Yuen slipped a small and ornate satchel into the saddlebags on Delta's horse.
He had gifted him the steed a few years prior. It was a sleek and muscular animal with a pearly beige coat and a honey blonde mane. The particular breed selectively bred by the elusive Dawn Court. A court that could only be accessed under the guidance of a dawn fae.
He's been taken to a renowned stable while checking in with an imperial ambassador residing at the embassy there.
He hadn't wanted to be there. From being served sour nectar to being housed in an unmaintained section of the castle and sent rather undesirable bed playmates, it was obvious members within the court held no good will toward the imperial family.
The stable had been a brief reprieve from his unsavory stay.
The stallion stood out in the herd speckling a grassy pasture. He danced in and out of the crowd, nipping and kicking while he went. There was a bratty air to the young horse who caused general chaos on its path, its fellow horses braying at him as he passed. Yuen immediately thought of Delta and how he'd terrorized members of his fathers court.
When he offered to purchase the animal the director of the equestrian center was more than happy to get the unruly stallion out of his stable.
Their trip home had been obnoxious, the young horse did nothing but annoy Yuen. He made it home at his wits end, the rapid travel of portal rivers not quick enough. The only reassurance he had to maintain his sanity during travel was that he thought that it would be worth it.
Worth it to watch Delta struggle to tame the thing. But, much to Yuens' dismay, the horse and the night prince got along great. To add salt to the wound, the horse seemed to behave exclusively for Delta. Multiple stable hands had quit, specifically because of the stallion.
Even now, as Yuen withdrew, its long tail whipped upwards smacking him across his back.
Delta grinned having watched the incident as Yuen stepped away with a scowl, muttering under his breath, "birds of feather."
"What was that?"
Yuen shook his head, schooling his expression. "Nothing."
Delta ran a hand over the horse's neck, almost as if to reward the rude animal for its behavior.
Yuen went to point at the saddlebag he had just put the satchel into, then thought twice when he noticed the horse eyeing his finger with a twinkling icy blue eye. He lowered his hand lest he be bitten. "I just put the time dilation stone in your saddle bag. It only has one charge but it should be set to around the time Nimara entered the material realm."
"Is it dangerous?" Delta asked with a cocked eyebrow. "I've heard time manipulation can be very finicky, especially when using the ancient gates." Gates were a faster form of travel than the portal rivers but their ancient magic and technology was poorly understood by modern species. Current practices sometimes interacted with them poorly.
"Yes." Yuen nodded and Delta gave the prince a look of incredulity. "There is no need to worry though," he continued, "just throw the stone into the portal as it's activated. It should implode and be destroyed while altering the energy of the gate. I paid a huge sum for the thing! If it's ineffective I'll kill the little alchemist who sold it to me as revenge for any harm that befalls you."
Delta stared, "Oh, for any harm that befalls me?"
The prince nodded with a playful smile. "You are my dearest friend, it is an honorable thing to do."
"That is so thoughtful of you, your majesty." Edgy sarcasm sat thick in Delta's words.
Silver eyes rolled as a giddy laugh left Yuens mouth. "Just remember to throw the stone a few meters before you hit the portal. It does implode, and it can be quite violent, or so I'm told."
"Peerrrffect." Delta exaggerated but nonetheless tapped his foot into the side of his horse, lightly pulling the reins to guide them towards the exit. He grouchily criticized the stone and the old gate as barbaric. Traveling the portal rivers was much safer than the ancient gates, and had at least somewhat shotily developed mechanisms to accommodate dangerous activities like time dilation. If the ancient gates ever had such technology it was long lost. Throwing a magic shattering time travel rock into a portal then jumping into it was bordering lunacy for Delta.
The horse slowly rode forward into the sunshine that covered the realm in a warm sheet. A periwinkle sky sat above Kisiian as the mirage of heat caused the view of the city to ripple. Yuen followed the two from the stable just off to the side, wise enough to stay away from the horse's hindquarters.
"We'll be back shortly, I'm sure." Delta said with confidence.
"Ah, yes. I hope you return soon and safely. The horse though…" Yuen tilted his head side to side, as if he could care less whether the horse was in good health or not.
The horse's marble of an eye rolled in its socket-in a much too sentient fashion in Yuens opinion. Most of the animals of the twilight realm were a little more than their material world counterparts.
Delta released a playful scoff on its behalf.
"When you are finished, return to the palace. If I have yet to return, aid Wyn until I do…. And stay out of Esalis sight." He added as an afterthought, smirking at his friend.
"Why does he distrust me so?" Delta replied with a playful lack of care.
The prince raised his eyebrows, "Who here trusts you besides I?"
To be honest he found the fact that his brother hated Delta to be quite entertaining. Esali was one of the few fae of the imperial court to possess night court blood. He had expected him to find familiarity with the night prince, being that the imperial court's lack of community homogenization often created diverse subdivisions of foreign court cultures. Esali had only had Nesemi, his mother, to bond with as a fae with night lineage. He'd expected the three to fall in together but they hadn't. The imperial consort had an amicable relationship with the night prince but his brother never warmed up to him. Delta was half to blame. He hadn't been happy to be a ward of the court, and it had been more than apparent when he had first arrived.
Esali never showed disinterest or disdain in much else besides that for his father, his lackeys, and their directives. But when it came to Delta, for reasons unclear, his brother displayed blatant and obvious hatred, sometimes bordering childish contempt.
"Oh how dare you. I'll have you know I have quite the excellent friendship with Wyn." Delta had paused the horse's slow gait to turn his nose up at Yuen. "We have had some very deep and profound conversations."
"Ah, yes." He was more than aware of the nights Delta passed out in Wyns chambers after one too many drinks, falling into drunken slumber on the sofa in the entryway. "I don't think passing out like a wonton drunkard in his chambers counts as being his friend, though."
Delta upped the dramatics, clutching invisible pearls with a look of shock carving circles in his face. "It is true! Don't deny us our friendship, we have all known each other for years now. Wyn and I usually discuss much before I pass out!"
"Usually?" Yuen laughed.
Scrunching his face up with a scoff, Delta snapped his head around and gave the horse a polite nudge.
Yuen wasn't really sure whether he believed his friend or not. Delta had always had a way with wading murky waters. Easily maneuvering the social mannerisms of plebeians, criminals, bums, the exiled, and the forgotten.
He had retained all of his qualities as a night court fae. Fae who in ancient times spent the most time in the material realm, living with plants and luring in humans. Deploying a vast variety of manipulation tactics to steal the songs of souls, singing them while devouring globs of steaming flesh- human meat once considered a delicacy. Especially favored in their court.
Long ago they were a ruling court, before the Shimmering Court and the Eastern coalitions went to war for power and the Imperial Court formed in the fallout. Their ways and power were once celebrated.
Delta flawlessly used his ancient blooded ability to manipulate in all areas of his life. Yuen was never sure he could entirely trust him, just as no fae was sure to trust any night fae. Especially one unassimilated.
But nonetheless he trusted him enough.
His friend had yet to take any action to make Yuen question his loyalty and his abilities were an exceptional asset to have in his pocket.
Most would say that the second prince's influence in the court had come from his slow acquisition of nobles and aristocrats, but that was quite a fall from the truth. Yuen had the title and bourgeois connections while Delta was a devil in the details and a bridge to the lower classes.
He'd sought out Delta after a memorable meeting with the emperor. His father had made his son's position as a cast aside prince obvious in the company of his advisors and a gathering of foreign ambassadors. An intentful slandering meant to humiliate an adolescent Yuen.
He had already been building court allies, even as a young teen. And when his father caught word, he had used the lowly positions of Yuen allies to snub him. He needed true power, something he realized most imperial nobility had very little of. He needed an advisor. Someone crafty, from a political background who would be familiar with the complexities of royal power plays. At first his mind went to the eastern court who were known for their cunning nature, but then an annoying grey face crossed his mind. Ah yes, who better to ask than a night fae. Masters of manipulation, the original conspirators of all fae kind.
He'd found him right after Delta had received a rather harsh smack from adviser Skom. The storm cloud boy looked pleased with himself, pink and purple staining his cheek, wearing a thin smile cut with malice and ill will.
"Yuen." Delta greeted pleasantly at his arrival, features morphing, hiding away the violence that played on the skin of his face.
"Your majesty." Yuen corrected. Delta only ever addressed the prince as 'your majesty' when he was mocking him. Yuen would quit correcting him in another year, becoming used to the night prince refusing to acknowledge his title.
Of course Delta ignored him, moving on, taking note of the tick in his jaw and the tension in his shoulders. "What's wrong? You're father being a tyrant?"
The prince sighed. It had taken a lot to come to Delta, but Nesemi was out of the question, being a consort of the emperor, and Esali was loyal but still just a child.
The only one that left was the night prince. Arrogant, cunning and- Yuen would never openly admit it- oddly intimidating. "…I need your advice."
And of course the little arrogant son of bitch already had a plan. He had them start by scrapping the underbelly of the imperial court. Chipping away at its rotted foundation, clearing the gutters and back alleys, implementing structure in unaddressed slums disguised with pale plaster. A glory project that his father approved to renovate the lower class parts of the city. It was a shallow and ill formed submission that simply maintained an aesthetic and didn't address underlying issues.
"The condition of the bottom of the food chain is a reliable indication of the health of the top." Delta advised. Plucking words and advice from memories of his mothers court. Delta had received all the smarmy schooling fit for a prince. But he'd also been subject to the rants of his Queen mother who had a penchant for rebellion and a thousand reasons to plan the demise of the imperial empire. "The only reason the imperial court holds its authority at the moment is because of the emperor's power. His militant force is his greatest card and he plays it often. He doesn't take care of his people and he doesn't uphold the upper class to a very high standard. He allows them to explore and exploit in a quest to satiate their never ending greed. The lower classes–the lesser fae– have suffered greatly. He's blindly damaged the foundation of the empire."
"As it stands right now, the masses are dividing into those looking for a savior and those who have resigned themselves to crime. I've discreetly quelled the crime for now. However greater problems we can not yet address will mean that it will continue shortly or in a more stealthy manner. Until we can make those changes, setting up a system of control will be more beneficial than publicly addressing it, lest his majesty get undue credit for the improvement."
He stroked his chin between a momentary pause, a young fae born into politics looking a little too refined and calculating for his age. "But let me take care of that. We'll keep your royal name and image away from anything that goes on in the underground."
"Very well. And as for the savior?"
"You of course." Delta gave Yuen a lopsided grin. "It'll take time though. We'll have to get an in with the military so you can receive proper credit, but in the meantime, mercenary groups can easily be formed out of the desperate and needy. There is plenty of want in the streets of Kissian to monopolize."
*
The two would go on to create a network of syndicates, guilds, and organizations. The sept through the blackmarket and backstreets, and instead of dissolving the underground trade, enabled it, made it bloom all funneling money into private treasuries for Yuen to use at his discretion. He threw it all back into the scheme, creating a network of loyalists amongst the disenfranchised.
And when it was developed and their seed were sown and well grown out, Delta presented Yuen with a list of prominent and noble investors of their underground businesses to use at his own discretion.
They had come so far since then.
.
"Oh." Delta paused once more, throwing over his shoulder, "Brutus will be bringing over paperwork on the silk sector." The silk sector was the name of the area in the city specifically designated for lounges, dens, and brothels. Brutus was Delta's number two. "I gave Arissa a little vacation while I'm away so I've ordered him to leave it with one of my mice." His mice being spies and foot soldiers placed all throughout the palace and city. They all wore Deltas markings, thick inky tattoos that allowed nothing but absolute obedience, not even a tattling whisper could utter past their lips. "It should find its way onto your desk for revisions before you set out to midworld."
The night prince could be so cruel, Yuen thought, but he wasn't complaining.