Ackley has a minion!

Me, Myself, and I the King Content

"I do royally declare myself the new king!"

When Ackley was born, the kingdom rejoiced that there was an heir. His mother beamed, his father boasted to anyone and everyone. Ackley was a loud baby from the moment of birth and even as he aged his baby giggles sounded more like high pitched wails. Little could keep the king and queen's pride and joy quiet, but no one was idiotic enough to tell them their son was obnoxiously loud. It's very likely that this tendency to never be told no led Ackley to believe that the world was at his command.

Although very intelligent, Ackley didn't inherit his mothers knowledge of manners or his fathers ability to discern right from wrong. Instead, he was a remarkable hunter, a sweet-talker, a man with the ability to wriggle his way ouf of any situation -- or maybe that last one came as a perk for being a prince. In any case, Ackley was an only child and he much preferred it that way. His parents contemplated more children before deciding that Ackley was perhaps better off alone.

Ackley had very few friends growing up. Instead, his time was often spent with tutors, fruitlessly trying to push the importance of understanding proclamations, past wars, future issues, current news. They told him learning multiple languages was important as a to-be king. By the time he was ten he could fluently speak French and German, but Ackley found languages boring and dull. What he preferred to do instead was hunt -- he loved to wander out in the woods, to pull back his arrow and aim. He liked the sound a gun made as it fired.

In hunting Ackley found he could relieve stress from the day, stress from being a prince, and stress from life in general. With as much freedom as he had, Ackley didn't always abuse it; after all, as a prince, there were moments where he obeyed and did as he was told. Thankfully, one of the few things his parents didn't (much) disapprove of was his friendship with Alana Dupont, the daughter of the royal physician. Although him and Alana weren't allowed to be alone together, she was one of the few children in the palace, and his parents didn't mind him spending his time with her.

With no one else to really talk to, as both him and Alana grew up together, he started to find her rather pretty. With her blonde hair and blue eyes, she certainly stood out among the average, boring faces he saw every day. Despite not actively seeking out her company, the older they got the more he seemed to see her around. She disliked wearing the extravagant gowns the other court ladies wore, instead preferring dresses that were free-flowing and let her sneak around easier. She whined when she didn't get her way, cried when animals were in danger, and hated being in the presence of most females -- Ackley found her to be an endless source of amusement for all these reasons and more.

His entire life was led in preparation for the moment when he would become king. It was something he knew would inevitably happen, as it always did. But when his turn arose, Ackley still wasn't prepared. A few weeks prior to his fathers passing, his would-be bride had fallen ill, and this sickness took her life. That's what Ackley was told, anyway, but he suspected her death to be a cover-up of something more serious, though he could never figure out what. It didn't matter, as she turned out to be another nameless face, another nameless woman, in his life.

It was funny, Ackley couldn't help but think, how his fathers and almost-brides death seemed to bring out the best in Alana. He found her surprisingly pleasant, almost enjoyable, and he suspected she was placing herself front-runner to be the next queen. What the rest of the palace didn't know was that him and Alana had been fooling around for years, roughly since he was twenty-one, her eighteen. And now, with him at twenty-four, he was perfectly eligible for marriage, as was she at twenty-one. Despite his family and the kingdom pushing he find a new bride, Ackley found he really only wanted to rule as he pleased and not to worry about a bride. He certainly didn't want to worry about any new heirs before he'd even officially taken over.

Instead, Ackley decided to keep Alana around for entertainment as he always did, and she certainly didn't complain. Really, why would she? He often gave her gifts in the shapes of ruby rings and diamond necklaces, or exotic perfumes from foreign countries. He appeased her, and she amused him with her company. It really was a win-win situation. Ackley thought things were going swimmingly, until Alana one day came into his palace chambers and woke him from his afternoon nap.

"Ackley!" Alana whined into his ear. Usually -- like everyone else -- she called him His Majesty, but she had a tendency to refer to him by his name when they were alone. And, usually, it didn't bother him, except that he was tired and she'd woken him up from a pleasant dream. He wondered how she'd managed to sneak through his locked chamber doors and past the guards, then decided it didn't matter. She'd find her way around any security system to make her way into his room if she had to.

"I've come up with a wonderful, brilliant plan," Alana continued on. "See, I've already found someone named Sebastian, and he's going to take care of the boring parts. I-- We'll become even richer and then I won't have to worry about you not giving me more cash!" She was so enthusiastic and excited, Ackley couldn't recall the last time she'd cared so much about.. well, anything but herself and Tez, her little pet fox.

"Are you going to tell me what this brilliant plan of yours is? It must be life changing if you decided to wake me up just to ramble." Ackley was certainly in no mood for hearing her babble. "Get to the point."

"Well... You see, I know someone who knows someone who introduced me to Sebastian the other day when we were playing poker down at the pub.." She paused to twirl hair around her finger. "And Sebastian started talking about how he knows someone who deals in cocaine. I'm sure you know, Ackley, that it's very in demand for just about anything right now. Sebastian knows a way around paying taxes and whatnot on however he gets his goods."

Ackley sat up on his bed, the pillows creating a comfortable loveseat around him. He watched Alana closely, not entirely sure on how he really fit in to her plan. If he wanted anything, it was at the tip of his fingers. Nothing was out of his boundaries. "This Sebastian sounds like he ought to consider himself lucky I don't hunt him down now for cheating the country out of more money."

"Oh, don't be such a prick! He's willing to deliver to other countries, which is where we need your help. If you can find more buyers, he'll give me.. Us, I mean, a portion of the money. We make money, he gains clients, and everyone wins! Really, I don't see a downside at all! I mean, there is Ciel, a bit of a brat who apparently comes as a package deal with Sebastian, but he's hardly a thing to worry about." Alana, ever her persuasive self, seemed pleased. It was clear she thought she'd done a very good job of arguing all her points.

"Alana, is there a very good chance all of this is to amuse you? You get enough gems and jewels from me, I don't see why those don't make good enough collateral for all your gambling debts." Ackley couldn't help but give Alana a lazy smile as she crawled across the bed to sit next to him, now playing with his hair instead. He certainly loved when she tried to win him over.

Alana snuggled a bit closer, playing the caring partner they both knew her not to be. She tugged lightly on his hair, saying, "You won't have to worry about a thing, trust me. All I need is your seal of approval on the project, I'll take care of the details." She kissed his cheek, knowing full well if he agreed it certainly wouldn't be because of her suddenly-nice personality.

"Fine, Alana, do what you want," Ackley found himself saying, already more interested in going back to his nap than dealing with any complicated plan Alana was concocting. "But if all goes to hell, then I know nothing." With his last statement said, he closed his eyes, ready to fall back asleep. He waved his hand aloofly, shooing her away, calling a close to their little meeting.

Other Info!

+ Meet Alana
+ Meet Sebastian
+ Meet Ciel

Art by metal
Profile by Retro
Thanks Dragon for letting me adopt!