Chapter Text
Kitt hummed to himself, a familiar, quaint melody. It was the same little tune from his step-mother’s old music box. He used to play it every night when he was a tot. Loudly. He suspected it secretly drove everyone insane, but nobody ever said anything. The servants were all very relieved when it broke.
But he never could forget it. Not completely, anyway, but he was probably a bit off pitch, probably leaving out a few notes.
He hummed this tune as he raked his hands through his slightly tangled hair, frowning softly. He’d lost his comb about two weeks ago and had told nobody. But it was such a nice day outside, and there was such a lovely smell wafting from the kitchen, and it was going to take so long to find a replacement. Kitt called it good enough and stood from his vanity.
With a last look in the mirror, adjusting his cuffed sleeves and smoothing out his shirt. Here was Prince Kitt, heir to the throne, future king of Ilya.
And yet, all he saw in the mirror was a regular thirteen year old boy.
He slipped through his door, always left ajar so that the sounds of the bustling servants would reach him and keep him company. A flurry of “Good morning”’s and “Lovely to see you”’s were exchanged, to which he responded with quick nods and polite, tight lipped smiles. There was really only one person the young prince wanted to see right now.
Kitt took a familiar series of turns into the hallway ten strides down, arriving just in time to catch his brother wandering out of his room looking like death. Kai’s hair was sticking up at odd angles, his eyes were bleary, he hadn't put on a shirt yet, and right now all Kitt saw was that. His brother. He didn’t understand how anybody could see a deadly Enforcer, when it was just Kai.
Kitt laughed softly at his brother’s appearance. “Did you just wake up?”
“Hnngg,” answered Kai intelligently.
“Come on, it’s pancakes today, I think.” Kitt reached over and tugged on his wrist.
Just the words seemed to wake him up a little more as he sniffed at the air. Immediately a grin tugged at his lips. “Hurry!”
Suddenly it was Kai pulling Kitt along, making the blonde laugh. They just about barreled through the hall, dodging maids and butlers and the occasional guard. Kai dug his heels into the ground right as he reached the kitchen doors, causing Kitt to run into his back. The boy barely noticed as he crouched down, trying to peer inside.
They did this every morning and were thoroughly convinced that Gail had no idea. “Is it pancakes?” Kitt whispered, shaking his shoulders. “Say yes. I’m starving.”
“Oh, shush.” Kai squinted his eyes. “I think… Yes.”
“Yes!”
“That’s what I just said, stupid.”
They snuck inside the kitchen, ducking under large steaming platters and narrowly avoiding wobbly pitchers. The kitchen was busy this morning, making it easier for the boys to sneak past unnoticed.
Kai stood in front, reaching ever so slowly for a stack of pancakes, just sitting on the counter, begging to be eaten. Right as his fingers were about to graze the platter, it was swept away by a servant who brushed right past them.
He swore under his breath, but like magic another taller, fluffier heap of pancakes was placed in front of him. He slowly brought his gaze up to who he knew would be there.
“... Hi, Gail.”
Kitt echoed the greeting.
“Don’t Hi, Gail me,” she snapped. “What were you just about to do there?”
Kitt smiled guiltily. “We just wanted a little… pre-breakfast snack.”
“Mmm, I knew you would,” she muttered. “I made a plate for you already.”
Kitt pointed to the plate she’d just set down. “You mean this is for us?”
But Kai only stuck out his tongue, pushing it away. “No, thanks.”
Gail gave him a look while Kitt shrugged and started grabbing handfuls. “What’s that face for, boy?”
“I hate blueberries.”
“Mmph, I’ll eat them,” Kitt chimed in.
“Problem solved. Now get out of my kitchen.”
Kitt balanced the plate precariously as the chef shooed the two of them out. Behind closed doors, she smiled to herself.
Kai refused to eat a single bite until Kitt had eaten every blueberry off of the top, no matter how loudly his stomach was grumbling. Even then, he only took the pancakes underneath the top one, in case there was “any leftover blueberry taste”.
They sat on the carpeted door outside of the kitchen doors, stuffing food into their mouths in content silence. There really was nothing like the taste of the head chef’s cooking first thing in the morning. It was just something about her food that tasted different. Better. Kitt didn’t know exactly what it was, but he knew he liked it.
After they had licked the plate clean, as well as their fingers, they sat down calmly, watching the hustle and bustle of the early morning pass them by. Kitt would’ve been happy to stay that way all day. Instead, after Kai got tired of waiting for his food to digest, he abruptly stood up. “I’ve made a decision,” he announced.
Kitt looked up at his brother from the ground. “Have you, now?”
“Yes. And you are a part of it.”
Kitt stood. He was already expecting that. “Is your idea to go to the training grounds?”
“Not this time.” Now that, was unexpected. “Follow me.”
Kitt did, deciding that he had nothing better to do. Lest he go talk to his father and have heaps of more studies piled onto his weekly workload. He was supposed to be studying different war strategies from overseas to learn the weaknesses of the other kingdoms, but whatever Kai had in mind sounded much more appealing.
“Are you taking me to the gardens?” Kitt guessed. “Don’t push me into that damn fountain again.”
A laugh bubbled out of Kai. “That was one time and it was completely accidental.”
“Right,” Kitt muttered. “Are you, though?”
“No.”
“How helpful.”
The moment that Kai started climbing stairs, Kitt groaned. Of course, he was still going to follow him, but he was definitely still going to whine about it.
“Here we are,” Kai said calmly. The two had just climbed multiple flights of winding stairs. Well, Kai walked; Kitt was practically crawling by the time he reached the top.
“Where is… here?” he panted. “Top floor. Big deal.”
“Well, not here. It’s just a bit farther,” he answered shyly.
Kitt pretended to level his brother with a withering glare. “I’m going to kill you someday.”
“Not if you can’t catch me,” taunted Kai, already getting a headstart down the hall.
Kitt growled playfully, stumbling into a stand and chasing after the black haired boy. He was being led all the way to the end of the long hallway before Kai stopped short at the dead end.
The other boy swiveled his head around. There was nobody up here at this hour, as the top floor was mainly used beyond extra storage. “Why’d you drag me up here?”
“This is going to sound really weird,” Kai started, “but could I ride on your shoulders?”
At Kitt’s incredulous look, the dark haired boy couldn’t help but laugh. It was only when he was with Kitt that his stormy eyes sparkled this way. And it made his brother happy. At least he could keep him happy when father brought him down.
Kitt crouched down with a low sigh. “You’re weirding me out.”
They both stumbled as the blonde tried to keep Kai balanced. “Why are you so heavy?” he grunted.
“Why are you so weak?” Kai shot back. “Take me to that trap door up there. No, not—to the left—don’t drop me—stop!”
Kitt couldn’t see what Kai was doing, cursing quietly as he stumbled under the weight of him. “What are you doing up there? Hurry it up!”
“Stand still! I almost… got it…” There was a loud bang that almost made Kitt jump. And another thumb as a ladder dropped down in front of him, inches from his face, making him stumble back. This time he really did almost topple down.
Kitt quickly crouched down again, letting Kai get off. “Christ,” Kitt breathed. “I think you just gave me long lasting neck cramps.”
But his brother was too preoccupied climbing up to answer that. Kitt quickly scrambled after him, wobbling on the creaky rungs.
“Where did you even… How did you manage to—” Kitt popped his head out of the trapdoor, abruptly trailing off.
All of Ilya was suddenly spread out before the prince. He raised himself up higher, his breathing getting caught in his throat. It was nothing like the maps; It was so much better. This was the most he’d ever seen of his kingdom. It was buzzing with life and color and—and—Kitt couldn't describe it. He could almost see the slums from here, a blurry mess of smoke fumes and tiny buildings. He could see the streets full of mansions, and he could see the green of the trees and the wonderful birds gliding past and, oh, Kitt could see everything he could never see before.
The wind was pushing his hair into his face, and he almost had to shout to be heard above it. “Kai, this is amazing!” He could feel himself smiling so wide that his cheeks ached.
His brother hid his trembling hands, trying not to vomit at being up so high. He had to show what he’d found to his brother, so he swallowed down his fear.
“I—I know! Oh, don’t come up—or just don’t listen to me, that’s fine, too.”
Kitt stood on the roof shillings, spreading his arms out wide. “Can you hear me, Ilya?” he shouted.
Kai, who was instead sitting in a straddle on the roof in favor of not losing his life, couldn’t decide between being amused or concerned. “You’re going to fall,” he murmured.
Kitt kept going. “One day, I’ll come ask you to your face!”
Kai couldn’t help but laugh. “Stop being stupid! You’re going to fall and I’m going to laugh!” A lie; He most definitely would not be laughing.
The danger was only more of a rush. He howled, knowing nobody could hear, and pounded his fists against his chest. “Fear me! I’m King of the World!”
Kai followed suit, yelling as loud as he could to be heard over the wind. They had a brief screaming competition, but it ended quickly once their throats started feeling sore. The shouting dissolved just into laughter.
Rusty tiles dug into his skin when Kitt finally sat down, but he still didn’t want to go back inside. Freedom wasn’t something he was accustomed to, and, right now, it felt like that was what he had.
“Wow.” He cast another glance across the vast expanse of what would one day be his. Kitt felt more certain than ever that he was going to make a great king, one who would fulfill his father’s wishes.
But it was getting chilly, and he was tired of having to yell, so Kitt gestured for his brother to come back down with him. Kai was more than happy to oblige.
They both dropped down onto the floor with a thump, and tried to stifle laughter when someone from below seemingly tried to thump on the roof of a broom. Nobody knew for sure it was them up here making all the commotion, but there also wasn’t any other explanation for it.
“Thank you, Kai.” Kitt threw an arm around his brother’s shoulders. “I needed that.”
“Knew you’d like it.” Kai looked a little too arrogant while saying that, so Kitt ruffled his hair as they walked back down the hallway.
“I hope you fall off that high horse you’re riding, little brother,” Kitt teased.
Yes. It was a wonderful memory to look back on; One he would cherish. But he didn’t know that then.