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The harsh scent of salt blended with the waters of the ocean gave the night a sort of accent the pale king couldn’t put his finger on. Standing on the deck of the captor’s ship with his hands behind his back in thought, wind blowing through his dark hair but the night only brightening his poisoned green eyes. His pale skin illuminated by the moonlight as well as the black horns that grew from his head. It often felt like a dream to him, the king of the Valley of Thorns, captured by a mere pirate captain and his crew. Now held for ransom, he thought; “How much longer?” His eyes looked downward into the drowning blue abyss hinted with white as it rolled small waves.
His time aboard the ship wasn’t terrible, surprisingly more pleasant than he expected from a group of pirates that snatched him from an abandoned Kingscholar castle area. The pale king often found himself laughing so much more than he did at his gothic castle where everything was seemingly in line for him. A tedious routine with two bodyguards that kept him right where he had to be. His advisor back home didn’t make it any better, being as smothering as a parent and constantly watching over him. On the ship, there was none of that. No routine, no bossing around, no bodyguards, nothing. No one even telling him how he should be dressed as he wore an old, white, dirty poet shirt with black pants and cuffed black boots. Something that Sebek Zigvolt, one of the king’s most dedicated guards, would’ve abhorred to even though it was none of his concern.
The crewmates were fast asleep, strewn about the ship all in a drunken slumber from the victory taken place earlier that day. A successful plunder, tons of gold and gems, a lot of rum and the rest of the day was a distant memory for some...who drank way too much. “I wouldn’t get too close to the water,” a tired yet undertone growling voice commented. “unless fae are really good swimmers.” The pale king raised his head towards the helm of the ship where the captain himself, Leona Scar, was handling the wheel. Only dressed in an unbuttoned white shirt, dirty grey pants and similar black cuffed boots. Having an eyepatch over his left eye made him look more intimidating along with his lion beastman features of ears, a tail and sharper teeth. He scoffed, exhausted from the long day, blowing his long, messy brown hair out of his face.
“Fae are many things.” he answered, “I’m not too sure about swimming however.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be all high and mighty and all that? King Malleus Draconia of the Valley of Thorns can’t swim?”
“Granted, I’ve never had the opportunity to partake in swimming.” Malleus admitted, the captain cocked his eyebrow giving him an oddly confident toothy grin. He let out a quick, stifled snicker that sounded like a ‘tick’. He responded saying, “You want to push me into the water, don’t you?”
“Not…’push’ more like...aggressively nudge.”
“Aren’t I being held for ransom?” Malleus slyly smirked at his captor; “What good would drowning me do?”
“Right, I forgot how important you were.” Leona took his hands off the ship’s wheel to put them on his hips. “Although it’s not like anyone’s coming to save you. I thought you said you had a bunch of guards and stuff.” He looked at the horizon, not seeing anything but the ocean for miles. Malleus gazed upon the horizon with him, only seeing the ocean as well while thinking about Sebek and Silver, his guards back home. Surely Sebek would’ve been reduced to a shell of a man, curled up by Malleus’ portrait that hung in the castle, being soaked by his own tears having failed to protect the king he worshipped so much. Silver, as strong of a guard as he was, always seemed to come up short in his duties due to his cursed drowsiness.
“Guards are coming, they’re just...taking a very, very, very long time.” Malleus told the captain who scoffed once more.
“They’re bumbling morons, aren’t they?”
“You could say that.”
“Yeah, dealt with my fair share of those.” he began making his way from the helm to the main deck of the ship. “Too easy to trick sometimes.” his boots caused the deck to creak with every step, bothering a few sleeping sailors but not many. Some nudged and mumbled, some were unbothered as they could be. Standing next to Malleus, Leona was short to him but in a rather charming way. The pale king took in the appearance of the pirate captain, every detail from the sharpness of his bold emerald eye to the little bit of hair that stuck up, often remaining unseen as he typically wore a hat. His dark skin complimented by the moonlight made him much more eye-catching to the king. Malleus’ gaze softened towards him, causing him to look up at him and ask; “Do you think I’m cute or something?”
Malleus’ eyes widened in sudden questioning. “What?”
“Cause I’m shorter than you.” Leona stated, crossing his arms. “Do you think I’m cute or something because I’m short?”
The king’s smile returned with a secret feeling of relief. “Maybe, is that a problem?”
“I’m not the one who’s tall as all hell. I’m the captain and I can drown you, just so you know.”
“Most of the height comes from the horns.”
“Bullcrap.”
“It’s true, although even without my horns I would still tower over you….kitty.”
Leona’s ears lowered in defense, his face looking disgusted, offended and slightly agitated all at once. He bared his fangs at Malleus in a sense to establish dominance. “Don’t call me that. Ever. Again.” growled the captain. The king however, just kept smiling at him. “I’ll smack that smile off your face, I’m serious.”
“But you are truly adorable, I am just speaking the truth. Besides, weren’t you the one asking just moments ago if you were cute to me?”
“That was rhetorical you idiot!”
“Now now, no need to get so irritated.” Malleus said, putting his hand under his chin.
“I’m gonna get irritated!”
“But you’re cuter when you’re mad….”
“Gah!” Leona threw his hands up in frustration, stomping back to the helm of the ship to end the conversation. Malleus wasn’t on board the ship that long but he already had come to terms with the fact that Leona had a bit of a temper on him. He never intentionally tried to push it until that night. It was slightly amusing, better than the typical antics back home caused by Sebek and Silver. However, something...bugged the king about the captain. Something he commented on while watching him walk back to the helm of the ship.
“I feel like I’ve seen you before.” He told him, sounding suddenly focused. Leona stopped in his tracks as he was close to the stairs leading up to the wheel of the ship. His ears raised upwards and twitched. Only turning his head slightly to look over his shoulder, his ears then lowered again.
“The hell do you mean by that?” he growled, still clearly irritated but somewhat willing to listen.
“It just feels like I’ve seen you before. Maybe in a portrait or something similar…” Malleus turned his attention back to the ocean. Leona turned around to face Malleus who remained in the same spot the entire time. He crossed his arms with a piercing gaze that felt threatening when looked at directly. Walking back over to the king and standing by his side once more, now refusing to even look at him. Malleus stole a couple of glances off of him just to be sure. “Have you heard the story of the Second Born Kingscholar?” the question made Leona’s ears perk up again.
“No, not really a fan of ghost stories.” the captain denied, his lips firming up in a pout.
“Well as the story goes there was a mighty king who had two sons.” Malleus began, “The eldest son was strong, brave and loyal beyond all doubt, the second son however, was considered weak yet intelligent. His intelligence went unnoticed, especially in the eyes of his own brother and parents. All he ever wanted was to become king, to take the throne as he knew he could lead the kingdom with all of his intellect and wisdom but alas, he didn’t. When the first son was crowned king, that same night, the second son disappeared...never to be seen again.”
“I told you I wasn’t a fan of ghost stories.” Leona restated, Malleus stole another glance.
“That’s just it, no one knows where he went. Some say he died because of how weak he was, others say he is simply in another kingdom. No one knows where the second son of the Kingscholar dynasty went and I don’t believe anyone ever will.”
The captain exhaled from his nose, some of his hair falling over his eye only to be moved by his hand. “They gave up looking for him.” he began, “The guards' searches always came up empty and just when they thought they had him, he slipped through their hands. His intelligence wasn’t something to be messed with and if they just listened-” he cut himself off rather abruptly, clamming up his lips and furrowing his brow.
“Now...I thought you didn’t like ghost stories.” remarked the king, who was beginning to smirk again. The captain jerked his head away, crossing his arms tightly like a child and frowning.
“I don’t.” he couldn’t deny again no matter how harsh his tone was.
“And I thought you didn’t hear the story about the second born son of Kingscholar.”
“I didn’t.” At this point, he was trying to throw him off. “I’ve just heard rumors about him.”
He avoided looking at Leona, the bothering sensation growing stronger. “Must’ve been some very detailed rumors.” he put his hand on his head. “I probably have the story wrong...maybe the guards didn’t go looking for him because they knew that the kingdom was better off without him. I actually don’t remember if there was a search-”
“There was a search.” Leona cut him off and began again without even giving the king a glance. “The guards searched the Afterglow Savannah in its entirety to find the second son who didn’t want to be found because they refused to listen to him. They tried searching all over; The Rose Kingdom, the Land of Pyroxene, even the Valley of Thorns with no success. The Kingscholars fell because they mistreated and neglected the second son who was now a symbol of feared intelligence and wit. The king and queen, as well as their perfect first born son grieved over the absence of the second son. Now if they just listened...maybe he would’ve stayed.”
Malleus’ eyebrows raised when his mouth became small in response to the tale Leona told. He fully looked at the captain who was pulling off his eyepatch to reveal his other eye that had a scar on it but the eye was unaffected. With both of his bold emerald eyes revealed they weren’t bold at all but now dull and somewhat dead. The angry, cocky yet confident personality seemingly melted away from him, staring into the deep abyss of the sea. The king lets the wind speak in its whispering tones but then asked, “The story hits hard for you, doesn’t it?” his body moved closer and turned. His hand raised and carefully touched the captain’s cheek, slowly tracing with his fingers down to his chin as he slowly shifted his head to look at him.
Leona’s eyes were...tearful. Eyebrows furrowed, almost forcing the tears back, his mouth snarling in a sense. A mix of anger and sadness that Malleus had only seen in the eyes of his guards and those of the people in the kingdom. But the king finally had his proof. A single tear was shed, slowly strolling down the beastman’s cheek that sparkled in the moonlight like a small diamond shining against his dark skin. Malleus inched his head closer, easing his eyes to soothe the tension. “Your last name isn’t Scar, is it?” whispered the horned king, “You are Leona Kingscholar...the forgotten second son.”
“They could all go to hell.” Leona pushed Malleus back to be free of his touch. “All of them, especially Farena.” more tears rolled down his cheeks that were filled with sadness yet his words were filled with anger. “They didn’t want me so I left, and then they have the audacity to grieve, and look at them now; a broken kingdom.”
“And so you chose to live a richer life overseas than...stuck in a castle.”
“No, I chose to go where I would be appreciated and adored.” explained the captain who started wiping his tears away. “When I couldn’t find a place to belong, I made a place. This ship, this crew, this life.” He turned and opened his arms presenting the ship and crew to Malleus who looked at what he was presented. The pale king took a long hard look at the ship, crew and all the other things he was supposed to see. Breathing in the salty air under his breath and making sure he didn’t miss any details.
“Malleus,” Leona started, “I was never meant to be king and I will never be a king. But my past isn’t gonna hold me back and I’ll be damned if it does.”
Malleus admired the captain’s strength and dignity despite having tears in his eyes just moments before. “How much longer?” he suddenly asked. Leona’s eyes brightened but not with joy. The king noticed the lion’s judgemental glance and shrugged saying, “Apologies...just thinking out loud.”
“How much longer till what?”
The pale king focused on the moon and the stars. “Until I’m trapped back home..”