(Y'all know the drill, Scots Gaelic in place of elvish :) )

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Context: Thirteen-year-old Scott during the annual meeting of (at the time) nine empires

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I tensed as we entered the gates of Eastvale, my hands clenching again around the cloth over my knees. I held my breath as I felt our carriage bump over the drawbridge suspended over the trench dug along the walls, filled with thorns to puncture whoever was unlucky enough to fall in.

I didn't dare look up at my parents sitting across from me, not wanting them to see the fear in my eyes. I wanted to be back home, in my room, reading a book while Wren ranted to me about her day. At least there was comfort, and I knew what to expect. Here, anything could happen.

Several minutes later I chanced a glance up out of the carriage window. The black-brick streets in the part of the city we were traversing were well-worn, and had a few unfixed cracks running through, much different than the paved and smooth streets of Rivendale. The houses, instead of tall with curved roofs and clean, whitewashed walls like back home, seemed rickety and made of wood, large stone cubes building up the bases. I even saw a few rooves threatening to cave in. But that was only in the west side of the city, where people sat wrapped in blankets where sidewalks should have been.

The east side of Eastvale, where the royal mansion was located, was much different. The houses towered much higher than one or two stories, the streets pristine and well-kept. Shops such as bakeries, markets and blacksmiths lined said roads, people bustling in and out. Everyone here seemed so...busy, like they had a million things to get done that day with not nearly enough time.

Then...the mansion. It was huge, almost as big as our palace back in Rivendale. I had to poke my head out the carriage window, much to my mother's protest, craning my neck just to see the hands on the clock placed near the top of the highest peak of the building.

There were several other...strange round metal shells outside of the front, with wheels almost like our carriage but made from a thick black material. I didn't get a good look at them before we came to a halt in front of the doors. 

I jumped as the doors to the carriage were opened, and I got my first close up look of a human. I tilted my head in confusion, their laugh lines and creases deeper than I would have expected. I had no idea how old they were, but by elven standards they'd be close to death, near a thousand years old. Maybe they aged weirdly. I was startled by their short, stubby, rounded ears, my own flicking slightly in surprise.

My mother gestured for me to follow as she stepped lightly from the carriage, one of her personal servants hurrying from one of the other carriages to assist her, my father following.

I shooed the servant's hand away from my own as I hopped down from the carriage by myself, earning a disapproving look from my mother. It was like I wasn't allowed to do anything by myself. 

I looked back up at the Tay mansion in awe, its shingled roof much more elegant than I had expected. 

I was hurried along by both our servants and the Tay servants up towards the building, practically trembling with even more nerves than before. I tightly wove my fingers together until I began to lose circulation, trying to stop my hands from shaking.

I gulped when I felt a force push down on my shoulders and I nearly stumbled forward in fear and surprise until I realized it was my father's hand. I didn't dare look up at him at the moment, he'd perceive me as weak for the way I was acting. Anxious and weak and not fit for the throne. It's not like I wanted the throne. Sometimes all I wanted was to be normal, like Wren. Go to school and not feel the pressure of assuming the crown later in life. Of course, that would probably be many hundreds of years from now. My father had asserted the crown young. He was hardly a hundred and twenty.

I felt chills as we entered the mansion, the interior also shockingly different than what I was used to. Instead of the bright, clean, cool colors I was used to like whites, blues and gold, there were deep reds and warm browns from the paneled wood that made up the floor. The carpet leading down the hall was a rich velvet, and the paneling followed up the walls as well which turned sharply into the arched ceiling, exposed wooden beams crossing high above us. I stared upwards for a moment, before I turned my attention to the people leading us down the hall. 

I couldn't count the amount of crystal chandeliers we walked underneath.

I attempted to memorize all of the doors we passed and the hallways we went down, but I failed miserably. However, eventually we came across to great big doors that I could only assume led to the throne room of the Count and Countess. 

The throne room was on a whole other level. The carpet became more ornate, embroidered with designs made from deep gold and crimson. Unlike the marble pillars of the elven throne room, wooden beams curved from the walls up towards the ceiling. The architecture seemed impossible, and it hurt my neck to look up just to catch a glimpse of the roof.

But my eyes landed on the thrones, where the Count and Countess sat. Count Benedict's auburn hair was swept across his face, greying slightly near his temples. His blue eyes surveyed us for a moment, before his stern-looking face broke into a smile, contorting the light spray of freckles across his nose, his eyes crinkling. "Welcome! I am pleased to see you have arrived safely." he said as he got to his feet, followed by his wife. Victoria's brunette hair was gathered behind her head in a braided bun of sorts, her green eyes also friendly.

I wanted to hide behind my mother, but the amount of embarrassment that would bring wasn't worth it.

Two people in the corner caught my eyes as my parents introduced themselves. They'd met before, I didn't see the need. 

One, was a boy in his late teens, his bright auburn hair matching his fathers, slightly long and shaggy. He was stifling laughter with the back of his hand as he talked with a girl shorter than him, with fiery red hair and glasses. I wasn't able to hear their conversation, but I watched them curiously. The girl's green eyes flicked over me for a moment, before my attention snapped back to the adult's conversation at the mention of my name.

"This is our son, Prince Scott." Came my father's voice, and it startled me to hear him speaking in a language other than elvish.

I froze for a moment, looking up at the Count and Countess, before I bowed. "Hello your majesties. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." I said, speaking as loud as I could without my voice shaking, then straightening. 

I heard a murmur from the woman to her husband, catching two words. 'He' and 'polite'. 

"The pleasure is ours." Benedict reassured me, and I made eye contact for a moment, before looking back down at the ground. "Please, come meet my son and daughter, Prince Fwhip and Princess Gemini." He said, gesturing for his children who happened to be the two teenagers I had been watching before. 

I frowned, wondering why he called them 'prince' and 'princess' considering he wasn't a King. I shrugged it off. I'd look it up in the library when I got back home.

I gave them a short bow as I had been taught to do to any member of any royal family, before my gaze rose to meet theirs. I watched as Benedict clapped Fwhip on the shoulder, suppressing another frown. That didn't seem very formal. Honestly, I couldn't care less, I was just curious.

"Nice to meet you, Prince Scott." The girl called Gemini said, folding her hands behind her back with a smile. I noticed she wore braces as well. Her brother on the other hand said nothing, just looked me up and down for a moment before giving me a welcoming smile.

I returned both their smiles quite nervously, before glancing to the right of me where my parents stood. I was puzzled at the disapproving expression my mother wore.

"Gemini, would you be a dear and show Prince Scott to where he'll be saying while we work out the details with his parents?" The Countess asked, smiling sweetly at her daughter. Immediately I came to the conclusion that this was a front...but something about their interactions was different than the fake way my own parents treated me around guests. It seemed much more genuine...and maybe it was.

"Of course, right this way!" Gemini said, turning to walk back out of the room, gesturing for me to follow just as their fiery red hair and pale green dress hem disappeared around the corner.

I looked up at my parents quickly for their approval, nervously fiddling with my fingers, twisting them in my palms as I felt sweat between them.

"Faodaidh tu falbh." My father said sternly, wearing his 'stay quiet and get out of our sight' expression. One I knew well.

(You can go)

I nodded quickly, before hurrying after the older girl, as fast as I could without appearing rude or unmannered. 

Gemini was well ahead of me when I got out of the throne room, and seeing no one beside her around, I sprinted quickly to catch up, coming to a halt when I was right behind her so she wouldn't see me running.

It was silent in the hall except for our quick footsteps echoing off of the painting-littered walls, so I decided to break said silence.

"Where are we going, Princess Gemini?" I asked in a small voice. I had hardly been able to process what was happening let alone translate quick enough what Victoria had said before I was ordered out of their sight.

Gemini slowed her walk, glancing at me with another smile. "Oh no need for formalities, just call me Gem." She said, her braces flashing again. "And I'm bringing you to the room we have prepared. One of your servants should have already unpacked your things in there."

I nodded after having translated her words in my head. "Oh." Was my only verbal response.

Gemini watched me for a moment. "I'm surprised. Mom and dad had me prepared for a prince who knew none of our language. You seem pretty learned in it." She said with an edge of curiosity to her tone.

I blinked. "I do?" I asked after a moment.

"Well yes. I do have to navigate around your accent but there's nothing either of us can do about that and I can understand you just fine." Gemini's smile became encouraging as she spoke, and I attempted to return it, still overrun with nerves.

After a few minutes, we entered a hall and she opened one of the doors, gesturing inside. "You'll be staying in here." she said, before leading me into the room.

I blinked as I entered. This room was...bigger than mine. For good reason, I chose the smaller room specifically because it was a better room to hide things in. But this room was huge with a massive four-poster bed up against one of the walls, rich velvet drapes hanging down that matched the thick curtains. "Aeor Naomh..." I murmured.

(Holy Aeor)

"Huh?" Gemini asked, tilting her head slightly, letting their bright auburn hair trickle over their shoulder. "Oh- looks like they didn't put away your stuff yet." she added with a frown, looking at my bags on the bed. "I can call them now to do it-"

"No, no. I can do it. I like to do it." I cut off, hurrying to open one of my bags. My servants already knew from what I had told them that I preferred to do these sorts of things myself.

I glanced back at Gemini. Her head was still tilted, even more confusion filling her expression. "Um...okay." she said, pursing her lips for a moment as she looked me up and down, as if she were trying to figure me out in a way, before pushing her glasses back up on her nose. "I'll leave you to that I guess...? Unless you want help-"

"I got it." I replied, pulling my clothes out of the bag I had packed for myself with the help of Wren.

"If you're sure." Gemini shrugged, before stepping out of the room. "Oh-" she said before leaving, poking her head back into the room. "If ya didn't know the meeting will take place tomorrow. Pretty sure all the royal kids will be gathered in the lounge during it, so we don't bother the rulers." and then she shut the door behind her.

The only word I could think of to describe the next morning was torture. Absolute torture.

I was stood in the middle of the room provided by the Tay's, my mother sitting on my bed directly across from me with a frown of concentration as she looked me up and down. "Bhiodh Hm...blue a' coimhead snog air an-diugh, nach eil thu a' smaoineachadh?" She asked the servant circling me, measuring my bare waist with a tape.

(Hm...blue would look nice on him today, don't you think?)

I had to refrain from rolling my eyes. I always wore blue. I'm not sure why we had to go through this process every time I needed to dress formally. I had plenty of good clothes that I could just throw on and be done with it.

My mother's servant nodded. "Seadh...is dòcha am fear leis a' mhion-fhiosrachadh òrail?" They suggested.

(Yes...perhaps the one with the golden detailing?)

I rolled my eyes. They all had gold detailing.

"Feuch an urrainn dhomh dìreach rudeigin a chaitheamh agus a bhith deiseil?" I asked as politely as I could, forcing myself to remain standing straight despite the goosebumps along my shoulders and the uncomfortable fact that I was shirtless so the servant could best examine me. Unnecessary. Completely unnecessary.

(Please can I just wear something and be done?)

My mother gave me a stern expression. "No. Fetch his aodach." she ordered of the servant, and they immediately hurried off to find them.

(Clothes)

After the painstaking process of choosing my outfit, my mother 'set me free'. By that I mean she sent me off the join the other royal children in the lounge of the Tay mansion while she and my father attended the meeting.

Worried was an understatement to how I felt as I walked down the overly decorated hallways towards the living room. My footsteps echoed loudly every time I stepped off the carpet onto the wood, reverberating against the tapestry-covered walls. 

I stood in front of the doors to the lounge for a good few minutes, staring at it as I tried to work up enough courage to open the door. Finally, without thinking so I couldn't talk myself out of it, I pushed the large, wooden, double doors open to reveal the inside.

Several people were already mingling in the lounge, spread throughout the huge room. Bright colors clashed against the rich ones of the room. Particularly a boy that looked older than me with obnoxiously colored rainbow wings. 

A few of their eyes turned to me, and I spotted Gemini who gave me a friendly wave, stood beside her brother, a brunette boy around her age and a girl wearing a slightly flowy green dress. 

"Oh- you're the elven prince, aren't you?" Came a voice suddenly to my left. It was a girl probably in her late teens, with dark hair, nearly black, flowing down her shoulders. Her brown eyes surveyed me quickly before her face split into a small smile. 

I paused for a moment, before nodding slowly.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Katherine." She said, tucking a strand of her hair behind one of her ears, pointed just the slightest at the tip but not nearly as pointed as mine. 

"Scott..." I answered slowly, tugging my sleeves down closer to my wrists.

"Ah, I knew it started with an S! Anyways, I'm guessing you need introductions? I don't remember seeing you at the last annual meeting." She offered, her expression showing a genuine curiosity as she glanced me over. I heard a small flutter, and glanced a pair of sheer white wings behind her back, as delicate looking as a butterfly's. 

"Eh, yes please that would be helpful." I said, attempting to speak up best as I could without seeming like I was dying on the inside.

Princess Katherine's smile widened for a moment, before she began pointing people out. "Well, those three over there are my sisters, Lavender, Ella and Lacy," she said, pointing to two blondes and another dark-haired brunette like herself. "Over there is Crown Prince Joseph of the Lost Empire and his two older sisters, Princess Carmen and Princess Amaya." She continued, pointing to the rainbow winged teen and two women in brightly colored clothes who looked to be in their early twenties.

I frowned. "If they are older, why are they not ascending to the throne?"

Katherine shrugged. "The Lost Empire is rather old fashioned. Only males can take the throne." she explained. "We tend to not try and get involved in their ways. Moving on, over there is Prince Joel of Mezalea-"

"Did I hear my name?" The brunette Katherine pointed to lifted his head, his brown eyes flicking around before landing on us. My own eyes were drawn to the small tuft of his bangs dyed green, hidden slightly beneath his silver crown. "Oh, it's a child. Hello child." he said, waving to me. 

I wrinkled my nose, my ears flattening. "I am not a child-"

"What? You're like eight right-"

"I am not! I am thirteen-" I started, narrowing my eyes at the Mezalean crown prince.

"Seriously?" Prince Joel blinked in surprise. "Huh. You look hardly older than seven-"

"Moving on," Katherine said sharply, giving Joel a quick glare, before I could open my mouth again. "On the couch over there is Prince Pixl." She continued, gesturing towards the oldest looking of them all, somewhere in his twenties, with a slight beard and a robe edged with copper-colored fabric.

I nodded, trying to memorize all the names even though I knew it was hopeless.

"I believe you've most likely met the Tays already, but standing with them are Prince Evans-" Katherine added, gesturing again near the corner of the room where the Tay siblings and two others stood.

"SAUSAGE!" Prince Fwhip called over with a small grin. "IT'S SAUSAGE!"

The other teen boy next to him looked unamused. He seemed the best dressed, wearing an overcoat of an expensive fabric the color of velvet. "You're never going to drop that nickname, are you?" he asked.

"Nope!" The red head smirked.

"It's not even a nickname- it's just his last name-" The dirty blonde beside the four said with a small, exasperated sigh. 

"And that's Princess Pearl." Katherine finished, tilting her head towards the girl who was wearing the green dress that hit her ankles. 

"And? It's a funny last name-" Fwhip snickered.

"You just insulted an entire dynasty." Gemini sighed. 

"Says the princess who left the kingdom to become a mage-" Fwhip countered.

Gemini's head snapped up, her eyes narrowing to glare at her brother and the freckles across her nose contorting. "Wizard!"

"Mage." Fwhip grinned, ducking a swipe his sister took at his head.

"Wizard!"

"If you say so train tracks-" 

"Oh my god that's such an old joke- find a more original insult than picking at my braces." Gemini said with a roll of her eyes.

"Alright then mage." Fwhip continued to taunt.

"Oh, I'm surrounded by idiots..." The red head murmured, rubbing her temples underneath her glasses. 

"Hey, I'm not an idiot-" Princess Pearl said with an offended edge to her voice.

"Fine. I'm surrounded by two idiots." 

"Mhm, yep. Fwhip definitely counts as two idiots-" Prince 'Sausage' snickered.

"You're lucky I don't have my staff with me or so help me you'd be dangling from the ceiling with grapes for eyeballs-" The Grimlands princess threatened.

I covered my mouth to try and hide a stifled laugh that came out as a snort at the threat. 

The fours' eyes landed on me.

"Oh, you're the elf boy, aren't you?" The Mythlandian prince said, blinking as his gaze landed on me.

I frowned at the comment. It felt mocking. "Yes?" I answered rather slowly, fiddling now with the chain of my cloak. 

His eyes then flicked to my hair. "Is that natural?"

"Yes?" I answered again, getting nervous as he got closer. He was a lot taller than me...

He squinted at the side of my head this time. "Huh. Your ears are weird."

My hands instantly flew up to the sides of my head, covering my ears from his sight. "No, they are not-"

"Evans-"

"SAUSAGE!" Fwhip interjected, cutting off his sister.

Gemini rolled her eyes. "Fine, Sausage, stop being rude-"

"Yes, stop being rude to pointy ears- Ow-" Fwhip yelped as Gemini slapped his upper arm.

"My name is Scott." I said, glaring now at the prince. 

"Scott?" He asked, attempting to mimic my accent. "Why do you talk like that?"

I narrowed my eyes further. "Leis nach e seo a' chiad amadan cànain agam." I snapped.

(Because this is not my first language fool)

"Tha fios agam. Faodaidh iad a bhith gòrach uaireannan."

(I know. They can be stupid sometimes)

I was shocked to hear my native language come out of Princess Gemini's mouth. "Wha-"

Gemini snickered at my expression. "Bidh mi ga ghabhail airson aon de na clasaichean agam aig an acadamaidh." she explained.

(I take it for one of my classes at the academy)

"Okay you two stop conversing in crazy language and speak normal please-" Fwhip requested.

"It is not crazy-" I started, before being cut off by Prince Sausage.

"Cool crown." He said, reaching out to touch one of my antlers without asking.

I yelped, backing away only to get my antler tugged on harshly before he let go. "Not a crown..." I muttered. 

Gemini's eyes widened. "You mean those are attached to your skull-?"

"I- I think?" I answered, tugging gently to show that they weren't just placed on my head.

"Are you a furry-?" Fwhip started to ask before earning himself a slap across the back of the head from his sister.

"FWHIP-"

"What? It was a question-" 

"What is a-" I started to ask.

"Not important." Gemini sighed. "Fwhip's just being rude, that's all."

"It wasn't rude-" Fwhip defended. "It was a question. Am I not allowed to ask questions anymore?"

"No. No, you're not." Gemini replied, folding her arms. It was easy to tell she was trying to suppress a smirk, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards for just a moment.

"Yeah, yeah whatever-" the Grimlands prince answered with a roll of his eyes.

I was starting to get lost in the conversation as the siblings began to argue, so I slowly began to back away hoping they wouldn't notice me...

Unfortunately, I backed into someone.

"Hey-" started someone, sounding quite offended as I turned around to see which royal I had bumped into. It turned out to be the Mezalean prince, Joel. "Watch it kid-"

"You are also a kid." I pointed out, taking a few steps back. 

"And? Still older than you, therefore I have the privilege to call you kid." The older teen smirked back. 

"So, with that logic I can call you kid?" Fwhip called over to us, breaking away from his argument with Gemini.

Joel scoffed. "Uh, no. You cannot."

"Well why not kiddo?" Fwhip grinned. "I'm three years older than you and you're one year older than Scottie over here-"

"Scottie-?" I butted in, wrinkling my nose at the nickname he had given me. But, of course, I was ignored.

"Call me kid or kiddo again. I dare you." Joel threatened, his fists clenching as his eyes narrowed at the taller boy. 

Fwhip smirked, leaning forward. "Kid." he taunted.

"I do not think-" I started, trying to step in front in between them. 

That was a mistake, because the last thing I saw before I blacked out was Joel's fist.

***
I FINALLY FINISHED! AFTER THREE MONTHS! Sorry that took so long- procrastination won.

So yeah! Kid emperors- if y'all are wondering what happened after that, it was just Pandora and Rohan leaving the Grimlands with Scott and cutting all ties with Mezalea and the empires that defended it :)

Also, think about it- Scott was in the same city as Erin without knowing it-

And for those of you who have read TSoA, see what I did with the mage/wizard thing, eh? Eh? No? Okay then-

Comments and votes are appreciated! 

And also, vote here on what you'd like to see next- a teenage Xornoth or a young Erin oneshot, majority wins! ---->