Inside the library of the Onades naval regiment hall, the crown prince of Capaytia was busy being invisible. The prince had no magic spells or secret abilities that made him go about unseen. But wherever he went, Filote noticed that people tended to look the other way or find something else to do.
So when the duke's secretary arrived, she genuinely startled him. He was so unaccustomed to being sought out that the scare nearly made him drop his engine.
"Oh! Sorry your Highness!" said Averen. "The duke is waiting, I'm here to escort you to the carriage."
Filote tried not to run ahead as he followed her through the regiment hall. He found it difficult to breathe steadily and his hands were sweating. Filote had not seen the duke in over a year.
The duke was not a very public person but, all the same, Filote liked to believe that the duke would make an exception for him. Filote was thirteen now and even upon his birthday, the duke had not been a part of the festivities. Family dinners, letters, or even just exchanging "hello" were noticeably absent also.
Then an invitation came from Filote's uncle, the Admiral Bargana. Filote was to attend a new event called the Gala de Soldat with the duke as his official escort. Since then, the notion of seeing the duke had not really sunk in until now.
What should I say to him? Should I call him by name or address his title?
Outside of the regiment hall, the Paret Academy cadets in dark grey uniforms and the Onades soldiers in startling white formed a human tunnel to an open carriage door. At the door, there stood Duke Casulo de la Cera.
Or, as Filote preferred, his very own older brother.
He studied Casulo who stood at attention in his grey captain's uniform with blue and white ribbons that denoted his rank as the head of the Paret Academy. Casulo's hair had grown in completely white, though he was still very young, and he wore the same style of glasses that he used when Filote was much younger. Behind the glasses were bright, intelligent hazel eyes which matched Filote's own. But Casulo's eyes were on Averen, not him. The duke spoke quietly to her, turned and entered the carriage.
Still no hello.
The prince remembered that he must be invisible again and entered the carriage also. Half way in, he paused abruptly.
There inside the carriage sat Jaugan. Filote swallowed hard and forced himself further in to sit beside Averen. He told himself not to stare at the Aqanese warrior seated beside the duke. Jaugan was the duke's right hand man. He too wore a dark grey Paret uniform and he too did not look at Filote.
The carriage finally began its way north towards the Coseira palace. After only a few minutes, it became clear to Filote that his brother was a nervous wreck. His glasses kept slipping down his nose and the duke kept fiddling with his clothes, adjusting the medals and ribbons which otherwise looked fine.
To distract himself, Filote pulled a small wrench from his pocket and began tightening a bolt down upon his engine. He wondered if he might become visible again. Just a little. So he turned to Averen.
"Is this tight enough?"
Averen rubbed at her very tired eyes and blinked rapidly.
"I'm sorry, what you asking Your Highness?"
"Give it a pull. See if the bolt goes down any more."
Averen gently took the engine into her hand and pulled the wrench. Her face went red from the effort.
"And you call yourself worthy of that uniform," said Jaugan.
The look she gave Jaugan was worthy of her Paret officer's uniform. At least Filote thought so.
"I believe it is tight enough, Your Highness. Clearly you've excelled at building...whatever this is."
"It's a steam engine. It's meant to have heated water here and then the steam energy comes out of it."
"Of course. I can't believe I didn't see it."
"If you heat water inside this compartment, the steam should be enough to push a carriage forward without needing any horse or mule. At least that's the idea. I haven't tried it."
"It's our old design," said the duke.
"Did you design this with His Highness?"
"No."
The duke simply took the engine from his secretary and studied it for a long time. When he spoke, he didn't look at Filote.
"The bolts are fine. I assume this is the heated compartment. It's bigger now."
"I can get it over two hundred degrees. Even then the housing holds up fine!"
"This took some time. A lot of time. Clearly the tutors I hired are shirking their duties."
Casulo handed the engine back to Averen, not Filote. As the duke turned to the carriage window, Filote decided to give visibility another go.
"What is the Gala de Soldat?"
Averen answered, "The Velhanas are hosting it. There has never been one before."
"But what is it?"
The prince knew who the Velhanas were. Everyone did. The trio of nobles owned vast estates across the Durado river and traded most of the foreign goods that made up Capaytia's economy.
"I believe it's meant to celebrate Capaytia's military feats. Besides your uncle is the navy admiral, I'm sure he appreciates the acknowledgement."
"But why does uncle Bargana want us both there?"
Filote was more shocked than anyone to be in this carriage. No one ever invited him anywhere.
"Because torture is seen as a form of entertainment in Capaytia," Casulo replied. "And those vulture think they can use the throne room as their playground."
Averen looked uncomfortable and swallowed before she spoke.
"Uh, we won't be meeting them in the throne room. The Admiral insisted that you be escorted to the b-banquet hall."
Jaugan and Casulo glared at her. Averen gulped.
"What's wrong with the banquet hall?" asked Filote.
Jaugan snarled at both of them.
"You agreed to that?! On the duke's behalf, you dared to agree with that?"
"The Admiral wouldn't budge. I even wrote letters to the Velhanas."
"If you were at all competent at your job, you'd tell Bargana to take a flying leap."
"As long as you do your job, the duke will be fine."
"Stop!"
They went silent as the Paret Duke pushed up his glasses and straightened his hair. The carriage slowed and Filote realized that Casulo had called to halt their ride.
"Turn the carriage around. Take the prince back to the Onades hall. Stand guard with him, all night. If anyone asks, the prince is in bed with a fever."
"I'm not afraid of the noblemen," the warrior growled.
"The Velhanas are making a play for the prince. If he comes at their bidding with me as escort, the other nobles will think I'm holding him hostage. Averen, you come with me to the palace. Let's finish this idiocy and get it over with."
The door opened. Casulo left with Averen. As the door closed, Filote hurried to sit as far from Jaugan as possible. He could see the storm building in the warrior's dark eyes and he didn't want to be anywhere near it.
He wished he knew the secret to becoming invisible. It seemed like such a simple trick but one that only worked when he least wished it. Right now, Filote felt like a glowing hot ember surrounded by darkness.
The carriage turned and eventually came to a stop right back in front of the Onades regiment hall. Jaugan did not move and neither did Filote.
"You don't have to follow me back in. I can go on my own."
An Onades private opened the carriage door. Filote inched forward, afraid to make any big movements.
"Where are you going?"
Jaugan did not look at him as he spoke. This was fine. Filote did not want Jaugan to look at him much less care about where he was going.
"Just back to the library. Or no, I'll go to the stables. I'll look for a cart to fit my engine-."
Filote did not see Jaugan move. One moment he felt the engine leave his hands. In the next, the prince watched as it collided with the cobblestones near the carriage. The prince ran after it and watched it come to a horrifying stop at his feet. Half of the entire thing was missing and Filote began picking up fragments as fast as possible. A panic overtook him, as if the engine's heartbeat had only moments before giving out.
"What did you do?! Why did you break it?"
"It's the same as it was before. A complete waste of time. That's all you ever do. Waste. Everyone's. Time."
Jaugan stood over him, gripping his sword pommel. Filote hated how scared he was, hated the tears on his face. Worse than that, the prince hated that he felt shocked and hurt by all of this.
Casulo only ever made him feel invisible. Jaugan only ever made him wish to be invisible. This is how they always made him feel and yet still it somehow hurt so much.
"We go up to the palace in an hour, I don't care what the duke says. Get back in the carriage and wait."
Jaugan brought his sword sheathe down on Filote's fingers, slamming the engine parts out of his grip.
"Do not waste my time. Into the damn carriage."
Filote stood and went to the carriage door which still stood open. His eyes moved from the mutilated engine parts to the long cross street just north of the regiment hall. The street continued past the main avenue into the market district. There were so many people about that a person could easily get lost among them.
Even a prince.
Behind him, Jaugan grunted orders to some of the Academy cadets. He wasn't looking, no one was. Filote stripped off his jacket and tossed it onto the floor of the carriage. He turned to face the long avenue. Then he simply began walking. Then walking faster. Then running.
Once he cleared the main avenue, Filote looked back to see how far he'd gone. His body went alight with excitement.
He had done it! He was running away! He was run-.
Filote slammed into an open crate.
"Hey kid! Watch it!"
A merchant checked his crate for damage. Filote looked down. A nasty looking gash was now torn open on his waist.
"Filote!"
Jaugan!
Filote did not look behind him as he began running again. His legs pumped and pumped. Air drove in and out of his heaving lungs. Stalls, carts, and an endless sea of bodies zipped by as Filote dodged and weaved past them all.
"Filote! Get back here this instant!"
The prince looked back, just a peek this time. Sure enough, Jaugan was a mere three meters behind and gaining on him. By now Filote's legs were burning and his lungs were practically begging for this little experiment of his to end.
Running away had seemed like such a great idea. But with a deadly warrior chasing behind him along with the blood streaming down his side, Filote was beginning to re-evaluate his genius.
An alley between the tenant buildings came up on his right. He pivoted and begged his legs to push him farther. Just a bit farther. The alley let out into a smaller square bathed in shadows cast by the tall buildings.
Filote's eyes barely had time to adjust when instant pain suddenly slammed into his body. It was brief, jarring and his momentum made it worse as he went tumbling over the hard cobblestones. Every inch of him screamed in pain as he finally rolled to a stop.
"Filote!"
Jaugan called out somewhere unseen in the alley. Even if he could keep running, the prince knew the warrior would be upon him any second now.
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