A Prince's Prophetic Switch

Ishan (Wins the "Most Imporved" award for sure!)

"If you must break the law, do it to gain
power. In all other cases, observe it."
~Julius Caesar

After, quite literally, teaching Ishan to walk, Jade took him to see the Empire. As soon as they got outside of the residence, Ishan's mind raced, hearing the buzz and chatter of the populated Empire, so lively. It had never been like this underwater.

There were buildings of all colors, ones new to him, unheard of underwater. There was a vibrant, loud color that immediately popped out to Ishan. For some, odd reason, it made him feel angry. He didn't have a word for it, but it reminded him of the bloodshed from past wars underseas that he had witnessed.

There was another color, painted on the wood of a vegetable stand, similar to the color of the sun when he went too close to the surface, which he often did, as his father hated it. Even then, the color made him feel joyous, and happy. It didn't fit the description of the colors he already knew, for it wasn't green, or violet, or even blue. It was something else entirely. Something pure. Something that made him happy, but wasn't exactly calming. It reminded him of making Jade laugh.

And then there was a color in between the two, a mixture of sorts. It almost looked the color of wood, but even that description did not do it justice. It was fresh, sweet, almost, if you could describe a color that way. It was even... optimistic, almost. He felt he could reach into his mind and touch it, though he knew he could not.

And most of all, it reminded him, though he could not explain how, of his birth. The first seconds he lived, before he was cast to the depths of the ocean, where he would live believing that Poseidon was his father.

He was admiring the markets, colors, and architecture. Jade noticed how eagerly Ishan looked at the colors, and listed off their names. There was red, yellow, and orange. When Ishan asked why he couldn't see those underwater, Jade explained how water absorbed sunlight, which is needed to see color, and thus red, orange, and yellow, all of which she categorized as "warm colors", were hard to see below around 45 feet underwater.

"Wow. That's cool." Ishan said after she was finished explaining, sucking in a breath from using so much air.

"You don't even remember what I said, do you?"

"Yes I do!" Ishan protested.

"Prove it."

"Well, first you said, um... red and yellow and warm are orange colors! Wait, no..." Jade laughed, rolling her eyes.

Then he saw them.

"What are those wondrous creatures?" Ishan asked, gaping off into the distance.

Jade followed his gaze, then laughed so hard that Ishan thought she might have lost it. "For a second there," Jade said, then paused to catch her breath, and restarted her statement. "For a second there I forgot you had never come up here before. It's just..." Jade went off into another fit of laughter, as she finally finished her thought. "The way you phrased the question..." Jade laughed again, and Ishan crossed his arms, scowling with the slightest hint of joy. He looked foolish as a child did while fussing over something silly.

"Aren't I your future Emperor? How dare you talk to me like that!" Ishan stamped one foot on the ground and looked away, a childish expression crossing his face. Jade chuckled, and that made him happy. Making her laugh was an accomplishment. Making her laugh was yellow.

"Those, your highness are horses." Jade responded, her voice taking on a mocking tone.

"I see." he said, and Jade waited patiently for him to continue. When he doesn't, she asks, "...do you want to pet one?"

Ishan's head jolted up to looked at her. "May I?" he requested eagerly.

"Yes, and I can teach you to ride, if you like."

"I like!" he said stupidly. Wow, Ishan, you sounded real mature right there. He thought. He didn't know why, but for some reason he felt the need to sound somewhat intelligent in front of Jade. He wasn't, but still. It was probably because she thinks he's stupid and Ishan definitely didn't want that. Not that he doesn't want her specifically to think that he's dumb. Trust me, he doesn't want anyone to believe that. But for some reason it felt more important that Jade didn't than anyone else. Probably because she was so familiar with the Empire, and Ishan knew close to nothing. But there was something else that he couldn't quite place...

Ishan started running off, towards the direction of the horses, and Jade ran after. As Ishan climbed over the fence, a man called out.

"Hey, you aren't allowed to just come in here without paying!" The man shouted, but Ishan wasn't listening. Instead, he was climbing onto the back of a navy-blue horse, bowing it's head low, as if allowing him to ride.

"Sorry about that, he's... new here." Jade apologized.

"What, new to human civilization?" the man laughed at his own joke (though it wasn't very good), then stared in shock at the 2 golden aureus Jade had just placed in his palm. Spot on! Jade thought, and ran over to Ishan.

"So, what's next, I need to teach you common etiquette?" Jade asked after catching up with him, royally annoyed.

"No, I was already taught that." He responded nonchalantly, potentially not noticing the bitterness in her voice. If he did, though, he was at good hiding it.

"Well, clearly not good enough!"

Ishan ignored her, and went along on a quick trot on the stallion. At first, Jade followed his example, and ignored him as well. That is, until Ishan left the grounds completely.

"How in the—" Jade started, then thought better of it.

Ishan, on the other hand, was already getting the hang of this whole horse thing. He didn't need riding lessons from Jade. He was amazing.

Soon enough, the owner called out again, noticing how Ishan had already jumped over the fence, and was trotting along on the roads.

"Gods," Jade spoke, doing a mental face-palm.

"Here, I'm sorry about him, like I said... new." Jade explained and put another 3 aureus in the man's outstretched hand.

"Hey, it's fine! Come by anytime!" the man shouted after her, pleased with his profit.

Yeah, totally. Jade thought as she ran to catch up with Ishan.

"What were you thinking?" She asked, angrily.

"I don't like thinking. It's difficult." Ishan said plainly, and continued riding on a steady trot.

"Well, everyone has to, so that doesn't just exclude you!"

"Why not?" Ishan asked, a smile forming.

Jade rolled her eyes. "Because."

"Because why?"

"Because I said so."

"And you started making the rules when, again?" Ishan asked, coming to a halt.

"When I found out you couldn't walk. Or talk, for that matter."

Ishan growled. "...Fine. But from now on, because I said so is not an acceptable answer."

"Yes, it is." Jade argued.

"What? Why?"

"Because I said so."

"Hey!"