[PRP] Regnum de Duos - The Kingdom of Two (Oxiin/Amleth)

[Anasazi]

It was late afternoon and all was well in the Kingdom of Amlinore. Ever since his startling creation, Amleth had been forced to put up with William's doting desire to read him stories (which he secretly liked) and buy him things for his new square of a room, which William had been trying to decorate for days now. It didn't matter to Amleth. A king in exile was still a king. Huff.

In order to express his personal tastes, he had proceeded to gather up lawnchairs and other sundry junk that William acquired, but never used, and had arranged it all in their overgrown front lawn. Two old wooden lawn chairs were spread out beneath a thick pair of blankets, pinned in place with old fashioned, durable clothes pins. The grass underneath was squished by a panel of plywood covered by a sleeping bag, an electric lantern, a paper bag full of snacks, and an ancient wicker basket that acted as the 'armory'. He'd used some of William's paints to decorate a long ashwood stick, the majority of it grey save for the part he now grasped, which was bright red. He'd painted the others in the basket in a similar way, but only HIS had a little strip of gold ribbon where the grey and red met. Because he was the king. So there.

He had a paper crown shoved on top of his blonde hair, causing it to stick out in a number of funny directions, and as the binoculars he'd found only had one undamaged glass, he used it as a telescope, eyeballing people that passed the yard. He'd done a good job of camouflaging the castle, tossing grass, leaves, and a couple thin sticks on top of it so it looked like a random assortment of items - but he knew the truth! He was flopped on his stomach with the blankets pinned out of the way, eating an apple and watching the street intently, waiting for something to happen. He was suspicious by nature and, therefore, assumed there was always something happening, if not right in front of him.

 

[X Purple--Platypus X]

Chest heaving, lungs expanding painfully and recoiling again as his breath was forced out in short sharp puffs, Oxiin ran. His little legs carried him swiftly through the marketplace, weaving between residents of Aimes bartering over all manner of goods. A breeze tugged at his hair and all sorts of scents tantalised his nose, urging him to stop his hurried movements and investigate them. The most attractive of the smells were those of freshly prepared food; newly baked bread, citrus fruits that promised of a mouthful of sweet juice, little silver fish dipped in batter and fried to perfection. His stomach growled menacingly at him imploring him to stop and sample some of the delicacies but his brain answered back with strict orders: keep moving, get away from Inge.

The dustling had finally had enough of his enforced parental observation and this was his break away from it. Inge had been sitting at the fish stall, serving an elderly customer when he had begun his mad dash to get away. There was no way he, Oxiin, should be made to sit obediently at the stall for a whole day when he could be out on his own doing... well... He didn’t know what he would do! He wasn’t the type to plan his days like that but he certainly knew that doing nothing in his teenage father’s company all day wasn’t exactly a fun day out. He had a head start of course, Inge had to care for his customer and make sure he informed Jeremiah of where he was going before dashing off after him but the freckled boy was taking no chances and was taking as jagged a path he could manage!

Reaching the edge of the marketplace he stood panting for a second. Now he had two options, head down a quieter street into an urban area or dip back into the bustling market. Both routes had their flaws, if he traversed the street Inge would spot him in an instant if he managed to follow him, and whilst the market provided the crowds the street lacked it was considerably smaller and Inge would have a higher chance of bumping into him. Going on gut instinct he moved off again, slower this time as he couldn’t sustain the fast pace much longer, choosing the street and jogging down the cobbled road a smug grin plastered on his face. Inge would never find him now! He was free!

When the street met a junction Oxiin slowed to a walking pace, now it really didn’t matter which way he went – he would be out of the line of sight of the market and the chances of Inge stumbling upon him would be pretty low therefore he could go by which direction looked most interesting... He continued moving through a collection of different roads, dully observing the different front gardens and peeping through windows into front rooms. He lived on a boat and found the concept of living in a house quite amusing and this little trip provided enough entertainment for the meantime, however in the back of his mind he was searching for something more gripping to while away his hours of freedom.

Fortunately he didn’t have to ponder on the matter for too long as a rather interesting presented itself in a nearby front garden. The house and garden weren’t too thrilling, just an overgrown section of turf and a plainly painted front exterior, however the collection of pillows and blankets built into a structure did rather grab his interest and Oxiin crossed the street – keen to gain a closer look. To his surprise a face met his observatory gaze, peering out from a clear section in the front of the pillow building.

“Uh... Hello...” He began, coppery eyes resting on the other boy's paper crown.

 

[Anasazi]

The face is preceded by a nose, twitching before it rolls forward and exposes two large, crimson colored eyes. They blink twice at Oxiin, an owl gazing from the depths of a particularly squishy tree, and then the tip of a wooden stick pokes out at the other dustling, those eyes narrowing to suspicious slits, "Who goes there? Have you come to invade the kingdom?" The suspicion flags after a few seconds, though, and the dustling rests his hands on the cushion, squeezing out until his torso is out, paper crown askew. Dressed in his robe of red and gold, he certainly looks the part of a lost prince, but his expression is serious and curious, "Hello. I'm Amleth, the high prince of Amlinore." He pauses, brow furrowing, then lifts them both at once in a sudden upshoot, "Want to be a knight?"


Amleth is crushing the cushion upon which he leans, but by contrast to Oxiin, he is a much fairer boy, slender and pale, his fluffy blonde hair ruffled by the wind as it swept through the garden and tickled the grass. The scent of fresh greenery and flower filled the air, a Spring scent, pleasant, light, and warmed by the sun. Even with that stick, it's likely Oxiin could take him and overthrow the kingdom if he wanted to. All the same, the real question was whether or not princes like that needed to be battled or protected. He pushes the cushion aside finally so that he can step out, adjusting the crown with the palm of his hand and revealing the inner workings of his makeshift castle. Amleth was generally a superstitious child who had a difficult time making friends, but when someone came into his territory, he considered them to be his business, making social behavior somewhat less difficult.

 

[X Purple--Platypus X]

Never before had Oxiin been approached with such an offer; he had met a handful of other children in the past and he couldn’t draw from any experience to come up with a response. The fair haired boy’s construction now held a new meaning – the structural supports were towers, the pillows were turrets and the cushion he was leaning on in the doorway looked suspiciously like a drawbridge. It was a castle... And the impressive creativity that the boy’s den displayed was enough to stop the rust child from being characteristically sceptical of the make-believe. However, his wonder could not find a reply that didn’t make him feel bad. If he accepted he would be entering into a silly childish activity, but if he rejected the offer he would be missing out on what seemed to have great potential. In the end he opted for prying for more information.

“What type of knight?”

Oxiin’s knowledge of knights was limited... For the most part all he knew was that they enjoyed wearing armour and slaying dragons. This was gleaned from fairytales Inge had tried to teach him and in reality there wasn’t exactly an abundance of either of those two elements.

Running his working hand up and down his crippled arm he shuffled closer to the soft fortress. With a undisguised look of interest on his countenance he knelt to the same level as Amleth and peered in. It was spacious in there... His copper eyes narrowed. Was it worth the possible humiliation of being caught practically playing dress-up? Perhaps that question could be answered after the princling responded.

 

[Anasazi]

"First Knight, of course," the blonde boy said rather arrogantly, pushing fluffy hair and the paper crown back off his forehead and giving Oxiin a piercing, thoughtful look. He shook his head and folded his legs properly beneath him, explaining further, "The first knight gets entrusted with all the cool stuff. He's like the king's best friend. Except for in King Arthur. In King Arthur," his voice drops to a sotto whisper, Amleth leaning closer to Oxiin as if to ensure that no one else hears, "the first knight stole the queen!" He shakes his head again, this time with a sense of general disapproval and melancholy. 'What's the world coming to?' that headshake asks.

It doesn't last for long, however, as Amleth chooses to skip his brooding - if only for the time being - and continue with his discussion of knights, "The first knight is like the king's right hand man. He gets the most interesting missions and stuff, too." Lesson apparently over, Amleth cocks his head to the side, staring at Oxiin curiously with his large, crimson eyes, a forelock of blonde flopping over his eyebrow while the crown slips slowly askew.

 

[X Purple--Platypus X]

Oxiin leaned in, his ear tilted towards the other lad’s mouth as the princeling explained an apparent secret about King Arthur’s first knight.. However, on hearing the fact the rust child flinched backwards, taking a step back as if trying to put distance between himself and this new knowledge. Steal the king’s queen?! He would never think of such a thing. Girls were boring, annoying, pink and whiny, they pinched his cheeks and called him cute, and they liked everything he didn’t like! Why on earth would someone want to steal a queen – that was someone else’s problem that they couldn’t get rid of and it was stupid to make it your own? With a smile creeping back onto his expression, mocking the foolishness of Arthur’s first knight, he extended a hand towards the boy.

“Girls are stupid. So I won’t steal any queen of yours.” He glanced in again, just to check that there wasn’t a girl inside ready to ruin any potential fun. He’d made up his mind now to accept this offer of playtime and take residence in the pillow fort. “I accept your cool jobs and will be your knight!” He exclaimed, almost slipping into an excited tone as he grasped the other’s hand in a shake of confirmation. With that initiation ritual complete Oxiin invited himself in, moving past his new liege lord and ducking through the makeshift doorway into the soft white interior.

As his coppery eyes examined his new home – if Amleth... KING Amleth let him, he would stay here for good; he didn’t want to return to Inge anytime soon – he mouthed a fairly impressed “wow,” before sitting cross legged in the center, a genuinely pleased smile on his lips.

“What can I do for you King Amleth?” He asked, half hoping that the boy already had some jobs in mind for his eager first knight to lend a hand to. “I’m Oxiin by the way... m’lord.” He added the title onto the end after a pause for thought. It sounded very old fashioned and weird coming from his usually bitter mouth but if he was going to get into role he felt he had to start speaking in the right way.