Sliding the small wad of papers away from him on the desk, Jinho took a well needed deep breath and slouched himself back in his high-backed chair, the quill dropping from his fingers and splattering ink onto the dark mahogany. It was only noon, and he already had been subjected to rooting through the many deals and propositions from the priests of the land, along with demands from his accursed brother, and also complaints from the villagers on the eastern plains near the border. His assistants had somehow compiled all of these into one thick and heavy stack of papers, and he had only just managed to flick through all of them after 3 hours, and he hadn't even thought of replying to any of them yet. His rough fingers met his forehead, rubbing soothing circles across the stressed muscles and eventually kneaded themselves into his temple, urging the mild headache knocking through his head to disappear slowly.

It wasn't a moment later when the door quietly opened and a body shuffled in from the corner of Jinho's eye, hovering near the entrance. Raising his head, Jinho glanced up fleetingly into large watery eyes and immediately looked down again, shuffling the papers on his desk. The figure cleared his throat and hesitantly made his way over the large lounging couch, perching himself on the edge of the seat awkwardly, hands clasped tightly together and wringing with sweat. A tense air settled between the two men and Jinho tried to look everywhere but the sofa in front of him, his eyes roaming around his open and spacious office and then out of the window and over his city sprawled out below them, now bathed in yellow sunlight. The silence was broken by a mild cough and Jinho's eyes shot back down to his desk.

"When will Kris be joining us?" The boy murmured, his hands tightening around his fingers, turned them a pale washed out white. Jinho sighed and began to draft out replies to the first of the complaints he was reading through only a moment ago.

"I requested him at noon, I'm sure he'll arrive soon Kyungsoo." His tone was condescending and he didn't raise his eyes from the small scribbles of ink on the papers. Kyungsoo looked towards Jinho with displeasure evident in his eyes, but the situation was dissolved when the door opened and the tall frame of Kris entered, his face carved into his usual stone cold poker face. Kyungsoo rose from his seat, a nervous smile playing on his lips as both men nodded towards each other, Kris regarded with a rather emotionless face once again, before turning to Jinho and bowing. Jinho then rose and reached out a hand from across the table.

"It's good to see you again Kris," he said with reverence. "I trust both you and Verexis are enjoying your stay here in Avalentis?" Jinho's eyes squinted up as he smiled broadly, shallow eye wrinkles appearing on his worn skin. Kyungsoo held back a scoff and looked away. Kris nodded stiffly and shook his hand with one firm shake.

"Verexis would like to thank you for the chance to hunt this morning, your Majesty." Kris murmured, a smirk playing on his lips. Jinho let out a boom of laughter, making Kyungsoo flinch, and shook his head.

"Tell him it was my pleasure!" Jinho exclaimed. Kris nodded once again before turning to Kyungsoo, a defined eyebrow raised sharply. He analyzed Kyungsoo's large wide eyes, which gave him a rather bewildered look, but his hair was neatly trimmed and his posture tall and strong. Kris tried to recognize where he had seen a nose similar to the young man's but Jinho cut in before either boy could say anything. "This here is my... son, Kyungsoo." Jinho walked around the desk to clap Kyungsoo on the shoulder, making the latter flinch again, and neither this nor Jinho's small hesitance went unnoticed by Kris. Ah, so he's the King's son. Kris pursed his lips, before reaching out his hand again, smiling in a friendly manner.

"Nice to meet you Kyungsoo." Kyungsoo smiled shyly and shook his hand.

"My pleasure, Kris. I've heard quite a lot about you and your companion. I would very much like to meet him soon."

Kris opened his mouth to reply but Jinho silenced them both with a curt wave of his hand. "I would like to do so too, but now is not the time for idle chatter and pleasantries." Jinho strode back around his desk and settled his skinny body into his chair, gesturing his hand to the sofa in front of them. "Please sit, we have many things to discuss."

Kyungsoo bit his lip in irritation and settled himself back down on the couch and resumed the same perched position. Kris relaxed himself back into the fine leather but leant forward, his intense gaze meeting Jinho's serious face. He noticed how young the King finally looked, despite the weariness evident across his facial features. He had the same soft nose as Kyungsoo, but his jaw was much sharper and defined, and his eyes were of a normal size. Kris reckoned Kyungsoo had his mother's eyes. Other than that, it wasn't too obvious the two were father and son. Jinho cleared his throat and rummaged through the sheets cluttering his desk before he pulled out a large sheet that Kris couldn't read from here.

"So as you well know Kris, I'm exceptionally glad you decided to join The Alliance and fight against the Exodius, we could use someone as iconically powerful as you."

Kris frowned. "What do you mean?"

Jinho smiled knowingly at him. "Have you not heard the gossip on the streets, oh Dragon Rider? The people of Avalentis have new hope. They look up to you." Jinho gestured his rough fingers out towards the city below them. "I'm just glad you came to us when you did. Our people are losing moral, and are beginning to see no end to this suffering. You have relit the spark of determination, so to speak."

Kris blinked for a moment before pursing his lips again and placing his fingertips together. "I didn't think we'd become this much of a prodigy." he muttered sheepishly. Jinho laughed that booming laughter again and Kyungsoo sighed and looked down at his hands in his lap.

"Well whatever the people think, you've invigorated our army, and I'm sure you'll have exactly the same effect out in the field. Daejung won't know what to do when faced with a brilliant and fiery dragon such as yours. Maybe you'll be able to teach him to breath fire onto the Exodius and burn them to crisps!" Jinho chuckled deeply, a huge smile plastered on his face. Kyungsoo wondered how much of that was real or fake.

However, Kris' eyes narrowed. "I do not own Verexis, nor do I 'teach' him like a pet." He snapped, and Jinho stopped laughing. "Please treat Verexis with the same respect you do me, you Majesty, for he is more intelligent than you and I put together. I will not have him be referred to as anything less."

Kyungsoo gaped at Kris with some sort of awe in his watery eyes as an awkward silence settled in the room. He had never heard someone talk back to his father. Jinho stared at him for a moment, all traces of humor gone with the wind. A moment later, and he snapped his jaw shut and nodded his head apologetically. "My apologies Kris, I didn't mean it as such. I know full well the power of Verexis."

Kris nodded stiffly before tilting his head towards the papers in his hand. "Shall we continue?"

Jinho snapped out of his daze and smiled, only with less enthusiasm this time. "O-of course."

-

Kyungsoo inhaled a deep breath and rested his head back onto the back of the sandstone bench, nestled in between two large bushes and almost invisible from the pathway, and let the sun bathe his face and tingle his skin. Whilst the meeting with Kris had been informative and, the least to say, entertaining, Kyungsoo couldn't help but feel his stomach clench when he saw how fondly his father looked upon Kris, wrinkled eyes and open arms. It wasn't a nice feeling, being discarded quite so easily. Kyungsoo reached out  blindly and felt for the book next to him, opening his eyes and bringing his head forward to begin his new read. It wasn't a very exciting book - Nerfelden: A History of Queen Aramenthia's Rule - but Kyungsoo wanted to brush up on his knowledge of the 12 seals. What use was it being of some authority in Avalentis, when he didn't even fully understand what the seals were? He glanced up fleetingly at the tall tower in the distance, entirely made from glass and almost invisible against the horizon apart from the sun which glinted off of it's surface. Kyungsoo could just make of the exposed chamber containing the seal inside, but he didn't look too long. He didn't like the thought of having the Scaren so close.

He began reading, trying to distract his thoughts from the nightmare-ish myths he was told about the Scaren when he was just a young boy.

Queen Aramenthia, was a powerful leader, but many rebelled against her rule because of the fact that she was a woman. Many underestimated her strength to rule the land, but Queen Aramenthia was able to prove herself worthy many a time, which soon accumulated devotion from her fellow Nerfeldians. Aramenthia was a kind soul, but of a strong and tough disposition, and she led her people fairly. When the Battle of the Scaren was soon to happen, many people looked to her for protection, and she did not fail as-

"Good book?"

Kyungsoo almost dropped the book in shock, yelping as he looked up at the towering figure in front of him, a hand pressed firmly to his chest. He released a shaky breath and scowled up at the newcomer.

"You should know better than to interrupt someone when they're reading, sir." Kyungsoo spat, snapping his book shut and gathering his things to leave. The tall man chuckled deeply.

"I apologize, I don't read enough to know there are any rules about this sort of thing. I don't know why you're leaving though, am I really that bad company?" The man sat down with a sigh, and Kyungsoo finally looked up at his face and instantly recognized the sharp eyebrows and chiseled face. He bit his lip and put his things down. He wasn't used to being joined, many people would rather leave him alone, especially when he had a book in tow. Kris yawned and rubbed his eyes before glancing over at Kyungsoo.

"I'm sorry, I'm just not used to being joined, that's all." Kyungsoo reopened his book at his previous place and placed it on his lap, reaching down into his bag to grab an apple, before offering it to Kris. Kris took it with a nod and tore a large chunk from it's side. Kyungsoo grabbed his own and started to read again.

"So what brings you here, Dragon Rider?" Kyunsoo said with a hint of a smirk. Kris groaned.

"Please stop calling me that, it's getting old already." Kris muttered, tearing at another piece of apple. Kyungsoo glanced up from his book.

"Really? I'd be honored to get called that everyday. You have more status than most of the lords here."

Kris snorted. "Yeah, doesn't mean they like it. You must know what it feels like, being the prince and all."

Kyungsoo froze and tried to swallow the lump in his throat. Kris noticed and turned to look at him before feeling a wave of sympathy wash over him. Maybe he was getting all the attention now, but he couldn't imagine what it'd be like to have so many expectations of you for your whole life. Kyungsoo pursed his lips and shook his head.

"Yeah, it's not all too good." Kyungsoo looked back down at his book. "But you've still not answered my question."

Kris smirked and shrugged. "I felt the need to reacquaint myself with the ground again. It gets sickening being up so high in those towers for a long time."

Kyungsoo quirked an eyebrow. "That's funny coming from you, aren't you used to the altitude difference riding Verexis so often?"

Kris shook his head. "That's different."

Kyungsoo chuckled and watched the fountain before them spray up jets of ice clear water into the air, showering a rainbow down onto the path. It was a moment before Kris spoke again. "And besides, you're much better company than those priests over there." Kris jerked his head towards the space across the fountain where a group of priests were blabbering something in the old language, all huddled together around an old and worn shrine, some bowing repeatedly, some praying, and some chanting obnoxiously loud. Kris wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Sound like a bunch of hyenas."

Kyungsoo couldn't hold back the eruption of laughter and so let it fall freely from his mouth, titling his back in the sunlight and holding his stomach. Kris chuckled at how his mask of properness seemed to slip from his face, and remarkably, he looked so much younger now. Kyungsoo wiped the tears from his eyes, wheezing for breath and sat forward with his hands on his knees.

"I should hang with you more often." he chuckled.

A/N: Well, these chapters are longer than I'd usually write them :| I hope you guys are okay with this, I just have so much to write >< But I also don't want to plot to move too quickly D: Oh well, we now know who the prince is :D I introduce to you Kyungsooooo~