The Prince of Demons

We sailed for a few more days, taking quite the zigzagging path for what I could only assume was to go around patrols. Nautilus was a ruthless teacher; it didn’t matter what time it was, if that chime went off it was time to fight. We encountered another which informed me the first one was merely a baby; the second one I originally mistook for the sun. Nautilus took care of that one thankfully. We encountered a few minor that Luna and I were required to fight and with each one killed my got easier to . It still felt a long way off despite the progress I had made. What happened if it fully became ? I wondered what sort of secret it held; I had the distinct feeling there was more to it than I thought. That thought had to be pinned for now, as something more important was ahead of us: land! Now that I thought about it, could we just land in the port? We had been actively dodging every patrol that we remotely got close to. Would that create an issue? I should probably be more aware of the laws of Speranza. I shuddered. Was I going to have to, study? That was a chilling thought. I sighed as I tried fighting back tears. Why wouldn’t a prince have to study laws? It was an undeniable fact I’d have to study them. Why? That sounded so boring.

“It’s okay Nil, I know you’re happy to see Speranza.” Luna comforted me, rubbing my shoulder a bit.

“What do you mean?” I inquired, not getting her point.

“You look ready to cry.” Luna explained. Um. Yes. I was teary from seeing the port.

“Ah. Yes.” I grumbled. Luna gave me a knowing stare.

“What were you actually thinking about?” Luna probed with a concerned expression.

“Nothing.” I deflected. I’d look so lame. Luna’s expression shifted.

“Oh? What stupid thing were you thinking about?” Luna teased. I looked at her. She looked back at me.

“It wasn’t stupid.” I defended myself.

“The deflecting and blushing really sell that.” Luna taunted. She was barely containing her smirk.

“I was deeply considering the laws of Speranza I’ll have you know.” I stated. Try and poke a hole in that, Luna. And then she began laughing.

“The thought of studying laws made you want to cry?” Luna laughed. How? How did she know?! What sorcery was this?!

“What’s so amusing?” Lilas chimed, seeing what had her laughing so much.

“Speranza law.” I answered. Lilas began chuckling.

“I mean, some of the law structure is amusing, but which particular one?” Lilas agreed. I glared at him.

“What do you mean?” I challenged. What was Lilas talking about?

I regretted that challenge immensely; I should have known after the tax code conversation Lilas was not normal. He began rattling off laws with incredible specificity. Why? Why did this elf know the Speranza laws so well? Lilas began deeply explaining what was so amusing about certain laws as Luna waved goodbye to me and ran away. Traitor. Lilas was utterly enthralled with discussing laws and regulations. Cesar would be awe-inspired by how boring Lilas could be. Lilas then began discussing how to improve upon the structure, as well as how to use some of Speranza’s infrastructure better. Wait. I paid a bit better attention to Lilas. He was identifying and fixing flaws, while quickly doing the math on how much revenue the taxes would generate; Lilas was a law and logistics computer. That was beyond valuable. Wait. Cesar would have to be present if Lilas was combing through the laws, right?

“Lilas, I can’t take notes like this. Would you be open to performing an audit?” I inquired. Cesar, you are about to get a taste of your own medicine.

“What’s an audit in this context?” Lilas checked. Mwahahahaha. Cesar shall be brought to his knees.

“You seem to know our laws and structure quite well. I imagine with your abilities you could go through and streamline them. I know Cesar loves discussing these things and would love your input.” I explained to him. Lilas's face completely lit up.

“You mean I can go through a bunch of laws and fix them how I want?” Lilas asked excitedly.

“Correct. I think your insight is invaluable. If you have time, you could even do the tax code.” I offered. Lilas looked to be in heaven.

“That sounds like so much fun!” Lilas cheered. Good.

“What has you so happy Lilas?” Ailla checked, seeing Lilas was absolutely beaming.

“I told him how he could do an audit of Speranza's laws and tax code, an-“ I began to inform her.

“You conniving little demon.” Ailla interjected with a vastly unamused expression.

“What do you mean?” I asked, feigning stupidity.

“What do you mean Mistress?” Lilas checked with a sad tone.

“Nil here is trying to get you to do a favor to Speranza and disguising it as a fun activity for you.” Ailla sighed. Lilas visibly deflated.

“I honestly think he’d have fun doing it. I also think Lilas is brilliant and want his insights; from memory he can recite laws, their flaws, and how to improve them. He also figured out an approximate amount of revenue generation or saved for the people.” I defended myself. Lilas was looking at me with a depressed expression.

“You are the world’s oddest child.” Ailla sighed rubbing the bridge of her nose.

“I do really want him to do the audit. I’m also not sure how to fully repay you two for your help and generosity. I know Luna still feels a bit guilty with how the initial Nautilus meeting went.” I retorted. Lilas perked up.

“Can I?” Lilas requested, giving her giant begging eyes.

“You had a wicked smile going Nil. Why?” Ailla inquired as her eyes began glowing.

“Because I imagine Cesar is going to have so much fun. I get to let Lilas have fun, help Speranza, and let Cesar learn a valuable lesson all in one. Lilas here could teach him how to properly do his job.” I answered. It was perfect. Ailla was giving me a complicated expression.

“You can do the audit Lilas.” Ailla permitted as Lilas did a celebration dance.

You want to unleash Lilas upon this Cesar. Ailla told me mentally.

A lot of the reason, the streamlining laws and codes is also nice. Additionally, my good friend Lilas here can beat Cesar at his own game while having a lot of fun; it's a win all around. If you and Lilas want, I’d definitely let you stay in Speranza. I offered. Ailla looked a bit surprised.

“Seriously?” Ailla asked out loud.

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I?” I probed. Ailla looked at me a bit dumb struck.

“Most empires and kingdoms don’t accept outsiders to stay long term as royal guests.” Ailla informed me.

“I don’t care. I hired a pirate to get Luna and I home; conventional does not suit me.” I retorted. Ailla laughed as Luna rejoined the conversation.

“What are you doing Nil?” Luna inquired. Returning now that Lilas wasn’t ranting, the traitor.

“Offering us to stay in Speranza if we wanted.” Ailla answered before I could.

“That’s a Nil move.” Luna shrugged sounding completely unfazed by the information.

“No surprise?” Ailla checked. What was the big deal?

“Nil is unique. You should take his offer.” Luna retorted. Go Luna! We needed to recruit Lilas; he would be a great friend to have. Just because he enjoyed monotony incarnate did not mean I could not befriend him. There had to be something we could talk about that didn’t make me want to cry.

“Wha’ good bondin’ time. Now, we gonna land and thins migh’ be a lil awkward.” Nautilus interjected. The chime averaged seven hours and thirty-nine minutes between rings; we were at four hours eleven minutes, so nothing to currently worry about.

“That an envoy of Themys arrived in port while maintaining a low profile?” Ailla asked with a smirk.

“Ya know, we gonna use that.” Nautilus agreed with a massive smile. I think she’s loving royally sponsored crime.

“It also means I’m in charge when we’re on land and dealing with others.” Ailla added as she gave Nautilus a smirk.

“And while we on sea I can slap that smile off ya face.” Nautilus retorted. Ailla looked less amused now as Nautilus was smiling.

“To avoid misunderstandings, Ailla and Lilas, Nautilus is fully aware of who Nil is. While the two of us may not suspect anyone in particular, we would like to reach Umbra without alerting the is military or nobles we have returned.” Luna stated as she walked back to my side. The two immediately went a bit wide eyed at Nautilus.

“What? Was I s’posed to ransom the grublins?” Nautilus taunted.

“We misjudged you. We’re sorry.” Ailla apologized sincerely.

“Water unde’ the bridge.” Nautilus stated, still looking generally pleased overall.

“If you knew, why were you so strict with your lessons?” Ailla inquired. While they were nothing short of draconian, the lessons were immensely helpful.

“How of’en do ya get the chance t’ beat up privileg’d blood? No consequences.” Nautilus answered with the widest smile. Buknarl.

“I appreciate the lessons, even if the methodology leaves much to be desired.” I defended Nautilus. And once I the and practiced for a few years, I’d get revenge. Luna flicked me.

No secretly plotting revenge on Nautilus. Luna lectured. How did she know?

Prove it. I challenged her. Luna had an immensely annoyed expression.

You get a certain face when you’re plotting, but when it’s revenge your eyes get a glint to them. Luna informed me. It was definitely a lucky guess. Luna was bluffing.

Don’t tell me. I taunted. Luna flicked me again.

We need their help still; you need to be less conniving sometimes. Luna chided. I was rubbing where she flicked me.

It was in the future I allegedly was plotting. I defended myself.

“Now, as much as I’d enjoy continue watching you two talk, we need a game plan.” Ailla interjected as her eyes went to Lilas.

“We should go on a tour of some of the major cities on the path to Umbra. We can use Nautilus’s crew as bodyguards for appearances. If we are trying to remain under the radar, we should stay in the forests but follow the general road path, so we are aware of the general conditions to keep a consistent timeline.” Lilas strategized. I needed to figure out how to keep him around. Luna flicked me again.

“What?!” I whined. Luna had a stern glare going.

“Use your words.” Luna lectured, prepping her finger to flick me again.

“What’s wrong with thinking?” I grumbled at her.

“If you want to make friends, try talking to the person.” Luna told me.

“How do you know I wasn’t trying to think of a conversation topic?” I inquired. Luna's face made it perfectly clear how much she believed that statement.

“That was a certain face, and it was not your trying to make a friend face.” Luna lectured as the others chuckled.

Why are you harping on this? I probed. Luna seemed to be extra feisty at the moment.

Because you were plotting revenge on Nautilus, and you should easily be able to befriend Lilas. I’d like us to have friends, not people you are actively trying to use. Luna answered as her gaze softened.

I am friends with Ein, Lux, Julius, and Ekard. I stated. That was plenty.

Lux is your , Ein is your brother, and the other two are friends. Find some common ground. You’re both nerds, there’s bound to be something. Luna answered teasingly.

Like what? Chess? I asked. Luna had a funny expression.

What? What’s wrong with chess? I pressed as Luna had a complex expression going.

It didn’t just happen to come from Speranza. Fancy reincarnated knowledge. Luna taunted, looking away.

Forgot my other worldly knowledge? I was decent at chess, but I was no expert. If that fails, I can try music. I explained as Luna looked at me quizzically.

What? I asked, not getting why she looked on the verge of bursting out laughing.

How would you talk about music? Luna probed while looking ready to lose it.

I can play piano; I just suck at dancing. I snapped, trying not to feel embarrassed.

Since when? Luna checked sounding utterly baffled.

Since always; I just hate it because my parents forced me to learn since I was five; I was twenty-four when I died. If I’d like to not be homeless and go to college I would have to keep practicing. I informed her.

Can you play for me when we get back? I’d love to hear you play. Luna requested. There probably was a piano somewhere in the castle, or we could get one.

Okay. I agreed as Luna smiled.

“Done chewing him out yet?” Ailla asked. It was kind of obvious we were talking mentally. Was there a way to hide it? Maybe. It was worth looking into.

“We were talking about things. Would you like to learn to play chess, Lilas?” I offered, as Lilas looked at me quizzically.

“What’s chess?” Lilas checked.

“A game of strategy. We’d have to play after we get to land. It wouldn’t be a proper board, but that’s not as important to the game itself.” I explained. Lilas instantly looked on board, while Ailla raised a curious eyebrow.

“Well, grublin, we’ll be in port in abou’ two minutes.” Nautilus informed me as the crew began getting ready to dock.