IkePri & IkeVil

He took one last look around and then stomped off down one of the hallways leading out of the ballroom. It was a dimlit corridor with cheap decor and faded wallpaper. Silvio shook his head. These Rhodolitians didn’t know how to spend. “If you wanna throw a real part- ah!”

His grumbling cut short as the floor opened up, dropping him down an unexpected hole. Silvio jangled the whole way down the shaft and hit bottom with a thud and a clang. He lay there a moment, still and silent with surprise. Then he leapt to his feet, cursing. 

“Hey! Hey! Ya morons left a hole in the floor! Damn it!” 

No one replied, of course. They were all at the party. Where he was also supposed to be, until dawn. Which meant no one was going to come looking for at least another few hours. “There’s no way I’m gonna rot down here,” he mumbled, glaring up into the darkness above. 

Silvio took a breath and steadied himself. He’d been in bad spots before. One didn’t sail without being able to handle himself, afterall. The hole he’d fallen into was pretty deep, the shaft slightly angled to slow a victim’s fall. The floor was cushioned with thick cloth and - he prodded the pile at his feet - hay. 

This must be one of Clavis’ infamous pranks. Silvio frowned. “When I see that guy, I’m gonna punch him so hard he smiles out his ass, and that’s just to start. He’s gonna pay me back for this. I’ll . . . I’ll bankrupt him. And his damn brothers. The whole damn kingdom . . .” 

He muttered angry promises as he searched the space for a way out or a way up. He found one of his own chains, the soft gold snapped in his fall, a covered plate of some sort of violently green pudding, and a book titled Smiling Is Good For You. He frowned at it and tossed the book against the wall.

“Useless.”

Silvio took to pacing. Back and forth across the small, padded space, his boots sinking in slightly with every step. It took five steps to cross from one wall to the other. Left wall, right wall, he began tapping them at each turn. Left wall, “I’m gonna make that bastard pay.” Right wall, “Hey! Somebody get me outta here!”

His fury faded as the quiet around him settled in. He tried to cling to it, but there was nothing to aim it at. Silvio was alone. No one to bribe or berate. Just a prince and his thoughts. He flopped onto the floor with a heavy sigh. “Boring,” he grunted.

A bit of hay poked through the fabric into his arm. He picked it out and threw it at the wall, but it wasn’t heavy enough to go far. It landed on his leg, one ending pointed at him in challenge. Silvio glared at it haughtily, but of course, the piece of hay wasn’t impressed. 

He pursed his lips and blew on it. The hay spun around lazily in the air and floated right back onto his leg. “Bastard! Get off!” Then he brushed at it, but the bloody thing clung to his glove and jabbed him in the wrist. “Damn it!”

“Is someone down there? Who did I catch tonight?” A voice floated down from above, the tone rich with held laughter. 

Silvio jumped to his feet, ignoring the bit of hay that still stuck to his coat. “Clavis?” The rage boiled back up in his veins. “You better get me outta here! I’m gonna punch you so hard the king feels it in his -”

“Hm. No, it appears I’ve trapped an angry dog. I thought I heard someone talking but now it’s just barking.” A laugh, high and wicked echoed down the shaft. “I’ll come back in a bit and check again.”

“Clavis! You better be joking! CLAVIS!” Silvio jumped and pounded on the walls, but the Rhodolitian prince was gone, or ignoring him. He could just picture the smug expression he would be wearing as he stood up there, listening to Silvio lose his mind. Then it hit him. This was the kind of reaction that sicko wanted.

Silvio took a long, deep breath. “Ok, ok. This guy wants to play games? Alright. I can play ‘em.” He sat down again, and the hay pricked his arm. 

He jerked it out of his sleeve and stared at it. “Yer worse than that mutt. At least he doesn’t try to stick to me.” Silvio spun the hay in his fingers, noticing for the first time how it caught the dim light and turned it golden. And even though the ends were sharp, the middle was soft. Surprisingly so. 

“You aren’t so bad, I guess. Least ways, you have some valuable qualities. I bet there’s people who would pay good money for ya.” 

The hay didn’t reply. 

Silvio sighed, trying to focus on not being angry. Or alone. “I like alone,” he told the bit of hay. “It’s good. Means no one’s screwing you. Lying to you. ‘Cept you.” The last bit he said quietly, as if it was a secret he was keeping from himself. 

He set the bit of hay on his leg and picked up the book. Reading was not a favorite activity, though a necessary one. But this trash wasn’t about products, resources, income streams, investment returns, real property or anything worthwhile. At least it had pictures. 

Although . . . “What kinda freak draws just the mouth?” Silvio thumbed through the book, looking at the smiles pictured within. Some of ‘em were nice. But some . . . “Look at this. Guy’s missing some teeth. Why’d they draw that in here? Genuine, it says.” He showed the page to the dry straw on his thigh.

“Stupid word too. Just means nobody caught you lyin’ yet.” He scoffed. “And this one? Lips all smooshed together. Ugh. Shy, it says. Pfft. Just somebody trying to fake like they don’t want somethin’ so you let ‘em close. Never met someone shy.”

The piece of hay was also not impressed. 

They continued to flip through the pages, well, Silvio flipped and the straw just sat there. As straw does. “Kinda like this one though.” He spoke more quietly as his fingertip traced the outline. “Reminds me of -” he cut himself off as the memories came. When he was young and his mother, the queen, still had her real smile. Not the vicious, brittle thing it became as jealousy and hurt ate her alive. 

He swallowed, pushing away the thought. Women were all like that. Fake. In love with money and power. And when there was a threat to what they had, they would do anything to hold onto it.

“Not gonna talk about that, ya got me?” Silvio glared at the hay as if it had forced these thoughts on him. He flipped the page so savagely it almost tore. “Damn it. This one looks like the mutt. Book says it’s joy but I’m gonna tell you, it’s stupidity.” He picked up the bit of hay and brought it closer to his face. “That’s the smile a fool makes when he -”

“Prince Silvio, are you . . . talking to a piece of grass?” Rio’s head appeared at the top of the hole, a bullseye lantern in hand. 

He stood up, throwing the book on the ground. It landed atop the weird green pudding with a squelching sound. “No!” Silvio tucked the straw into his pocket and hoped his brother mistook the gesture. “Ya didn’t see anything!”

“Right.” Rio’s wry grin told Silvio this was going to come back at the worst possible time. 

“You better get me outta here! If you’re lucky, I’ll only bankrupt half the country getting recompense for this!” 

The blonde tilted his head. “Well, see, that’s the thing. I want to get you out. I really do. But if you’re still angry, I might have to leave you here to cool off a little longer.”

Silvio felt a shiver crawl down his spine. Certainly rage and not fear. He liked being alone. Yeah. “You do and I will kill you.”

“Fair enough. So look, you like to make deals so let’s make one. I get you out now, and in exchange, you don’t take any revenge. Not on me, or Prince Clavis or Rhodolite. Nobody and nothing. We can both pretend it never happened.”

“What?! No! Why would I -”

Rio interrupted. “Because then I’ll forget I saw you practically kiss a blade of dry grass. While holding a full conversation with it.”

Silvio’s fists tightened hard enough that his rings pinched. “That’s blackmail!”

“Is it? Hmmmm.” Rio grinned. “I don’t know. Sounds like a fair exchange. I mean, imagine what the merchants would say if they knew you were losing your mind? Nobody would want to do business with such a risky partner.”

The worst part of this, Silvio thought, was that the mutt was right. People were strangely skittish. A rumor could destroy an empire. “Fine.”

“What was that?”

“I said fine! It’s a deal!” He felt his shoulders slump. Defeat, thought Silvio, was almost worse than death. The only silver lining was knowing he’d get out and have plenty of opportunity to teach the mutt a lesson some other day.

A few minutes later, a rope ladder tumbled down the shaft. He climbed up, moving as fast as he could just in case Rio tried to change the deal. But his brother didn’t renege, and even held out a hand to help him up the last bit. Silvio slapped it away, of course, but part of him appreciated the gesture even if he would never admit it. 

“Not even a thank you?” Rio raised an eyebrow. His too-similar sky blue eyes met the sea blue of Silvio’s gaze. 

Chevalier patiently removed the fur from her grasp. “What did I tell you? Only food goes into your mouth.” His strict voice belied the tender look in his eyes as he said it, though he did not realize what expression he wore when he looked at his daughter. “I wonder how any child lives to adulthood, sticking random things in their mouths.” He was very sure he’d never done that and there was no one around but Sariel to dispute him.

The baby did not have an answer for him, but she waved her hands in the air above her, reaching for his cloak again. 

He unhooked it and laid it against the back of the chair, safely out of baby-reach. Proactive strategy. Difficult when your opponent gave you so little to work with. “Now. I am going to read. And you are going to be a quiet good girl until your mother comes back.” Chev glared down at the little bundle of joy fiercely. 

“Ama-amamama ah?”

Chev paused mid-breath. “Did you . . . say mama?” 

“Ama-ahamama-aaahhhh!” She squealed at him and stuck her fist into her mouth to bite at it.

The king felt his face stretch into a wide smile. He,and he alone, heard the princess’ first words. Of course. It was a very common word. Mama. But he felt pride swell his chest. He couldn’t wait to see Emma’s face when she heard. 

“Now for your second word,” he told the little princess. “Paaa-paaa . . . paaa - say it.” His eyes gleamed with the ferocious inner light of a tiger teaching its young.

“Ahhh? Bluhbluh . . .” The baby squealed and then went back to sucking on its fist. 

“Paaa. P.” Chev formed the first letter slowly and repeated it several times. “If you can say mama, I know you can say papa. Stubbornness is not a becoming trait. Paaa-paaa.”

His daughter reached up and tried to grab at his chin, giggling and he could not help but laugh too.

Unnoticed in the doorway, Sariel stood with an armload of papers. He watched the king and princess with a gentle smile. Ater a moment, he turned and left as silently as he’d come.

Clavis

The princes of Rhodolite assembled in the garden, their expressions ranging from mild concern to hostile boredom. There were tables set out with an array of bizarre foods. Tarts in an unnatural shade of purple, vegetables with some kind of dangerous looking red glaze, a drink that might have been tea if it wasn’t blue. 

Yves and Licht sat at one table, looking nervous. Luke sprawled disinterestedly on a bench. Jin leaned against a rose-covered arch with his flask in hand - probably the only safe drink at this gathering. 

Rio stood to one side with a tray in hand. It held little cups of what looked like pudding, but it was matte green and had chunks of something yellow jutting out of it. He wasn’t allowing anyone to take one off the tray - not that anyone was asking. 

Leon was gamely chewing one of the violently purple treats, much to Sariel’s obvious horror. Nokto watched from a shaded bench in the corner, clearly hoping for a reaction from the 4th prince. 

“This had better not be a waste of my time.” Chev was the last to arrive, he stepped into the garden and gave the gathering a frosty look. 

Clavis had called them here upon his return from Jade, and no one was quite sure if that meant he was about to prank them or actually had important information to share. With the 3rd born prince, it could go either way or even be both. He was unpredictable, dangerously so. Even marriage and fatherhood had done little to tame him.

Cyran, soldier and confidante to Clavis, appeared at the entrance to the garden right behind Chevalier. “Oh, I promise you this will be worth your time, King Highness.”

Chev’s lip curled, but he sat down and crossed his arms. 

A moment later, Clavis arrived. He was beaming, his smile wider than usual. “Thank you so much for attending my little garden party. I really appreciate it!” 

No one replied, though Jin crossed his arms, almost a mirror of Chevalier's posture. 

“I hope you’re enjoying all my homemade goodies. All from things I bought while in Jade.”

“That’s not the only reason you asked us here, is it?” Sariel’s dry, business-like voice did not sound amused or even faintly interested in ‘goodies’.

Clavis laughed. “Of course not!” He swanned around the gathering, his smile wide and unchanging. “I asked you to come because I made the most fantastic discovery in the Jadean markets.”

“A new medicine,” Leon said hopefully.

“New weapons?” Chev asked with his usual icy disdain.

“Better.”

Nokto smirked. “I hope you aren’t about to show us another nude folio. King Highness did not appreciate that last time, and Yves is still too young for that kind of filth.”

“I might not mind,” Jin hummed. 

“No! I’m a married man now,” Clavis put a hand to his chest. “I can’t imagine wanting to look at anyone but my dear Emma.” 

“So . . . what is it then?” Licht frowned.

“Cyran.” Clavis gestured imperiously. The soldier gave a little bow and hurried off, returning a moment later with something in his arms. Someone, in fact. 

“Well, there it is. The prince has finally lost what mind he had left,” Sariel sighed. “You didn’t find your daughter in the Jadean markets, Clavis.”

The baby in Cyran’s arms wriggled, trying to get loose. She was just old enough that she’d started to walk, holding onto things and as wobbly as a new-born deer.

Clavis laughed. “Of course not! But look at her shoes!” The baby wore a pair of odd looking little shoes over her chubby feet. They were white and pink, with a cute bunny face topped by loppy little ears and a puffy cotton tail above the heel. 

“Baby shoes.” Chevalier said flatly. “You brought us here . . . for baby shoes.”

“Yes! Do you have any idea how hard it is to find cute little shoes that fit those chubby little feet? But in Jade they’ve made these shoes with stretchy tops, see?” He pointed out the way the top stretched over the little baby foot. “And it has a matching headband!” Clavis took it out of his pocket and put it on the baby’s head.

His daughter giggled and grabbed at the ears that now hung down on each side of her adorable face. Her lavender hair stuck up at odd angles where the band had bunched it, but she didn’t seem to mind.

“She does look pretty cute,” Yves said into the awkward silence. 

Licht had a gentle expression on his face, almost tender, as he nodded in agreement. 

The baby wriggled until Cyran had to set her down, holding her two little hands in his big calloused ones. She took a few wobbling steps toward Chevalier, and gave him a big smile. “Uhhnn!” 

Chev regarded her with an arctic glare. “Uncle. Chevalier. It’s not difficult to say.” 

“Uhhhn! ‘Val . . . ear!” The tiny princess pulled a hand loose from Cyran and waved it toward Chev. 

“Aww that’s so cute! But your name is too long. I bet she can say mine.” Jin crouched down to put himself at baby level. “Come on little bun-bun. Come to uncle Jin.”

Nokto chuckled. “Not even a year old and she’s bringing royalty to their knees.”

Chevalier stood. “I do not have time for this.” He stepped carefully around the baby and then walked briskly back toward the palace. It might have been easy to miss the gentle look he gave the child over his shoulder. Certainly, the gathered princes were too occupied to note it. 

Jude: C’mon, on yer belly, lil’ Miss Loon.

Kate: Y-you won’t do something that hurts…right?

Jude: Depends on you, don’t it.

Kate: Hngh, mmmn, ahhh!! (｡>﹏<)

Jude: Quit makin’ weird noises. People are gonna think I’m some kinda scummy pervert violaitin’ a woman at the beach in broad daylight.

The slap of a cold towel made me let out another yelp of pain.

(I can’t believe I’ve gotten this sunburnt….)

The backless one piece swimsuit I was wearing offered my skin zero protection from the harsh sunlight.

Literally, "one piece" is used here. I decided to go with swimsuit since the usual katakana for "dress" is not being used, but "dress" can also be used for "one piece".

Beneath the beach umbrella, Jude placed a wet towel on my sunburnt skin, and looked down at me with a mocking sneer.

Jude: Hah, that’s what’cha for gettin’ carried away.

Kate: And it’s a rare holiday for us too….I’m sorry, Jude. ｡°(°¯᷄◠¯᷅°)°｡

Jude: Ain’t like frolickin’ in the ocean’s the only way to have fun ya know.

Kate: You mean like making rounds to open up new sales channels.......

Jude: Why the hell would we be workin’?

After an exasperated sigh, his voice drifted down to me.

Jude: Oy, look here.

(Hm?)

Jude: Whaddya think these are, hm?

In his hand were two sheets of high-quality paper with gold-foil lettering.

Jude: ….It’s ‘em tickets ya were dyin’ to get yer hands on.

Kate: Wh-what……REALLY?! (ˊᵒ̴̶̷̤ ꇴ ᵒ̴̶̷̤ˋ)

Jude: Snatch ‘em from me, and they’re yers.

The dark clouds that had been hanging over my heart instantly cleared, and everything began to shine.

Kate: Juuude!! ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

Jude: Yer bein’ too loud. Shoulda held off a bit longer before showin’ ‘em to ya.

Jude: Ya were all meek an’ dejected just a moment ago.

Jude: Sucha easy woman t’please.

As I threw myself into his arms, Jude held me tight, sunburn and all….

...and I let out another scream of pain.

[Master List]