5 Prince Caleb

The first time I saw my 9-year-old little brother - he held a stick in his hands and a maid was kneeling in front of him with a red welt across her cheek.

Caleb was a small boy, chubby-cheeked and in his little princely outfit, he looked like a ring-bearer at a wedding. I would have thought he was cute if he hadn't been raising his hand to hit the maid again.

"Stop," I snapped from the top of the stairs, and I could pretty much feel the way all the servants looked up to me with relief. I might just be a kid myself - but a prince could stop a prince - as servants, they could only watch or join in being punished.

"Brother! You got here just in time, this maid is really rude you know?" Caleb exclaimed I sighed, this kid apparently had never been taught right from wrong.

"Rude? What did she do?" I asked, stepping in front of the maid, the welt on her face wasn't too deep and there was no blood, it should heal without a scar. Thank goodness for that.

"I came all the way here to visit you but she tried to send me back!" Caleb declared like it was the most outrageous thing he had ever experienced.

"Hmm, is that so - and that's why you hit her?" I asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Um yes?" he answered like it was obvious.

"So you'll hit someone for telling you to go back when you come to someone else's house uninvited - what do you think would be a fair punishment for someone who disturbs a prince and hurts one of their people for following the prince's orders?" I asked,

It took him a second, before Caleb's mouth flopped open - good, he wasn't a dumbass it seemed. It would have been annoying if he was too young to understand sarcasm or veiled threats.

"B-but Brother! I came to visit you!" Caleb protested,

"Did you ask permission first?" I asked him,

"N-no... but I don't' have to! I'm a prince! I can go anywhere I want!" He said. Ah, that was probably the Empress's education at work.

"Yes, you're a prince, you can go anywhere you want that belongs to you - now does this palace belong to you?" I asked patiently,

"...no,"

"Who does it belong to?"

"....It belongs to brother," his voice, which had stared out loud and rambunctious, was now barely louder than a whisper,

"That's right, this is my palace, so you ask for permission before you visit - and that maid is my maid - if my maid does something wrong, you tell me first - you do not punish her yourself, understand?" I asked him,

The little prince nodded, lips pursed in a pout. I smiled, he didn't seem to be a bad kid - he was energetic and a little unruly, but his arrogance was and rudeness was something that had been taught to him.

"Alright then, now that you understand that, why don't you come and sit with me in the garden - can you bring us out some snack please and tea please?" I asked one of the maids, who nodded eagerly, bowing and running away to the kitchens.

I turned to the maid, who was still sat on the floor, and smiled at her apologetically - there was no way I could ask Caleb to apologise to her - if the Empress heard, she would probably fillet me - so I glanced around until I caught Delilah's eye and it only took one nod in the fallen maid's direction for Delilah to move forwards and guide her to the backrooms to treat her.

"Wow, are we having snacks now? But it's not snack time?" Caleb said, he had completely forgotten about pouting the moment he realised he could stay and eat as well.

"What do you mean? There's no set time for snacks - snacktime is whenever you want to eat a snack," I told him and he looked at me like I was a sage imparting ancient wisdom on him.

"Wow, that's so cool! I'm only allowed snacks once a day! Mother says being fat would be unsightly,"

I frowned - god what is she teaching a 9-year-old? He was at an age where he was constantly running around and growing - of course, he should eat whenever he got hungry.

"Well, keep it a secret from her - I don't want to get in trouble," I told him plainly,

"Wow, brother! You're the best!" He exclaimed, "You're so different from before!" He added without much thought but that had me stopping in my tracks.

"Hmm, what was I like before?" I asked cautiously.

"You were super boring - you never said or did anything, you would just read boring books and look at flowers - you've never let me have snacks too!" Caleb answered easily.

I'm 13 right? Prince Rian was a 13-year-old boy with a massive green garden and the ability to do anything he wanted within the grounds of this small palace - but he spent his days looking at flowers and reading books. Was he just really into floriculture?

"Do you know what kind of books I used to read? I can't seem to remember," I asked, hoping the kid wouldn't find it weird, but luckily, Caleb wasn't too wary,

"Mmm, books about fake stories - the kind mother says have no use or meaning," he answered easily. Right, novels - he just used to read fictional novels all day and look at flowers. No wonder no one had caught on to the change in personality - Prince Rian sounded like the dull, pale bookworm kid every class had.

"How come you came to visit me today, Caleb?" I asked eventually, once the maids and filled the gazebo's table with tea and cakes and sandwiches. Caleb pulled the chocolate cake towards himself eagerly,

"My swordmaster was being annoying - he kept telling me I had to run in circles otherwise I would just get tired easily, it was boring, so I ran away - no one tries to come and get me when I come and visit brother, so let me hide here," he said through a mouthful of chocolate cake.

I grabbed a tissue and gently wiped away the chocolate that had somehow gotten on his cheek without much thought as I answered,

"That's because people need my permission or the Emperor's permission to enter this palace's grounds - they can't just come and go as they please," I told him and he grinned at me, cheeky and wide and mischievous.

"But brother just gave me permission right? You said I could come for snacks," he said, holding his forkful of cake triumphantly, I grabbed his wrist to stop him waving the fork around and guided it to his mouth,

"I suppose I did - but try not to skip your lessons, if you do, the Empress might become upset and not let you come here anymore," I warned him, I really wanted to avoid anyone who could drag me to the guillotine and the Empress was number one on that list.

He deflated a little, "But I can come after my lessons?" He asked hopefully,

"Sure, you can come after your lessons - as long as you promise to be nice to the servants," I added, he tilted his head, apparently confused,

"Why do I have to be nice to them?" He asked I paused, how do I explain it to him,

"You're the Prince, that comes with the responsibility of caring for everyone, especially the people who work for you. They make the cakes you like, clean the clothes you wear, it's not fair to be mean to them right?"

"Oh...," he gasped,

"That's why it's important to be nice to the servants - sure they might do something wrong - but when that happens, you should tell the person in charge of the servant, you're still young, so you shouldn't try to punish them yourself," I explained to him,

Caleb stared at me with wide intelligent eyes - he was guileless still. He hadn't caused any major damage and he listened to everything I had to say with curious eyes. He was clearly a kid that had been moulded into a villain that would eventually hurt a lot of people.

I wasn't interested in being involved with the story - but he was right here in front of me, I couldn't just - not do anything at all. And from the looks of it, he was still willing to listen to me. The Empress's claws hadn't sunk into him too deep yet.

He was my brother after all - I couldn't just let someone drive him off the deep end into villainy.