A Tale Of Two Emperors

Inside

Pov: Sophos 

Sophos was greeted by excited barking once he entered the palace Menagerie.

He bent down to stroke the oldest dog's head. The other, younger dogs–obviously hers– started barking themselves, but unfortunately, Sophos wasn't taking them out to hunt this time. All because of a special someone.

Sophos liked going to the palace Menagerie. Other than some mostly silent servants who cleaned the cages and fed the animals, nobody else came, especially not his mother. She cared little for animals, only using them for a special, self-serving purpose, such as spying. She seemed to hold a particular disgust for Molly and the rest of the dogs, who were born in the palace and who caused mass destruction to her heels and dresses. She was on the verge of tossing them into the streets before Rhian intervened. Sophos was extremely grateful to him that day, and he made countless promises to be responsible for his dogs. They served him well in the end, and he was proud of himself for achieving something worth talking about. The man who taught him how to train them was just as pleased with his success, and even gave him a falcon as a birthday present.

Sophie still maintained that they were useless and unnecessary. Sophos had released some of her crows which she used to deliver mail to Agatha and friends and shot it, tacking the decapitated bird on her bed canopy. To say she was angry was an understatement.

Sophos was still proud of himself.

Occasionally, the dogs had even been used to pursue a few criminals the crown was hunting down. Even Rhian was impressed.

Many of the animals in the Menagerie were rumored to be actual people before, but when Sophos asked, his uncle wouldn't answer either way. It was probably true. His aunt had been extremely opposed to the practice in her kingdom and even liberated some souls who were trapped in this life. She could tell when it was a person, because she had a very special gift of listening to and even granting wishes. (This did not extend to Sophos' wishes, unfortunately.)

Sophos sincerely hoped the birds he had been feeding were not former humans. Or, the worst possibility of all: the animals he and his family and friends hunted down were actually people doomed to that existence.

After some time alone, a middle-aged servant came in, holding a letter in his hand. Sophos startled, thinking it was somebody he was trying to avoid, only to see the servant– one of the friendlier kinds. The seal was ruby red, with some symbol Sophos couldn't make out from the distance.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Your Highness," he said. "This just came for you. I remember you specifically said to give you any forms of correspondence addressed to you directly." He winked. "I had a close call with Her Majesty, but I was able to fend her off with a little lie."

Sophos grinned, barely containing his excitement. "Thank you." He grabbed the letter from the man's hand, cutting him with the edge of the paper and promptly dismissed him. Sophos didn't bother to apologize.

He left the Menagerie for a study room and he used a letter opener to unseal it. He shoved off horoscopes and scandalous papers to place the letter on the desk.

His "friend" had finally written back, after a whole damn year! Sophos wasn't forgotten after all. The best birthday present indeed.

He hastily shoved the letter under a book when he heard someone else enter the room. "His Majesty told me you wanted to walk around the city," a maid said.

Dammit. It was Lucile, one of the nastier ones.

"He suggests that you get a carriage instead."