Rubies and Pebbles

The streets wove through the city of Cælum like an immense labyrinth, filled with people trying to get home. Carts loaded with the bales of crops from the harvest clunked dully on the cobblestones as they were pulled along by sluggish horses and wicker baskets filled with food and clothes were clasped in almost every hand. The sun was slowly dipping below the cluttered horizon line, and in the East the sky was already the color of ink. The only place still in full sunlight was the castle, which sat perched atop a hill like some proud bird, flaunting its glorious plumage to those who would never posses it. No commoner even bothered to spare it a glance anymore because all it ever served to do was mock them shamelessly with its glory. It was the most lavish place in the continent, and it would serve to be paradise to any who were lucky enough to reside within the great walls. Yet it was widely known that Light, the prince of Cælum, was unsatisfied with all the good fortune he had. Nightly he would sneak away into the darkness and mix himself with those below his class, just to feel the supremacy that came with knowing you are above others.

--

"Will you be dining with the king and queen this evening, sir?" Teru asked politely as he swiftly gathered the dirty clothes from the floor of the room.

"No." Light said shortly, looking out the window absentmindedly. "I think I'll stay in my room. Please bring up my meal." Teru nodded and strode briskly from the room to carry out his instructions. Once Teru's footsteps could no longer be heard, Light rose from his seat and walked out into the hall, checking to make sure he was alone. He then hurried to the staircase and rushed down, flying through the castle with power not suited to his delicate form. When he reached the main doors in the atrium, he opened them just wide enough for him to slip through and dashed off, unseen, into the night.

--

The music was scrambled and feverish, and the people were twirling in a wild interpretation of ballroom, their clothes as dirty and ragged as they were. Bodies touched in ways that were indecent while the sun still shone, but in the dark, the city was alive with raw fever and the desire for contact. People who wouldn't even share a glance during the day were drinking cheap ale and laughing drunkenly while others were passed out against the wall, draped over each other like cloth.

Light had thrown himself into a crowd of people dancing gaily and was now dancing just as they were, while silently condemning their common indecencies. He knew he would not be recognized by the people around him, who, in their drunken stupors, would not have recognized their own mothers. Light smirked at this, enjoying the superiority he felt at being the only sober one in the room. He was about to move to a different, larger crowd that had assembled in the opposite corner when he felt a hand clench around his arm. He jumped, fearing that if he turned to look he would see the face of a castle guard, come to retrieve him as they did every night. But when he looked, it was only a harlot looking for one more client. For reasons unknown to himself, he allowed her to pull him off into the dimly lit alley behind the building.



She was already removing her top when they stopped walking, but Light wasn't interested. Something felt quite off about the entire situation to him. He paced around the narrow alley looking for whatever was amiss, but found nothing. He looked back to the prostitute, who was now working on untying her skirt.

"Stop." Light said sharply. "What is your name, harlot?" She looked up at him with quizzical brown eyes.

"…Shiori." She said hesitantly. "My name is Shiori." Light looked at her skeptically.

"Don't lie to me. You're from the castle, aren't you? I recognize your face."

"What? No!" She said, her voice raising an octave. "I live on the streets!" Light narrowed his eyes.

"Tell me your real name." The girl looked at him fearfully and stuttered,

"K-Kiyomi. Kiyomi Takada." Light nodded.

"And where are the guards who sent you to get me, Kiyomi?" He asked, his voice menacing in its poise.

She swallowed and made a subtle gesture to the door on the other end of the alley. "They're waiting for you there. I'm supposed to say a trigger word so they'll come out when you least expect it." There was silence in the alley for a moment, as they looked at each other, trying to read the other's thoughts. Suddenly Kiyomi opened her mouth and yelled to the guards, grabbing Light's arm to delay his escape attempt. The door slammed open and three heavyset men ran to Light and grabbed him, their fingers pushing against his skin with inhuman pressure. A smaller figure emerged from the door and walked slowly towards the crowd of people before him. He stepped into the light from the gas lamp above the door, revealing a sickly pale face behind a curtain of messy black hair. There were large black bags beneath his eyes, as though he hadn't slept in ages, and his feet were bare and covered in the mud of the streets.

"You really shouldn't run away like that, Prince Light." He said simply. "You make your parents very worried." He brought his thumb up to his mouth and chewed thoughtfully on the nail. "Something bad could happen." He looked over his shoulder at Kiyomi, who was struggling to put her shirt back on. "Very nice work, Miss Takada. Let's go home now." He gestured for the guards to follow him and began walking towards the castle.

"My name is L." Said the smaller man, hunching over as he walked. "I'm the chief guard at the castle. You know, whenever you run away like that, I have to get up to tell my guards to go find you. It's not very nice of you to make me work in the middle of the night." Light glared at him.

"Then don't make them find me. I'll come back in the morning." He spat. L looked at him absently, putting his thumb back up to his mouth.

"I have to find you. Royal orders. I thought I'd come along to get you tonight so I could tell you how horribly inconvenient it is for you to be disappearing all the time." Light sneered.

"Maybe if they let me go places during the day, I wouldn't have to sneak out at night." L shrugged.



"Not my decision." They spent the remainder of the walk in silence, watching the sun rise slowly over the turrets of the castle. Light grinned triumphantly at the fact that he had managed to stay out all night this time, even if a good portion of the night had been spent with his captors.

"Oh yes, one more thing before we let you go. Your parents would like to see you at breakfast today." L said opening the main gates and gesturing to the guards to go inside. "You should get going now if you plan to be in the dining hall on time." Light nodded begrudgingly as the guards released him.

"I'm going, don't worry about it." He groaned and sulked inside.

AN: There is plot in the near future. Stay tuned. I promise it's coming.