Aesthetic and the Animals

Episode 13 Bread Crumbs

Episode 13 Bread Crumbs

Prince Animals

I was alone in my cell when I noticed a blue light from outside. It was that of water spirits or of spirits in general. I knew what I was seeing, and I saw what I knew. There in front of me was the Duke of Suede. "Duke! How dare you show your face."

"Wait, you don't question me? Much more adept than Tweed, I'm sure."

"What are you doing here?" I demanded. This was my time to be at peace with my sentence, and here he was disturbing the peace. "If you weren't dead I'd be calling the guards to arrest you."

"Under what authority? You're quite literally an animal stuck in a cage. You've been kenneled, like the dog you are."

"Just because I opposed you during the Incident does not mean I am dog under your boot. Speak now or leave me in peace." I demanded.

"Speaking of peace, there shall be none if you do not reveal the traitor in your midst." Duke said.

"You dare speak of traitors?"

"I know, I know, you really don't like me. Get over yourself, I'm dead and gone."

"Obviously!" I was sarcastic, "You are far from gone, Duke of Suede."

"I brush you off like this!" he used one hand on one shoulder then the other hand on the other shoulder, acting as though he was brushing dirt from his shoulders.

"Do not speak down on me Suede or I swear I will bend these bars and kill you all over again." I snapped. I was growing ever furious with him.

"Subtle barks from a gentle beast." all bark and no bite he meant. I was about to show him my bite. "You are a caged animal, Prince Animals, and I am already dead. I no longer fear you."

"I can see that. Speak of his traitor at once."

"I cannot reveal from the spirit world but I can give you a clue. He was down here much earlier than you were, and you see him everyday."

"Him, someone I see everyday. That could be any number of guards or people who come to visit me."

"I can tell you this, it is not any noble person."

"Thank you for that I suppose." I rolled my eyes and Suede began to disappear.

"There really is no problem. I am here to serve France, it is my unfinished business."

"Very good." I told him and he was gone. I paced back and forth in my cell, my feet padding over the red and blue rug. I stopped near the side table I had requested and picked up a quill. Dipping it in finest ink I scrawled across a page, Tweed, be wary of your stead, there seems to be a traitor in our midst. Then I picked it up and closed my eyes. With finest Silk I weaved a web and sent the paper fluttering to another place. Tweed's bedchambers to be precise. "I hope this reaches you with the grace of a thousand swans." Animals closed his eyes and sighed.

⚪⚪⚪

Prince Tweed

I was pulling my hair out at the roots as I paced my bedroom back and forth. I looked up in the gilded mirror and saw just how beet red I was. I was angry, I was infuriated, I was...I was upset. I sighed and sank onto my bed, my bottom cushioned well. This silk was not magic, but clothwork instead. I was on quilts of finest wool and cotton, not mixed together, mind you. We would prefer not to mix our fabrics. The blankets offered me the support I needed.