exordium | beginning

A palace represents many things. It describes the land’s history from the time of its founders, represents the rise of monarchy, and provides a home for its inhabitants. For the Kingdom of Pileum, the royal palace that stood at the centre of the bountiful island represented exactly that.

For Princess Cirrus, however, it was a prison.

The princess was seated at her study, which was facing a pair of grand windows adorned by silk drapes the colour of the sky. Sunshine provided the light she needed as she examined a scripture written long before her time. As Cirrus read each character carefully, she translated the text that was written in Coelum, a nearly-extinct language, into English in a notebook she had at her side.

“Waves are strongest during a full moon. Flee from the rock’s clutches, and bid death farewell,” Cirrus spoke to herself as she translated a verse from the scripture. Then, underneath the direct translation she provided an interpretation of the line; “Waves are most violent on the day of a full moon. To prevent an increase in the number of deaths at sea, do not fish or use a boat for the day.”

As a female in the royal family, Cirrus had been educated by her mother to be literate in Coelum. Normally, a princess who had not yet reached the age of 21 did not have to responsible for translating scriptures, but ever since the Queen had fallen ill half a year ago, the responsibility fell onto her shoulders.

At least she was fluent in another language.

A language that no one uses anymore, she thought to herself. The archives just don’t seem to end.

The 20-year-old princess sighed and got up to look through the window. She was just in time to catch a glimpse of her older brother during one of his swordsmanship lessons. His blond hair and hazel eyes shone even brighter thanks to the Sun’s rays. Prince Cumulus belonged in the Sun. She however, with her dark chestnut locks and nearly black eyes, belonged in the darkness cast upon her by his shadow.

Cirrus stared at her brother from the other side of the glass window. How she longed to be able to step foot outside without at least two royal guards following closely behind. Even when the two siblings were completing their royal duties, Cumulus was able to do so while bathing in the warmth of the Sun.

It was a privilege she had never been granted.

.::.        .::.        .::.

Cirrus had been reading a book while sipping peppermint tea when someone rapped at her bedroom door. “Come in,” she responded without sparing a glance at the door. She heard the doors open, followed by a voice she had been longing to hear recently.

“And what book are you reading that you won’t even give your fiancé a hug?” Suho walked into the room with a smile on his face. Cirrus’s ears perked up at the sound of his familiar voice and immediately dropped the book onto the table. She quickly got up, picked up the hems of her gown and ran towards him.

“Suho!” she exclaimed gleefully as she fell into his embrace. She dug her face into his chest and whispered, “I missed you.”

“I missed you more,” he replied in a tender voice.

The couple got settled at the table that Cirrus had been reading her book at. Another cup of tea had been brought to the table, along with small biscuits. Suho, who was of noble class, also worked directly under her father, King Solis of Pileum. Consequently, Suho acted as an ambassador between their kingdom and neighbouring islands which meant that he was away often.

“So, what have you been reading?” Suho asked as he looked curiously at the book that had captured his love’s attention to the point where his presence had been negligible.

“Oh, I was just re-reading Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet,” Cirrus replied quickly. “But that’s not the important part! So, where did you go this time? What did you see?”

No matter how many times Suho had seen it, the glimmer in her eyes and childlike smile that surfaced whenever he came back from a trip never failed to amuse him. “I went to Sororis, our sister island,” he began to explain. “Things there have stayed the same for the most part. The people are in good health and all is well. Oh, they renovated their Southern docks though.”

Cirrus sighed as she tried to envision everything. She had been to Sororis once when she was 5 years old. But that had been a long, oh so very long time ago. The memory from her childhood was fuzzy, but nonetheless Cirrus tried her best to envision the docks according to how Suho described them.

“I also got you something,” Suho smiled playfully as he dug both hands into his pockets. “Now, do you want the good present or the boring present first?”

“The boring present,” Cirrus responded almost immediately, her eyes fixated on Suho’s hands. The noble opened his right hand and dangled a necklace in front of her. The chain was made from pure gold, no doubt, and in the centre was a large ruby. He handed it to her, who thanked him and wore it around her neck.

“Now, time for the good present,” Suho winked as he opened his left hand. In the centre of his palm lay a small pink seashell. Suho had tried his best to dust off the sand from the shell’s surface, but it had been impossible to make it spotless. He handed it to Cirrus, who gazed in awe at the seashell.

“It’s a pink one!” she exclaimed and turned it around with her fingers. “I don’t have a pink one yet!”

“Yes, I know,” he chuckled as he watched her play with the shell he had picked up on the beaches of Sororis. “I spent two hours searching for it.”

“Thank you so much, Suho,” she smiled widely at her fiancé. She got up and walked over to a cabinet she had beside her bed. She opened its doors and grabbed a jar of similar shaped seashells. The jar was filled with seashells of various colours; white, blue, green and purple, but no pink ones. Cirrus eagerly opened the jar and gingerly placed her new addition above the others.

“I love it,” Cirrus said as she stared lovingly at her jar of seashells, meaning every word of her statement.

“I thought you might,” Suho said with an air of confidence. “I know how much you wanted a pink one.”

“I was starting to think they didn’t exist.”

“I’m sure there are other coloured seashells that you don’t have yet. Orange, yellow, teal and red. One day, I’ll bring you there and we’ll search for them together,” Suho declared, with a hint of reassurance in his voice.

“That would be nice,” Cirrus said, almost painfully.

Since they were children, Suho had been aware of the suffocating restrictions placed on Cirrus’s life. Granted, back then they were a lot less strict. As each year passed, the both of them were handed greater responsibilities which only lessened the amount of time they could be with each other. Suddenly, daily visits turned into weekly and then monthly.

That didn’t mean his love for her lessened. On the contrary, Suho began to cherish each encounter that much more. Each visit he swore Cirrus had become more beautiful than the last time he saw her, which she never believed. But he meant it every time he said it. And he meant it when he said that he would take her to Sororis one day.

He was determined to set her free.

.::.        .::.        .::.

“Land hoy!” a burly man yelled from atop a grand ship. Immediately, several crew members started scrambling about the deck, getting into position. “Someone tell the capt’n!”

The burly man descended from the crow’s nest and landed on the deck with a loud “thud”. He pointed his meaty finger at a slender boy, dressed in rags, who had been sitting on the ledge of the ship with a book in one hand. His greasy, black hair was a mop of a mess, covering his entire forehead. The young boy had an eyepatch over his left eye and a silver hoop ring on both ears.

“You there! Fetch the cap’n, boy!” the burly man yelled at the young man. The young pirate looked up at the large man, closed his book and stood on his feet.

“Sure thing,” he replied obediently. “It’s to inform the captain about reaching land, correct?”

“Ye, boy,” the burly man replied in a raspy voice. Then, he furrowed his eyebrows and scrunched his nose up as he took a better look at the young man. “Say, when did you join our crew?”

“Recently, sir. I’m a new recruit,” the young man replied as he saluted the older crewmate. “I was taken in at the most recent hiring.”

“Ah, that explains why I don’t recognize you,” the burly man mumbled to himself, scratching his head as if to convince himself that that was the most logical explanation. “Anyways, fetch Capt’n Ignis! He’ll be giddy to hear the news.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” the boy replied, smirking. “We’re all very excited to be here.”

“The princess won’t know what hit her,” the burly man laughed heartily.

A/N: Don't believe me that Baekhyun is in this chapter? Look again ;) Do tell me how you enjoyed the first chapter, and don't forget to subscribe and upvote <3 I'd like to point out that exordium is Latin for beginning (every chapter title will be in Latin), and Cirrus is a type of cloud (as is Cumulus) --> just for some insight.

\\ xoxo