There was a carriage in front of the house, grandiose enough that I knew who it belonged to the moment I saw it. The presence of the six black-armored knights standing outside was a glaring clue too, of course, but an unnecessary one.
While I would have normally not minded the prince visiting the house – we’d had him over a few times already, in fact – the sight put me on edge today. The fact that he’d entered the house while we weren’t there was strange, not something he would normally do, and in light of my new suspicions, it gave me a very bad feeling.
Ren and I were both on guard as we stepped past the stone-faced knights and the front door of our house. The main floor was deserted, as always, but it felt different this time. The air more ominous than welcoming, even though nothing had really changed.
We silently made our way up the floors, finding each one empty until we reached the fourth and highest one. There, in the central living space, sat Zayr, sipping calmly from a steaming cup of tea. He’d cleaned up since I’d last seen him earlier the same day, after the fight. He’d forgone the armor, now clothed in a crisp set of formal wear worthy of a boy of his status.
But more than that, his bearing had undergone a transformation too. In the waning evening glow, he looked more like a politician than a warrior, and a terrifying one at that. Cool, calm, and collected, he looked like a man utterly in control of his environment, a far cry from the straightforward and simple warrior prince I’d gotten to know over the past couple of weeks.
He looked up as we entered into the room, and there was a moment of silence that passed over us, as if in acknowledgement of the sudden change in our relationship.
“Ruby, Ren,” he began, his voice smooth and controlled to the point of perfection. “Have a seat, please,” he said, gesturing to the two couches on either side of him.
“Zayr,” I responded, moving to sit on the seat across from him instead. Ren remained standing a bit to the left and behind my chair, hands clasped like a bodyguard.
Zayr grimaced as I spoke. “That,” he said, waving at me with a hand, “is another point we’ll have to work on.” At my hardened look, he continued on with a serious face. “Few people in the world have the right to call me so casually,” he set his cup down on the glass table between us, lifting fingers as he counted, “Father, Mother, and my two brothers.” He wagged the four fingers at me. “And you, Mountain Devil, are not any of them.”
“Is this who you really are?” I asked in response, not bothering to address his arrogance. I couldn’t help the disappointment in my voice as I spoke; a small part of me was genuinely disheartened at the change in the boy.
“Of course!” the boy snapped. “Did you really think I, I, the Blood Prince, would really associate with Devils and backwater scum? No, no, I was simply having a little fun, honing my social skills a little while I was passing through. The wolves were meant to be the end of it, but I will admit, I was quite wrong about the two of you. I imagined you’d resist a little, of course, given your penchant for altruism and whatnot, but spoiling my fun entirely? Far beyond my expectations, I will say. Having survived that, I was sure you’d come to the realization quick enough, so I figured I’d bring an end to this facade right now. After all, even the buffoons licking my feet were starting to have ideas, so the two of you must’ve surely arrived at your own conclusions by now.”
I shook my head in disgust at the boy. “So you’re not denying it then?” I asked. “You really did lure the wolves to the nobles?”
Zayr laughed at my questions. “Deny?” he asked incredulously. “Ruby, Ruby, Ruby,” he said, shaking his head as a sick smile spread over his face. “I don’t think you’ve truly understood just what I am, have you?” The boy continued on, not bothering to have me answer. “I am the Blood Prince of the Blood Palace, third son of the Luminous Queen. This town is nothing to me. It’s a joke, a toy! I own more people than there are living in this entire place!” The boy breathed out then, collecting himself.
“The lives of everyone living in this town are nothing to me, playthings at most. I could have them all extinguished with a breath, and no one of any importance would blink an eye. You don’t yet understand just how wide the world really is, Ruby, but you will. You will understand, one day, just how insignificant this place is, how insignificant you and your people are. And then you will understand, Ruby, just how ridiculous it is that you would ask if I would deny what I did. Because you’re right. I did want to watch those idiots get torn to pieces by the wolves. I wanted to watch as they begged for mercy from the gods, as they watched each other die, as they eventually realized that their puny, unimportant lives were really coming to an end. And I probably still will, just to show you that I can. And then I will show you the world, Ruby, and I will make you understand just how important I really am.”
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The disgust that had stolen my voice finally relinquished its grasp on me. “Show me the world?” I asked incredulously. “I’m sorry, do you still think we’re going to be friends or something?”
Zayr looked like he couldn’t believe his ears at my questions. “Oh my, Ruby,” he began when he finally found his voice. “You Devils really are something, aren’t you? Your strength is commendable, but by the Astros! Your brains are really lacking, aren’t they?” The boy stroked his chin. “I might have to take your tongue too when I bring you back home. Can’t have you embarrassing me with your stupidity now.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “You’re sick in the head, you know that? Just…” I paused, struggling to find a word to describe the enormity of his insanity. “Absolutely demented,” I settled for eventually. “It’s unbelievable. I’ve met some delusional people, but wow, you really take the cake.”
Zayr sighed, shaking his head. “I’ve had just about enough of your insults, Ruby. Honestly, if anyone at the palace were to know I’ve endured such degradation from a Devil, I’d never be able to lift my face again.” He leaned forward then, clasping his hands together. “Very well, since it seems you still haven’t fully understood the situation yet, I will explain it to you once, slow enough that even you should be able to understand, alright?” He took a breath there. “I own you. Of course, I more or less own everyone in this town, but you specifically, I’ve decided, are mine. And you will be for as long as it takes for you to break. You have been mine since the day your strength caught my attention, and you will be until it no longer does. Of course, I’ll have to cripple you before I can take you home – I can’t have my own woman being stronger than me, of course – so the day you begin to bore me might come soon. But until then, you will accompany me everywhere I want you to, and you will do so as one of my possessions. That is your fate, decided from the moment I wished it. Do you understand now?”
I nodded at the boy’s question, which seemed to surprise him. “Yup, I understand now.” I smiled at the boy before me, all feelings of revulsion and horror evaporating from me, leaving me with only a mild curiosity. “Yeah, you’re just insane,” I continued with a relieved laugh. “Just utterly, completely insane. Honestly, it’s kinda crazy that I didn’t realize it until now. You’re terrifyingly good at covering it up, I’ll give you that, but I guess your insanity was bound to come through eventually. Sucks, though. Really thought you could be a good friend.”
Zayr leaned back and sighed. “Do you remember the Tesserpine people, the ones that you met on your way here?” he asked, suddenly changing the subject in a way I did not like in the least. “Good people, aren’t they? So in tune with nature, at balance with the world around them. Peace-loving, kind, hard-working. Weak. Wouldn’t it be such a shame if, say, an A-rank adventurer were to waltz into their district and decide to make a mess? After all, most of them aren’t even mages.” The boy laughed a sick, twisted laugh. “Imagine that! He would be like a god to them! No one could stop him, and certainly no one from the city would either, even if they could. Not if he represented…say, an unimaginably powerful force in the nation.”
I raised an unimpressed eyebrow at the boy. “Really?” I asked. “That’s your play to get me under your control? Threatening a genocide of people I barely know?”
Zayr laughed at my question. “Let’s leave the acting to the people with some talent, shall we? Ruby, you and I both know that would be enough to force you to listen to me, but no, I don’t plan on using them the whole way. They’re only a play to make you attend the banquet tomorrow. That’s when you will truly understand how futile any resistance to me would be. The Tesserpine people will be of no use to me once you attend tomorrow, I can assure you that.”
I stared hard at the boy as he stopped talking, for once unsure of how to proceed in the conversation. As stupid as it was, he was right. Despite how brief our interaction was, I’d never let myself be even somewhat responsible for a genocide of Birch’s people.
Zayr’s eyes were insufferably smug as he took a drawn out sip from his teacup. “Oh, I am going to enjoy watching that light in your eye flicker out,” he muttered, almost to himself, a sick smile on his face.
“I could just kill you, y’know?” I said suddenly.
Zayr almost spit out his tea in his laughter. “Ooh! Please! Please do so! And I’m sure you could. My guards downstairs are B ranked at the highest. And even then, that’s only a low tier B rank. You could most certainly kill me, right here and now. Only,” he pulled out a watch from his breast pocket and checked the time, “if Dryon doesn’t hear from me in about an hour, he’s gonna go in and have some fun with the Tesserpine people. And let me tell you, when Dryon has fun, no one else does. And after he’s done, he’s going to send a message back home that the third son of the Blood Palace has been murdered. Do you want me to explain what will happen to you then?”
I smiled at the boy. “I’m not afraid of you, Zayr; not you, nor that background you’re so proud of.”
Zayr grinned right back at me. “I know that, Ruby. And that’s what I love about you.” The boy’s eyes darkened then. “But you will learn to. You will learn to fear me. And when that day comes,” he shrugged, “I won’t love you anymore. And then I’ll throw you away and find someone else.”
Before I could respond, the boy set his cup down on the table and pushed himself up to his feet. “Well then, I believe I’ve passed on any messages I needed to for now. Enjoy yourself tonight, Ruby, because starting tomorrow, you will officially be my woman. And I assure you, you will not enjoy that.”
With a smile so self-assured it was taunting, the boy buttoned up his jacket and began to leave. “Oh, and Ruby?” he said suddenly, just as he walked past Ren, “wear something pretty tomorrow." He paused, then spoke again. "Or, on second thought, I’ll have something sent over. Wear that. I doubt you own anything suitable anyway."
The boy's sickening laugh echoed in the dark room as he left, the sound bouncing around in my ears long after the door had shut behind him.