Chapter 3 Darkest Prince

• I heard the grating of stone far to my right and scanned the shadows along the high wall but saw nothing.
• “Are you here?”
• “I am.” A bored rumbling tone rose.
• “You’re in the dark?”
• “Usually.” There was that flat voice. “You did well, making it past my poor guardsman. They did a bang up job, did they not?”
• “I told them I was coming to see you.”
• “Yes…You did. I heard you.”
• He heard me? From that far below?
• I knew the Eternus had primal hearing but I didn’t know it could expand so powerfully.
• “So, are you here, like so many before you to try and assassinate me?”
• “Would I have a prayer of doing so?”
• “None.”
• I believed him. That cold, unfeeling voice lacked any motivation to lie.
• He was unmoved by my presence here, or the fact that I’d deceived so many of his kind to arrive. Sounding more disgusted with them then anything.
• “Then I’ll not bother with that.”
• “Then pray tell, why are you here?” I heard another rustle of small rocks and felt like he was much closer. Sensing that penetrating eyes were boreing into me.
• The Dark Prince.
• I imagined him like the many I’d seen on the way here. Black eyed and black haired.
• With pale features and hard faces.
• He was their prince.
• “I’d like to know what it would take for you to rein in your Mob.”
• “The Mob? What have they done now.”
• “They’re raiding and stealing goods and feeding on the unwilling.”
• “That’s all?” He drawled. Though I heard the hint of annoyance in his voice.
• Annoyed with me? Or with them?
• “Why should I bother with any of that?”
• “Why shouldn’t you!” I proclaimed. “They’re your people. If you don’t consider yourself responsible for them why remain their prince?”
• He snorted. “The first relevant question you’ve asked.”
• As if all other things I’ve asked were mere idiocy. That stung my pride.
• “Because I need them to get back what was stolen from my family.” He said simply.
• What was stolen? Who’s his family?
• I’d never heard any talk of the Dark Prince having any family.
• “And what’s that?”
• “The Eternus Realm.”
• The largest realm in Ferus.
• He wants it?
• “That belongs to King Liam.” I objected.
• “His descendant now.” The Prince corrected in a smooth rumble. “But an obstacle I need to overcome nonetheless.”
• He wants it back, apparently.
• “That doesn’t explain why you let them run?”
• “I’ve too many subjects to keep them locked in my fortress all day. They will cause some havoc.”
• “Then reduce the numbers.”
• “And lose an army?” He countered.
• A valid point but I had another argument prepared.
• “Then build a bigger fortress.”
• “On the side of the mountain?” He queried. “Not much space or level ground to do that. It’s as big as it can be.”
• Also true.
• His rapid logic was beginning to irk me.
• I decided on another tac.
• “Make them stop.” I said authoritatively.
• “Look at you…” He crooned. Easing from the darkest corner to my right. A slash of a white face materializing. With a swath of blonde hair smoothed back from his forehead. And light blue eyes which nearly glowed, pinning me where I stood. “Thinking you’re as bold as a troll.”
• Not a compliment.
• “Come here.” He lifted a hand and crooked a finger at me.
• “Walk into the dark with the Darkest Prince? See how hungry he is.” I snorted skeptically. “Not hardly.”
• “You think to defy me?”
• “I think if I want to live I’ll certainly risk defying you.”
• “Not a sure way to survive in my presence.”
• “Which will you kill me for first? Defiance? Or hunger.”
• “Why not both?” He said silkily. Did his voice ever change from that smooth tone. Like he found all things a verbal debate.
• “Or neither?” I countered.
• He clucked in his cheek disapprovingly. “That sounds like far less fun.”
• “Do you command the Mob at all.”
• “I do.”
• “Prove it.”
• “To something that matters to me as much as a flitting butterfly?”
• “To me, yes.”
• “Why would I feel a need to impress you?”
• “Not to impress me, to prove yourself to you.”
• “I have no need to prove anything to myself.”
• “Then why do you hide up here on your mountain, collecting soldiers for an army you’ve never taken them to fight?”
• “Because I need more.”
• “Why’s that?”
• “Because the Pyre Army has the most formidable leader I’ve ever met.”
• I knew of the Commander of the Pyre Army. I’d heard of his feats and how brutal he could be when crossed.
• “King Liam’s descendant?”
• “No. Their Commander, Jackson Gray. My cousin.”