Predator of Predator

After the chaos subsided and the halls cleared up, the sun grew tired of holding up past the stormy clouds in the sky and disappeared. Letting the storm cover the sky, the afternoon turned dark and dreary, almost mirroring the brewing storm inside the castle. While Venus and Scotty broke away from the crowd, Caspien went straight to the heart of the kingdom only to catch his breath before even giving a knock.

The guards on either side of the heavy wooden doors looked between each other without knowing exactly what to do. Whether or not they should announce the crown prince's presence or give him the chance to collect himself. The choice faded into oblivion as the heavy doors were pulled open by a familiar tall yet shriveled man. He bowed to Caspien and spoke, "I greet the moon of the empire, Caspien P. Neptose, Prince of Arla." He coughed as he rose from his hunched over position, "it's good to see you again. The emperor has been waiting for you," he backed away and made way for Caspien who, at this point, had no choice but to stride in like he wasn't just indecisive about it a moment before.

Kneeling down to the floor he locked eyes with the lavishly decorated carpet below him and mocked, "I greet the sun of our empire, Emperor-" Looking up, Caspien saw a looming figure above him making him choke on the rest of his greeting. For anyone else to do this, they would've been imprisoned the second their voice faded to dust.

But, with outstretched arms, Emperor Ronald picked his only son up off of the ground and smothered him in a bear hug. His purple cape fell to the floor as tears welled up in his golden eyes. "It's been much too long, my son," he sniffled. Backing away, the two almost mirrored each other even though their eyes clashed. The same man yet at different times, Caspien with his curly brown hair, just as tall as his father. The king of Arla, though his hair is mixed with greys now, it still curls back into its ponytail perfectly making the older ladies swoon for the single bachelor.

With a boyish grin, Caspien gestured for his father to sit, so they did. Waiting for the coffee to arrive, King Ronald asked, "so how was it?"

"The trip or the warm greeting?"

"You know what I mean, son," he gave a haughty laugh as the cups were served. He motioned for the room to be cleared and it was. In the blink of an eye, not even a guard remained posted at the door. The smell of the beans and comfortable silence washed over them as the question still lingered around Caspien.

He took a small yet languid sip of the coffee and was surprised to find a little something extra snuck in. "I think they switched our cups."

"It all came from the same pot," Ronald gave his son a look without another word. Sending just a smirk his way that said, 'a nice drink after a long journey should be shared privately.' At that, they both took a nice and solemn sip before leaning back in silence again.

But the question was still there, unanswered and unwavering. He sent his son a pressing look but Caspien just shrugged it off, twisting his finger around the rim of his cup sending a whistle through the luxurious room. Looking up at the ceiling while making the whistle he imagined the mermaids in the paint coming to life around him, humming a tune and entrancing him. Suddenly his mind drifted to Venus, humming along with the cup and swimming around him making him smile. Looking straight now, Ronald's eyes locked with his making Caspien stop as well as the painting's dance.

"The trip was," he cleared his throat from the squeak it was and lowered, "it was fine, great. Excellent even."

Emperor Ronald squinted, "that's all? No," he took a deep breath and listed, "run-ins, no miscommunications with the gems, no low-blows, no scurvy stops, not even a quickie on the pier?"

"Father!"

"I'm just wondering if you're alright. Usually, you have these grand stories in your letters but this time, not even a single one over the communication gem came over!" He stood up in a huff only to look out through his balcony to the calming waters in front of him. "But then," he gave himself a sneaky smiled and continued, "I saw why."

Caspien crept closer and steadily asked, "what do you mean?" He knew exactly what he meant but didn't want to be the one to bring her up first. He knew why he wasn't boasting about the soldiers he fought off or even the women that prayed on him while on the docks. He just didn't want to give her away that easily so he feigned ignorance, "I don't what you're talking about," he chuckled.

Picking up a small key from his shelf, Ronald turned to Caspien and asked, "what's her name? She's foreign, that much was obvious by the way she acted during the ceremony." He put the key back and sighed, "at least tell me she's not from Murilia. You know how much bad blood there is between our people and theirs. It's too soon for-"

Caspien jogged over, "no, no, and no! She's from the Isle of Grenley, never say she's Murilian again. I don't think I'd be able to live with myself if she was." He swooned, "she's so much more than I had remembered," he sighed.

"You've met her before?" He picks up his cup from the table and swirled around the coffee as if he could see the rum separating itself from the brew. "That'll make for a quicker ceremony," he chuckled.

Taking another swig, Caspien sat on his father's desk, "she wants to meet you as soon as possible. Apparently, she can only talk to you and will only talk to you."

"Is it for a blessing? It seems a little out of date for our country but tell her she has it, she seems," he trailed off.

Caspien shook his head, "I've been teaching her how to act and talk so she should be up to date, I have no idea what she needs to see you about."

"Well," he scoffs, "that makes it much more inconspicuous to suddenly move around my schedule to meet with this mystery woman."

"I will marry her. She's the light of my life and always has been, she kept me believing in hope even after mother died. I need you to see her, for me."

"For you? And when have you done anything I asked of you," he sneered. Filling his cup, Ronald counted the ties Caspien had let him down in the past, "the harvest ceremony for the last 3 years, greeting the envoys from Garnet, oh!" He snapped his fingers, "and don't let me forget about the people's first Winter's Ball. What a hassle," he sighed, "how long have you even known her? I'm an Emperor of a land that has already gone through many hardships since I've come into power. Since your grandfather split the land we've been struggling to keep war off of our shore! I can't let a foreigner march in here demanding things from me."

"So," Caspien tread carefully, "if you knew where she came from you'd meet her?" He put his cup down on top of some loose papers on his father's desk and pushed his hair back.

Emperor Ronald didn't answer. He knew he'd get everything he needed to know without having to dig too deep for it. A few moments of silence were passed between the both of them before the younger of them sighed, "do you remember when you sent me back home alone because you thought that Murilia was going to attack the fleet soon? When mother, may she rest, decided that it'd be best if we all left on separate, unmarked ships?"

Ronald's eyebrow twitched at the mention of his deceased wife coming from his son for the first time in years. There'd been an unspoken agreement not to speak of it unless needed. "Yes," he spit.

"Well, the night that we were attacked, I told you about the woman that saved me."

"Stop right there. I won't hear another word about this," Emperor Ronald held up his hand and walked past Caspien to a small desk full of papers with a sigh. "I thought we'd gone over this. You hit your head and were fished out of the water by the crew, many of them vouched for that."

"No! It's true! She's exactly as I remember her, brown hair, lavender eyes and she even has a damn tail to prove it!"

At that remark, Ronald dropped his glass and looked down at the shards. People rushed in from every which way to check on the two of them. The tension in the room broke when their emperor started bursting out with his haughty laughter, "you can't be serious! Don't tell me you found a broad that looks like her." He doubled over only to cough out his chuckles near the end. The servants and the guards grimaced.

"Clean this mess up," he ordered, making the maids snap back to reality and rush to get the job done. He straightened himself out and waved for the rest of them to leave, making sure to give them a stern warning for entering without notice. Emperor Ronald Waited for the room to clear before composing his dark demeanor to turn and say, "it must be the old-age getting to me~! How could I still be this clumsy after all these years." He chuckled off what his son said and reached for a new cup on the tray.

Caspien poured the coffee for his father while insisting, "she was there. She may not want to admit it but there are too many things that line up." He placed the kettle down and insisted, "she pulled me out of the burning ship while the rest of the crew swam to the safety boats! I know you don't want to believe it but it's true, other men saw her then."

"You're talking nonsense because of all the stories you used to hear growing up. Stop trying to make a fairy tale real, it's been an old story for a while and quite frankly a terrible one at that." He took a sip of the bitter coffee and hummed a tune to himself while flipping through papers.

"Yeah? Then how do you explain the whole crew seeing her change in the water? Legs to tail in an instant!" Caspien slammed his hand on the coffee table.

Without turning around, Ronald's sarcastic question slipped, "and I'm sure you're about to tell me that Scotty was the only one who can't confirm this." He scoffed at the thought of the duke's timid son trying to lie to the only older man he looks up to in the country.

"Scotty's been talking to her and everything she's saying about her family lines up with the last siren hunt. They've been talking every chance they get, she's over two millennia old! She knows things we don't even know about." His begging turned into persuasion with every word, but his father stayed stoic.

With just one knock on the wall, a man slowly hobbled into the room. His grey eyes glimmered at Caspien as he bowed and greeted the both of them, "how may I serve you, my sun?"

Placing his cup down on top of files and papers, he cleared his throat and gave an indecisive wave, "what's my schedule for the days following the welcoming ball?"

The older man cleared his throat, "you have a meeting with the envoys from Garnet and a meeting with the head of the Union forming on Opal's capital the day after that. They're asking for cooperation in the reb--"

Emperor Ronald put up only one hand making the old butler fall into silence immediately. "Clear my afternoon the day after the ball, I have a meeting with my son's future princess."

"Yes, my sun. Does this mean that you'll be pushing tea back with Catalina?" The old man was writing down the changes and didn't notice the crease form in his master's forehead. The room's temperature fell the instant he brought up that girl.

"Mr. Caballero, I'd advise you to cancel that immediately then leave before I lose my patience." Without another word of warning, the butler, Mr. Caballero, bowed deeply and gave his salutations before scurrying off. Emperor Ronald looked back at his son and downed the rest of his cup. "Make sure she's ready for the ball. I won't be meeting her if she's only learned basic greetings." Caspien jumped from his seat thanking his father for believing him but the old croak didn't say anything. Behind his kind eyes for his son lingered a dark suspicion he hadn't thought of for years. As Caspien skipped out of his office, Emperor Ronald grabbed the key from his shelf and stuffed it into his pocket. Closing the doors that go out to his balcony, he let the knights and handmaids back into his office before sitting back down to work on his state affairs.

~~~

As the rain pattered against the tall windows, only the echo of steps slowly tattering down the dim and empty hall were heard among hushed voices. Though outside was gloomy and the candles were wiped out by the swing of heavy doors, the tension within the halls let go as Venus and Scotty conversed about the history of the kingdom. Most, Venus knew, but still listened and asked about anyways.

The way Scotty's eyes shined as he replayed his history lessons aloud in his own words made her spirit lift with the heaviness of the rain. "And then Emperor Caitel took over, correct?" She looked at the large painting hanging from the wall with a glowing magic gem below it to keep it alight. It depicted the late Emperor Caitel sitting upon a throne made of ivy and rocks. His honey blonde hair and golden eyes pierced through the paint and into those who dared to look at them for too long.

And Venus, being the stronghold siren she is, didn't look away but instead bored back at him. She felt emotions she didn't know he had felt. A sense of loss without losing, defeat while you're winning, even loneliness when he's far from being alone. Venus wanted to venture further into the painting's eyes when Scotty spoke up about his rule.

"Emperor Caitel was and still is one of the most well known rulers in our world, besides the infamous, King Oliver. Caitel is actually the grandfather of Arla, Baia and Murilia."

"But I thought the land was split long before Emperor Caitel?" Venus ripped her gaze from the painting confused.

Scotty shook his head energetically, "yes! Many people forget this because he was the one to break up his own territory to give it to his two sons. You see," Scotty pulled her towards the next painting that depicted a beautiful woman sitting next to Emperor Caitel and two younger looking boys. "After he married, the emperor and the empress, Louise, they had two twin brothers. I'd let you guess their names but you'd probably only get one of them." Scotty beamed through the dim halls and carried on, "Prince Ronald and Prince Stephen were born only a year after the emperor took his place on the throne after his father."

"That soon?"

"Yes," he sighed, "it's a silly thing, really. For some reason the court likes to secure heirs early on."

Venus thought, 'of course because of the threat of sudden deaths or assassinations.' But she decided against bringing that up. She didn't want to seem suspicious now after getting so close to the prince's right hand man.

"Anyways," he continued, "as the two princes were growing up, tensions were rising between each faction about who was going to be named the heir. The Aristocratic faction was backing Prince Stephen while the Parlam Faction kept trying to persuade the Emperor to name Ronald as his heir. But Caitel didn't want to decide because he knew both of his sons worked so hard to be the way they were."

Venus looked down between the two brothers in the painting. Neither of them were smiling and not as close as a family should seem. Though they all stood in one frame, the small inches of space separating the boys made the relationship clear. "Was this painted before the factions debate?" She knew the answer. But the question still burned the back of her throat even as it hung between them.

"No, just after they started their studies to succeed the throne. They used to be each other's best friends but overtime it was recorded that they drifted further and further as their factions fought for different heirs."

"So what happened to Stephen after Prince Ronald exceeded the throne?" Venus walked down the line of paintings to see the next of Emperor Ronald standing alone. Though he was no older than 20, his face was terse yet his eyes dipped as if he was looking past the painter. "He succeeded his father, so what of Stephen?"

Scotty scratched the back of his head and asked her, "well Arla was made up of 3 different countries after the fall of Caitel's father, remember?"

Venus shook her head, remembering the history lesson before.

"Well, when the late Emperor Caitel was faced with the decision on who to name as his heir, he didn't want to choose between his sons because he loved them both and knew that they'd both be perfect to lead the land. So, just as the factions were separated, he decided to separate the empire into three different countries."

A switch flipped in Venus' mind as she remembered her the paintings of the two twin brothers and realized why they looked so familiar, "Caspien and James." A memory flashed in her mind of James warning her about going to Arla. "Arla, Murilia and-"

"And Baia. The three countries were separated but still carefully led by Emperor Caitel. The two princes became kings of their own countries leaving their father in Baia to watch over them from afar. Though things seemed to settle down after they were given their own rights to rule, after the Emperor died, the factions raced to conquer the other side." He shook his head, "it caused chaos and wildfires while the kings were still in their time of grief over their father's death. After time had passed with small incidents of 'accidentally' sinking eachother's ships or cutting off trading from one country to another, King Stephen had had enough. This was around the time," Scotty slowly walked to the next painting to show King Ronald standing next to a proud woman sitting straighter than a rod. Her blonde honey hair was just as straight, while her brown eyes squinted just slightly with her soft smile as she gripped the rough hand of her husband on her shoulder.

"This is Caspien's mother?" She enquired even though the answer was clear. They're eyes glimmered almost exactly the same when they smiled, though this painting barely caught that side of her.

Scotty nodded, "Queen Eleanor Neptose of Arla, never named Empress in her time." He smiled up at her before bowing respectfully, "she was the moon that embraced this country even in its darkest times. It was no secret that Emperor Ronald loved his wife more than anything, even more so when she gave birth to their first child, Caspien."

Venus waved the note aside and asked, "wait, when did he become an emperor? I thought he was a king even after Caitel passed away?"

"Well," he began, "yes and no. Not many people count this as him succeeding the position of Emperor but after his father's death, King Ronald and King Stephen were called to Baia by they're mother and decided that Ronald should take Baia into his territory. It was no secret that she favored him more because of her father being part of the Parlam faction. After he succeeded Baia, Ronald decided to take his mother's last name, obviously with the 'helpful' advice from members of the Parlam faction. That's why the two kings have different last names." Scotty shook his head and kept walking. Looking up at the next painting, his stepps faltered as he wasn't sure if he should explain who was in it.

"That's Caspien and his mother, correct?" The woman sat alone cradling the little baby in her arms with the king holding both of her shoulders with a triumphant expression.

Scotty stuttered, "y-yes."

"And I'm guessing he was born first." Venus stared up at the haughty eyes of Emperor Ronald and scrunched her lips into a disgusted frown. "He used her for a petty family feud…" she mumbled.

"T-that's not entirely true!" He interjected before her image of him could plummet any further. "He loved her more than anything and still loves Caspien just as much! Growing up around this family, I know that he cares about the queen so much that he's adamant with leaving her spot empty for the rest of his life." He pointed up to the queen and explained, "Queen Eleanor was happy with her life and with the people in it. She never showed us fake smiles, especially around Caspien and I. I'm not sure if I should tell you this but-"

"Then don't." Venus cut him off. 'I don't want to hear his opinion on the royal family. I want to trust him but the more he says the more I'm suspicious of him. He could either be oblivious to what went on in his childhood or lying to my face to trap me later on with trust,' she thought to herself. Walking down the hall, she expected the next painting to be of Caspien and just his father but it wasn't even lit up.

Scotty came up behind her and tried pushing her to the next one carefully, "looks like the gem dyed, weird that they haven't noticed! L-let's go look at the next one!" He tried grabbing her hand and walking away with it but she pulled back quicker than he could grasp around her fingers.

She stepped up to the darkened painting and reached out to find the holster for the gem empty. She let her voice ring out through the hall, "give me light between my fingers, let me snap for light that lingers." Suddenly, with the snap of her fingers, Venus held a small yet bright light on the tip of her thumb. It didn't burn nor did it flicker. She brought her light up to the painting to reveal a young girl standing along on her own two feet with a melancholic smile. Her straight blonde hair resembled the Queen's. Meanwhile, her eyes were the most outstanding. With the left being a shining gold, her right eye matched that of Caspien's, a mesmerizing brown. Unlike the other portraits, she sat on a stool in a plain room but wore an extravagant pale purple dress with ribbons and lace adorning the trim.

Scotty turned grimaced hoping Venus didn't ask any questions that he knew would be hard to answer.

"She's very young, how old is she now?"

"In the portrait she was 3, now she should be 7 if I remember correctly. I haven't greeted her yet." Scotty walked back over to the painting with Caspien and his parents all smiling together.

"How did the Queen die?" Though Venus could feel the tension, she felt a need to know. Something deep inside her said that something wasn't right. "Was it on one of the war boats Caspien talked about?"

"What?" Scotty shook his head, "no, no one from the Arlanian family died on a ship. Well, not that I know of anyways," he sighed.

"Then?" She itched for an answer from him, curiosity biting at her.

"Queen Eleanor loved her family just the way it was but always wanted a daughter. She knew that if she had a girl she could persuade Emperor Ronald to let the two compete for the throne fairly instead of passing it onto the first born boy. She was a light in the darkness for the women of Arla, granting them the right to find work and even start their own businesses. But she knew that if there was no Empress born into power, women would still fall short. I remember my father backing her on many occasions during Parlam meetings after she found out she was pregnant with her second child. Even though Caspien was already 19, he was still excited to have a baby sister in the world. Everyone knew very well what was going on but Caspien still wanted to welcome her with open arms. He'd always known he'd be given the crown one day so he felt like he had nothing to worry about."

"Arrogant men always seem to fall short somewhere," Venus huffed.

Scotty didn't agree nor disagree and instead trailed on. "When the Queen was going into labor, Caspien and I were away on a mission with the navy, training to take up our posts as Captain and crew. Emperor Ronald had come on the mission to make sure we were ready. Right as we arrived at the Garnet docks, an urgent alert came from the Empire saying that the queen had given birth and was weak from the loss of blood. They were connecting the gem's holograms so that Ronald could speak to her when the doctors and priests announced her passing. They tried for days to resurrect her while we were making the nonstop journey back but she was gone."

A lap of silence smothered the two of them as they looked up at the family portrait in silence. The slightest sniffles could be heard beside Venus but she decided to ignore them for both of their sakes.

He took a few, slow and deep breaths before continuing in a shaky tremor, "her ceremony lasted over a week with the whole empire flipped upside down. Her impact was everlasting on each citizen."

"Her baby," she walked over the darkened picture of the little girl with mismatched eyes. "One for her mother and one for her father. The only princess of Alra."

"Catalina took the place of the queen. In Emperor Ronald's eyes, she killed her own mother and should be abandoned without even clothes to protect her from the outside. But Caspien wouldn't allow that, especially after his father almost threw the country into ruin by ramping up the war."

Venus looked at him incredulously, "he plagued Arla with war because of the queen's passing?"

"Yes," Scotty sighed," there was supposed to be a peace treaty between the two lands but then his emotions spiraled. It could've been devastating if Caspien hadn't stepped in. He talked the Emperor out of a lot, one of those things being discarding Catalina. It's sad to say this but Caspien made a deal with his father. I don't know exactly what it is because they don't speak of it but I do know that it saved his sister's life." He sighed and walked back to her painting and smiled, "even though the rest of the empire may have forgotten about her, there are a handful of those who still know she's here. She's such a sweetie too, I'm sure you'll fall in love with her."

Venus cracked a small smile and sighed, "we'll have to see." She stared back at her eyes and resisted the urge to copy and paste them over her violet ones. Chuckling to herself she mumbled, "she seems like the only innocent one out of all of this. How ironic…"

"What'd you say?"

"I was just thinking aloud to myself. It's gotten pretty late out, shall we head to our chambers?" Scotty smiled and extended his hand to her. With one last glance at the small girl's portrait, Venus snapped her light out and walked down the corridor in silence with Scotty at her side. With so much information in one sitting, she had a lot of thinking to do while also having a lot more people to meet.