“So where do we look now?” A rather portly boy snapped as he walked in.

 

He was big for his age in every sense of the word… He was dressed in finely tailored clothes that appeared more like a costume than an actual outfit; like a child dressing up as a King for a Masquerade, but this boy was not trying to be in costume. He was Pricilla’s cousin.

 

His face was a mixed complexion caused by limited sun exposure, fat and stressed blood vessels, much like a newborn infant except the flush cheeks caused by the burst blood vessels never faded away and his orange-red hair didn’t help him.

 

His voice sounding frustrated, like he had already had enough of walking around looking for some dumb boy his cousin liked.

He immediately rested his body against the door, not giving any thought as to why it wouldn't open anymore, just caring that standing was getting boring.

 

“Everywhere! Stop slacking off, Dennis! It's a game. If you don't want to play you shouldn't have come to my birthday party! This is my day, you do as I say!” Pricilla snapped back. “If you're so bored, you can help stack my gifts or go play football with the other boys, but I'll remember that you didn't help me when it comes time to serve the cake.”

Drake pressed a bit harder against the door, doing his best to keep it from moving even the faintest bit.

 

“Oooh, cake.” Dennis blurted gleefully, pushing back on the door to push himself upright again. He was suddenly in a better mood. Then that faded as he realized he had to search the castle.

“But this game sucks!” He complained and leant against the door again, suddenly and hard.

 

Drake let out his breathe in a grunt as the door hit him. Then he bit his tongue and prayed no one had heard that.

Pricilla let out an overly dramatic sigh, “But it's tradition! I do so adore hide and go seek and there's only one person left! Whoever finds that person is the secondary winner since it's my game and I won by finding everyone else, and the secondary winner gets cake quicker and gets second swing at the piñata! We do this every year! Now, you keep looking while I show the late arrivals where to put my gifts.”

 

Dennis waited until Pricilla had left the room before turning to the others.

“Alright, you idiots! Go and look for that Drape guy!” He barked, suddenly in a bad mood again. “I want that cake dammit!”

 

 

The others didn’t find it very fair that Dennis would get the exclusive privileges for their labor, but… he was the empress’s cousin, thus high enough ranking that they didn’t want to find out what would happen if they disobeyed him. Thus, they scrambled about for a minute and then took off.

Drake gave a sigh of relief… and pushed a bit against the door, trying to get some space to breathe.

 

“Huh?” Dennis said as he thought he saw the door move, but he was tired of standing, and decided to sit down in a chair that was coincidentally facing the door instead of walking over to check it out.

 

Drake didn't wait too long. He waited long enough until he could not even hear the echoes of footsteps, then he pushed the door away and stepped out, froze and cursed himself in every language he knew.

“... Hello...” Stupid chairs! Stupid!

 

“Hi.” Dennis said dismissively. Pricilla had left out a very important fact... What Drake looked like.

“What were you doing behind that door?” Dennis asked.

 

Drake blinked a few times, and then smiled the slightest bit. “Oh me? I was just inspecting the door... for termites. Which also explains why I'm covered in dust.”

 

“In the middle of a party?” Dennis asked, raising an eyebrow. He doubted that his dear cousin would want peasants wandering the castle during her party... “And you look too young to be an employee…”

 

Drake crossed his arms, and then uncrossed them as he realized that was too regal of a pose. “Yeah... It had to be done today.” He said, ignoring the comment about his age.

 

“Wow, I never knew my cousin's castle was infested,” Dennis groaned and made a disgusted face. “I could catch some disease! Are these termites...dangerous?”

 

“Extremely! Especially when bothered. They bite and have nasty viruses; quite harmless to animals... quite deadly to humans, mages, and the sort.” Drake listed, grinning a bit more.

 

“Oh no! You must come and tell my father and Pricilla how dangerously diseased the castle is!” Dennis exclaimed, looking positively stricken.

 

“No! I am not getting near that wretched harpy—er. They know. This is why they insisted I come; even if it is in the middle of a party.” Drake offered.
How ironic it was, a moment ago he was debating burning off all the dust from the vent, but now that very dust was working as a rather pathetic disguise, either that or this boy was more self centered than political. He did not care which it was, just glad it was working. Not many people mistook him for someone else if they had ever even heard word of him, so he would gladly take advantage of this.

 

Dennis missed the small slip of the tongue, in fact; he was barely paying attention to Drake at all it would seem.

“Yes, we must tell my father. What if the termites get into the cake?!” The boy said, sounding genuinely fearful...and disgusted.

 

“That depends on who your father is…” Drake muttered. He shook his head and brought his voice up. “Enough of that, I have it under control. What I need is for you to go get me a bow. Bow. Got it? They are long sticks with a piece of string. Get that, and the infestation will be over in a matter of seconds I promise you.”

 

“What do you need a bow for?” Dennis asked, but quickly seemed to lose interest in wanting to know the answer to that particular question when he realized getting a bow would be work. “Surely you can find a servant that can get one for you.”

 

“I need it to … I need it… I just need it!” Drake snapped, losing the little patience he had. “I can spend time looking for one and letting the vile beast get away or you can go get me the bow and…and be the hero of the entire party, I’m sure Pricilla will award you in various ways.”

 

“Ugh, fine...” Dennis said, getting up with dramatic effort and waddling over towards the door. “I'll ask my cousin to get a servant to come and help you.”

 

“No!” Drake yelped. “No! It is vital that she does not know I am here! Her... her father hired me, he didn't want some old fool disturbing the party so he hired me but asked I not let Pricilla know I'm here. It would cause problems.” Drake decided getting a bow wasn't worth the risk. “You know what? I have the situation under control; you go play or something and leave me to my work.”

 

Denis was thrown off by that. He didn’t know who this person was, dressed in all black, and what filthy attire! What had he done? Rummaged through a vent? How dare anyone speak to him that way! He was Pricilla’s cousin! Family of the Empress! What could possibly top that? In Shivel, Pricilla was the top of the top! He, as her cousin, thought he should be treated with the same respect!

“Ingrate!” Dennis snapped before storming out of the room. He was too annoyed to notice that Drake had insulted his cousin for the second time in less than a minute.

 

Drake snarled and envisioned burning the little brat into a pile of ash for a moment... but that would smell really bad. Instead, he went ahead and burnt all the dirt and dust off his clothes. Took a bit of effort, but was worth it not to be covered in dust in the end.

Okay... now where? He asked himself, looking around.

If he did manage to get his bow, it might make them leave him alone... he highly doubted he could kill Pricilla, despite how tempting it was... he could never get enough nerve up to kill a human, even if she just barely counted as one.
... He might try, though, and if he did manage to hit her… that was the gods telling him it was alright. Just then, had a brilliant idea! Can't go under, around, or through... so why not go over? Get on the roof! A brilliant idea, but a hard practice… as he searched, he couldn’t find a way onto the roof and was worried about how long it could take.

 

 

Pricilla surveyed the crowd... Drake was very good at this game. She had at least fifty people looking and no one had even caught a glance yet… it was becoming a slight problem. He always ran, he always hid—even at his palace for his birthdays… but she’d gotten used to it! The first time she saw him she decided he would be hers; dammit, he needed to accept that! It was stalling her party…

“Dennis, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be looking for Drake.”

Dennis turned to face Pricilla. “But I've been looking all this time, I'm tired!” He whined, “And your servants are rude.”

“What are you talking about? All my servants are working on party stuff and are here.” Pricilla raised an eyebrow, figuring her dear cousin was just trying to get out of helping. “If you give up now you get NO cake!” She warned.

 

“I don't want any if it has any diseases in like that servant said.” Dennis bluffed, rather angry at Pricilla's accusation.

 

“... What are you talking about? I told you, all my servants are here! I've been giving them directions. AND MY CAKE IS NOT DISEASED!”

 

“That’s not what the guy looking for termites said,” Dennis argued back, though still eyeing the supposedly 'diseased' party food.

Pricilla paused for a moment. “... Did this guy have black hair and red eyes?”

 

Dennis shrugged; he had no idea. “I think he had blonde hair,” he told her, trying hard to think. “But it might have been black,” the boy added with a nod.

As for the boy’s eyes,… his father had told him to never look the lower classes in the eye. Though, his memory, limited as it may be, did recall something… yes, there had been a flash of red… but if he admitted that, he imagined she’d yell some more.

 

Pricilla slapped him. “You're as dumb as you are fat! Don't you ever pay attention to anything? Termites in a stone castle? And why would I have work being done during my party? Ugh, you are completely useless, and you just blew your chance at winning the prizes!”

 

“At least I'm not the one with the diseased cake!” He shouted back at her, thoroughly pissed off and humiliated. “I don't want any anyway!”

 

Pricilla slapped him again, rolled her eyes, and shook her head. “It's not diseased you moron; a cake can't be diseased. It's baked and that would sterilize it even if it was diseased, you're just a stupid fool.” She then made a show of turning her back on him and gave apologetic looks to her other guests who did the same and either went back to playing the 'game' or went back to talking to one another. Once Pricilla was sure her guests were attended to and her reputation would hold strong, she turned back to her cousin. “You're stuck here for two days before a ship or carriage to anywhere comes back, have fun starving. You’re supposed to be finding Drake! He’s got black hair, red eyes and is about one sixth your size in width, fatty.”

 

Dennis gasped. That's all he did, though his mouth and eyes were wide open in shock; he seemed almost catatonic. As if just then realizing exactly how evil and cold hearted his cousin really was. He didn't even seem to notice the red hand shaped mark that was slowly appearing on his cheek.

 

Pricilla gave a smug, pursed smirk and then skipped off. She'd made her mark, and hopefully her cousin would understand.
She had fought to keep the family on top; she'd gotten them as high as there was! She was empress! This was her continent, her palace, and her rule! It was her way or no way and she'd fought for that right and anyone who didn’t like it could die for all she cared. Her cousin was no different— he should be more respectful and she figured the threat that he wouldn’t eat for two days would get him moving; look at him! She doubted he could go a few hours without eating let alone a few days!

 

Dennis was hungry already, so he ran... or rather, waddled off to try and see if he could sneak into the Kitchens. Not letting him eat! How inhumane! Only poor people were supposed to not eat! His father sure enjoyed food… always had… but he told Dennis that the better off you were, the more you ate! Exercise… became a thing of the past that was rarely there to begin with.

 

Pricilla’s orders had a way of getting around fast. No one was going to let him sneak a treat; they didn’t dare disobey the empress.

Drake got outside and found a place on the roof where he could jump to. He backed up, got ready to leap and—

“Hey, Drakey.” Pricilla purred as she strolled out the door, blocking his jump.

“… Aw, damn.”

“I saw your advisor; I didn’t see you or I’d have given you a proper greeting.”

“Such a pity…” Drake backed up again.
He could still run! Running could work! He took another step back and hit something… turning around he found it was someone. Some giant that grabbed his arm.

“Greetings, Prince Drake.” The giant, or oversized red mage, grinned.

“… Hello Thor.” Drake snarled, “Let go or I roast you.”

“Pricilla, what game is next?” The red mage ignored Drake.

“Kill me, kill me, kill me.” Drake groaned.

The mage laughed. “No, that game comes later.”

“Hmmm…” Pricilla thought about that.

She had finally found Drake… but it had taken hours and some of her guests were leaving soon…

Drake thought about that, too. These ‘games’ usually revolved around him being hurt, tormented, and generally tortured. He couldn’t run, so... he stalled. “Presents! You have presents, you should open them.”

Pricilla liked that idea… but she always loved getting stuff. “You think so? People are leaving… I thought maybe we should eat first.”

Drake shook his head. The dining room gave no escape; he had to sit down and… and he was a prince. Besides Pricilla, he was the only regal figure there under 40. He had to represent Daguerreo, which apparently meant sitting there listening to dull conversation while pretending to be interested, then be insulted and have his hair, eyes, skin tone, clothing, hobbies, beliefs and ideas picked at.
Presents just meant he needed to be in the room. “I’m sure that your guests will want to see your reaction to their gifts, I’m sure of it. So, you could at least open the gifts they brought.”

Pricilla ‘hmm’ed for a bit, then nodded. “Great idea, Drakey! Let’s go!” She twirled around and skipped down the hall.

“How about you go and I stay here?” Drake offered.

“Oh no, you get to come.” The mage grinned, dragging him through the palace.

Drake snarled, he really hated Pricilla’s guards… they were all from Shivel and its surrounding areas; all firm believers of the earth shrine’s powers, all hated him from the first time he’d met them, but never seemed to know why. Drake was strong, but the red mage dragging him used ice magick… and then there was a loooot of screaming.

 

Ellipsis looked towards the ceiling. It sounded like Pricilla's favorite guard was going on sick leave again… that fool always did something stupid, but Eclipse had told Ellipsis not to interfere anymore… Eclipse saw Drake as still being too kind hearted. He said if he were forced to learn that people were cruel, he might alter his perceptions toward people. Rather than be a victim, it taught him to be defensive. It made him angry, for sure. He stopped acting like he used to… Ellipsis, like Eclipse, had never particularly liked children… but when Drake was very young… Ellipsis did not mind being around him, not at all. He liked it, at times. Drake had been so kind to everyone… but Eclipse said he would change that, and he had.

 

Even now, he had to remind himself that Dragon was far too important for Eclipse to actually allow to be harmed, and that Pricilla, though often cruel, would never stand to have Drake actually be in any danger in her palace. If he hadn’t reminded himself of that, he just nearly might have taken up his old position and gone to help the boy. Instead, he turned away and tried to hide amongst the crowd.