but to us, that’s contemptible.’

The Lord combed his beard with his fingers. After a while, he said: ‘I see. Then, if the Grandest General requires my word on the war, I will give it.’

Now it was his time to stand up. ‘Houssaians are known for their bravery’, he said. ‘“Darra”, we call it. And so, it is shameful to see that word being associated with a man whose actions were cruel and destructive – things which are despised by Houssaians. That is why I want to express that, even if he was born on our land, Houssaia doesn’t consider that monster to be one of us.’

Glorien got a bitter taste in his mouth, while the guests applauded the speech. All those years had passed, and still they found more ways to take things away from Glorien’s family. He threw an angry glance at Loui. Did you bring me to take away my heritage in front of my face?

Loui smiled maliciously at that. ‘Well said’, he praised the Houssaian Lord. 

After shaking hands, the Lord sat back down. He looked at Vasri, back at Loui, and finally glanced at Glorien. His eyes stood unsure. 

Loui seemed to notice. ‘Well, it’s only fair now that Darren’s son shows his submission to you and Houssaia. What would be appropriate according to your principles?’

The Lord combed his beard again, and now Glorien realized he did so to hide discomfort. He’s afraid to mess up. 

‘Erm, we… enemies of Houssaia show their submission by kissing the Lord’s feet…’

‘Naturally’, Loui responded. 

Glorien flinched as the man pinched hard in his upper arm. He gave the man a furious look once more, then crawled towards the Lord. He knew he had no chance of escaping this. That only made him more furious. 

He kneeled before the Lord’s feet. Carefully, he looked up. The ruler was still working on his beard. Coward. He took a deep breath, then lowered his head towards the right foot. Quickly he pressed his lips on the sandal. It only lasted a moment, yet his cheeks were burning when it was over.

But then a hand forced him back.

‘Come on, dancer, show some more respect’, Loui snarled.

So Glorien was forced to kiss the sandal longer. When he was finally let go, he lifted his head immediately. He stared at the ground beside him while wiping his mouth with his arm. The bitter taste from earlier got worse. 

‘So… that settles that’, he heard the Lord of Houssaia say. 

‘How about we drink to this?’, Vasri replied. He lifted a cup and was joined in by his friends.

Without drawing too much attention to himself, Loui took Glorien by his upper arm and dragged him to the side of the throne room. Glorien looked at the Emperor’s company one more time. 

So that was it. That was his first meeting with the Lord of Houssaia. He remembered how proudly his father had talked about this man. But this man was only a disappointment. 

Actually, now that he had a better overview of the company, he noticed something off about them. The Emperor’s wife wasn’t present. On its own, that wasn’t strange at all. The lady Saffira hated appearing with her husband in public. But her son was here, and her daughter was present at the event as well. So if both of them were here, where was she? 

And where was lady Triban? She was always present at grand events - except if she was plotting something. Feyros- no, the Keeper of the City, he wasn’t here either. And someone who was present was lady Idylla, who never showed herself in public without her wife. And lady Lazulan wasn’t by her side today. 

Loui went to sit down on a couch next to sir Milsen, his friend, who was lying down comfortably with an apple in his hand. 

Glorien couldn’t hold himself anymore. ‘Was that why you brought me here? Just so you could do the same things you’ve done to me for the last six years?’

‘No’, Loui said, shifting so he wasn’t sitting on his cloak. ‘I will tell you now.’

‘So impatient. It’s to be expected from a dancer’, Milsen remarked. He took a bite from his apple. 

‘How about you do some sort of dance, and I’ll tell you about my offer’, Loui said. 

Without thinking, Glorien sighed. Milsen rolled his eyes. 

‘I don’t like to see you dance either, but just make yourself useful for once.’

‘If you don’t want to hear my offer, we can stop here. I’ll look forward to your execution’, Loui said.

‘Fine, I’m on it’, Glorien growled. He took the satin scarf the make-up artists had tied around his waist and started dancing. 

‘You know how to follow orders’, Loui scoffed. ‘But I know you are raging inside. I’ve known your father well, and I know exactly what he would do. He’d attack.’

‘Oh, he’d kill’, Milsen added.

‘Exactly. And tonight, dancer- Glorien… tonight I will give you a chance.’

Glorien spun around and waved his arms, pretending to be too caught up in the dance to care. ‘Why do you want me to kill someone?’

‘I have enemies. That shouldn’t surprise you. Everything I do, they see. So I have to improvise. That’s where you come into play.’

‘And if I refuse to work with you, you will have me killed, correct?’

‘As if the thought of vengeance doesn’t excite you’, Milsen sneered.

It was a trap. If he killed someone, Loui could easily blame him. It’d give himself an alibi, and he’d get rid of two enemies. Glorien growled. He didn’t have a chance to refuse. Now that they had taken away everything, they wanted to use him as a political pawn too? 

Yet… they offered exactly what he had wanted to do. But… how? How could they have known?

‘Who do you want me to kill?’

Loui looked away, adjusting his cloak. Milsen took a big bite out of the apple. When Glorien spun around, he saw why: the princess and one of her friends came their way. He stopped.

‘Good evening, uncle’, princess Vasira said. She was wearing a red dress for the occasion, with a silver tiara with red gemstones to match. She looked elegant, exactly like you would expect the princess of Koia to look like. 

Next to her, her friend appeared entirely the opposite: a tall pale girl with blue eyes and blond hair, wearing a blue dress with a blue scarf, delicate silver chains around her waist, the silver coins attached to them rattling with every step she took. She was Delira, the eldest daughter of the Lord of Houssaia. 

‘Hello, didn’t you hear her? I’ll repeat it for you: “good evening uncle”’, Delira said. 

‘Hello, girls. How are you? Is there something the matter?’, Loui replied, sounding slightly agitated.

‘I wanted to ask you’, his niece said. 

‘Oh well, nothing special. I am enjoying the event with my friend, waiting on my wife.’

‘Oh! I didn’t know you were friends with Darren’s son!’

Loui frowned at Delira. ‘My friend Milsen and I wanted to watch him perform. He is half Houssaian after all.’

‘Our honoured guest just decried Darren’s actions. Did you not listen?’, Vasira asked.

‘Why are you concerned with the presence of this dancer? You never cared before.’

‘Neither did you.’

Glorien clutched the satin scarf, wondering how much the princess knew of Loui’s plans. 

Milsen, having finished his apple, decided to change the topic of the conversation. ‘Oh, that reminds me! Loui, have you made progress in the case concerning those gangs who roam in the city? You asked me to go over some information…’

‘Did you find the name of the leader?’

‘Yes, but there’s one problem: they go by the name “Chaïra”, the most popular name in Koia.’

‘Do you know their father’s name?’, Loui asked, still ignoring the two girls.

‘Ah… they call themself “child of Panliberi”.’

‘A bastard child?’

Milsen nodded. Suddenly, Vasira piped in. ‘You’re changing the subject.’

‘My apologies. Maybe you should spend more time with your friends? Isn’t it your duty to welcome them at this event?’, Loui asked.

‘You’re right’, Delira said. She turned around and shouted: ‘Hey Olivia, hey Alira, come here!’

‘That was… not what I meant’, Loui mumbled as the two other girls who had been standing with the princess earlier walked over. 

Olivia, the daughter of the Lord of Derreia - who was in charge of the Old Capital - had dark skin and dark hair. It was put up in buns with a rose paila - a piece of cloth that tied up the buns and fell down in a crescent shape. What stood out about her was that she had one dark brown eye and one light. 

Glorien’s heart raced at seeing Alira. They… had known each other. They had practically grown up together, their fathers had been friends. She was Jeremi’s daughter. Her hair was longer than he remembered. It flew past her shoulders, with two small braids in between. She wore an orange veil and had decorated her dress with daisies. Alira had grown so much, but realizing that made his blood run cold. Did she know? Did she know he had killed her father?

He pulled at the scarf and stared at Loui. Suddenly it all felt wrong. Where… what had he gotten himself into?

‘Hey Delira, is everything working out?’ Olivia sounded hesitant. 

‘Yup, we’re talking about the gangs, but without the bangs, unfortunately.’

Olivia frowned at her. ‘Did you really have to call us over?’

‘That’s not a proper way to talk’, Milsen gnarled at Delira. ‘Especially not for the next Houssaian Lord.’

Vasira stepped forward. ‘Why did you bring him here?’

‘I simply wanted to see him dance. I have nothing more to explain to you.’ Loui stood up. ‘If you could leave us now.’

‘Sir, we don’t want to cause any trouble...’, Alira said, gently waving with her hands. 

Olivia spoke up. ‘Sir, that wasn’t a Houssaian dance. Shouldn’t a Houssaian dance a Houssaian dance at a Houssaian party?’ 

‘Isn’t a Houssaian dance supposed to include fire?’, Alira asked.

‘Well, not all of them’, Delira remarked. ‘But that Jespen is certainly doing it wrong!’

Olivia gestured at the decorations in the throne room. ‘And look how boring it all looks. You know, you should tell your brother this whole party looks like a mere imitation of Houssaian culture.’

‘Yes, actually, I’m offended’, Delira chimed in.

‘Alright, now leave.’

‘Uncle-’

Suddenly, a loud scream pierced through the room. Everyone turned towards the centre. Jespen was lying on the floor, a dog on top of him biting his arm. He was bleeding…

‘Pyrrhos, stop! Vixar!’, Vasri shouted. His face was red, his jaw clenched in anger. He was looking at his son.

‘Make him stop! GET HIM OFF!’

The nine year old prince was smirking. His small brown eyes shone mischievously. 

‘Vixar!’

Finally, Vixar gave in, after enough blood had pooled onto the floor. He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled. Immediately, Pyrrhos, the dog, looked up. He ran to his master, happily wagging his tail. He jumped right into Vixar’s open arms, who petted him as a reward. 

The room was a mess. The musicians had stopped playing, people were chattering about the scene that had just played out in front of them, while a servant helped Jespen get up. The Emperor rapidly switched between showing care for his lover and scolding his son. 

Princess Vasira whispered something to Olivia, then joined her family. She took her father’s arm and repeatedly asked him to calm down, while he kept yelling at her brother.

Before Glorien knew what was going on, Olivia took his hand and dragged him out of the room. They ran, followed by Alira and Delira. His other hand still clutched the scarf.

[tears-and-lilies]

I'll post the actual next Glorien chapter today, and since the last chapter in the main storyline was posted in September, which is so long ago, I'll post a short recap here. Plus, there may have been some confusion around the order of the chapters, since chapter 40.5, which I posted last month, is part of the main plot, but comes before the previous chapter (chapter 41).

***

It's been 6 years since Glorien was captured, and 5 years since he killed Marsi and Jeremi. In this gap he has done nothing except suffer, and now he's done with it. He thinks that the only way to get some safety is by taking power away from the Emperor. So he decides he can do so by killing the Keeper of the City. But the man he remembered holding that position, a friend of his father's, has died, and now his nephew Feyros holds that title. Feyros has so far only shown care for Glorien, which makes killing him a lot harder.

The other advisors of the Emperor still hate Glorien. Another friend of his father's, lady Lazulan, has grown in fortune and status. She shows no respect for Darren, and goes so far as to use a fear she noticed Glorien have when he was a child, against him.

And then there's Lilian. She once was Glorien's lover, Loryan, and now her husband has died and she changed her name. She seems to have befriended the princess too. Her father is accused of hiring an assassin to kill the princess and is now banished.

In chapter 40, Glorien calls Jespen "disposable to the Emperor", after Jespen bullied him. In chapter 40.5, Glorien and Aurora go to the garden. There they discover that Feyros is in the palace, despite having left a few days earlier, and despite the fact that the Emperor is not present this day, as he's greeting the Lord of Houssaia at the haven.

In chapter 41, Glorien is punished for the things he said to Jespen. Loui comes up to him and says he has a proposal, and he will make it so that Glorien is executed if he doesn't accept...

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