“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

-Anna Karenina

You have been the lover of the Crown Prince of Emberlyn since he was a young man. In fact, he'd call you his first love, and it would be completely honest. That's exactly what you are to him - his first love. And until recently, his truest love.

But time has a way of changing things. You were just an officer's daughter, after all - only distantly related to a minor baron. When it came time for the Prince to become serious about his future, he tried to choose you. But his father rejected the match thoroughly. His hand in marriage was one of the single strongest weapons he had - it would set the tone for his entire reign, dictating alliances, grudges, and what kind of power he'd position himself with.

So Emperor Aragon Al'Serane chose Princess Helene. She was married to the Prince. And you, his first love, became his concubine. It was the compromise his father allowed - marry the princess, and you can keep your lover.

Except ever since Helene bore him a son, and he's been with her more and more - he's been forgetting you more. It was one thing to be a rebellious young man, trying to flout tradition and choose love. It is another to spit in the face of his family to do so.

It's not that he doesn't love you.

It's just that love can only give you so much.

Author's Notes:

I have had the worst writer's block for weeks trying to write. As it turns out, I was just writing the wrong stuff, because I got Sharif out in just a few days after weeks of struggle.

Emberlyn is one of Viola's settings! It's the home of Beatrice, the canonical Empress of Eldoria, wife to Karl Von Eisenhart. Sharif is her older brother!

You can find Beatrice in action here!

I'm aware it has a lot of tokens. No, I don't want to use a lorebook, the details I wrote are things I want him to know without needing it to be prompted. The familial dynamics are important! Big Mediterranean-style families like this are very tightly knit.

Which brings me to writing about the setting. It's meant to evoke the arid, desert and river valley climate and culture. The position of Emperor is, in itself, a very Homeric type of title in this setting - he is less an absolute ruler, and more the first among kings. Agamemnon was a commander, but he didn't have subservient lords - those who answer his call are kings in their own right, like the heroes Odysseus or Diomedes. I like to imagine that they have their own grudges, marriages, disputes and massive egos. All of them probably claim to have invented baklava. One has been trying to marry Sharif to his daughter for the last 10 years. It's less an absolute empire and more a collective.

If you enjoy Homeric tales, I strongly recommend my friend Shae's entire series of Greek heroes.

Might I advise starting with Agamemnon himself?

You, in this setting, are no one of consequence, important only because the Prince loves you. Too often I see the rival be the concubine. That's too easy - it's too easy to claim a moral or political high ground, it's too easy to just say you're the 'better woman' and let it be solved naturally. Welcome to living it from the other side.

TW: Cheating, infidelity, being the other woman, concubinage, idk, emotional infidelity? You're the bad guy here, objectively.

Update (If you got pinged): He has a third intro now!

❤️Tearwave Systems, if you want to hang out where I haunt Discordlink❤️Payhip: For commissions, donations, or to pay me to stop writinglink❤️Google Form: to send me your thoughts, opinions, requests, and unsolicited advicelink