While part of him still yearned for Fenmyre Albion was finding his place in Elysium. Having Scylla back in their sibling group helped him to feel more like home. He nearly felt like they had never been parted, but everything else had changed so much. The youthful prince was patrolling the garden of rocks, his massive ivory frame slipping between the boulders just after dusk. The moon had just begun to rise, making it look massive as it loomed over the horizon. Albi had spent a bit of time with Avacyn earlier in the day, but she was ever the busy princess. As usual they parted before nightfall when he was truly active. The sun was harsh on his pink skin, so in true Klein fashion he usually roamed during the night.

He wouldn’t have been able to sleep even if he tried though, not with so many thoughts rattling through his brain. Wrestling with the decisions to make and his budding relationship with Avacyn. Albion had once told his father that he wanted to be just like him, a King reigning over his Kingdom. Now that that was gone, maybe he truly was meant to rise up at the Princess’s side. There weren’t very many nights that her and that future weren’t at the forefront of his mind.

Albion vaulted his heavy form onto the ledge of one of the larger formations that littered these lands. His dangerous paws carried him to the full height, where blue glass eyes could watch the horizon. He could see for miles right here, and the view aided in putting all things into perspective. Pale haunches lowered to the rock as he lifted his gaze to the moon and stars, part of his heart wishing he had his father to ask advice from right now.

Albion Klein

Like a wraith, the crimson and ebony prince stalked silently through the weaving maze of ancient rocks that littered the lands of his home. Saracyn was on the prowl, hunting down the ghostly wolf he'd seen leaving the island. He didn't usually make it a habit of stalking his fellow pack wolves, mostly since he couldn't give two shits about many of them, but when he had spied Albion going off to do a nightly patrol as he usually did, he couldn't help himself. He hadn't said so much as two words to the Klein man since he'd arrived in Elysium, hoping that if given enough time he would simply decide to leave on his own. That didn't seem to be the case. The longer Albion spent in Elysium and around his sister, the greater the prince's dislike of the Fenmyrian became. He knew that Avacyn had been up front with Albion about the expectations of their relationship and the reality of the situation, and yet still here he remained. It was infuriating! Any other sane brute would have seen when they were bested, but Albion was either stubborn, headstrong, or stupid—or a combination of all three. Well, he supposed it was high time to greet his competition properly and spell things out for him in case he was too dense to realize what he was getting himself into.

Following the other young male wasn't difficult; Albion did nothing to conceal his trail, but then again why would he? As far as he knew, he was safe within pack boundaries. Blissfully unaware of the Mendacium prince's sights set squarely on him. A master in the hunting arts, it was easy for Saracyn to track and stalk up to Albion, staying downwind of the wolf until he spied the ghostly figure perched atop a boulder in the moonlight. He scowled, resisting the urge to growl, and then recomposed himself before emerging from behind his cover to make his presence known. "I have to hand it to you, Albino," he called out to the other male, deliberately mispronouncing his name in an attempt to irk his rival, "I really didn't think you'd choose to stick around once you learned you were only playing for second place." A knowing look crossed the cold blue eyes of Saracyn. It was a goading comment, but it was meant to test the waters, to see where Albion stood in the situation and how much he really knew. No doubt he'd know about the Mendacium twins in love with one another and sleeping together. But did he know just how much of a figurehead he really was in this arrangement?

"Saracyn Mendacium"

Albion very nearly relaxed there in the moonlight, his pale pelt glowing in the moonlight. He truly did look like a ghost moving through the shadow, and more so as he basked in the cool night light. He was patrolling though, however much his mind would wander his senses were on high alert. The youthful Klein could be called anything but lazy, still the master hunter could conceal himself. Albion didn’t expect to be stalked, but was cautious about the intuitive feeling of being watched. Who or what he didn’t know until Saracyn’s voice broke the silence of the night.

Ivory ears perked and his attention swiveled to the grasses where the man sought his attention. His tone more than anything else would be what got under Albion’s pink skin, but his expression and hackles remained in neutrality. The dig at his name was too subtle, since he was in fact albino, he figured it was being used as a slur. He went on, trying harder as he pushed at his secondary position at Avacyn’s side. She was up front with him from the beginning, and even he had doubted what was in store.

However, Avacyn did make him feel much deeper emotions than he had anticipated. She made him feel special despite the man he was looking down on now. ”I am a man of my word.” He returned simply, owing the scarlet brute little more explanation than that. Albion would be amicable because he had no desire to cause Avacyn strife. With the hostility he felt right now it seemed there would need to be words somewhere. Glass blue eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the prince, knowing that couldn’t be the only reason he had been sought out. Obviously Saracyn had not been in total agreement with Avacyn’s desires.

Albion Klein

Much to his disappointment, Albion seemed neither surprised nor incensed by Saracyn's mocking words. He did however earn a narrowed gaze from the pallid man, so he knew he was at least getting under the other wolf's skin a bit at a time. Saracyn gave a single hard chuckle, punctuated by a scoff as he rolled his eyes and took a couple slow, casual steps around the rock Albion was perched upon, remaining ever cool and snide. "Ah, yes, 'your word'. How noble of you to honor an agreement that holds no weight to it anymore." Sara scoffed again and shook his head, turning a pointed stare at the Klein wolf. "You do realize your betrothal was an arrangement to ally Elysium and Fenmyre, right? So what word are you upholding now that your pack is dead and gone?" Fenmyre was nothing but dust and memories now, its remaining members scattered to the wind. While some of the refuse had ended up in Elysium, most had simply vanished. A shame this one couldn't have followed suit...

Sara slowed his pace to come to a stop standing beside the rock, turning his cold gaze away from Albion to survey out over the dark lands and peer up at the black canvas of stars overhead, looking everywhere but at Albion. "You must really be smitten with my sister if you're still keeping up these false pretenses," he spoke in casual observation. "I fully understand why. Avacyn is bewitching. Obviously she is to you, or you wouldn't even be considering tethering yourself to being her cover story."

Icy cerulean eyes moved back to lock with the glass blue of his rival, his marking's glow intensifying in brightness for a moment as he fixed Albion with a hard stare. "So what do you gain out of staying, hmm? Besides being my sloppy seconds, of course. You know she'll never love you the way she loves me. The only reason you're still here is because she's too damn lawful to willingly defy our traditions the way I am. You're her plausible deniability, her cover story to show to the public. That's what you offer—that's all you offer now with no alliance to bring to the table." A wry smirk crossed the crimson prince's lips while he shook his head. "I'd pity you, if you weren't so willfully pathetic about it."

"Saracyn Mendacium"

Albion was young but the prince had always possessed an old soul. Superior, but more mature than the majority of two year old males. Including Saracyn it seemed like. The ivory prince cocked his head as the Mendacium male went on, trying even harder to dig in against him. Albion had been uncertain about this agreement, that was true, but Saracyn’s words were not swaying him like the brite hoped for. Albion chuckled slightly, ”Your own ignorance is showing now.” The prince obviously had little understanding of the meeting that had taken place as much as the agreement that was put in place. ”An alliance with Fenmyre was always the secondary point. You should really be thanking me, I’m the reason you are even allowed to have such a relationship with Avacyn.” He was made aware of the Mendacium creed. The twins weren’t supposed to marry or produce offspring.

”You’re right, I’m here because I care about Avacyn, I’m here so she can have what her heart desires, but you are obviously much less concerned about what she wants. Willing to disregard your family’s tradition, sounds to me like you aren’t as proud of your blood as you claim.” Albion continued to stare down at Saracyn, unwilling to give up his moral and physical high ground. The prince as never illusioned to the fact that this would never be a traditional marriage. The reason he was chosen was because of the way he was brought up. Having multiple wives wasn’t a big leap to having many husbands. Avacyn would not be his only fire either.

”I’ll leave when the future queen dismisses me.” He had subjected himself to the rule of the Matriarch and her daughter. He’d given his word, and now that he knew Saracyn was so bothered by his presence, it renewed his determination to make this whole arrangement work. The only way Sara was going to get rid of him was through Avacyn herself.

Albion Klein

Once more, Saracyn would go wanting for any sort of anger to show in Albion's face, but he would at least get the pleasure of seeing his words provoke enough of a reaction to make the quiet freak begin to speak. Cerulean eyes shot a sharp glower up at the alabaster wolf, bristling at the albino's mocking words. He should be thanking him?! A hard scoff and a roll of his eyes so strong his head lolled along with his bitter gaze was given in retort. "Spare me your delusions of grandeur, Klein," he spat back, putting extra vitriol in the way he sneered the wolf's family name. "You act so haughty like this is some noble gesture you make, but really it only shows your true colors. You also show your own ignorance if you believe I'm doing any of this for my own benefit." Saracyn extended the claws on one paw, drawing them slowly down the side of the stone Albion was resting on, the scraping of sharp claw on stone filling the calm winter night air. "My willingness to disregard the laws of my family's beliefs comes from my love for her. My family means the world to me, but Avacyn is my everything. I would give away everything I am for her so we could have our love and live our lives as the Ancients intended, no matter the cost."

A cold sneer twisted the crimson brute's lips up into a mocking smile. "If you want to know who truly doesn't value their family, why don't you take a look in the mirror, Snow White?" he jabbed in retort. "Off living in someone else's pack trying to get your dick wet with a wolf who'll never truly love you while your own family falls apart at the seams. Your pack dead and gone, your family scattered to the wind, and you just watching from the sidelines while doing nothing about it. I bet your father is sooooo proud of you." Another hard snicker from Saracyn as he turned away from Albion, trotting a couple of paces away to pretend to be studying one of the nearby rocks more closely. "That is, assuming he's your real father. Your degenerate sister leaves a lot of doubt when she looks like some sort of half-bred raccoon. Who knows, maybe she got it from your mother. Maybe she wasn't so faithful... or maybe your 'dad' just really likes to be cucked."

Piercing eyes looked back at Albion from over his shoulder with a steely leer. He knew he was playing with fire, but he wanted to get a rise out of Albion. He would either get his chance to mangle the pallid fucker or take pleasure in knowing he put the unwanted intruder in his place. "He who lives in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, Albino. Maybe next time you try to claim someone is ashamed of their blood, you should make sure your family is actually worth mentioning first."

"Saracyn Mendacium"

Saracyn was quite openly hostile, something that Albion had not expected from him. He had said his peace, Albion was there to support Avacyn, to keep his vow, and to help her rule her kingdom. He wasn’t here as an affront to the prince before him, but as Sara spoke Albi could only feel the animosity. Despite him having none of the inverse. The Klein Prince was naturally quiet, and had already said his peace. Saracyn’s words said one thing, but Albion knew the truth to be the opposite.

”Whatever helps you sleep at night.” He shrugged as Sara claimed that he did value his family and traditions, making him a hypocrite in Albion’s eyes. ”Your actions say otherwise.” Albion was always in the camp that actions spoke louder than words, and Saracyn was obviously trying to cover his actions by screaming to the void.

”I only speak the truth,” Albion spoke as Saracyn went off on a tangent about matters he had no idea about, bringing an amused chuckle to Albion’s throat. ”You have no real argument, so you resort to insulting my family? Sounds like you’re projecting your own doubts about your lineage.” Albion returned the snicker, the red prince completely unable to get under his skin. ”The only stones cast were from you. Silly Mendacium, you know nothing about the world or the Klein name.” If Saracyn weren’t such an insufferable fool Albion would have attacked him for disparaging both Siren and Scylla. However, his affection for Ava kept him stationary. Violence wasn’t going to cure Saracyn’s stupidity. Any action he took would only reflect badly on his betrothed. Besides, Albion was far too confident in himself and his family for Sara’s words to be more than water off his back.

Albion Klein