Petrichor

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◆ The Wayward Duke ◆

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There was a strange air about the day, as if some unseen mischief was afoot, the clouds seemed to scream this in their overshadowing golden gleams that blocked out the twin suns just so, their shadows streaking down in a ferocious race to the city below casting dark patches of absent light over the courtyard that lie before the grandiose palace, the top of which penetrated the oddly colored condensation in the sky.

There were several things one tried to avoid on a perfectly ordinary day like this, especially when one was doing that which they were quite forbidden from. As the lack of sunlight served as cover, a young man crept out of his confinements, each of his movements quick and furtive as his broad speckled wings shuffled silently alongside him, occasionally lifting him into flight when such actions were necessary.

The boy wore a hood, a cowl that hid the upper part of his face with only the underlit rims of his pale blue eyes visible through the deep shadow it cast upon him. In truth his disguise was flawed, as anyone who took a moment to stare at him could easily recognize him as the duke Enceladus, the youngest son of President Carinae, a boy who was typically confined to the walls of the palace, which itself was city like in nature, yet still overwhelmingly suffocating when trapped there the course of three centuries.

Nevertheless, he didn’t let many things stop him from stealing glances at the outside world, where life didn’t revolve around complicated family politics and the constant threat of some unseen danger where he truly believed none existed. And so with great thought, and quite a bit of planning, he had made the decision to disobey the wishes of his mother and take a day to himself, despite the knowledge that he would be found and easily dragged screaming back to the palace, only to be placed on a more severe house arrest than before.

As this boy made his way across the sweeping bridge that served passage between the goliath capitol and the plaza nearly 1600 meters away, where the high end shops and extravagant landscaping all decorated the very center of urban life here in Verylian, he drew back his hood, letting his messy brunette hair blow lightly in the breeze, sticking up in a charming way from the static of the cloth that had recently been covering it.

With a feeling of sudden liberation, he cast one look back at the daunting palace, scuffing his foot up at it as he boisterously ran down the marble steps of the long bridge and into the city square. He’d been able to see it near every day from the tower he called his home, and on the very rare occasion he was let out to visit the shops under armed supervision, this may very well have been one of his first times here on his own, something he yearned to cherish.

Enceladus wasn’t the only one out and about on this mysterious afternoon, in fact many people milled about, from the upper class citizens, to palace guards off duty, even members of the air force enjoying some time mulling about the square. He wasn’t the only one trying to hide from the public either, as a red haired former duchess also found her way into a few shops, a glamour cast about her fiery wings with bothersome contacts in her eyes to hide her golden stair.

In other words, quite the opposite of an ordinary day in the beautiful plaza, with its cobblestone road work and stunning obsidian fountain in the visage of a myth. However Enceladus continued as if nothing was amiss, letting his mischievous smile cross his lips as he laced his hands behind his back, walking with a confidence in his step that came from the heart of a boy who had quite intentionally broken the rules, with a “could-give-a-damn” attitude that radiated about him like a cloud.

As much as he’d love to believe he could get away with this scathe free, unbeknownst to him he’d already been noticed, as a sharp eyed Air Force captain had spotted him through the crowd. It was a rare sight indeed to see the duke out in public, as the young alichian was known to apparently enjoy his privacy, when truly the opposite was the case. He would have been pleased to know that no one made any attempts to stop his little embargo, rather staying from afar as they looked for the presence that truly made this afternoon quite the ominous thing.

Enceladus let his wings stretch, feeling extraordinarily free for one of the first times, his rather beautiful wings a dead giveaway to exactly who he was- and already gaining him some undesirable attention. The other disguised exterra had spotted him, her own eye nearly unmatched within the military as she narrowed them, a firm desire to know what brought her youngest brother out here into the open, especially unaccompanied as he was. She began to walk over to where he was gazing into a bakery before she noticed the two other sets of eyes upon him, that of the two Air Force soldiers, both of whom’s judgement she trusted, as she allowed herself to stand back, wanting to watch what he would do.

A young wingless girl had also taken notice of him, leaping quickly to her feet upon recognizing his speckled brown and white wings, setting aside the book she’d been attempting to read despite her wandering thoughts. She had been sitting upon the outer lip of the ornate obsidian fountain, beneath the towering figure of the Empress, a god among her people of the vast alichian Empire, a being who had been so absent for the past several generations, many assumed she perhaps ever existed at all, and instead was a myth, a title meant to scare away foes and strike loyalty into the hearts of the young.

“Enceladus!”

The piping voice of the wingless girl cut through the milling thoughts, as she ran up to the wayward duke, an excited smile on her face as she nearly jumped into his arms, embracing him in a friendly hug.

“What are you doing here? How did you get out of the palace?”

Enceladus was shocked for a moment, before smiling at the sudden presence of his friend, holding his finger over her mouth as if to tell her to be silent, his mischievous smirk still painted across his face.

“Violet! Are you trying to blow my cover?” He spoke in a hushed voice, though it was clear he was not upset with her in any way. Violet was one of his few friends, as she typically visited him in the palace when he needed companionship, along with their other friend Thea. “Besides- you know I have the guards schedules memorized by now! If my mother really wanted to keep me in there she’d have to watch me herself at every second, as if she’d have the time for that!”

His tone was very playful, teasing the overprotective behavior his mother so tried to protect him with, though what in creation she thought she was protecting him from he could never understand. Unless he was to live as a hermit his entire life, he needed to see the real word, lest he be a naive fool all his existence, which could end up being an extremely long time. He smiled kindly at Violet, nudging her to the side with his wing, turning his back to the courtyard as he spoke to her.

“It’s been forever since mother let me out, ever since that message from the four she’s been absolutely paranoid- it’s as if she thinks they’re going to break right into the capital and swoop me away! She wouldn’t even let me leave my room without her permission- I was suffocating!”

He lamented his woes to Violet, who nodded lightly at his words, knowing how difficult it could be for him to have to live under the expectations she set for him. Especially when each of his three siblings were free as birds, not chained to anyone nor anything- as if Carinae had decided this was the child she needed to protect beyond all things. With his elder brother who knew where within the galaxy, and a similar account for his once thought dead elder sister, the only sibling he could see on a regular basis was his half sister Venus, the Chief Master Sergeant of the alichian military, head intelligence and tactical advisor to each division of their army- it wouldn’t be a lie to say he was envious of her status, and the freedom which she’d fought for herself.

He sighed lightly, still sheltering Violet with his speckled wing as he tended slightly upon a tap on his shoulder.