rendingrosencrantz:

rendingrosencrantz:

“You paid us trinkets to kill a prince”

Tony + prince imagery is amazing and fascinating and I love it. I found this MCU Phase One Iron Man novelization I had and it has the story Yinsen told about the prince, and I swear I saw it on Tumblr somewhere before but search isn’t showing me anything. I’m going to transcribe it below since it’s across two pages:

Over the following twenty-four hours, the two of them worked feverishly: soldering circuits, connecting electronics, hammering metal–always carefully concealing their purpose from the watchful eyes of the warlord and his guards.

“My people have a story about a prince,” Yinsen said as he worked the salvaged metal. “The king hated the prince, so he banished him to the underworld and jailed him there.”

Sweat poured from Tony’s body as he beat the metal into shape. “Tell me,” he said.

“The king made the prince work the iron pits. Year after year, the prince mined the heavy ore, becoming so strong he could crush pieces of it together in his bare hands.”

Tony wiped the soot from his face.

“Too late the king realized his mistake,” Yinsen continued. “He took his finest sword and went to kill the prince. But when he struck, the sword broke in half. The prince himself had become as strong as iron.”

Tony lifted a glowing iron mask from the furnace. The mask was crude, but it would definitely suit his purpose.

“What next, young prince?” Yinsen asked.

(Source: tonyglowheart)