Clove

After hearing a musicians troupe play at a festival with his family, Clove was inspired to follow the music and become a bard. His parents encouraged his dream and helped him through lessons and small performances in their village. As he grew more popular, Clove heard of the royal castle’s auditioning for a new court bard. He knew this was his chance! With a teary goodbye and a promise to write as often as he could, Clove set off across the kingdom to follow his dream.

The final round of auditioning consisted of a performance from the heart with a song that each bard wrote themself. Clove had wandered around the castle grounds as he searched for inspiration, eventually finding himself under a weeping willow in a remote part of the gardens. Beneath it he found the young prince Carnelian, muttering to himself as he scribbled in his notebook. His goggles were on his forehead, revealing the delicate tendrils of twisting flowers and vines that rimmed his glowing eyes.

Clove had never seen such beauty encapsulated in dragon form before. He accidentally startled the young prince, who scrambled to put his goggles back on, hiding his beauty away from the world. He fiddled with his scarf, desperately trying to avoid eye contact with the bard. Clove sparked up a conversation with his honeyed words and dulcet tone, as though trying to soothe a nervous horse than speak with a prince. He earned smiles and laughs for his unusual introduction and the two became fast friends. They met there under the willow tree in the following days, falling deeper into one another.

In Clove, Carnelian had found a true friend (and maybe something more) who did not judge him for his eyes or the looming curse over him, and in Carnelian Clove had found his Muse. The song he composed that granted him the position of Royal Bard of The Court of Ichor he had written for and about Carnelian, though he had not mentioned that to the King. The two quietly did their little dance of pushes and pulls and twists and turns as their relationship deepened. They did their best to ignore any whispers they heard amongst the servants and nobles of the court.

Cadence, Carnelians grandmother, approached them both one day and gave them her and his grandfathers blessings, but urged them to keep their relationship quiet, as King Ichor was a believer in princes marrying in their status and class and likely would frown upon their relationship.