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Auguste loved sunsets. Maybe even too much.
Every evening when the sky was clear and not covered in a grey veil of clouds (which often happened in Vere), he would sit by his room's window and watch the setting sun.
Coincidentally, his rooms faced West, and the Prince could watch the beautiful views eternally. He could never get bored of them.
Each day would bring something new: sometimes those were the soft cotton-like clouds, which the fading light would turn into golden, then pinkish, and then crimson colors; and sometimes the clear sky would become orange and then simply blacken. Every time the sunsets would impress him, every time they were beautiful.
Auguste would always watch them alone, in the darkness of an empty room, but he never felt lonely. He liked the minutes when no one could remind him that he is the Prince and the heir who is supposed to be responsible. Such idyll was all he wanted. Until Laurent happened, of course.
When this little ruddy child was born, Auguste realised that spending time fussing around his cradle is a little bit more interesting than watching sunsets. The boy had unusually smart eyes that were the color of the sky – and that was enough for the older brother to love the younger from the very first moments. And when the child, making his first sounds, once managed to say "Gu!", the young Prince almost cried from love. Then he swore to himself that he will always put this little sun before anything.
He hadn't forgotten about the sunsets, of course, but for a long time he couldn't find the time for himself to look at the darkening skies like before. Little Laurent was growing, learning to walk and run – and, of course, his older brother became the center of his attention. Wherever Auguste was going, Laurent would follow on his small feet. If the boy was going to the library, then Laurent would sit with him, mostly distracting, not letting Auguste concentrate and breaking the library's rules about complete silence. If Auguste was entering his rooms, he would definitely discover Laurent inside. But he wasn't really against it, of course.
That's why an idea once came to the Prince's head – if he could not enjoy the sunsets alone anymore, then he could share them with his brother. So once in a summer evening he let Laurent into his room, took him in his arms and sat him down on the windowsill.
"I would like to show you something pretty, Laurent", quietly said the boy and smiled when chubby face of the child changed from being surprised to being impatient. "Look what a beautiful sunset there is today".
And Laurent, looking out of the window, froze with eyes wide open. The sunset that day was truly unusual - the setting sun didn't yet reach the horizon, but was already different in color. The blue sky was covered in huge clouds, but the shining sun was not hidden from the eye - so it seemed as though it was protected with an invisible shield. And the sun's rays were red, like the color of poppies, like the color of blood, and with this blood they were staining the dark clouds. Fluffy and ethereal, they looked like tall towers and castles high in the sky, made by an incredible architect; their shapes changed every second, making it impossible to take eyes off them.
Laurent was still sitting with blue eyes wide open, and in them, mixing with sparkles of true delight, reflected the scarlet sun. Seeing the happiness in his brother's face, Auguste couldn't help but smile, and now he was constantly changing between looking at the sky and at Laurent.
The sunset was a flash of unearthly fire, frightening and mesmerizing, but even this fire had to go out once. In Auguste's opinion it happened too soon. After a few minutes the colors started to fade, letting the dark blue sky in their place, but brothers didn't stop looking for a long time. They were hugging each other, and Auguste suddenly thought that he hadn't seen something like this ever before - so he was lucky to take Laurent with him today.
"Beautiful," whispered the boy, and feeling a bright flash of happiness in his chest, Auguste brought Laurent closer and hugged him tightly, which resulted in Laurent laughing and trying to break free from his arms.
They spent a long time playing and laughing - but then Hennike came in, worried, and scolded Auguste for keeping Laurent awake at such a late hour. Auguste kissed his brother on the forehead, wished him good night and went to bed himself, where he started remembering events of the day in a half-sleepy state.
Studying, studying, training, studying... and then the wonderful sunset. In the last few days it was the best thing that happened. No, the rest of the events weren't bad, and the Prince couldn't complain. But this sunset was especially beautiful - Auguste showed something sacred to Laurent, and he liked it. What could be better than that?
Falling asleep, Auguste promised to himself that no matter how many sunsets he would see, it would be together with Laurent.