Drake avoided Pricilla all day, and even after dinner which was usually a challenge, and he’d only sent one raptor out to kill her, but Tobias had only managed to kill her hideous hat.

She ran into the weapon shop owner, who crashed into the lift, which startled someone standing below into stumbling into the stick, which broke… It was like a chain of karma that Drake watched from the bridge over the main shops, it was glorious!

Drake held back all the laughter he could; it was perfect! He was all the way up here, on the other side! Couldn’t be held responsible.
Tobias swiftly flew outside to get away from the mess, and had freaked out Chaucer who was trying to see if he could walk and still go to the meeting, but now had no possible way of attending as he had, once again, fallen. This time, into one of the JubaFish ponds in the garden. He hurt his back, but that wasn’t an unusual event.

Drake felt some regret toward that… he hadn’t meant for anyone, besides Pricilla, to actually be hurt. For a moment, he debated going to see if the King was alright.

 

From the opposite end of the bridge, a tall, for his age at least, boy with short brown hair and light jade green eyes carefully crept up to Drake while he was distracted by whatever was going on down below near the ponds.

Then, when he was close enough, he gave the prince a playful shove that wouldn't be enough to accidentally knock him over the rail of the bridge, but would probably be enough to startle him. The boy smirked mischievously at the thought.

 

Drake was startled by that, he hadn’t been paying attention and spun around. “Ryan! What was that about?"

 

Ryan just shrugged; his smirk unfaltering. It was as if to say; “What are you doing letting your guard down on a bridge?”
The boy's sensible and noble clothes were a supposititious statement of his personality.

 

“You're an idiot.” Drake announced, “I should burn you.”

 

“You've tried,” the boy accused, speaking for the first time, and with a slight shudder at the memory. “Do you have any idea how long eyebrows take to grow back?”

 

“Two months.” Drake replied, matter-of-factly. “Faster if you rub olive oil where your eyebrows should be...”

 

“You’re a jerk.” Ryan snapped half playfully, and then his focus shifted down below where there was some kind of commotion. “What's going on?” He asked, and nodded his head slightly in the direction.

 

“Pricilla is visiting. She had an unpleasant encounter with Tobias. And then the weapon shop keeper, who fell into the lift, which scared Phil, who broke the stick!” Drake cheered.

 

“Pricilla?” Ryan asked, having only heard of the famous and supposedly beautiful Empress. He had not yet had the 'pleasure' of meeting her. His eyes scanned the small crowd, trying to catch a glimpse.

 

Drake was about to explain who Pricilla was, but thought about it for a moment as an evil plan crossed his mind. “... You've never met Pricilla, have you?”

 

“Never.” Ryan replied absently as he stood taller, straining to see but not having much luck at all.

 

Drake straightened up suddenly, smiling. “I should introduce you!”

 

Ryan suddenly and completely lost interest in trying to see what was going on below. Obviously, he couldn't believe his luck.

“Really?” He asked, a corny smile forming. “Well, let's go then.”

 

Drake turned and started walking, leading the way. He could hardly believe his luck! Especially if this worked… Ryan was much more like Pricilla than Drake was. He was like a middle ground. Enough like Pricilla that she might actually like him, but enough like a sane human being that Drake tolerated his presence.

“Oh, Pricilla…” He sang.

Pricilla turned and looked, hardly believing she’d heard who she thought she’d heard. “Yes?” She smiled.

 

 

The moment that Ryan saw Pricilla his jaw almost dropped. In fact, the only reason it didn’t was because he already felt painfully underdressed for the occasion. Apparently, the Empress's beauty and elegance had not been exaggerated at all. He decided to let Drake handle the introductions, it would be proper. That, and, well, all he could think to say was 'Hola'. A foreign greeting he had become very fond of.

 

“Empress Pricilla, this is Sir Ryan of Elsa, a village just outside the castle grounds.” Drake stated, motioning toward Ryan. “Ryan, as I am sure you know; this is Empress Pricilla of Shivel.”

Pricilla’s gaze slithered from Drake to Ryan. “Charmed, I’m sure.”

 

“A pleasure,” Ryan replied, with most of the effort being in keeping his voice from sounding meek or stupid. You had to sound cool when you spoke to a girl like this. It was as simple as that. After he had spoken, he tried to concentrate on not gawking too noticeably.

 

Pricilla giggled. “I like your friend, Drakey.”

Drake grinned evilly and slowly started backing up. “Yes… you two talk. I’m going to go find Tobias.”

 

“Tobias?” Ryan asked, snapping out of his stupor a little. He hadn't memorized the names of all of Drake's birds, so he assumed that Tobias was a person. He didn't want another guy hanging around while he was trying to get to know the beautiful Empress.

 

Drake grabbed Ryans's head and pointed him back at Pricilla. “Tobias, my hawk. New one.” He elaborated, letting Ryan go.

“Ew! Don't bring that bird back!” Pricilla gagged.

 

“Yeah!” Ryan agreed quickly with Pricilla. Personally, he hadn't really had any bad experiences with Drake's birds, but they still made him nervous. Watching them tear apart the raw meat when he fed them made him shudder. Then again, a bird was better than competition...

 

“I’m going to take Tobias back to the keep. You two can talk alone till I get back.” Drake elaborated, hoping Ryan would like the idea.

 

“Yeah, sure.” Ryan said, nodding. He was a little confused about why Drake was so eager to leave the presence of such a lovely girl. However, if Drake was willing to leave them alone, who was he to turn down the offer? He wasn't stupid.

 

“Hurry back,” Pricilla purred.

Drake bowed and walked away, shuddering as he went.
He got to the door and Tobias flew to him. Drake looked back. Ryan, you poor sap. If you're smart you'll run, if you're not... you'll be a welcome decoy for a few hours. He hummed a happy tune as he walked back to his room.

 

Ryan considered what to say for a couple of seconds then he motioned to the people still gathered around, and trying to help the king out of the pool, gossiping wildly. “What happened here?” he asked.

 

Pricilla looked around, “Oh. I'm not really sure. That stupid bird scared me, and then that mean shopkeeper hit me. After that, I'm afraid I'm just not sure.”

 

“He hit you?!” Ryan gasped out. “Are you okay?” He added quickly, sounding sweet and concerned. Though mostly it was just an act.

 

Pricilla smiled. “Yes, I'm alright. I can take anything.” She flipped her hair glanced around.

Drake put Tobias back, but he had no intention of going back down there. This plan might work! Maybe she'd leave him alone forever.

 

Ryan smiled back, “Ah, so you’re tough as well as beautiful.” He observed, keeping his voice pointfully smooth and keeping his posture as 'cool' as possible.

 

Pricilla gave a fake, bubbly laugh and looked around… it had been a while. “I wonder why Drakey isn’t back yet…”

Actually, she didn’t really wonder. She had a good idea why he wasn’t back yet. Why had he left her with this commoner? In appearance, he couldn’t compete with Drake, though she did like his personality… and he wasn’t as scary looking… and he had nice eyes.
Maybe this was a test? No… that didn’t sound like Drake, he didn’t test her like that. Maybe he finally realized he loved her! Yes! He finally realized he felt for her what she felt for him, and was so blinded by that he’d left this boy here by mistake! Or maybe he just thought that, even though he now realized he loved her, he figured she would wait for him no matter what, that he could take his time, and hadn’t even thought about leaving this boy there.
She could make him jealous, yes! She would flirt with this… Ryan fellow, and it’d make Drake realize he could lose her! Why hadn’t she thought of this before?

 

“Maybe that damn bird attacked some more innocent people on the way,” Ryan suggested in a mocking tone, completely unaware of the devious plots going through the supposititious beautiful girl’s mind.

 

Drake cursed. He'd left his book down in the palace... not that it mattered much, even if he hadn't someone would come and get him if he tried to spend the remainder of the evening in his room while 'company' was over. Which made no logical sense. Company was always over. This palace was constantly filled with people who came and went as they pleased.
But when royalty was over, he had to make an appearance. He didn't see why, they'd seen him before, why did they need to see him again? Especially Pricilla, she saw him all the time.
Reluctantly, he headed back down.

Pricilla smiled again, as if that where the most entertaining thing she'd ever heard. “I bet you're right...” she looked around and spotted Drake walk into the room and Pricilla broke into loud, cheerful giggles and made sure not to look back at Drake, though she did notice him look over. That’s it… Look over here… look how much fun I can have with a boy who isn’t you.

She must have snapped, Drake thought and walked over to the table where he’d left his book. I wondered how long that single brain cell was going to last…

 

Ryan was a little stunned at her response, but then grinned and laughed too. Great! Not only was this girl beautiful, but easy to amuse too! He had not noticed Drake enter the room, as his back was to the door. “I wonder how many people were injured this time!” He joked.

 

Drake glanced over again, noticing Ryan starting to laugh. Drake grinned and went back to reading. Poor sap...

Pricilla twirled her hair around one finger and fluttered her eyes. At least Ryan was easy to control, but—but when she glanced back over at Drake… he wasn’t even looking!
She put one hand on Ryan’s chest and pushed back. Maybe Drake couldn’t hear them, she’d move closer, that should work…
“So, Ryan dear, tell me a bit about yourself. What do you like to do for fun?”

 

Ryan was a bit confused about why he was being pushed backward, but he wasn't going to object to her touching him.

“You mean besides spending time with lovely Empresses like yourself?” He asked, grinning, and resisting the urge to wink.

 

Pricilla let out another loud, bubbly fit of laughter, and glanced up at Drake, tempting him give a response.
Drake did give a response. He said ‘I don’t care. In fact, marry the guy! Please!’ with a glance and then went back to his book.

Pricilla’s smile faded completely into a cold, hard stare. She looked at Ryan with that stare, “Get me a drink. Now.”

 

There was a short delay as Ryan's smile faded from his face uncertainly. Melting away like butter left by a fire.
“What?” He asked her finally, sounding confused at her apparently sudden and complete change of mood. He was perplexed! She had just been laughing at everything he had been saying...

 

“Get. Me. A. Drink. What are you, deaf? Go!” Pricilla stomped her foot and nearly smashed his.

Drake heard her tone and took off to another part of the castle.

 

“Hey! Woah! Fine!” The rather common-looking noble boy snapped as he backed away from the Empress. 'Wow, what father said about power driving people batty is true!' He thought to himself as he turned and walked towards the door. His back felt exposed, like he now half expected her to stick a knife in it.

 

Pricilla took a seat with a sigh. “Hurry up, darling.” She called, making her voice light, gentle. “I don't want my drink to get warm,” she then snapped.

 

Once he was out the door, he headed in the opposite direction to the kitchens. He was no servant! He was a noble! He wasn't going to run around for some weird psychotic Empress with mood swings like an executioners axe. What was Drake thinking introducing him to her without a warning?

Then Ryan figured out exactly what Drake had been thinking.

“That bastard!” He thought, and started toward the tower at a half-sprint. That sadistic prince had gotten him into this, and he was going to get him out.

 

Drake sped up to his room, trying to pretend he didn’t know he was being hunted down. He walked as he past Ellipsis’s room, then ran up the steps, walked past Eclipse’s door, then ran to his own. He doubted the trouble he’d probably caused would be appreciated, but he couldn’t help laughing about it even as he ran.

 

Ryan started up the stairs at the bottom of the tower only a moment or two later, and he didn't slow down as he passed Eclipse's or Ellipsis' rooms. The tall boy was muttering curses and threats the whole way up, too.
Once there, he banged loudly on Drake's door several times, and demanded that he come out, or let him in. Either was acceptable, as long as it was immediate.

'Sounds like Drake neglecting his guests again,' Ellipsis thought to himself as he heard some angry person charge past his door.

 

Drake opened the door. “It’s your fault, you wanted to meet her.” He stated immediately, figuring pointing that out first would be best.

 

“You could have warned me!” Ryan hissed accusingly as he barged past Drake and into the relative safety of the room. Perhaps the Prince would have some holy water, or something lying around that they could use against her.

 

“I didn't think she'd use you to try and make me jealous, I really thought you two would hit it off and go live in Hel's domain.” Drake explained, “And I did warn you. Last time she was here, you asked if I wanted you to visit, I said it might be best for you to stay away and avoid the rusalka.”

“I thought you just wanted her to yourself!” Ryan admitted honestly, for at the time it is what he truly had thought. Who would have suspected that the stunningly beautiful Empress was so... so......scary?

 

Drake gagged. “Pricilla? Please. Her beauty is equally matched by her wickedness. Plus, after what she did to her last husband, anyone would be crazy to marry that preppy black widow... also, I’m anti-social and she scares me.” It was a hard fact to admit, at first.
He could handle full-grown grand dragons, whale zombies, draco zombies, that red dragon, and Eclipse. Nevertheless, some little girl scared him. But she scared him in a different way, she made him afraid he’d drown himself to end the agony.
“... You should spend the rest of the evening with her! It’ll be fun, you’ll be amazed at how shallow a person can be!”

 

“And yet you didn't think to tell me any of this!?” Ryan snapped, ignoring the suggestion to spend the night with her. It didn't deserve a response. Though, under the right circumstances, he might still do it... but that wasn't the point!
“I could have been killed!” He realized, even though it was pretty unlikely.

 

“I didn’t feel like it… Besides, Ryan… I thought the fact that you have never been competition against me, I thought you might notice that she was the one girl I didn’t care about introducing you to… I’ll let you stay the night in the palace, take one of my swords to own, and give you a bag of Feather Circle feathers if you keep her away from me.” Drake offered, still hanging onto that chance. “And I’ll keep Eclipse away from you! You can’t beat that deal.”

 

They were all good offers, but staying at the palace didn't sound as fun as it usually was, and he didn't think people would see it his way if he used the sword on the Empress in 'self defense' anyway. The feather circle feathers would sell for a lot... granted. Nevertheless, he suspected that Pricilla was a pretty good Eclipse repellant anyway. Pricilla was probably a pretty good everything repellant.

“No way,” Ryan decided, shaking his head.

 

Drake looked around the room. “I’ll give you my Gladiator Bow, my Amethyst Athame, my second largest boat and… you can borrow Celestina! She hates Celestina.”

 

“No, no, no!” Ryan emphasized. More weapons would do him no good. A boat might...though he had no idea what an Athame was...let alone an amethyst one. And Celestina? No. Just... no. Those birds made him nervous.

 

“Coward.” Drake taunted, resulting to old tactics. “Afraid of a girl!”

 

“That's not a girl,” Ryan informed him shaking his head. He pointed to the door, a gesture meant to be towards Pricilla, who was hopefully not right behind the door. “That's my math tutor in a girl's body!”

 

Pricilla pounded on the door. “Are you in there?”

Drake glared at Ryan as if that were somehow his fault, as if he had summoned a demon. “Three points on the good reference but look what you did!” He hissed.

 

“Well! Good luck!” Ryan said quietly enough that it wouldn't be heard through the door, opened Drake's closet that was right by him, and attempted to climb inside.

 

Drake grabbed the back of Ryan's shirt and hauled him back. “Oh no! You're not getting away from her that easy!” He meant it, too.
If Pricilla figured out they'd tricked her she'd be furious and make them both pay. However, he realized saying that was not going to help him. “Come on, I have to be up early to catch a flight, it's just one night with her, it won't kill you!” So long as you have fast reflexes and sleep with one eye open. “She'll probably go back to being nice...”

 

“You think she will?” Ryan asked cautiously, smacking away Drake's hand. “She'll be nice?”

 

“Yes,” meaning no. “Would I lie to you?”

 

“Yes.” meaning yes, you would, you bastard. “You're gonna owe me a big one for this...”

 

“Understood,” Drake said.
He slid over and opened the door, hiding behind it as Pricilla stormed in.

She seemed surprised to see Ryan there. “... Oh. Hello...”

 

“I was looking for Drake,” he explained quickly. “He's been gone a long time.” It was a risk; Pricilla could close the door at any moment and discover Drake. It was weird; he'd never been scared to be alone with a girl before. Had Drake said this girl had killed her husband? He suddenly felt the need to be somewhere with witnesses.

 

Pricilla got even more disappointed. “He’s not here? I thought he would be…”

Drake held his breath. It was such a common thing; he vaguely wondered why no one ever thought to look right behind the door. Many people probably weren’t stupid enough to hide there, he guessed… could be they weren’t small enough but he didn’t want to get into that argument.
Come on, Ryan. Get her out of here…

 

Ryan shook his head, “No, he's definitely not here, I've checked.” He moved closer to her, hoping it would prompt her to back up out the door. “Maybe we should check downstairs?” He suggested. “Maybe he went to see how his father is?”

 

“Hm… maybe.” Pricilla thought it was possible… But she also was wary about Ryan. Either way, Pricilla had a plan. She smiled her angelic smile. “Yes. Maybe we should. I’m sorry I snapped at you before, it hasn’t been a good day… You’ll forgive me, right?” She purred.

 

“Uh, sure...” Ryan agreed slightly hesitantly. He was a common boy, though, and the sweet and seductive tone of her voice and the apology was almost enough to make him forget how much of a psycho she was.

 

Pricilla smiled wider and turned, walking out the door.
She’d play nice for a while… maybe she could convince Ryan to tell her what was really going on. There were a lot of possibilities.
“Come on, Sir Ryan. You wouldn’t make me wonder around all alone at night, would you?”

 

“O-of course not,” Ryan stuttered, and followed her out the door closely. Under usual circumstances, he might have considered trying to take her hand. But he was going to play it careful this time.

As an afterthought, as he went to close the door, he shoved it first outwards, hard, so that it would undoubtedly hit Drake. It was foolish... Drake might gasp, or stumble.

 

Drake growled just loud enough for Ryan to hear. He locked the door after them and waited.
He stopped hearing footsteps… and after a bit, he was sure they were truly gone.
“YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

 

Eclipse decided he'd had enough! People running up and down the stairs, slamming doors, and now Drake shouting?! He used the barrier spell to give Drake a nasty headache for a moment to make his message clear, and then went back to what he had been working on...

Ryan, meanwhile, was pretty sure he heard a very distant shout, but perhaps it was just the wind in the old tower.

 

Drake yelped. And glared at the floor. “THERE ARE BETTER WAYS TO TELL ME TO BE QUIET!”

Eclipse did it again, just because Drake answered back.

Drake hissed and fell back onto his bed. It was early, for him at least, but he had wanted to sleep hours ago.
Therefore, for a change of pace, he went to sleep before one am.


Pricilla looked around. “I don’t see him… oh well. So, do you come here often?

 

“As often as I can,” he gave as a rather vague answer. “It's so boring at home.”

They reached the bottom of the tower, and Ryan took a slight lead so that he could hold the main door open for her.

 

“Maybe you should come visit me some time… I don’t let many people into my palace, for security reasons I assure you, but I’d love to see you more often… that is…” She giggled. “You’re not afraid of me, are you? People spread such awful rumors.”

 

“Of course not!” Ryan said, and tried to appear shocked at the mere idea of it. “I'd love to come and see you,” he assured her, and the way he was starting to be fooled by her act, it was pretty honest, too.

 

“Wonderful!” Pricilla kept the act up for a few more hours. Laughing at anything that might be a joke, smiling so much her face hurt, shamelessly flirting. The later it got, the more tired people became, the easier her scheme played out.
“So tell me, Sir Ryan…” She began, getting closer to him. “Where is Drake?”

 

Ryan moved closer to her suggestively before he answered, “Wherever he is, he's neglecting his lovely guests.” He was obviously flirting with the comment. But he wasn't just about to tell her that Drake was in his room. It would be stupid to admit he had been lying to the girl with a volatile temper. Though, for a second he almost had, mostly through tiredness. How did this girl not seem tired?

 

Pricilla giggled at that. “You’re such a sweetie!” You damn commoner! How many more hours do I have to go through this!?!

She didn’t mind the compliments, she’d never get tired of those, but pretending she cared about anything else was hard! She’d have any other man eating out of her hand by now! … This one was either very smart, or Drake had said something… or both. But why spend so much time with her? Either he wasn’t all that smart, ignored the warnings, or someone bribed him. And she knew who that someone was….

Therefore, she waited another hour… then another asking question after question. Boring questions she acted fascinated about. Then she started asking where things where. Where’s the kitchen, where’s the weapon shop, where’s the reflection pool. She wanted him to be half asleep… “Okay, my turn again.” She announced in a hushed voice. “Where’s Drake?”

 

Ryan gave a slight snore in response. Sometime after his last question, which he really could have cared less about, and sometime before her question, he had fallen into a light slumber, with his chin resting on his hand.

 

Pricilla narrowed her eyes and moved his hand.

 

Consequentially, the boy's face slammed into the table they were sitting at with moderate force.

“Oof!” he gasped, eyes flicking open and sitting up straight all in under two seconds. His hand went to his nose, which now hurt. He couldn't tell if it was bleeding or not. In fact, he wasn't sure where he was. There was Pricilla... had he slept with her!? No, this wasn't a bedroom…

“Sorry,” he apologized deeply, still holding his nose. What a complete moron he must look to her. Falling asleep while she was talking, and then smacking his face on the table!

 

Pricilla smiled at him. “Where’s Drake?” she repeated, in a calm, quiet voice.

 

“Probably in bed if he's half as tired as me,” Ryan suggested without really thinking. Then he realized his mistake. He could only hope that Pricilla didn't take him seriously.

 

Pricilla jumped up. “Good point, moron!” She shrieked and ran for the tower.

 

Ryan was too tired to really be bothered by the insult. In fact, he had half expected it. He sat there for a moment dabbing his throbbing nose and looking at his fingers, glad to see that there was no blood on them. Nevertheless, even though his nose wasn't bleeding, he was much too tired to want to save Drake, who had gotten him to all this to begin with. Let her keep him up.

 

Pricilla ran up the stairs as fast as her current outfit would let her.