Caine walked.

Felt his shoulders, his wings, tense as he counted the footsteps from his room to the little Majesty's rooms. He felt each and every one of his heavy steps, his top-of-the-line gravity skyjacker boots clanging despite the plushness of the carpet in this part of the ship. He felt ridiculous. This should get him killed- But he had to do this.

He pressed the chime at the door of the Entitled's and waited.

"Just a minute!" came the muffled reply, "I haven't quite figured out the new type of doors, Kiza! Grey if you ate the last of the Twix bars, I'm making you personally go back to get more!"

The door slid open, and Queen Jupiter's smile died as she took him in. It was late, and by the schedule, he had memorized already, he knew she should've been asleep. She wasn't dressed like she usually was, and part of it may have been because of the late hour.

Caine felt something in his stomach twist, fiercely and violently as he looked down at her.

No make-up.

Hair a riot around her head.

Her soft-looking pants had little cartoon animals in a cutesy blue, and her shirt was oversized and full of holes, stating something about the University of St. Petersburg printed in faded letters. Faintly, Caine could smell a foreign scent, similar to her, but older, different. A parent's shirt. Where are her parents?

Caine blinked.

The girl's little mouth dropped open, and her face went a vivid red as she grew embarrassed. For her appearance? Or because of me?

"Mister Wise?" Her voice softer than usual, her eyes wide, and he watched as her fingertips gripped at the edge of her parent's shirt in a worrying gesture.

Stinger loves her. Kiza loves her. Why would they love a fucking monster?

"I- I'm," he stuttered, and he watched as her brows crumpled.

He took a fraction of a step closer, and his heart all but stopped when she flinched back. It wasn't the fear of an Entitled and a wrong splice that was bred wrong. Disgust and dismissal. It was the fear of a pup who had someone who was bigger than her entering her space. He leaned back.

"Excuse me?"

"I- I- When I asked if you wanted me to kill Mr. Night… I-" why do I always have to be wrong.

Queen Jupiter stared at him and shuffled and Caine realized with a jolt that her feet were bare. She was just a little girl in her room, waiting for friends, and he made a startling contrast to her in his fully outfitted armor and armed to the teeth. A hulking, wrong splice lycantant that made it his mission to do everything to keep this pup at a distance from him, to do every task assigned to him as begrudgingly as possible, to watch her for every little thing he thought Entitled did. She was just a fucking barefoot child who I thought capable of murder, and I mocked her for it. And as he looked at the tired stressed lines beneath her eyes he realized that just as the Keeper had snarled on him, he had pressed into something that terrified her. And that there was something else in this child that he didn't quite understand.

But she wasn't what she was supposed to be.

He didn't know how didn't know why. He didn't know the limit of it. Didn't know where the Entitled Queen started and the girl in the puppy pants and her parent's shirt started. He hadn't even tried to.

"Mister-" she took a deep breath, "Caine. Will you come inside?"

Inside an Entitled Queen's room?

He blinked, and quietly stomped his way into the room.

It was stupidly similar to his own set of rooms. Opulent, and much too large for one person. In fact, he couldn't see the difference between his room and this one. Maybe the scattering of sheeves and- was that a stuffed animal of a lyan? Caine felt a lump in his throat. He had gotten that doll for Kiza. And it was worn and obviously well cared for. The same one he had given the little bee splice he had once known. The last present he had given her before their separation. He found himself staring at the dark synthetic sable fur of the animal, noting that it was gleaming and cleaned, its lupine eyes gleaming crystals that had matched his own eyes, polished and bright.

"Kiza gave that to me," she said, softly, awkwardly, "For my seventh birthday."

Caine felt his eyes sting. Tears threatening to over-spill. For Kiza to give her this meant something.

"I… I wanted to apologize for being presumptuous over your desires. With Mr. Night."

The girl went still. Fear emitted from her, even as she took even, steady breaths. But he could still smell the fear, could still hear her heart pounding.

"Caine… You made a very common assumption."

He licked his lips.

"Why do you keep the rat splice alive?" Verse fucking damnit Wise can't you just make an apology and leave?

"Because… Because he's my responsibility. And even if he's done terrible things, I am not the only one that gets to decide how he is punished for it."

Caine starred.

"You're using him for something."

Queen Jupiter's chin lifted a fraction. And her eyes bore straight into his. Pale green and light brown.

"Yes. But he would have stayed alive regardless, I am not his jury nor his executioner."

"But you feel like his jailor?"

Her fists clenched.

"Very much so."

"When I asked to kill him, you were reminded of the power you had over his life… And you didn't like it."

The little pup shuddered.

"I hate holding someone's life. It's a terrible responsibility. And I have- I have a lot of lives in my hands, Caine Wise. Some I will never meet… And some that are very dear to me."

Caine stared.

"I don't know what to think of you," he said, and his voice was steady as a rock, his stutter gone, "Stinger and Kiza are keeping me in the dark about why they follow you. Why they love you. And I've been taking it out on your Majesty. I have deliberately pushed your buttons. Even if I didn't understand the meaning of them."

She tilted her head to the side, and her brows crumpled together.

"Stinger hasn't told you anything about me?"

"I don't think he trusts me. He cares about me, but he doesn't trust me."

"I trust Stinger's judgment."

"I used to. The fact that I've started to resent it tells me that maybe keeping me in the dark is the best idea."

The girl shook her head.

"I'm really not that complicated. And if you want to know, please, ask."

Caine doesn't think anyone has ever allowed him to… Just ask.

"When Stinger talks to me. Then I will ask your Majesty to clarify because Stinger is not the best at explaining things."

"My name is Jupiter."

Caine blinked and found himself smiling.

"Jupiter then, I will ask my questions when Stinger trusts me again."

She smiled back. Just a sweet smile of a little girl.

"We're watching a movie, um, a form of entertainment from my home planet. Me, Grey, and Kiza. Would… Would you like to join?"

Caine swallowed at the very timid question. Because it was a question. He could say no.

"What's it about?"

She beamed at him.