"I assure you, this will be a deal that will benefit us both sir," the King of India, Eraqus, smiled as he addressed King Phillip. "In fact, once you see what India has to offer your land, I know you will agree. Once my son arrives with the goods, you can see for yourself." He paused as the sound of trumpets and exotic music could be faintly heard. "Aha, almost as if on cue. Please, come look." Standing, the man went to the window and pulled back the curtain.
Down the street, a whole parade of exotic dancers, people playing instruments never seen in England before as well as people carrying large containers of various things. At the end of the procession was a huge litter draped in dark blue curtains. A slender hand slid from between the curtains as they got closer and gave a wave of dismissal. With that, the curtains were pulled back to reveal a smug looking brunette.
The Prince of England had been outside the door, listening in on his father's conversation. He was never much for trade agreements and such, he often found them boring. Something about the family coming from India did indeed perk his interest. He was never allowed to travel or stray from the castle much, considering his sickly nature. Visitors from abroad brought excitement to an otherwise dull life. The blonde haired boy perked at the music he had never heard before, making a face at its beats.
Ventus made his way to the balcony, truly curious now. His eyes fell on things he had never seen before, impressed, but would never admit it. 'All this just for an entrance? Who is in their right mind is pretentious, self centered, and vain enough to waste resources on just coming to another land?' He asked himself. When the brunette revealed himself, Ven found himself staring. The tan skin, had already thrown him off but it was oddly fitting. It wasn't long until he snapped himself out of his momentary trance and stuck his nose up in the air. "I don't like him."
"Come, let us go down and meet him. Perhaps you'll change your mind, little Prince." Eraqus replied as he turned to head down to the courtyard, gesturing for the English royalty to follow. The small boy jumped, thinking he was alone. Blushing brightly he followed, the elder in silence before letting out a humbled tone "My apologies your Majesty...I didn't know..." his voice trailed off, not knowing what else to say.
"It's quite alright," Eraqus chuckled lightly, looking down the street. The teen waved, imitating the Queen herself as the parade moved towards the palace. Seeing a few girls, he gave them a wink and blew a kiss towards them, watching them giggle and hide. He stayed in a lounging position against a mound of pillows, idly watching as they got closer.
The Prince cleared his throat and continued to watch the spectacle. His frown deepened as he watched the other teen make, what he thought, were rude gestures towards the girls. "Great, we have to lock up the women too." He muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes at what was in his opinion, a circus.
The gates opened for the procession, the litter moving to the front as the curtains were drawn again. As the men set it down, the teen pushed the curtains away as he walked with an air of confidence towards the steps of the palace. Lifting his hands, the men carrying the containers ventured forward and set them down. Flicking his wrists, the music died down. The foreign boy was wearing different shades of gold, brown and orange. He was decorated in various jewels and gold, from ears to even his sandals. Adjusting some of his bangles and jewelry, he strode over some of the ladies of the court, taking one of their hands and kissing the back of each before he made his way to Phillip and dropped to one knee wit a bow. Eraqus gave a soft chuckle. "Showy as always. Sir, this is my only son and heir to the throne of India, Terra." The brunette looked up, smiling. "Well, father, we want to open trade...I figured we can show them our hospitality even if we aren't in our homeland."
His eyebrow raised as the male came down from the litter, the very air about him alone made Ven want to roll his eyes. Bright blue orbs scanned the foreigner's attire. 'Like a peacock that was dropped in a vat of melted gold. He's got more jewelry than all the women here combined!' he thought to himself. The regal smile never left his lips, although it was forced. King Phillip however was quite amused. He bowed to the teen. "Very nice to meet you Terra, you've put on quite an entertaining show." Behind him, Ven rolled his eyes for what seemed like the tenth time that day. The King turned to his son and pushed him forward, "This is Ventus, my only son and heir to the throne. I'm sure you two will get along well." Ven bowed and murmured "Not a chance in hell," hiding the comment behind a slight cough.
Lifting his blue eyes up to the Prince, Terra smirked and took his hand, kissing his knuckles. "I can feel he'll be a great king, sir."
The big eyes narrowed 'What am I? A girl? I should kick him in the shin!' He fumed on the inside, yet he still forcedg his smile. "You're...so...kind," the compliment was pushed out through gritted teeth. Slowly the brunette got up from his knee, turning to the containers again and silently walked over to one with a thick sheet over it. "I know that your people are so fascinated by the animals in our land. I decided to bring some here." With that, the prince himself pulled the sheet off to reveal a tiger pacing in a cage. "I just advise you to be careful, being on that boat so long, he's become...antsy."
Ven let out a sigh when Terra left him but nearly jumped 10 feet in the air when the feline was exposed. He found himself hiding behind the butler. The tiger gave a loud roar, making Ventus jump again, but Terra stuck his hand between the bars. Eraqus gave a surprised look, walking to the cage. "Terra! You brought him?" The giant cat looked at the teen's hand, walking over to it and opening his mouth...to lick it. Giving a smile, the prince turned to his father. "I figured you'd miss Teja, I know he missed you. You've been gone so long." The blond tensed when Terra put his hand through the bars but relaxed when the cat licked it, only slightly disappointed that it hadn't bitten the hand off. "That...thing...has a name?" he squeaked out.
"Of course! It's father's best friend." Kneeling in front of the cage a bit, Terra took the animal's head in his hands, wiggling it softly and cooing lightly. "Poor thing's mother was killed by hunters and Father took him in as a cub. Little trouble maker you were...yes you were." Eraqus gave a chuckle at his son's words. "Speaking of pets, where's Rikki?"
"...Its..a...PET?" Ven's jaw dropped. 'These people are absolutely mad...Father let them in our kingdom?' He let out a nervous laugh and sunk further behind the butler.
"Rikki? Good question." Terra stood up, looking around all the things that had come off the boat before giving a smirk and walking to his litter again. "Rikki...I know you're in there." At the snap of his fingers, the mound of pillows began to move before a little nose wiggled out, sniffing about.
'Oh god not another animal...'
He peeked over the servant's shoulder, afraid of what crazy being would pop out of those pillows.
Terra snorted faintly. "Of course...silly me." Pulling out a cracker, he broke it in half. The nose gave a sniff before a little but long, furry creature poked his head out. Instantly it skittered to the dark skinned prince, ran up his pant leg and jacket before settling on his shoulder and taking half of the cracker; nibbling happily. Turning back to King Phillip and Ven, he strode over and motioned to the animal. "Another animal from India, a mongoose. This is Rikki, his mother protected me while I was a child from snakes."
The younger teen's eye twitched, wanting nothing to do with these animals. King Phillip was also weary but smiled. "Its a treat for us to see exotic animals in our own home. Don't you think Ven?...Ven?"
The boy answered front behind his meat-shield. "Yeah...great..." His nose scrunched out of sight. The brunette just chuckled a bit, lifting his hand and Rikki ran down it, staring at Phillip. "Don't worry, sir, I assure you they are tame as can be. In fact, Rikki also catches mice. As for Teja..." Eraqus glanced up from petting his animal. "Yes, Teja will stay in this cage, don't fret."
The King smiled at the mongoose, "Its almost human like. Come here Ven. Come see this." The boy coughed, "No no. I can see it from here. This distance is fine." In the meantime,Rikki cleaned his face of the crumbs. Terra took the other half of the cracker and offered it to Ven. "He's harmless, little prince. See for yourself." Ven stared at the cracker for a moment, wondering if it too would come to life and sing a song or something extravagant. When it didn't he took it and offered it to the animal, stretching his arm out as far as possible.
Eraqus walked back over to Phillip and did a half bow. "Sir, if you would come with me, I can show you what spices and tobacco we have for you."
Rikki perked and jumped from Terra's arm to Ven's, grabbing the cracker in his mouth before skittering up the arm to sit on his shoulder. The blonde did everything in his power not to freak out and start flailing. Instead he remained perfectly still and swallowed hard. "This...thing doesn't bite does it?"
"Only if you're a cobra or rat. Though sometimes he gets carried away when you feed him, something you don't have to worry about right now." Giving a gesture with his hand to the happy chomping animal. "Since you fed him, he'll probably follow you from time to time, don't worry about it."
"Oh great...follow me." He eyed the animal as if giving it a warning to think twice about stalking him. He looked back to the other teen. "Anything else up your golden sleeve?" Terra rose an amused brow, crossing his arms. "Oh, nothing else really, just this." With that, he pulled a small bag out, tossing it to the blonde. Inside were different types of jewels and gemstones. Bright blues widened as he looked over them. "Are these genuine?"
The taller teen gave a mock look of shock before bowing at his waist. "I'm slightly offended by that, of course they are all genuine. It would be unfit to give royalty fakes!" Looking up from his position, he smirked. "Besides, fake sapphires wouldn't compare to your eyes." Straightening, he glanced over to their fathers, watching Eraqus show Phillip the merchandise they could trade with them. A small blush tinged across his cheeks as he glared. "I thank you for the jewels. We do not see many of these in our land. None so colorful at least." He blatantly ignored the compliment, shrugging it off and looking away to where his father was. "How long are you staying?"
Terra crossed his arms absently, shrugging lightly. "As long as it takes for my father to get a trade agreement." His expression darkened slightly. "England owes us that much." The look was gone instantly as Rikki nuzzled Ven's cheek before taking a leap and skittering up to Terra's shoulder. Reaching up with his opposite hand, he scratched under the mongoose's chin. "Poor baby, cooped up in that cage on a boat so long, you love being able to run about now, don't you?" He cooed at the animal.
Rikki skittered down and disappeared into a bush with a chitter. The chattering in the bushes turned into a hiss.
Ven jumped and stared at the bushes. "What on earth is he doing?"
"Must have found something." The rustling grew louder before it went silent. Rikki came out of the bush carrying a rat corpse. "Aw, he's protecting you already, how cute. Big rat though." The blond's nose scrunched at the rat corpse, "Yes, how...cute. Does he eat them after he's caught them?"
"Oh goodness no, how gross!" Rikki stopped at Terra's feet, dropping the gift and puffing his furry chest. With a chuckle, the Indian prince knelt down and picked up the offering and went over to Teja, feeding it to him.
"Oh gross you touched it! I hope you clean your hands afterward!" cried the blonde with a shiver as he stepped back away from the other royal. He made a point of not watching the tiger eat. "It's just a rat, little prince. My goodness are all English this way? They certainly are at home." Teja gave a purr and leaned on the bars of the cage. Terra sighed a bit, moving to their fathers, who were currently looking at the silk. Eraqus paused in what he had been saying, glancing to his son. "Oh! Terra, I forgot. King Phillip, is there anyway we could get my son situated? He will be staying and learning about how to deal with overseas politics."
Phillip smiled," Of course, of course! He can take the room next to Ventus'. Ven be a gentleman and show your new friend his room. I'll have a servant take his things." The prince could barely contain his look of horror at the man's words. His eye twitched as he reeled on Terra and mumbled "Follow me."
"How delightful." Terra smiled and bowed to Phillip before turning to Ven with a smirk. "Lead the way, little one...Rikki! Come on, we're going inside!" The mongoose skittered up to Terra's shoulder once more, chattering happily.