The Fiendish Files: Sir Raleigh
Chapter 1: Everything
"Are you finished with your meal sir?" the butler asked his amphibian master who was just entering his adult years. The young frog sat in his chair, blanking looking at his dinner that he hadn't even touched. With a sigh, the frog simply told his butler that he wasn't hungry and that he could throw it away for all he cared. The butler then picked up his master's plate and headed out the door.
The young prince of an aquatic life form was Sir Raleigh, the latest descendant of a wealthy family line that made its fortune by being one of the first ship manufacturing empires in history. His wealth could be tracked back to the days of the Renaissance. Ever since he was born, this rich little toad was given nothing sort of the finest and always received what his heart desired. As a tadpole, he was allowed to swim in the most exotic and pure of rivers. As he grew older, he only associated with well defined and rich individuals who were the children of billionaires that worked with his own parents. He drove the fanciest of cars and boats, dated the loveliest of women, and vacationed in the most luxurious locations around the world. His house was nothing less of a castle that overlooked the sea on a cliff side that resembled the type of romantic imagery you could see in children's picture books where there were dashing heroes and grand battles. In short, Sir Raleigh had everything.
The young prince sat in his chair, still at his table, simply looking in boredom at all of his surroundings. His bookshelves were large and filled with the most expensive and informative collections of literature. The fireplace was still crackling its golden flames, lighting the room with a charming elegance. The large window overlooked the night sky that was filled with glittering stars that shined so brightly. The window also overlooked the sea that was so calm and peaceful as it reflected the stars, further showing how beautifully the stars glittered in the sky. It was a remarkable and peaceful night.
It was such a nice night, that is, except for the young frog, who found that the stars mocked him with evil grins. There they were, acting so high and mighty in the sky above, having such large egos that they decided to shine their pure light on all those below them just so they could see all the people gaze at them like kings. Well he would not stand this! For too long he had read stories about how people gazed at the stars, considering them to be so blissful and romantic, but all he could see was that they were a constant reminder that no matter how powerful or rich he was, he could never reach the stars.
Filled with rage, Raleigh got up from his chair, rushed toward the curtains, and shut them swiftly. He huffed in rage for a moment until he calmed himself down and realized that he was acting so foolish. So what, he asked himself, they're just stars; there's no reason to get all upset about such trivial things. He succeeded in calming himself down and began to walk toward his chambers. As he left, he decided to grab a book off of the shelf so he could do a little light reading and forget about his silly moment of hatred toward mere lights in the sky.
Passing by the kitchen, he could faintly hear the butler using horrible and rude words to describe him, but he didn't care. He knew that his butler, his maids, and all of his other servants hated him and talked badly about him behind his back. They would talk about how he was so rude and cared little for anyone else other than himself. They would complain that they never got any amount of respect and how they would rarely see their families because of how often their master worked them.
"Why do they complain so often?" he asked himself, "They get paid around decently so they don't have the right to whine."
He huffed in annoyance and headed off to his chambers to rest. He had learned from his parents to make sure he kept his temper in check and never raised his voice at anyone. This made the frog even more upset and frustrated inside since he hated not being able to yell at his subordinates for being so incompetent when they did poorly at a job. He wanted to scream so badly that he felt like a ticking time bomb just itching to go off, but he continued to take deep breaths and keep his cool, much to his dissatisfaction.
He entered his room and walked toward his custom made bed that was far too big for such a little frog. He slipped under the covers and tucked himself into bed. He rang a small bell by his beside so his butler knew that he wanted a tray of his finest beetles before he went to sleep. As he waited, he began to read the book he had grabbed, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood. He grimaced at the title, realizing that he didn't look at the title before grabbing it off his shelf. He hated Robin Hood with an undying hatred, seeing him as a walking, talking, and annoying contradiction. A thief who only stole from the rich in order to just give it away to the poor? What idiocy! If the nobles were smart enough to rip off the less educated and gifted, then why should they have to suffer economic turmoil at the hands of a smart mouthed criminal who was no better than them? He found it moronic that Robin Hood thought he was better than other criminals simply he did it for slightly better reason and that he never took from the ordinary commoner. To Raleigh, Robin Hood was no better than any other criminal; in fact, he may have even been worse.
Raleigh spat his mucus at the book and threw it angrily across the room. He then reached for his bell and angrily shook it just as his butler entered the room.
"It's about time you got here!" Raleigh said with anger still in his voice. He quickly calmed himself down like his parents had taught him, though he greatly wished to yell some more at his butler.
The butler kept his composure despite his desire to angrily storm out, and served his master the tray of beetles. "Your snack sir," he said with a bow. He watched as his master ate the bugs one by one with his long tongue that shot in and out of his mouth with great speed; he stood their waiting for his master to give him permission to leave. He knew his master would wait until he had finished his meal, but for once he hoped that he would be kind enough to take a break from his snack and kindly let him go. Sadly, he had to wait until his master had ate all his beetles and licked his lips clean before he noticed his existence and allowed him to go to bed. The butler bowed and headed out of the room, grunts of anger leaving through his teeth just as he shut the door behind him.
Raleigh heard his little grunts, but ignored them as he tried to relax and drift off to sleep. His dreams seemed to be the only things that kept him happy throughout his life. He would dream of dangerous adventures and grand events where he would use his mechanical abilities, which he usually used to design new ships, to force all those who dared oppose him to bow to him. In his dreams, Raleigh would finally shine brighter than the stars in the sky.