Profile of Etienne

Sandy gold hues cover his regal visage, surrounding his pale pink eyes and blending with ivory over his muzzle and forming a blaze in the centre of his forehead that gives him that extra dash of 'I'm special'. Streaks of silver flow out from the white and spread cross his back like feathers.

“Marry me, my queen,” her most trusted general, Belmont proposed, kneeling at the foot of her throne with the head of her greatest enemy cradled between his paws as an offering. It’s said that the ice queen melted a little that day and a rare smile graced her pale lips. It would soon become a tale of romance that filled the hearts of the people of Lumière. A story that the wet nurses and servants happily retold for their curious children. Maxime, the eldest, cared little for the romance, but he was the one who cheered the loudest when hearing about his father vanquishing their mother's foe. It was Etienne and Angelique who wanted to know more about the parents they rarely saw and less about their glorious deeds.

No one could tell them what they were really like because no one really knew them. They remained distant and unreachable like the stars in the sky. Mother wasn't the one who wiped his feverish brow when he was sick or held him close when he woke from a nightmare. It was his knight, closer to him than any of his own blood, that truly cherished him. It was this love that he was reared on that influenced the man he was to become. A spoiled fool all too eager to prove himself and live up to the legacy that his parents had made.

Maxime was always ahead of him, seemingly embodying the best of both Aveline and Belmont within him while Etienne floundered to catch up. Mother's rare smiles were all for him and even father began to take an interest in training Maxime. The seeds of envy began to take root in his heart and spiteful whispers echoed in his mind. Only Angelique could understand how he felt and it was her words of encouragement that inspired him to act. The plan was simple. If Maxime was out of the picture for a little while then Etienne would be able to take his place while he was gone. Nothing serious, Angelique assured him, Maxime would return in a few weeks and that would give him time to impress their parents and earn his place as heir.

A few men were hired to kidnap Maxime, and as soon as Maxime was secured they would send word. A restless Etienne waited for news of their success, but instead he was surrounded by the royal guard and dragged into the throne room, rows of snarling teeth snapping at his heels as he passed. Attempted fratricide and treason. Were the charges they condemned him with. The scornful faces of Maxime and Angelique greeted him. He begged her to tell their parents that he hadn't tried to kill Maxime and she turned her head away from him. Queen Aveline announced her child’s fate with the same icy expression she always wore. Exile. It was the royal blood in his veins that saved him from certain death and that disgrace was shared with his knight who would be cast out with him.