Kayn

Kayn is a furry story by Erkhyan. It tells the tale of the eponymous character and how his life gets more and more complicated (mostly in all the wrong ways).

First draft available here (some parts NSFW), though be aware that this is both incomplete and currently being rewritten.


 * Acquitted Too Late:
 * Authority Equals Asskicking: Do not piss off the princes of Thald and Leothar.
 * Batman Gambit: is trying to get control of Thald by eliminating the two most politically-minded rulers (Kayraen and Kaell), knowing that Kayn would not do well as a King (being mostly a soldier rather than a politician) and would probably relinquish most of his non-military duties to a trusted advisor.
 * Big Sleep:
 * Clear Their Name: Everyone but Kayn thinks Jalek was killed while trying to murder Kaell.
 * Cycle of Revenge: The countries of Thald and Nuuran keep going to war against each other, each time with revenge as the primary driving force.
 * Designated Villain:
 * with Norek. He's a bitter, bellicose, xenophobic, chauvinist, decidedly unsympathetic old rat who is overly proud that several in his family died in battle. He's sabotaged the peace talks with his antics, and still his political power has allowed him to keep his job. This leads him to being the prime suspect when Kayn is alerted about a plot against him and his relatives.
 * The Federation of Nuuran is another subversion. First considered as a treacherous opponent in the war, later revealed to have been manipulated into starting it out of self-defense.
 * Did Not Get The Man:
 * Died in Your Arms Tonight:
 * Disappeared Dad: Contrary to his sons, King Kayraen doesn't survive the attempt to annihilate the Thaldese royalty...
 * First Boy Wins:
 * Furry Fandom: The characters are all anthropomorphic animals.
 * Gay Option: Marriage laws in the kingdom of Leothar have been gender-neutral for over a century, though Aydan is the first Crown Prince to seek a husband rather than a wife. Having grown up in Leothar, Kaell wishes his own kingdom to follow suit (on this issue amongst a lot of other things), but old habits (and old lawmakers) tend to get in the way.
 * The Good Chancellor: Ryal is seen as this by most characters.
 * Good-Looking Privates: All of the Leothan soldiers are described as this.
 * Interspecies Romance: Kayn, Jalek and Aydan are all of different species.
 * I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Jalek and Aydan are both okay with Kayn leaving them to be with the other, as long as he's happy...
 * The Kingdom: One of the world's two major powers and a few minor ones are monarchies.
 * Last Kiss:
 * Love Triangle:.
 * Missing Mom: Kayn and Kaell's mother won the battle that ended the previous war, at the cost of her life.
 * The Mourning After: Losing his wife turned Kayraen into a Jerkass towards his sons. Kayn also spends a while mourning after Jalek's disappearance.
 * Never Found the Body: Jalek.
 * Never Got to Say Goodbye: Kayn and Jalek have words and leave each other in anger. The following day, Jalek is declared dead after the assassination attempt on the Thaldese royalty. It takes years for Kayn to recover from the shock, straining his later relationship with Aydan.
 * Not Quite Dead:
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Lord Sa'aden treats all of his servants and subjects like family (especially Jalek, a surrogate son to him). Kaell turns into this once he ascends to the throne: one of his first acts is to establish a constitutional monarchy similar to Leothar's, where his father had favored a more authoritarian rule.
 * Replacement Love Interest: Aydan comes to wonder if Kayn considered him as this all along.
 * Romancing The Widower: Though Kayn and Jalek weren't married when the latter disappeared, Aydan still has to compete against a lot of memories to win Kayn's heart.
 * Royal Blood: Kayn is closely related to two successive Kings of Thald (son to one, younger brother to the next one). Aydan is the Crown Prince of Leothar. The fact that Jalek had no single drop of nobility in his blood caused a lot of tension during his relationship with Kayn.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something: Kayn leads his kingdom's armies into battle, as did his mother in the previous war. Aydan fights alongside him despite being the Crown Prince of another kingdom.
 * Second Love: Kayn loves Aydan, but still can't let go of Jalek's memories.
 * Secret Relationship: Kayn and Jalek let no one know they were a couple, mainly because Kayn had a very conservative father who would never let his son date anything than a female noble (Jalek is obviously neither). As it turns out, Jalek's surrogate father and Kayn's older brother knew all along and helped cover their tracks.
 * Star-Crossed Lovers: Kayn and Jalek. Born to countries that hate each other. Due to cultural inertia, their respective homelands still have relatively homophobic cultures. One's a royal Prince, the other is a mere soldier. Jalek is then  involved in a plot to take control of Thald by killing off the royalty.
 * Straight Gay: Kayn, Jalek, Aydan.
 * The Unfavorite: King Kayraen doesn't exactly love his sons much, but he shows a clear preference for Kaell over the younger Kayn.
 * Warrior Prince: Kayn and Aydan reverse Thald's situation in the war as soon as they take charge.