"Wait? Why Ruby?" Mor asked in shock.
"Right, you wouldn't know," Dino said.
"And I would rather not have the secrets of my family spoiled to a commoner kid, who has no right to know any of this." A new voice answered, suddenly appearing right next to Dino.
Everyone looked surprised at the sudden appearance of the old fire mage. The wisend mage was just as all Soul-kin of emaciated form, even more so because of his apparent age, which transformed him into an almost skeletal figure. The robe of the mage was of a red-brown reminiscent of dried blood, while his head was topped by the last remnants of white hair, combed to hide the bald spots as good as possible, but what should look like a frail old man, was given a dangerous look, by the eyes. They were red, like rubies, revealing the family ties of this mage, but that was not all. The high nobles were known for having vibrant eye colors, but this member of the Ruby family seemed to have a fire burning behind them, enhancing the red and giving it a dangerous glow.
Mirage was the first one to sense the danger coming off this mage and struggled free from Mor's arms and turned invisible before dashing away. However, before Mirage could get to safety, a wall of fire encompassed him, like a cage made of heat.
"Oh no, you don't." The mage said. "I can't let such a prime specimen get away. Burning it to a crisp without learning about its nature would be a waste."
Mor's hand went straight to his weapon, but a quick grab from Morokhan stopped him from doing anything stupid. However, as so often, Morokhan had underestimated someone else. Sophie glared at the old mage and extinguished the flames around Mirage. At least that was what should have happened, but instead of flickering out, the fire turned blue. The Ruby mage shook his head in disappointment as the fire consumed the ice for fuel.
"Who are you?" Dino asked, distraught that he didn't know such a powerful mage, and the power of this specific mage was indeed that. Burning Ice magic was not something any fire mage was able to do. Rather, using ice was the surefire way to counter anyone using fire magic.
"You hurt me, your highness." The old mage said. "Someone of your intellect should already know, more so when he tries to take the throne by force. Well. It is what it is. His royal majesty had said you were slow on the uptake, even with all your potential. You may call me Ruby."
"Ruby?" Dino asked incredulously. "I did not ask to which family you belong."
The old mage sighed, muttering something about the youth, but before he could answer, Mor interrupted him.
"I don't care who you are. Let Mirage go."
°Yeah you old fart!°The human added.
The unsettling gaze settled on Mor, the fire inside Ruby's eyes burning a bit brighter.
°Silence whelp! You will not disrespect my master, or I will see that you are burned to a cinder.°Something snarled, and while it didn't use words, Mor and the human could somehow understand the sounds of roaring fire.
°Holy shit. He's like an ultra Ranbor.°The human exclaimed.
°Did he soul-bind to a fire elemental?°Mor asked.
°Seems like it.°The human replied.
"I am Ruby." The old mage reiterated. "However regarding the rest of my responsibilities, it is not for me to share. Right now, I'm here to ask for a favor."
"A favor?" Dino asked.
"Indeed, your father is quite pleased with what you did. However, you have strayed a bit off your predestined path, and I kindly ask you to return to that path." Ruby said, with the smile of a kind old gentleman. However, he couldn't hide the underlying threat, or maybe that was part of the plan.
"What path?" Dino almost growled.
"I see. Now, I understand Desmond's struggles. You are slow on the uptake. I'm amazed you got your plan so far." Ruby stated, then his gaze fell on Morokhan, who was now standing in front of his son and wife, and tried to stop them from further aggravating the mage.
"Let me explain. Desmond was delighted with your performance, even though you did not act independently initially. For example, how you dealt with the Celestite family was marvelous, showing the unwavering strength of the royal family without compromise. Desmond was almost ready to let me take care of that little problem because, with their influence on the healers of our grand society, they started to make demands of the crown." Ruby shook his head.
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"But you completely eradicated their home and left only the bare minimum to rebuild that bloodline. A young scion, easily manipulated, which you easily accomplished. The girl was a great idea. She is planting all those thoughts about the healers being there for the people and not for politicking inside his head. Meaning as long as we can give him the illusion of his ideals being fulfilled by the crown, he will never work against the royal family."
Dino looked a bit confused, but slowly, something dawned on him, even more so when Ruby continued.
"Then you got rid of two rotten fruits and exchanged them with heirs, who will be loyal to you. There is a slight hiccup, as they are not loyal to the crown, but they are young and impressionable, so we can rectify that quickly. On that matter, I was asked to extend Lord Obsidian's thanks for exchanging that useless heir, which he couldn't do himself to save face. He hated playing the idiotic stickler for rules, but now everything is working as he wished. And finally, you got young lady Tiara involved in her governmental duties, something your parents have tried for a long time, but she is just as headstrong as her mother."
After praising the prince so much, Ruby took on a sad face.
"But now you want to give up all that ambition because that commoner and traitor has returned. Desmond can not allow that. You need to be driven to be stronger for the good of the kingdom. Bonding with that lowborn was bad enough, but it has been done and we can't change that. Still, for public appearances, you will be required to find a more suitable woman to stand at your side. Anyway, let's come back to my favor. Would you be so kind as to kill those three traitors?" Ruby said it with such a grandfatherly voice that Dino didn't realize what had been asked of him.
"Traitors?" He asked incredulously, noticing that the three in question got ready for a fight.
"Indeed, two of them brought a monstrosity into the heart of our future, and the third is defending them," Ruby said calmly.
"I allowed it," Dino growled.
"I'm aware. However, this is not something for you to decide. Your influence and power have limits. No one is allowed to bring a monstrosity into our kindom," Ruby answered.
"Mirage is no monstrosity," Mor stated with a growl.
"I'm aware, however, there shall be no distinction between monstrosity and magical beast," Ruby said.
°He knows?°The human asked.
°We know.°The fire elemental answered.
"I won't harm them," Dino stated, his tone allowing no further discussion. "And if you try to harm them, I will kill you instead."
The old mage nodded approvingly. "Confident like a prince should be. However, before you are able to take my life, I will have ended the three of them. Still, I will respect your wishes and the accomplishments of Morokhan and Sophie Agaton, the prince's secret guardians. Therefore, the two of them will be spared if the boy and his monster die. This is the last concession I am allowed to make."
Sophie opened her mouth to protest when another voice interrupted.
"I can't let that happen." The Shadow-kin stepped out of a nearby shadow, holding a clearly visible Mirage in his arms.
°What the fuck is up, with people just appearing right now? Did they get invited or something? Like be there and make a mysterious entrance?°The human complained.
"Interesting, I didn't expect one like you to appear," Ruby declared. However, I will not allow you to interfere with Soul-kin business."
"You aren't concerned that he heard everything you said?" Dino asked surprised.
"My rambling probably wasn't smart, looking at the momentary situation, a failure of age. Still, I am quite sure that those things are already known to the Shadow-kin. It is surprisingly hard to keep secrets from them, " Ruby acknowledged. Still, it is quite the easy fix."
A pillar of fire erupted where the Shadow-kin stood, engulfing the intruder. However, it also removed Ruby's attention from the rest. Morokhan, Sophie, and Dino could only stare in surprise at the sudden turn of events, but Mor exploded into movement. He was outraged, as the second victim of the fire spell was Mirage. Mor closed the distance in an instant, his rod swinging against the mage. Only to be blocked by a pillar of stone.
"Don't be so rash, boy. Your turn comes early enough." Ruby said dismissingly.
"That was rude." The Shadow-kin said, standing to the side, still holding Mirage in his arms, who looked quite confused.
"How?" Ruby asked.
"That doesn't need to concern you. What should concern you is that the boy will come with me. A, let's say, mutual friend asked for a favor, and I'm quite inclined to grant it." The Shadow-kin said.
"A mutual friend?"Mor asked, quickly disengaging from the fire mage.
"Indeed, a woman with quite the compelling arguments for us to act." The Shadow-kin said.
Mor took a quick look towards his mother, and Sophie nodded with a sad smile. She instinctively knew that even if they worked together, this was not a foe they could beat right now.
"Take me," Mor said to the Shadow-kin, leading to another surge of magical power from Ruby, but this time Sophie was ready.
A wall of ice blocked the lance of magma launched by Ruby, leaving an explosion of steam, but when it had dispersed, nothing was seen from Mor and the Shadow-kin. Both had vanished like they had never even been there.
"Traitor." Ruby hissed at the defiant-looking Sophie.
"One day, you will thank me. When my boy saves us all." She stated.
Morokhan looked at his wife, questioning what had happened in the time she had been alone with Mor. But with this political fiasco, such answers had to wait. He just hoped that Dino had enough influence to keep them from being executed because someone using the Soul-kings' first name must be pretty important.