Devin Trunswick was a fan of the Festival of Wolves.

Wolves were dangerous creatures, all spiky fur and long claws and teeth sharp enough to gouge out a throat. He'd always been told to stay away from wolves, despite the entire city celebrating them. What was tricky about Devin, though, was that he found beauty in the most dangerous things.

Devin was not a fan of dressing up to look pretty for a couple hours. That was his least favourite thing about the festival, if he had to choose one.

"Are you done, Devin?" Dawson was knocking on his door again, impatient as ever. Usually, Devin would have had a servant do up buttons and clasps instead of doing it himself, but he was not feeling very merry today, and he thought it would be better for himself and his unfortunate servant to stay away.

He almost regretted the decision though. This clasp would not go up. Maybe it was broken. Or maybe he was just wide in the chest.

One look in the mirror debunked that theory.

"Almost," Devin called back, careful to hide the growl in his voice. Maybe he'd get angry and never come out of his room until someone dragged his limp body out by the leg.

He heard Dawson let out an exasperated noise. "What's taking so long?" he complained. "Father's going to come looking for us and all I have to do is put the blame on you."

Devin nearly whooped when the clasp finally latched, but instead settled on a smug grin. "Fine," he responded, "I'm coming out."

"In which way?"

Devin Trunswick did not like boys.

"You know which way, you idiot." Devin threw the door open, hitting Dawson in the shoulder, which made him yelp loudly.

"You're mean," Dawson huffed in agitation, clutching his shoulder in his opposite hand. Devin hummed lightly in response, ruffling Dawson's hair before walking swiftly ahead of him. The halls of the Trunswick Castle had a different feel to them today. They were lighter, more airy. Usually, they were dim and unwelcoming, but the Festival of Wolves was upon them, making everything a shade brighter than it normally was.

Dawson caught up to him soon enough, and was waving to the servants with a polite, "Good morning!" or, "How are you today?" Devin paid them no attention. He didn't really bother with them, ever. They had their jobs, he had his. It was an equal balance.

The only servant he had ever paid attention to was long gone, his time of servitude had ended two years ago. He'd heard rumours of him roaming the countryside. He wasn't sure what was so interesting about travelling, but whatever floats a boat.

"Ready?"

It was Dawson who had spoken to him. "No," Devin grumbled back.

"Grumpy ," his younger brother muttered in return. Yes, Devin was grumpy. No, he was not going to do anything about it.

The two made their way down the grand staircase with ease, finding their mother, father, and sister at the bottom, waiting impatiently.

"Five minutes late, boys," their mother delivered the blow. Five minutes shouldn't have meant much to the average person, but the Trunswicks had a strict schedule, one they didn't often fall behind on. That was what came with royalty, he supposed.

"Where are your crowns?" Daphne asked in her soft voice. Daphne was all soft edges compared to the rest of her family. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing was unclear.

Devin and Dawson shared a look, each puffing out their own breaths of embarrassment. Devin was about to turn around and make the jog to go grab them, but Dawson beat him to it.

"Clover!" Dawson called sweetly. A nearby servant, presumably Clover, glanced up from her work of dusting a table, meeting his gaze with a small smile. It was forced, Devin could tell. "Could you run and grab my crown? And Devin's as well. We're both rather forgetful."

Devin and his father wore similar expressions of disgust at the honey laced into Dawson's voice. He leaned in closer to his father, whispering, "He's capable of that?"

His father responded with a quirk of his eyebrow and a quiet, "What a surprise."

Clover had scampered away to retrieve the crowns as quickly as possible. Possibly to save her own skin. Possibly to get out of the presence of the royal family for even a moment.

Devin wished he could do the same. Family time was exhausting.

On the bright side, it was a pleasant day.

The breeze was light, tussling his hair lightly around the crown nestled atop his head. He hated wearing his crown. If he didn't keep his head upright, then it would slip off and hit the ground with a clatter, something his tutors had yelled at him for when he was younger. You never got used to how much it limited your mobility.

Dawson seemed much more at ease, but Daphne kept fretting about if it was crooked on her head or not, to which Devin assured her it was not. Their mother and father were perfect compared to their children, who tagged along behind them. Straight backs, chins up, relaxed shoulders. To anyone else, it may look disgustingly royal, and while it was, it also made you look more confident than you felt. That was how Devin got away with so many things.

"I say," Devin whispered to his siblings, "we get the fattest pieces of bacon from the food stall out east later on."

He watched Dawson and Daphne exchange a glance, smiles tugging on their lips. "Or," Daphne added, "we could go pop balloons in the city's center."

"Or--" Dawson's grin widened, "--we could-"

"Quit scheming," their father called over his shoulder. "I can hear you." Their mother nodded in agreement.

All three slumped noticeably. It didn't matter much, though. The Trunswick trio always found something to do sooner or later, despite their parents watching them like hawks.

Devin liked to think he was some kind of bird himself. A falcon, maybe. Falcons were swift, dangerous, beautiful. Devin didn't necessarily think of himself as beautiful, but the other qualities weren't too bad.

"First," Devin mumbled, "let's survive the morning and afternoon."

He didn't expect anyone to hear him, but Daphne nodded with the beginning of a smile. Dawson forced his already existing grin to calm down.

Devin began curiously watching a Pin the Tail on the Wolf game. It was remarkably dangerous, since the clumsily made tail was attached to nothing but a blade which could easily penetrate the board it was supposed to find, so Devin didn't like to think of what it could do to human flesh.

It was not very beautiful.