Frumentius and the Crown Prince of Hyperion

Frumentius, friend of Falco and Rowena, was eighteen twelvemonths old. He was a broad-shouldered individual standing at a height of six and a half feet with a fairly muscular physique. He had dark skin with curly dark red hair and black eyes. His attire consisted of a blue tunic that went down to his knees and a leather breastplate. His father was the Captain of the Guard at the palace and it was from him that he had learned archery.

Standing in the throne room with his bow, ready to let loose an arrow at the statue of the Earth Bull, Frumentius said: "You know, Falco, if circumstances were different, I would probably make a joke, say something like, oh, I don't know, 'stick out your foot so I can kiss your big toe'!" Loosing his arrow, Frumentius watched as it landed seven inches about the head of the Earth Bull's statue. A frown spread across his face as he lowered his bow, hoping that he would have finally been able to hit the statue of that deified monster.

Sitting upon the throne with Rowena and Kenneth nearby, Falco commented: "I wish circumstances were different, Frumentius. My father is ill and Taurus is planning a usurpation with my sister and brother-in-law's support, this is the worst sort of scenario to come home to."

"And the Crown Prince of Hyperion has come for a visit." Frumentius nonchalantly stated, walking up the steps to the throne.

"What?" Rowena asked, completely surprised by this. "When did this happen?"

"Oh, not too long ago." Frumentius answered, kneeling to pet Kenneth as he reached the top of the steps. "My father spent some time questioning him and his party. Apparently, King Leo sent his son here with the offerings of gold, copper, silver cloth, perfumes, oils and spices when he heard your father was ill. In other words, the ruler of a rival trade center sent his son to rub his success in the face of his ill rival."

"Pardus is here?" Falco asked, sounding not too thrilled about it. Pardus, the Crown Prince of Hyperion, was stupid, overconfident, cowardly, murderous, a ravage, a looter... This was not something that Falco looked forward to, playing host to that brute!

"Not Pardus!" Frumentius answered. "He has been officially stepped over!"

A look of confusion spread across Falco's countenance. Leo had only one son, he had only one child period, who could the King of Hyperion have possibly made the crown prince? Ultimately, the Crown Prince of Aether inquired: "In favour of who?"

"In favour of me!"

All looked down to see a foreigner of two decades enter the throne room. He was fair and tall with beautiful brown eyes, soft blond hair, a charming mouth and a pleasant voice. His attire consisted of a purple kilt with red tassels at the end, a purple cloak, gold bracelets and earrings and a yellow band of cloth about his forehead. He was definitely from Hyperion. He stood at a height of five feet, ten inches and three quarters making him taller than Falco and Rowena. At the stranger's side was a cheetah and that alone caused Kenneth to flatten his ears, narrow his eyes and arch his back.

To say that anyone would have been trusting of a handsome countenance would have been untrue. Falco and Rowena could remember being tormented by Pardus and knew his front well. This fellow, on the other hand, they had never seen before, yet even then they could recognize him as kin of Leo and Pardus, the resemblance was there. The difference in animal companion was noted though, but cheetahs were symbols of evil just as leopards and lions, they were not symbols of good like tigers, caracals, falcons or donkeys.

"And who would you be?" Falco inquired.

"I am Acinonyx! Crown Prince! Of Hyperion!"

Scratching his right cheek, Falco looked to Frumentius first who merely shrugged. He then looked to Rowena, who whispered to him: "He seems more like an actor than a prince." Nodding in agreement, the Crown Prince of Aether then looked to Kenneth. The caracal's attention was not on Acinonyx, but on his cheetah, whom did not seem to notice Kenneth's presence and was instead sitting without a care in the world.

Standing up from the throne, Falco looked down upon Acinonyx before walking down the steps to look him in the eye. There was a complacent expression upon his counterpart's countenance, although Falco could not understand why. He saw no reason for the Crown Prince of Hyperion to be smug. Acinonyx was not even looking at Falco, he was looking past him.

Stopping near the bottom of the steps, Falco turned and saw who Acinonyx was staring at. His eyes were upon Rowena, who could not understand why the Foreign Prince was looking at her.

"Who is your exotic-looking... friend?" Falco knew fully well that "friend" was not the word Acinonyx had been intending to use. Rowena could tell as well. From where she stood, she was now glaring down at the Crown Prince of Hyperion, not happy at almost being called something less than respectable.

"Her name is Rowena, he is Frumentius, he is Kenneth and I am Falco, Crown Prince and Regent of Aether while my father Tigris is ill." Falco then gestured to the cheetah and asked: "Has he a name?"

"He is Paris." Replied Acinonyx, still looking at Rowena. "How much for her?"

"I am not for sale!" Rowena exclaimed, walking down the first three steps. Falco did not need to turn to look at his dearest friend to know. "Here in Aether, we do not practice slavery like in the Commodian Republic, the Cambyses Empire or Minerva!"

"Such a pity, perhaps you should try it." Acinonyx uttered, now looking at Falco. "It might make you islanders civilized."

"We are civilized enough as it is." Falco commented. "None of us have ever heard of you, Acinonyx. What is your relation to Leo and Pardus?"

"Son and younger brother." Acinonyx answered, walking past Falco. He stared at Frumentius, looking at the bow in his hand and said: "Ah, a fellow archer. Marvellous! We really must have a little contest, I would love to add you to my list of those I have defeated, Frumentius."

Taking an arrow from his quiver, Frumentius tapped the fletching against his hand, muttering angrily to himself. This was just like having Pardus here.

"Funny, I have never heard of you." Falco stated, turning to look at the Crown Prince of Hyperion.

"None of us have!" uttered Frumentius with his teeth clenched.

"Where exactly did you come from?" Rowena asked, her arms crossed as she glared at the Foreign Prince approaching her. "Mainland princes don't just materialize out of thin air."

"A story I would love to tell." Acinonyx turned to look at Falco, smiling smugly as he observed how Falco's shoulders were now raised and his eyes were narrowed. He then looked down at Kenneth with back arched, ears flattened and eyes narrowed. "How alike you two are... Tell me, Falco. How is your father? Is he dying? Is it dreadful? Something painful?" He gave a chuckle before adding: "My father would simply love to hear."

"I'm sure the old tyrant would." Returned Falco, clenching his fists as he walked up the steps to put himself between Rowena and Acinonyx. "My father is fine, now go to your guest quarters and cause no trouble!"