Opening Moves [Making Militant Memories]
Location: Royal Guard Training Facility; London, England
Characters: Levaios Adeleston; Xiang Riccio
Purpose: The first meeting of the two characters; Levaios gets nostalgic and his sudden appearance causes a little disorder at the military camp.
The military didn’t take kindly to Crown Prince Adeleston’s sudden, unexpected, and often undocumented visits on random occasions. It was all fine and dandy for His Royal Highness to support the troops publicly—it made both parties look better on an international scale.
What was not “peachy” with the commanders on-site was the commotion the young man made every time he showed up. It was always a thousand times worse when it was unannounced, and after scraping together accommodations for him they were always given grief by Prince Levaios’ personal assistants. It wasn’t like the boy needed better security—he was hardly thirty miles from the palace, and he was on base. The kid had a solid year of military experience himself, and sure as heck he was trained in using a gun.
And yet, there was always a guard trying to trail him. Why?
Because he was a Prince, and that’s the way things were.
But Levaios was a bit tricky. He was just as skillful as his security team, and whenever he was able to slip by them he did. It wasn’t the team’s fault— Levaios liked just about all of his assigned staff. It was just that they were so uptight about their jobs. The Prince preferred a more lax, natural approach.
His philosophy reinforced the reason for his behavior. He was the sort of man who would take the more roundabout route simply to stretch his legs. Levaios stopped often too, to admire a painting, say hello to someone, or merely observe what was going on. The Prince would notice little things as his mind wandered, a feather caught up in the wind. Floating through life with a positive attitude, that was how he handled it.
But hardly was Prince Levaios lazy. The Prince was well-known for his firm work ethic and tenacity when it came to things dear to him. He always looked sharp, never leaving his room in anything less than a collared shirt and dress pants. Waistcoats and suits were commonplace for him, but he’d have dressed the same way even if he hadn’t been born to a royal family. The red curls he’d been born with were always combed through, albeit sometimes quickly. Look sharp, think sharp, be sharp— Six simple words that just about summed Levaios’ style of living.
The boy—barely a man, for his 18th birthday had just passed— stood at six-foot-two. His height, as well as his broad and rather muscled-shoulders, made him feel like he was often overpowering other people. But his boisterous laugh, large goofy grin and the way his green eyes sparkled put everyone at ease. Powerful yet gentle, that was the way Prince Levaios Adeleston was meant to be.
He’d never meant to cause trouble by visiting the training camp, but... he just couldn’t help it. Nostalgia, something that often plagued the Prince, often caused him to meander around the problems of modern day until he could refocus. That was the reason he stood at the training facility now, softly telling the stories of his days there to himself as he passed through. Paint peeled, boards creaked, things were streaked in dust and dirt— and yet he loved it all.
Wow, it looks so much older, but it’s only been a few months since I left this place, Levaios thought.
He had been granted immunity from certain aspects of training, because the commanders just couldn’t put their future leader in any extreme peril. Levaios felt like they were giving him special treatment—he had come to discover what it truly meant to be “equal”. And many times, he’d felt it. I wonder who is still here...
There were soldiers milling about, and Levaios couldn’t help but notice them as he made his way between two of the buildings. Seeing the men (and a handful of women) in the same uniforms he wore, doing all of the same things he did... a grin crept onto the Prince’s face. He was surprised that no one had seen him yet, but that also made him cheerful. His Majesty liked surprises.
Things got frantic whenever he showed up, everyone bursting into panic. Maybe, just maybe, there won’t be pandemonium this time. This is just a good surprise!
Optimism was a strong point of Levaios’, but that didn’t mean realism always was.
