[ 15th Orbit of Homenian's Rule ]
Kaiser thought the beauty of the sun could never be overshadowed. In the horizon that coated that early morning sky a blood red, he wondered if perhaps the the sky was indeed a reflection of the planet it shadowed.
In his window sill, leaning against the aged stone, his view set over the metropolis capital known as Rebash. Despite the hour, the city had begun an early wake, preparing for the tasks too mundane for any prince to bother knowing.
Perhaps that was why he had awoken at such an hour, restless from the dreams that haunted him. Indeed, it was the way his eyes glazed over the city, not in fondness, but recognition at a memory so foreign it no longer seemed like his own.
It was odd, a once in a lifetime occurrence for there to be a dream so vivid, so real, it was undefinable by words. The smells, the sounds, that feeling that can only be explained as life coursing through his veins. Often he doubted himself sane, for what part of his brain could produce such an idea.
These dreams, that had occurred since the boy was five, were like volumes of a biography. Each time his head laid upon his silk sheets and the drowsiness of sleep began suffocating his mind, another world awaited him after. It was if he lived two different lives, so unlike the other, they did not even belong on the same coin.
He heard the click of footsteps dashing towards his room behind the creaking wooden door. A soft melody filled the hallway and entered his room as a young maid appeared with a jug of water in her hands.
She startled awake at the sight of the prince's body leaning across the lackluster foundation. She shrieked in surprise, spilling the water across the Augustan carpet.
"Your Highness! You mustn't endanger yourself with such risk!" She warned, overwhelmed with the sudden situation.
Kaiser peered over his shoulder, his gaze still on the fading orange hue that disappeared over the Hills of Iguana.
"You worry far too much, daisy." He whispered, reluctantly pulling his legs away from the window. He landed with a thud, dusting off the dry grout off his polyester nightgown.
"B-but your highness!?" Daisy shrieked, her adelinian features beet red from embarrassment.
"Worrying will do you no good," Kaiser said as he calmly assessed the drowning jug of water, "I would pick it up if I were you." He said, looking bored as he stared into the maids eyes. Hers were a muddy brown, lackluster with a hint of hazel on the edges while his were a cerulean blue, made of the finest sea glass.
She seemed startled at his statement, forgetting her position for merely a second.
She bowed her head and bent to the floor, scooping up the wooden jug of lukewarm water, nearly a fourth of it swimming in the fibers of the carpet imported from The Democracy of Augustus.
"-forgive me for the intrusion," the maid regained her composure, "the queen has ordered me to to prepare a bath, as the delegates shall be arriving on the morrow." She explained.
It dawned on Kaiser that he had forgotten of such an event, perhaps to immersed by his own troubles he had forgotten his mother's.
He shrugged, raising his brows. "Well, you know how I like my baths, warm." He replied, not heading a reaction to his mother's orders.
Daisy nodded and curtsied once again before dashing to the bathroom, where he heard the soft stream of water run through the porcelain tub.
Kaiser glanced once again at the dazzling morning peeking through the windows, mesmerized for a second at how such a terrifying color only appeared beautiful when he gazed at it so far away, yet entirely deadly when he saw it in his dreams.
-
The palace halls were like spider webs, stretching across the perimeter of the estate without clear direction.
The long halls stretched from door to door, corner to corner like a corn maze with no exit. If Kaiser hadn't lived here his entire life, he was sure he would stumble his way through the palace like a dunce.
However, through repetitive cycles of walking running and skipping past various portraits and unknown figurines, Kaiser found himself instinctively reaching an open door.
Even halls away, he could smell the brilliance of the palace's head chef cooking. The aroma wafted through every crevice known and impulsively allowed his stomach to let out a growl of hunger.
As he arrived, crossing the threshold he found himself in, he spotted his family dining on their early breakfast. His father, King Homerian, was seated at the head of the table, while his mother Mother, Queen Romeria sat to his left, poised in elegance.
Both parents looked up in greeting as their dutiful son stood feet away from them, eyeing their palate like a starved beast. King Homenian's homely smile beamed with love as he gazed at his son.
"Kaiser, my boy!" The old gentleman had whisked his fingers away from the newspaper nestled between the table and his ivory robes and instead motioned for a servant to pour another round of wine into his goblet.
"Father," Kaiser greeted with a nod to the man, settling into his own chair at his father's right. Before he picked up his utensils, intent on enjoying a hearty meal, the razor sharp gaze of his mother prevented him from doing so.
He gazed up at the woman who's eyes were a reflection of his own, not in color but shape. "Mother, I hear the delegates shall be arriving soon," the boy recalled the maid's earlier words, "perhaps earlier than expected." He added, pulling a fork from the numerous lined utensils and stabbing it into the sweet soft cakes.
His mother's slanted gaze gave away to her insistent badgering and her lips closed over her own silver fork before answering. "Yes, it is fortunate that our own men have access to the path between our lands, otherwise we may have prepared to great the Bavarians unprepared ."
Kaisers father scoffed, appearing invested in their little conversation. "The bavarians wish to make us fools, that's what it is." King Homerian, despite his brazen remark, remained invested in his personal copy of The Times, his ocean eyes tipping between the black print in front of him.
"Husband," Romeria warned, her honey brown eyes flickering between father and son. Kaiser nodded in agreement, not one to pass up the bashing of the rivaled bavarians. "They truly wish to see our demise, otherwise why such haste in their travels." The boy's burning black hair covered his temple as both his eyebrows pulled together in obvious contempt.
"It is said their horned creatures have aided them in their travels," Romeria sighed at her family's antics, shifting quickly into a diplomatic approach, "what were they called again….rabtoms…rap-"
"Raptors." Kaiser corrected, halting his speed at which he consumed his feast. In fact, the previous hunger did nothing to ail his stomach as he felt an odd sense of dread settle in his organs, shifting away at the meat and bones.
"Ah,yes. I believe that's what they're called." Romeria said as she abandoned the subject in fair of inquiring her latest gowns, far too consumed to notice the paleness that had devoured her son's face.
Kaiser Adelhime was not terrified of many things. What he did fear, greatly so, was his own mind.
More precisely, the dreams of a man by the name of Isaniel Hall.
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