~ Easter Special ~

Verglas Castle

Kingdom of Simo

Year of Ozik, 1051

“Little Ko!”

Heiko jolted, the sound of his brother’s thunderous voice peeling him away from the vast quantities of formulas scrolled across the page of the alchemy tome.

“Ko!”

“Shit,” Heiko exhaled, abandoning the book and crouching under the oak study table. He knew Ingo wouldn’t be able to see him from the entrance of the library, but instinct kicked in faster than his reason did.

“Master Herleva.” His brother’s footfalls softened when the bottom of his boots met the thin carpeting of the library.

“My lord,” the Master of Books replied in the soft voice decades of residing in various archives and sanctums had provided her. “How may I be of service to you this morning?”

“Little Ko is here somewhere, yes?”

Master Herleva was a cheeky woman with motives that could never be decoded, no matter how long one knew her. She dressed only in deep tones - reds or greens or purples - and never appeared in public without a collection of golden rings adorning her fingers. She was eccentric, too, divulging to the young prince, once, that she remained without a husband because he would only get in the way of her love for books. And while that in itself was something Prince Heiko could possibly understand, she took it further, claiming the same about travel, spirituality, acquaintances, even her own health. But his father had always told Heiko that genius was a rare entity, exposed only when it forced one to neglect basic human needs. It made the young prince thankful for his average intelligence.

“Indeed, he is, my lord. He should be in the north wing - Mistress Aisha has the young prince studying chemicals this week.”

“Traitor,” Heiko grumbled, remaining low as he tracked back through the rows of shelving, attempting to pick his way out of the north wing and into the west wing, which contained a vast collection of books he cared absolutely nothing about.

“As if Little Ko should be learning about alchemy. Mistress Aisha is grooming a sorcerer, not a young prince.”

Even from the additional meters of separation he had put between him and his brother, Heiko could hear the gruffness of his voice. But it was morning - Ingo was always hoarse in the morning.

“A sorcerer who’s always running off, at that.”

Master Herleva exhaled an amused laugh. “A free spirit will always run when they are given the opportunity.”

Heiko made a face. Free spirit, his foot. He was just trying to hide from Ingo - nothing to romanticize over, he thought as he traced along the back wall, hoping to loop behind Master Herleva’s lectern and circumvent his brother entirely.

“Ko, enough with the games!” He heard Ingo call again, farther away this time. But by then, Heiko was safely enveloped in the horridly tedious tomes of architecture. As if he would really care about the designs of castle balustrades from three dynasties back. There was absolutely no way Ingo would survey this area for him - and it was with that very thought that he realized, too late, he had made a fatal mistake.

Ingo, no, but Alfie-

From a shadowed recess to his left, two hands shot out, seizing the young prince by the waist and lifting him to impede any attempt of escape.

“Hey!” Heiko growled. Alfred’s laugh resonated like a ripple in calm water.

“Ing, I caught him!” His voice was always a deeper octave than Ingo’s despite the age discrepancy, and with Heiko’s back wedged firmly to Alfie’s chest, he could feel every word, transferred through a warm, comforting vibration.

“Let me go, Alfie!” Heiko hissed, wiggling to be difficult, but he knew it was of no use - Alfie might as well have been a vise. “I don’t want to go to the temple!”

“Says the Muse on the Crowning of Spring? You’re a blasphemous little rabbit,” his brother teased as Ingo poked his head around a bookshelf.

“Look what we have here, Al.” He grinned from ear to ear. “What a successful hunt - prey this size will feed us for weeks!”

“Ingo!” Heiko snarled, twisting his face as intimidatingly as he could manage. “I swear, if you two make me go to temple, I’ll-”

“Not weeks, Ing.” Alfie imposed with ease, lifting Heiko a bit higher as if to gauge his weight. “This one won’t even last three suppers. Far too small.”

Heiko threw back his open hand blindly, trying to smack his captor, even though it would do absolutely nothing other than indicate his displeasure.

“If I’m your prey, at least kill me before you torture me with a mass!”

“Boys?”

The sound of their father’s voice startled all three sons into stone, but to Heiko’s dismay, that only meant that Alfie’s embrace was all the more difficult to weasel away from.

“Where are you cheeky mischief-makers?”

Before Heiko could make his brilliant move of biting Alfie’s hand, Gotthard came upon them. Within mere seconds, his sharp gaze appraised the situation. And then he grinned.

“What brilliant trackers! You boys managed to outsmart the rabbit who’s been wreaking havoc about the palace? What immense luck! Bring him to the temple, we’ll sacrifice him for a good harvest this year.”

“You tawdry old man!” Heiko barked, flailing now, with absolutely nothing coming of it, save for his father’s hearty laughter.

“Oi! The lot of you!” Master Herleva snarled, appearing before them in such a way that she might as well have been the choleric and disrupted pneuma of the library itself. Heiko could imagine smoke exuding from her nostrils with every flared exhale. “You may be the royal blood seated upon the throne, but you’re sullying this sanctified place of knowledge with your incessant howling!”

“Ah.” It was impressive how apace Gotthard could compose his jovial expression. “Our apologies indeed, Master of Books.” He circled behind his sons and began to shepherd them towards the exit. “Look what you oafs have gone and done now - getting me reprimanded by the Master of Books. Well… at least we’ve got ourselves a rabbit.”