His Other Half (KiriBaku)

Chapter 23

October 11, XX84
-The Internal Ministry-

        Prince Katsuki snapped a charcoal pencil between his fingers with a growl, glaring down at the parchment beneath his hand, the letter having been freshly delivered. A week and a half, after the plans had been approved three times and the resources set for reallocation within hours, now the eastern governor decided to stir up squalls? Now he wanted to voice his discontent with the monarchy's plans? Now he thought he could budget on his own and declare royal interference? The nerve.

        Fumikage sat perched on the prince's shoulder, quietly squawking his own irritated discontent as he read over the letter with Katsuki. Katsuki had never truly thought about the metámorphes before, having thought they were more animal than human, but recent revelations had proved him wrong, and he supposed he should have been more concerned that the bird was reading his confidential mail. But he wasn't.

        "Fetch me a quill," the prince growled to no one in particular, intending to send a reply at once. He pulled a sheet of parchment from a nearby pile and spread it over the map of his kingdom he had been marking before the delivery, a task that could wait now, as could the other dozen members of the council that he'd been meeting with. He turned to see the crow on his shoulder offering one of its own sleek feathers to him, which he took with a grunt.

        "Your Highness, do you really think that wise?" An advisor asked skittishly, wringing his hands. "Please, think carefully on your words--"

        Katsuki huffed at him, dipping the feather in an inkwell and readying his hand to write. "No. His request is being denied and he will comply with my orders. He had his window to give his opinions, which he delayed in order to stall us. I will be sending a battalion to his province, they will erect new farmland, and he will comply with my orders and allow them into his cities."

        "Perhaps you should consult the queen--" the advisor cut himself I'd under the force of Katsuki's glare, unwilling to meet to searing embers of his eyes.

        Elder Honoko sat across from him at the long meeting table, watching the prince from behind the hand propped against her chin. "Is that what you think wise, Your Highness?"

        Prince Katsuki growled. "I think that this province leader is testing my authority and pursuing my patience. He thinks I have no power because I am not yet king, but this is my project and it has been for weeks, and I will not let his distractions throw flaws into my plans."

        The elder gazed at him a moment more, inclining her head. "Very well, then. His Highness has given his orders, and they will be carried out as such."

        Katsuki rolled his reply letter and snatched a lit candle of the table, sealing the letter with red wax and his family's crest. He handed it to Fumikage, who handled it carefully between his talons and flapped away without waiting for any further instruction. As the bird disappeared out the open window, Katsuki also wrote out a formal recommendation to his mother requesting that the disobedient governor be removed from his position.

        He had other things he would much rather have been doing. Eijiro was competing today--he'd wanted to watch. Chiyo was on standby due to the nature of the test--a poisons exam, of all things--and Katsuki didn't want to admit he was worried, but...

        Fine, he was worried. He had no idea what his beloved knew of potions, and with his seedy memory, Katsuki doubted his recollections. If anything, he hoped that Eijiro had built up immunities against the toxins in today's event, so that he wouldn't be too harmed if he got it wrong.