Special Notes: I've been writing this one with more descriptive narrative instead of the dialog driven narrative. I was wondering if you like it better, same, or worse. Also, yea, honeymoon is over, you've met the protagonists, now here comes the antagonists. Let the pages run red with the blood of the innocent. [The Princes III] [Fall from Grace] Si, and his cousin Seph with Alden, Seph’s brother, finally broke free of the festive atmosphere in the children’s dining hall. Many of the boys were still playing a game of war, hiding among the tables and chairs. Prince Paridalis, a natural and charismatic leader at only twelve years old had organized a group of the soldiers son’s at one end of the hall, setting up a fort, while Prince Tannen and his brother organized sons of the Black Guard at the other end. The two groups were now in a fearsome battle to the brutal death to conquer the dining hall. Si wanted to play the war game but sometimes the older boys played too rough and so the five, six, and seven year olds wandered off to form groups to fight their own war battles. Si and Seph organized their group and the boys swore their oaths of allegiance to each other and mounted their daring charge into the very jaws of death against Canesus’s group. Si was struck down and executed a magnificent and glorious death while Seph and Alden battled to the death over the body of their fallen cousin. “Time for bed,” Akio called out as he patrolled the halls rounding up the fierce warriors. A group of the older boys passed Si in the hall talking excitedly about Lord Tolner. Apparently Lord Tolner and several of his Chefs had appeared in the middle of the battle as dark samurai knights, soup pans on their heads and ladles for swords. The boy Princes and the Black Guard’s sons then joined forces to defeat the evil force of Chefs and Lord Tolnor was defeated to the cheers of the boys. Si headed for his room while Seph walked his brother to a room further down the hall. Si and Seph shared a room but Alden had a room with Morima. Other boys were breaking off from their groups and heading to their rooms as well. The lights in the halls would dim soon and the old Palace would soon be quiet after the yelling of playing boys. Si’s room was a comfortable size, enough for his legions of toy samurai figures that lined the floor in their perpetual battle formations. Models of Battle Cruisers, Battleships, Frigates, and Drop ships sat on shelves against the walls. The wall against the windows had tables with Si’s science experiments arranged on them, and an ancient telescope pointed out one window. Si started to undress and the petition from the two darkly dressed figures in the shadows of the throne room fell out on the floor. He had completely forgotten about the petition and picked it up. Si unfolded the paper and looked at it confused. The only thing on the piece of paper was a drawing of a triangle at the top and under that the number 43 - a symbol of a bird was in the bottom right corner. Si knew the symbol, he had been shown it many times. It was the symbol of the Crime Family of House Raven. Si was supposed to report any contact with the Ravens immediately. It doesn’t mean anything, Si turned the paper over several times, this isn’t a petition. Si stared at the paper for another minute and decided someone was just messing around. Si stuffed the paper back in his pocket angrily, he had gotten excited thinking there would be something good written on the paper. Si finished undressing and climbed under the covers of his bed and carefully checked the pillows looking for the good one, the servant that made up the bed each morning had placed it on Seph’s side. Si switched the pillow and settled himself in, pulling the blankets just right. Seph entered the room just as Si was getting close to that point were one enters the land of dreams. Seph quickly shed his clothing and climbed in next to his cousin and pushed his back against Si’s back. Seph pounded on the pillows a bit realizing his cousin had stole the good pillow again. “Not fair,” said Seph. “You always get the good pillow because I have to walk my brother to his room every night.” Si grinned. Seph wiggled in close. Si and Seph had slept next to each other since the moment Seph was born. The very next Prince to be born after the Imperial heir was always the one chosen to be the playmate and companion to the heir - Seph had been born three hours after Si. In this manner the Imperial heir would have a lifetime companion; someone nearly his equal, and with Seph also being a Prince, only the barest fraction of a rank under Si, Si could never bully his cousin. Si drifted off to sleep with the comfort and safety of his cousin’s slow breathing pushing against his back. Si and Seph shot up out of their comfortable sleep to the annoying sound of their cousin, Caprithus, banging the door open and yelling to get up. They could hear Volnus’s voice yelling on the other side of the hall. Caprithus and Volnus were the next two oldest cousins at fifteen and were in direct competition to take Akio’s position as senior cousin next year when Akio would be moved to his own chambers and office. Akio would still be part of Si’s twenty-four cousins that were Si’s inner circle, but he would no longer be required to march with the boys. Akio would be alone in the massive wing of the main palace that was already set aside to one day be the very hub of Si’s Princedom - the other boys would join Akio one by one until all of Si’s cousins were together again and governing those areas of the Empire reserved for the Imperial Heir. Si and Seph crawled out of the bed and went over to the two chairs where their fresh clothes were laid out. Every night someone always came in and placed their clothing out for the next day. “Hey, these aren’t practice clothes,” Seph said picking up the formal uniform. “I guess we aren’t going to the sand today,” replied Si. The boys dressed and Seph helped Si into his white and gold cape. Si buckled his formal sword around his waist. Father had given him this sword, it was a beautiful steel saber with gold trimmed inlaid around the hilt. Si headed out into the hall with Seph behind him, most of the boys were already assembled and Akio was checking them. “Where’s Alden?” Seph asked Akio when it was his turn to have his uniform checked. Akio looked past Seph at Si and glared at him - Si noticed all the cousins were glaring at him. “What’s going on?” asked Si. “Get in line,” ordered Akio. Akio marched them past the dining hall - was there to be no breakfast? Si was starting to get worried, Alden was missing and everyone looked mad, and now no breakfast. The group of boys marched through the halls, left the old section of the Palace and continued on towards the outer throne room. The halls were filled with Courtesans but the normal chatter was silent this morning. The procession entered the outer throne room and Si’s heart froze and a sick feeling rose in his throat. Not this, begged Si, not this… what did I do wrong? Alden knelt in the middle of the outer chamber, his tunic and shirt laying on the ground next to him - his arms at his side and head bowed down. A guard with a lashing stick stood next to Alden. Alden was the next born after Si’s official companion, Seph, and it was Alden’s place to suffer Si’s punishments. Minor offenses would be suffered by Si, the cutting of a knot from his tail or standing with his arms out holding a practice sword for an hour, but anything requiring the lash would be taken by Alden. Si’s father, the Emperor, stood on the other side of Alden and motioned for Si to approach. Si left the line of his cousins and went to stand in front of his father. “How long was this in your pocket?” Emperor Tarin held out the petition paper the dark clad figures had handed him. Si understood. The servants that prepared his clothes had found the paper. Si had been so careless. “Yesterday during the run,” replied Si. “And were you aware they were Ravens?” asked Emperor Tarin. “Not right away, not until I read the petition before I went to bed?” Si knew he was in serious trouble. “Ravens were in my Court!” fathers voice was beginning to rise. “And you didn’t report it.” “No, father,” said Si. “You have endangered our House, the Court, and the Empire,” the Emperor was yelling now. “And you knew better, I am very disappointed in you.” The Emperor turned to the Black Guard holding the lashing stick. “Three lashes,” ordered the Emperor. Si watched in horror as the guard brought the lashing stick down and laid it gently across Alden’s shoulders. Alden was a prince and would not be physically harmed or caused pain, it was the overwhelming shame of the punishment in front of the entire Empire that was the punishment - And Si had to watch as his cousin suffered the worst of the punishment for him. The guard brought the lash down and laid it across Alden’s back two more times. Si tried to fight back the tears but lost that battle and the tears flowed down his face. The humiliation was nearly unbearable. Si reached behind and pulled his hair-tail around. He had never before had a knot cut. Si stepped up to his father, turned his head to the side and held it up for the last part of the punishment. Si’s father took the tail and held it while pointing where the Senior Butler, stepping forward with scissors, was to cut. Emperor Tarin took Si’s entire tail. “I am leaving for a trip off-world,” the Emperor declared. “You will perform your required duties and see me to my ship, then you will return here and you will not leave the practice sand until I return.” The Emperor scanned the crowd for Lord Tolnor and motioned him over. “He is to eat and sleep on the practice sand until I return,” ordered the Emperor. “Is that understood?” “Yes, Emperor,” Lord Tolnor bowed. The Emperor turned and walked out of the Palace. Si tried to help Alden up but Seph was already there and pushed Si away. Si returned to his place in the line of his cousins - none of his cousins would make eye contact with him. The boys marched outside and filed into the ground vehicles behind the Emperor's motorcade and sat in silence, even Seph sat apart from Si. The trip to the spaceport was lonely despite being with all his cousins, Si had never felt so lonely and abandoned before. He felt around to where his tail had been - gone now. Si turned his head towards the window and cried softly. Si swore the Ravens would pay for this. The motorcade procession arrived at the spaceport and the boys piled out of the vehicles and lined up for the march to the Emperors shuttle, Needle ships raced back and forth across the field providing security for the royal procession in the open. The Emperor and his cousin princes were taken by a small shuttle vehicle to the waiting ship. The boys would have to walk, they walked everywhere; no opportunity to allow the news cameras to see the young Princes was ever passed up. Si marched silently with the others across the concrete tarmac and watched the bustle of activity at the busy spaceport. Long trains of luggage were being shuttled out to waiting spacecraft, fuel tankers moved under the pods of spacecraft waiting to be refueled, catering trucks carried food out to ships, and massive cargo haulers moved the giant cargo containers towards the cargo ships for transport off-planet to some distant world to sell. The cargo haulers were the most interesting. The haulers resembled a giant grab carrying a container under it, or maybe they were more like spiders, carrying off their prey. Si was fascinated with it all and he tried to take everything in at once. Si saw another of the crab-spider vehicles carrying it’s container and stopped marching. The container under the crab-spider had a triangle painted at the top of it, and under that was the number 43. “Keep going,” urged Seph. “What are you doing?” The Black Guard flanking the boys stopped and searched for what had caused Prince Sionnach to stop marching. Akio turned around and glared at Si. “You’ve caused enough problems for one day,” said Akio. “Get back in line.” Si had walked several feet from the line and the procession of princes was now a ragged mess. News crews immediately zoomed in on the boys and recorded everything, much of it going out live over the networks. “What is that?” asked Si pointing. “Get in line,” ordered Akio. “What is that mean, the triangle?” Si repeated ignoring Akio’s order. Akio looked at the cargo container Si was pointing at. “The triangle is the symbol of the cargo guild,” replied Akio. “And the number?” asked Si. “That is the number of that container,” said Akio. “So there is only one container number 43?” asked Si. “I suppose,” said Akio. “Now get in line, now!” Si drew his saber and charged at the cargo vehicle. The Black Guard was taken by surprise as was all his cousins. The Guard leaped after their young charge. The news cameras followed Si and from their perspective, it appeared that Prince Sionnach was leading an assault against a cargo container vehicle. The driver of the container vehicle saw the sword wielding Prince and his Black Guard descending on him and jumped out of the vehicle and ran. The Emperor saw something was happening and yelled at his own Captain of the Guard. “What’s going on?” demanded the Emperor. “Sire, Prince Sionnach is attacking a cargo vehicle,” the Captain reported, “wait, Sire! the container is labeled number 43, it could be a bomb.” The Emperor started to run but the Captain of the Guard grabbed his arm. “We can’t risk the continuity of Imperial succession, you must evacuate now, we will get the Princes.” The Emperor knew this was true, if that cargo container contained a nuclear weapon, every Prince of the Empire would be killed here on this field. The very survival of the Empire was at risk. The Emperor boarded his ship and launched for orbit. Si continued to run at the cargo container. In Si’s mind he only saw the enemy that had caused his father to be so angry with him - Si was going to destroy whatever the threat was. “Get him!” Si screamed and pointed his sword at the driver running away. The Black Guard fired a stun round at the man and he went down. The Black Guard caught up with Si at the container and Si ordered the container opened. “We have to go now,” said the Captain of Si’s guard, “this could be a trap.” Si pointed at his fathers ship launching into orbit. “The Emperor has left, I’m in charge, open it!” demanded Si. The Captain used his Trident and broke the lock and opened the container. Si peered into the darkness and stepped up and through the opened door. The inside was stacked with dozens of slow sleep capsules, and inside each one was a small body. The Captain followed Si inside. “What are they? asked Si. “Ocean God have mercy,” The Captain nearly spat the words out in anger. “This is a slaver container, those are kidnapped Kitsune children being sent off-world to illegal slave markets.” The Captain pointed at the Slaver markings on the side of each pod containing a child. Si’s eyes went dead and he climbed out of the container. He knew the danger of slavery, his father had explained to him that slavery may build an Empire quickly, but every Empire founded on slavery would crumble. Slavery was outlawed on every world. Only Darai still practiced slavery and even that wasn’t true slavery but some strange cultural thing that Si didn’t understand when father had tried to explain it. “Are there more?” Si demanded from the driver of the container vehicle now kneeling on the ground in front of the Black Guard. “I’m not saying nothing,” said the driver. Si’s eyes narrowed in anger and he pointed at a directional pole used for ground vehicles sticking up out of the ground a few feet away. “Captain, impale him on that pole,” ordered Si. Si’s cousins stared in shock at Si, could he really do that? “I order it!” screamed Si. Akio knew Si could do it, he was six, and six year olds could be brutally cruel, and there had been early signs but they had missed them. Si had nearly broken his own cousins leg when Si had become angry at him over a petty argument. Si never flinched as the Black Guard obeyed; the man’s screaming didn’t last long. “Search every ship and box that has a triangle on it,” ordered Si. The news crews recorded everything. By the end of the day eight more men joined the first, impaled on poles around the spaceport and over four-hundred kidnapped Kitsune children intended for slave markets were rescued. The cargo container Si rescued personally ended up containing eighty pods, all were orphans kidnapped off the streets over the last year and stored in the slow-sleep pods. Si ordered his eighty to be taken to the old Palace to be fed and housed there. The Emperor sat in his office aboard his personal Battle Carrier watching the news Vids. - Prince Sionnach leads charge, rescues 427 Kitsune children - - Emperor runs away, Prince Sionnach rescues enslaved youth - - Prince Sionnach unjustly punished, rescues slaves - - Prince Sionnach tipped off by House Raven, rescues children, has tail cut off in punishment by Emperor - - Tailless Prince Hero of the Empire - - Daraians make peace gesture, help Prince rescue kidnapped Kitsune orphans - - Prince Sionnach adopts rescued orphans - - Prince Sionnach serves swift justice to slavers while Emperor hides - - Boys throughout the Empire cut off their tails to honor Prince Sionnach - The Emperor looked around on his desk, there was nothing else to throw at the wall. The news announcer was currently reporting that not a single boy could be found anywhere in the Empire that still had a tail. The Emperor read the message again that had just arrived. - Emperor, I could have killed him, but instead I made him a hero, and the cost was only your wounded pride. Will you meet with me now? Lord Raven - Emperor Tarin crumpled the paper up. There has been many Lord Ravens, but of all those foul and despicable creatures, this one was by far the most vile, he had manipulated Si right in the throne room! The Emperor called his Captain of the Guard into the office. “Speak your thoughts, Captain.” demanded the Emperor. “The Daraians are such an alien species to your own that you allowed your irrational xenophobic fears to cloud your judgment and react hastily when your son came into contact with one,” said the Captain. “You are the one that told me to evacuate,” the Emperors eyes were dangerously accusatory. “I am the Captain of your Guard, not Prince Sionnachs,” replied the Captain. “I am contracted to protect you only, but you could have refused my recommendation.” “If not for Lord Black I would have you impaled alongside those slavers,” the Emperor threatened. “I will contact Lord Black and have a new Captain of the Guard sent to replace me,” stated the Captain. “Do so, I do not want to see you again,” said the Emperor. “Be off my ship within the hour.” “Yes, Emperor,” the Captain turned and left the room. The Emperor called his personal secretary in next. “One-hundred million for Lord Raven’s head in a box on my desk, send the message out to every Marshal Order. And prepare my shuttle, I want Sionnach, all the princes, and the entire court in the throne room when I get there.”