CASPIAN LEARNED THE HARD WAY. Not only was he no longer the outrageously handsome prince of Lehua, but now people whispered terrible things about him. Of course, the former prince was still handsome — with pale hair like snow and grey eyes like the storm looming above a bar in Vanity. But he had always been loved, or as his friend Elliot said, tolerated.

When he heard two men whisper his name, saying that Caspian would end up mad like his father or a murderer like his mother, he could not take it any longer. He was loved!

Tolerated, Elliot's voice rang in his mind.

The former prince stood up, his stormy eyes clouded with anger. He gulped down the remainder of his drink and the ice clinked against the glass as he slammed the cup onto the table.

"Don't," Elliot warned.

"Are you–"

"It's not worth it," Elliot said, gesticulating for Caspian to sit down.

But all Caspian heard was that he was simply tolerated.

He stalked over to the burly men, one of whom raised an eyebrow at the prince. Caspian scrunched his nose at the smell of the tobacco they smoked. He saw the tattoos on their arms and the drinks in their hands. He listened to their slurred speech.

"Ca — Ca — Caspian."

Drunkards.

"Say it to my face," Caspian shouted, "Say what you think about me."

When neither man answered, Caspian went on, "Tell me how you think that I will go mad like Emperor Andreas Stone and how I will become a murderer like Empress Cyra Stone. Say it to my face!"

The men looked at each other and laughed. They had a deep laugh — a growl almost — that reminded Caspian of the wolves he and his father used to hunt. These men's evil eyes morphed into those of the wolves and Caspian couldn't tell if he was looking at the burly men who whispered or at the wolves he used to kill.

"Your parents aren't emperor and empress," one said, "so it'd be best if you stopped calling them that."

The other man put up his drink and yelled for the entire bar to hear, "Long live Empress Valencia Lenard!"

The people in the bar that Caspian once thought were loyal to his family roared Long live Empress Valencia Lenard. All around him, man morphed to evil wolf. Their chanting turned to howls. Their bright eyes stared into his soul. They were going to pounce at him and attack. Gorge his grey eyes out and claw at his skin until all that was left was bone.

They tolerated you, Elliot once said.

Now they hate me.

"Let's go," Elliot said.

When the former prince did not move, Elliot shook him until Caspian's eyes rolled over his friend. "Come on!"

He followed Elliot out of the bar, heading away from the wolves. Outside, the chilly summer breeze made him realize what just happened.

"I've been humiliated."

Caspian's fists tightened. "I can strangle every last one of them. They deserve death for turning against me; they deserve a reprisal, Elliot."

Elliot faced him. "Maybe they do."

Plastered on Caspian's face was a sinister grin with teeth as sharp as the wolves he used to kill.

•   •   •

CASPIAN INTRODUCED HIMSELF TO LADY ASTORIA HOWELL. He watched her pink lips curve into a smile when she recognized his name. The honorable lady from Tovarre vacationed in Lehua occasionally. Caspian had met her and her family at a garden party when he was still a prince. Her father, Lord Howell, owned a huge salt empire; but, things seemed to going south for the family recently.

"Don't tell me my father invited you here," Astoria said, talking about her family townhouse in Vanity.

Caspian chuckled. "No. Actually, I'm here to ask you for a favor."

Astoria's brown eyes scan the room as she tucked a piece of her short ebony hair behind her ear. "What?"

"How well do you know Ophelia Fowler?"

Astoria raised an eyebrow.

"Well enough to convince her to get you into the palace?" Caspian added, desperate.

"I – I won't," she said, "whatever you're planning, leave it. I might be able to get through Ophelia, but Valencia would kill me herself."

"Kill you?" Caspian questioned.

Astoria's eyes widened. "Oh, my prince! Her advisory board makes her seem to be the goddess Lehua has been waiting for, but she isn't. Or so I've heard."

Caspian took what he learned into consideration. Valencia was adored more than his parents have been recently, but what if he could expose her for who she truly was?

"So, you won't do it?"

Astoria shook her head. "Sorry, Caspian."

"Thanks for listening." Caspian stood up and said his goodbyes.

When he sat down inside Elliot's car, Caspian told his friend his idea. He painted an image of citizens learning Valencia's true nature, of the demons that haunted her, of the blood that must stain her hands. They must want to burn her in violent colors and put Caspian back on the throne.

Elliot sighed. "What if she isn't cruel?"

"We have to find out," Caspian said, "by infiltrating the palace. My home."

Caspian pointed a finger at Elliot. "You can do it."

Elliot shook his head, closed his hazel eyes, and rubbed them as if he was tired. "Are you serious? Are you crazy?"

Elliot started up the car and shifted the gear to drive. He pressed on the gas lightly as he drove down the road.

"I know what you can do," Caspian said, "You have to do something so crazy and strange that Valencia is forced to deal with you herself. Then, you can—"

"I hope you realize," Elliot interrupted, "that when you say 'deal with', you really mean 'jail me' or 'kill me'."

"Which won't happen," Caspian clarified with a smug smile, "because Valencia is going to want you to be a part of her inner circle."

"How?" Elliot asked, almost curious.

Caspian smiled, looking out of his window at the townhouses passing by. "By getting rid of one of her old enemies."

Elliot had a feeling he knew who it was, so he dreaded asking, "Who?"

"Lord Howell," Caspian answered.

The sunset's bright orange and red hues gave Caspian an idea of what he and Elliot must do.

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edited by CannibalisticNecro