3I wrote this story in 2020 and I wrote it again but better in 2024 for Kokoroklongly's annual CDF fanzine because there are less original thoughts in my brain than you'd think. Still, I feel it's better enough to warrant reposting.
If you asked Mika, Larten was indecisive, overdramatic, and prone to impulsive behaviour. If you asked Larten, Mika was a conceited, compulsive overachiever with a pathological need to be better than everyone else. If you asked either of them, close friendship had never really been on the table. Still, despite the very different paths their respective lives had taken, there was profound respect between them. And they more or less arrived back at the same place: the Hall of Princes. Every night since the War of the Scars began.
It was late and the Generals had been dismissed for the night. Even Paris and Arrow retreated to get some rest. Only Mika, Darren, and Larten remained huddled around the map dotted with colour-coded pins representing the known locations of vampires and vampaneze. To summarize the root of tonight's issue, Darren wanted to place their troops here. Larten felt they should place their troops there. Mika thought both ideas were equally reasonable and couldn't fathom why either of them had chosen that particular hill to die on. But the more seasoned Prince sat back quietly and watched the pair go at it for almost ten minutes.
The logistics discussion quickly devolved into a shouting match til Larten's face turned the same shade of red as his cloak and Darren was on the brink of a total meltdown. It certainly wasn't normal behaviour for that pair. Nor was it normal behaviour for Mika to feel a strong twinge of sympathy as Darren's voice started to break.
"Larten, get out," said Mika abruptly, raising his hand to call for silence as his patience expired.
"Pardon me?" Larten thundered, rounding on Mika with vitriol. Clearly the rime they'd spent in this room had bred an overabundance of familiarity.
Go ahead. Come at me. I can take it, Mika thought to himself.
"You mean, pardon me Sire." Mika countered. He didn't raise his voice. He didn't have to. All it took was one arched eyebrow to remind the orange-haired vampire who he was talking to.
"My apologies, Sire." Larten muttered. Although visibly flustered, he didn't quail under Mika's gaze the way most vampires did. Ironically, that was why Mika respected him to such a high degree.
"Apology accepted. But still, get out." Mika repeated. "It's becoming obvious you need to take a break. Sire Shan and I are more than capable of continuing this discussion ourselves."
Darren looked up at Mika, eyes wide in disbelief. And yes, there it was. Gratitude.
"Darren, do you agree?" Said Larten, low and urgent. "I do not have to leave if you order me to stay."
There was a rawness to Darren's voice, but he kept his composure admirably as he replied, "I think... I'll be okay for now. Thanks for your help. See you later."
Larten scowled at Darren, then nodded in begrudging acceptance. "Best of luck, Sires."
With a curt bow to Mika and Darren, he took his leave. Mika closed his eyes and appreciated the silence. Gods knew that was a scarce commodity as of late. His attention was pulled sharply to the left as he heard a soft sniffle from the throne next to him, accompanied by sharp and rapid intakes of breath.
Charna's guts, Mika thought. It had become hard enough to manage his personal stress spirals, never mind Darren's. The Cub Prince would have to learn to draw strength from within, as had all who occupied this throne before him. But Darren wasn't like them, Mika remembered with a heavy heart. He'd never wanted a throne. He didn't ask to be here. The clan collectively tended to ignore that fact when it was convenient to them and Mika was admittedly no exception.
"I've never seen you and Larten lay into each other. That was different." Mika ventured.
"Because we don't." Darren mumbled, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand. "At least not since I was first blooded. We argue sometimes… but not like that."
"Well, I hope you're not offended that I dismissed him. You know you could have objected."
"I know."
"Good. Never be afraid to object. Words I live by."
For a moment Darren just stared bleakly at the magic doors across the room, then he turned in his throne and peered up at Mika again.
"Thanks for asking him to leave, Sire Ver Leth." Darren replied in an even quieter voice. "I needed a break. But I don't think I could've done that myself."
Mika cringed at the formal moniker and raked a weary hand through his hair. "Darren, you can just call me Mika. We've been over this."
Darren nodded apologetically.
"I have a great deal of respect for Larten." Mika added pointedly. "He is an excellent vampire, one of the best I've ever known. You're very fortunate to have such a high-quality mentor. Never forget that."
Darren nodded again, but his face was reddening and his lips were pressed together in a way that suggested his emotional state was destabilizing.
"Despite Larten's many great qualities, it is my opinion that he was being unfair to you. That's not a judgement I pass lightly." Mika continued. "So I put a stop to it. I don't know you very well yet, but I do know Larten. And the behaviour I witnessed was most unlike him."
"He hasn't been the same since Council." Darren admitted in the same small voice that didn't suit him. His larger-than-life courage was the whole reason they were sitting here having this conversation in the first place.
"I don't think any of us have." Said Mika. He heard a faint strain in his own voice and quickly regulated himself. He'd gotten good at that. He didn't have a choice. "Would I be correct to assume he's taking the loss of Arra Sails rather hard?"
Darren leaned closer and whispered, as if he was afraid Larten might be outside the Hall, pressing an ear to the magic doors — "I hear him crying at night all the time. But he won't talk about it."
"Oh."
"I know he didn't mean to take it out on me... I think he's just having a bad night. That's all."
Mika nodded as he took that in. "I get it, Darren." He sighed at last. "More than you could possibly know. I'd be the last person to judge Larten for how he's feeling or how he's dealing with it. I just thought you could use a break."
"You were right. I feel bad that we sent him away, though."
"That conversation wasn't going anywhere productive. He'll be fine. Later you can sit with him and talk about it, if he'll let you. Larten's always had a temper. Although he's softened considerably in the years since I'd seen him last, some things never change."
"This is him soft?!" Darren practically yelped. Mika stifled a snort of laughter. The kid had no idea. Mika knew more of Larten's life story than he wanted to. Darren didn't need to know all of it and it wasn't Mika's to share anyway. But that didn't mean he couldn't cherry-pick an anecdote or two.
"Arra used to be my apprentice, did Larten ever tell you that?" Mika inquired offhandedly, already knowing the answer.
Darren's eyes went wide. "No!"
"I've known Arra for almost half my life. I thought the world of her." Said Mika.
"I didn't realize you were close. You lost her too… I'm so sorry." Darren's face fell all over again. So much empathy in those big green eyes. So few places for it here.
"Thank you. I miss her every day. Larten is not the only one who's had a difficult time in the wake of... Council." Mika replied as lightly as he could, allowing himself to be honest if not outright vulnerable.
"So you blooded her and everything? If you don't mind me asking."
"Actually, no. She was blooded by a much older vampire. He's been dead for many decades. She was his apprentice for a few years but they were a poor fit. She was ambitious and energetic. He was a lazy fool who just wanted someone to take care of him, keep him company, and look pretty."
Darren frowned, undoubtedly trying and failing to picture Arra filling such a role. "She would've hated that. She was nobody's trophy."
"Not a chance." Mika affirmed with a brittle smile. "I was a new General when I encountered them. And because I've never been one to keep my opinion to myself, I suggested he find a more suitable mentor for her. He interpreted that as an offer to take her on myself. And the rest is history."
"I wish I got to spend more time with her." Said Darren. He looked in danger of crying again. "I really admired her, and she worked so hard trying to help me pass my trials. She deserved a longer life and a better death."
"We lost a truly great vampire when she fell." Mika agreed. "She will be triumphant even in death… but I, too, wish she stayed longer."
"I think Mr. Crepsley wanted to be mates with her again. That's why he's having such a hard time. He loved her."
"Yes, he did. They were quite a pair."
"I bet they were."
"Did he ever tell you that almost a century ago, there was a time when both Larten and I hoped to win Arra's full attention?" Mika offered.
As Mika had hoped, Darren's face lit up with curiosity. "Are you serious?!"
"Serious as an axe wound." Mika affirmed.
"Surely he couldn't have won her over by his looks!"
Mika could have very easily laughed himself off his throne at that comment. With great difficulty he kept his composure. "Looks didn't matter to Arra, but I'll take the compliment. She'd actually met Larten by chance years before I ever crossed her path. They had a connection I couldn't compete with."
"Were you disappointed when she mated with him?"
"Of course. It was one of the few things in my life that didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. But a relationship isn't a conquest. So I was happy for her. For them."
"That makes sense." Said Darren, nodding thoughtfully.
"I figured that out before Larten did, though, I'll give myself that much credit." Mika added, allowing himself to smirk. "Larten figured out I had my eye on her, and convinced himself he could win her over by putting me in my place."
"He challenged you?!"
"Indeed."
"And he beat you?!"
Mika laughed sharply, shaking his head. "Absolutely not. He spent hours at the Festival trying to find me. I'd just finished an axe duel with someone else. Which I won, by the way. He was expecting Arra to be nearby so he could humiliate me in front of her. Then she'd have no choice but to swoon straight into his arms. A foolproof strategy, if you asked him."
"No way!" Darren gasped. "He thought that would work?!"
"He was embarrassingly confident it would work." Mika affirmed, and Darren laughed harder yet. "Arra wasn't even with me. She had plenty of her own friends. We didn't need to be joined at the hip all night."
"Then what happened?"
"He challenged me to a duel. Had I not known his true intentions, I would've accepted eagerly. But it was the Festival, so I couldn't refuse him."
"So you accepted?"
"Didn't have to. He was the one who walked away with his tail between his legs. I didn't even have to get up off my bench."
"How?!"
"I called him on his arrogance. I asked him to tell me why he really wanted to fight me, even though I already knew. Arra has no time for vain preeners, I told him."
"And what did he say?!"
Mika tried not to look too smug as he delivered the punchline: "Nothing. He turned redder than that damn cloak he loves so much."
Darren had abandoned all composure, succumbing to hoots and hollers as he pictured his stoic mentor on the wrong end of such a personal predicament, and cackled with abandon, "I wish I could've seen that! He hates being wrong!"
"I'm aware. But he's as smart as he is proud. To his credit, he immediately realized he was in the wrong and took it very well." Mika continued. "We agreed to fight another night, as friends. It was a badly executed plan on his part, but I didn't tell you this story with the intention to lower your opinion of your mentor."
Darren sobered up after a few more minutes of chuckling, but his eyes remained alight with curiosity as he looked back at Mika and asked, "So… why did you tell me?"
Mika shrugged offhandedly, and occupied himself with cleaning the dagger he always kept in his pocket, trying not to smile in satisfaction. "I just thought you'd enjoy it."
"I did. Thanks, Sire — I mean, thanks, Mika." Darren smiled, and let out a contented little sigh as he relaxed into the throne that was much too big for him. Mika wasn't worried. He'd grow into it.
"No need to thank me. Humbling Larten Crepsley is an honour and a privilege few get to enjoy. Now let's get back to work."