Aligned For You

Chapter 2

Honestly, this was perfect. Julian had just wanted to get more familiar with the locals of the kingdom, his journey not allowing him much time to actually speak to anyone along the way. He really wanted to get a better sense of what the most vulnerable members of the kingdom would need from him once he was their prince consort. 

Prince Julian tried not to frown at the thought of the title. It wasn't...it wasn't a bad thing, to be the consort! His mother was princess consort and he'd argue to anyone that would listen that she made more decisions about the kingdom than his father did, the king always busy with matters of the war, after all. It was a perfectly heroic position, to be the consort in someone else's royal kingdom. Truly an honor, even!

Yeah.

Anyway, what had he been thinking about? Oh yes! Fulfilling his quest to find out more about the kingdom! And Phe seemed certainly eager to explain. Julian would have to ask Phe more about this 'boss' title. It was his first time hearing of this kingdom’s king referring to himself this way. Perhaps it was purely a local thing. The same way most of the men in Father’s war-room referred to King Aiichi as 'That Bastard'. Cultural differences indeed!

"Lead the way, Phe! Where are we going?" Julian asked, for the first time the sort of jaunty, 'hero voice' falling away to his admittedly more regular speaking voice, curious as to where he was being led to.

It was probably a good thing that Felix was already turned away so that Kai couldn't see his smirk. How could a name be strong? It was just a sound, a collection of letters. And the name of one of the villains from one of the librarian's stories that he'd managed to convince her to let him read. Terrifying stuff! Kind of disturbed! But an incredibly compelling read. 

Kai almost seemed like one of the frustrated victims in her work, if not for the way his bravado toned down into something more normal. Interesting... He was putting up a front while in a new place? Reasonable. But kind of dumb if he let it down just for some random person who made conversation with him. Trust in strangers, then? Wherever it was that Kai was from and refused to say with certainty, it sounded peaceful.

"The community garden! Kind of a bummer you came into town at the end of summer--during winter, since it's dark a lot longer, people decorate all the plants with lights and it's super pretty! Buuuuut a lot more things are in bloom right now, so it's still fun to visit."

Felix had a love/hate relationship with the gardens. They were for sure gorgeous, and a symbol of the kingdom's diversity--each plant was either requested or actually planted by a resident, kept tended by the community. Felix's own plant was in there, a single seed of a cornflower having grown into a small patch over the years. It was also a great place to hide when he saw the guardforce out on patrol. 

But it was also crawling with bugs, as gardens tended to be. He'd nearly died that time a spider crawled over his hand...eugh!

"Mr. Fukui's grandma's persimmon tree is bearing fruit right now--you can take one if you want. They're free for anyone to take, as long as you're not a jerk and take everything." Felix led them along the streets, still sending an occasional wave out to people, though they were less frequent than when he'd entered town. He'd done this enough that the townspeople were used to 'Phe' dragging travelers around town.

"Most things are free to take a piece of, actually, but if you wanna transplant anything, you have to talk to Aunty Hijiri--she was elected the head gardener this year." With a bit of a cheeky grin, Felix looked back at his companion for the day. "Someone planted weed in a secret spot, but I know where it is if you want some for free."

Once again, a rush of light, bouncy words, too quickly and deftly thrown together to actually interject into until Phe took a breath, often looking incredibly pleased with whatever he had managed to convey, looking back to Julian as if eager to gauge his reaction. It had flown over his head before, but the more Phe spoke, the more Julian started picking up the small little edges in his otherwise innocent statements, a hint of...mischief? But then, perhaps any kid who was willing to throw in immediately with a total stranger had to have a bit of mischief in them to do so. Julian had probably been similar at his age.

For instance...weed would have been a huge temptation when he was fifteen...and honestly, if maybe he was out with just Alice and Alan, errr, out of the three of them he'd probably be the one pushing for someone in the group to try one. "For the story, you guys!" he would have said.

...But! This was a different situation! This was an opportunity to be a responsible mentor-type figure to an Impressionable Youth! Puffing out his chest, Julian gave Phe a stern look as he said, "Now, Aphelion, you know young men who indulge in stuff like that don't get to grow up to be powerful knights. You're still developing! If you want to get as big as me someday, you're going to have to steer clear of stuff like that, got it? In fact, with the proper nutrients, I bet...huh."

As he scolded, he finally got a good look at the garden, and was actually astounded. "This is beautiful," Julian admitted, looking around in open amazement. He had never seen such a diverse amount of flora and crops all in one spot before. All the gardens at his own palace were very carefully stylized, and the crop gardens in the towns were mostly functional. "We don't really have anything like this where I'm from. What a fascinating project the common folk have taken up for themselves! Truly inspiring!"

It was so hard not to burst out laughing. Kai acting like he was his nanny, saying stuff like he was a little kid not eating his vegetables. Well. Felix still put up the impression of not liking his greens, but he certainly wasn't going to grow anymore. He hadn't grown an iota since he was twelve and the only thing puberty had done for him was lower his voice. 

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, mother. Look, I didn't say I was going to pick any--I was just wondering if the degenerate-looking stable boy I found would want any. Or do you have more to grow too?" By the end, Felix knew he was mostly talking to himself, if the wide-eyed amazement on Kai's face was any indication. A proper reaction to seeing the garden for the first time!

While he wasn't one to slouch, Felix did stand taller, looking out at the garden with pride. Most things in town were group efforts, but the garden showed it the most. Affected by people in towns and villages all over the kingdom, too! Everyone working together to make something special and beautiful...that was what he was trying to keep. If the Uminan Kingdom became satisfied with one of their own having a hand in Dicean affairs, stopped trying to butt in on their territory, then... No one would have to go to war anymore. They could all relax, and while it didn't mean there wouldn't be any more problems for the rest of time, it meant that they could focus on actual problems. It meant that there was more time for creation and creativity.

Felix sighed quietly to himself. He hoped the union would work out that way. He really did. Caught in his own thoughts, he almost missed the...peculiar thing Kai said.

"...'common folk'?" he questioned, careful to keep it innocent. Even if it was sus as hell. Kai getting defensive was the last thing he needed if he wanted to ever get answers. "Where are you from, then? If the climate is anything like here, you might be able to start up your own patchwork garden when you go home."

Tugging on the stable boy's sleeve again, he started to lead Kai through one of the shorter pathways through the garden, hoping the distraction would make lips a little looser.

Was Julian forgetting that he was supposed to be Kai? Maybe a little! Or not so much 'forgetting', as 'Kai the Legendary Stable Boy of the Barns' was competing with Julian’s far more practiced persona, 'The Legendary Uminan Prince of the Stars!’ It was a hard act to just drop on the fly, and it was the persona Julian felt most comfortable with in uncomfortable situations.

Like trying to make a good first impression on the first person he had met from what he kept having to remind himself was literally his new home. Apple-cart salesman aside. He wasn't leaving this place. He had to remember that. This was permanent.

Phe's curious repeat of Julian’s slip flew right over his head as he got lost in the awe of the scenery. At least parts of his new home were beautiful, anyway! As he walked step by step with Phe, he answered, almost absentmindedly, "I'm from outside the kingdom. The Kingdom of Ganro." This lie came easily. It was the same lie that his whole caravan train had been telling to anyone they met in travel this whole way. It was pointless to try to pretend to belong to locals who would figure out he was foreign eventually, but it was dangerous right now to admit he was from a kingdom that had been at war with them for over a decade. The Ganro Kingdom, for all its many, many terrible rumors and flaws (There were nightmare stories about its ruler, Queen Sylvia Wolfsbane, and her public event 'games'. Julian didn't believe most of them. How could they all possibly be true? She had DIED in one of the stories he had heard, even! Clearly rumors going out of control), had managed to stay neutral with both kingdoms during this time and keep up its trade routes with both, and shared a lot of culture with both the Uminan and Dicean Kingdoms. So it made a fairly solid lie. He was pretty sure that it had been Alan's idea. He was good at stuff like that.

"The summers are beautiful; if anything our winters are too short. I don't know why we don't have stuff like this there. I'm not really a plant guy," Julian admitted, before saying cheerfully to Phe, "I'll send a letter back about the idea! I have some friends still back there who might be able to use the idea. It's such a cool idea, I wonder how we've never heard of it before! Ah well...what about you, Phe? You talk like you know all about this place. Have you always been...here?"

Julian’s brain was not the quickest to digest information, and suddenly Phe's first words hit him like a brick. "Degenerate! Who’s a degenerate!?"

Ah, that made more sense, then. The Kingdom of Ganro was an ally, thankfully, but not really...chummy, if kingdoms could be something like that. There were a ton of specialists and artisans living there and trade was good, though Felix had only ever met one Ganron, the ambassador, but...now he’d met an average local!

"Wow..." Felix's excitement was palpable and he hung on Kai's every word, hungry for news of a world outside his own. "I don't really like romance novels, but the ones by that really famous Ganron author are so well-written that I've read every one in the castle library. Every one describes scenes so different that I think it all just comes from the author's imagination, instead of describing what Ganro is actually like." Gah! Even just learning about the weather patterns was exciting!

As was Kai's reaction, as it seemed his brain finally caught up with him. While internally he was howling, on the outside Felix simply tilted his head innocently. "Degenerate? What are you talking about?"

"Ah, but to answer your question...I actually just came into town yesterday!" He let the words sit for a moment before giggling. "Obviously, that's a lie. Born and raised, never set a foot outside. So, of course I'd know all the ins and outs! That way I can scope out any lost-looking travelers and show them everything the Dicean capital has to offer!"

"Truly, a noble effort!" Julian said, noting the plant life thinning as more buildings were coming up. They must be coming to one of the edges of the garden. "And what a wonderful home you get to grow up in! But, when you're older, everyone should explore outside of their home, at least for a little while. I'll tell you stories of some things I've seen in my travels that may inspire you to start your own adventures someday!"

There was a moment of silence as Julian looked around, enjoying the air. He wondered when he should start thinking about going back to the caravan. The longer he was gone, the more time left to accidentally create an international incident by having a prince go missing in enemy territory in the middle of an extremely tremulous construction of a peace treaty...and also, like, his friends would probably get yelled at and then yell at him. Not cool.

"Wait...you're not talking about Trisha Faalden's work, are you? The one with all the pictures of the really muscular guys and the women in the nightgowns? You read that trash?" Julian asked, chuckling to himself. "Her stuff is so cringey! Like that one book, where Shahara is pursuing that nobleman, who’s a vampire, but accidentally getting together with his banished twin brother, who just also happened to be a werewolf? I only got through three books of that series before I had to give up from second-hand embarrassment."

Kai's words struck a chord in him, Felix's smile fading into something contemplative. He did love his home, liked that he could be so hands-on in the kingdom's affairs. But...he only knew what the rest of Dicea was like through word of mouth, through the letters and reports that arrived at the castle. They gave him a good idea but Felix wanted to see the rest of what would one day be his responsibility himself. Wanted to be able to know what his people were talking about intimately, wanted to be able to connect with them like how the boss did so effortlessly.

Not to mention the rest of the world, but that was an even more impossible dream.

He understood why he was kept in the castle. In part, and especially after the war started, it was for his safety. He was the heir apparent, and if anything happened to him...well, it wasn't like the kingdom would stop functioning, he wasn't that important, but it wouldn't be anything good.

After a certain point in his studies, Felix had started working on administrative matters, managing resources, and overseeing reports from all the cities and towns and villages. He was practically doing all the work of a leader already, but just less of it since his father was still the prime ruler. To continue the work, he needed to be where people sent such things--the castle. Not to mention that he...

Pushing down a sigh, Felix lit up when Kai mentioned a possible storytime. Now that's what he was looking for! "I'd love to hear them! Since you came all the way out here from Ganro, you must sell all over the place, right? What's the weirdest place you've been?"

He had so many questions. However, they were derailed rather quickly.

"Nii-HEE-HI-hiihihi!" Felix let out a loud snort before devolving into horse-ish snickers. "Those are the ones! Like I said, I don't really like romance, and the content of her work is abysmal, but the writing is really good! Look, there's only so many 'friendship is the real treasure' stories you can read before even sloppy pining for a merman seems thrilling. It's a landmine, picking a book at random, I'll tell ya."

Wiping a tear from his eye, Felix gave Kai a teasing look. "Plus, if you made it through three in the series and can still remember what they're about, I think you can get what I'm talking about. That, or you're so desperate for romance novels you'll read hers."

"C'mon, c'mon," he urged, taking the lead again as he calmed. "We're not too far from the aqueduct. At a certain angle, it looks like a dick." One of Irma's finest designs, truly. No way the boss didn't catch it when he was approving the plans, but Felix knew he wasn't above letting humor bleed into his duty.

...Yes, okay, fine, he did want to see an aqueduct that looked like a dick. Sue him.

"Oh no, I think I know which book you just referenced." Julian groaned, following along behind Phe as they dodged common folk going to and from their day. "Her book 'From the Depths', right? The scientist who's in charge of monitoring the world's first captured merman, but falls in love with him and goes through this, ya know, total 'heist' scenario to break him out and run away with him? I actually thought that one was a little creepy."

Julian hadn't really intended to say anything more about the subject. But the more he thought about it, words started to fall from him as his mouth tried to keep up with the sudden whir of his mind.

"Like, all the writing about the merman himself suggested he kind of only barely understood what was going on to begin with, because of the language and culture barrier, and then suddenly she just runs off with him to some hotel instead of just going straight back to the ocean? Like, I know by the end of the book she brings him back to the ocean and it's all sad and heartwarming and stuff, but that first part of it she just basically kidnaps him, right? Nothing was stopping her from going to the ocean right away. She just wanted to have sex with him in a hotel first. That's creepy, right?"

This was probably a weird subject to be harping on. Julian glanced over at Phe to see if he was annoyed and couldn't get a good read on the kid. He just always seemed pleased.

"Sorry, I don't mean to talk at length about it, but I don't get a chance too often to talk to other fiction readers," Julian said with a small smile, rambling as his mind went over the events of that, admittedly saucy, but still unnerving storyline.

He suddenly barked out a laugh, putting a hand over his reddening face. "Oh my god, the 'eggs'. I just remembered the 'incubating' scene. Oh, no, I think I repressed it all this time. Oh, noooo," Julian said, just laughing again to himself, before giving Phe an embarrassed grin. "Maybe I should change the subject. You wanted stories of where I've been?"

For someone who didn't like Faalden's books, Kai had sure read a lot of them, huh. And not only that, but his opinions were pretty nuanced? As far as criticizing them went, at least. Felix nodded along, laughing lightly with a shrug.

"That's the one--it's actually one of my favorites of hers. Yanno, if you read it as a horror story and not romance; it's just written from the perspective of the antagonist, you know? Being captured from your home, studied and ogled by weird creatures, given a chance at freedom only to be used as some fetishistic sex toy?" He shuddered, shaking his head. "It's horrifying, frankly."

It wasn't information. They weren't talking about the real world at all, not even what Faalden had to have been on to write some of the stories she did. But still, Felix found himself excited to talk, to hear the other man's opinions. To be honest, it wasn't something he got to do often either. The head secretary and librarian were too busy most of the time to have a book club.

Felix stuck his tongue out in disgust when Kai mentioned one of the more disturbing scenes of the book but perked back up at the alternative he was offered. "Oh, yes! Really, the only things I've heard about the Ganron Kingdom are the rumors, so...just more fiction. Oh, and if you've been to other kingdoms too--I'm ready to be wowed and inspired!"

Here we go, here we go!!! As fun as idly talking had been, this was the real stuff!

Julian considered the kid before smirking. The caravan could wait for another hour or so. Julian really liked this kid and their shared love of absolutely trash masterpieces.

"Sure, but this isn't the place to talk of daring adventures! The gardens and architecture are cool, don't get me wrong, but do you know any good pubs or taverns? Sit down with me, I'll buy you a beer for showing me around today." Julian considered the kid’s age and size before stressing, "Just one. With food. My treat!"

Felix looked up at Kai for a moment, something unreadable in his eyes. So he didn't think he was a kid-kid, but still young enough to lecture... The man looked like he was about his age, so...probably figured he was a teenager? Closer than most, but still off.

"It's kinda early...but there should be some open." Felix ran through his mental list of pubs in town, a little lacking in that area of knowledge compared to everything else. Some were a popular hangout for members of the guardforce, and if he got caught in a pub, never mind drinking? He could practically hear the frantically worried, patronizing lectures already.

But, as he said, it was early enough that he wouldn't have to worry about that. Nodding to himself, Felix grabbed Kai's sleeve again and headed to the pub he had in mind, luckily not that far away. With a grin and a tilt of his head, he teased his temporary companion. "Aww, you really know how to pay a tour guide! Thanks! Spending your salary on little ol' me when you haven't even made a sale yet--I can't tell if it's generosity or poor financial decisions."

Julian was actually genuinely confused for a moment. Sales?

...oh! Right! Kai!

Crossing his arms, Julian laughed into the sky, squaring his shoulders as he boasted, "Well, this is one of the benefits of hard work and sound financial saving! Occasionally you get to take some time off and splurge on a friend! Remember, Phe, stay strong and dedicated and you too could be as successful as Kai Tomen, Legendary Stable Boy of the Barns!"

Actually, if Julian really wanted to encourage Phe into anything, he supposed the most honest thing he could encourage the kid into would be to pursue university, like Julian himself had been enrolled in for the last few years. Jules wasn't, maybe, the most… diligent student. But he was of the firm mindset that all these classes asked you to do was pass! No one said he had to actually understand the material!

Phe himself seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. And he was so small, even for a young teenager. An academic future was actually a probably best-case scenario for him. With a royal recommendation and a scholarship...but, no, Julian was getting ahead of himself. Phe was probably like any other commoner, in that he was going to do what his father did before him and would prefer it that way. Father always said the worst help you could give onto the poor was to burden them with unnecessary education. What would Phe even do with it?