Lightning crashed outside, illuminating the window for a brief moment before thunder shook the very stones of the keep. Rain pelted against the glass pane as a persistent barrage as it had all day. The storm had raged for the better part of the day, leaving Prince Aldric trapped inside or risking sickness from the onslaught of water. He sat in his bed, the room only lit by the fire that roared inside his fireplace across the massive stone bedroom. His long, dark hair was tied back with a leather cord as his steel gray eyes read over the spread of documents in front of him. His body was well-muscled from two decades of practice at combat styles of all kinds, and he stood nearly a head taller than any other man in the kingdom.
A table to one side had the remains of his dinner sitting on it, not yet cleaned. Aldric had always refused a manservant or butler of any kind, seeing it as only a means for him to grow lazy. His sword, Magebane, was named by his great-grandfather after it had been used to slaughter the Gifted after their magic had been outlawed in Eldoria by the former king. The sword was an Artifact itself, able to absorb the power of a Gift and redirect it. It had been passed down from father to son for every generation until Aldric’s father, King Athuen, had gifted it to him on the day of his Crowning, the day he had been knighted as heir to his father. While no Gifted had been seen in the capital city of Havery since the culling, meaning there was very little chance Aldric would ever face a mage without traveling outside the city, most likely the kingdom, he still kept the sword with him whenever it was allowed. It was a beautiful sword, a blade of perfectly forged steel, and the guard was gold with an opal set in the center above the grip, which was wrapped in study, soft leather straps.
There was a knock at the door to his chambers as Aldric’s head snapped up from the parchments. No one should be coming to his door at this late hour with anything other than ill news. He rose, pulling a basic tunic over his head, and crossed the room, his bare footfalls echoing off the stone walls. He opened the door to see Liana, Ward of the King, and one of his oldest friends standing in the doorway. She wore a simple nightgown, her long, fiery hair spilling down the back, and was also barefoot. She was barely tall enough to come up to Aldric’s ribs as she looked up at him with glistening, sapphire eyes.
“Aldric-” She started quietly.
He cut her off by grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her into his room before slamming the door closed.
“What are you doing?! What if someone had seen you, barely dressed, coming to my room in the middle of the night?” Aldric half-shouted, half-whispered to her.
“Then they would think what everyone already suspects, you oaf.”
“You expect the rumors to stop if you feed into them all the more?”
He had faced away from her to watch the door, making sure no one came to investigate the slamming sound. Aldric turned back to her, ready to continue his tirade before stopping at the tears running down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry,” he sighed, placing his hands more gently on her shoulders again, “I’m making an ass of myself. The idea that I might one day soon be betrothed for my kingdom weighs heavy on me, as I know it does you.”
He leaned his head down to kiss her on the top of her bright hair.
“Cedric is missing,” Liana whispered.
Aldric felt his entire body stiffen, his posture becoming rigid as steel. He stepped back from her, keeping his hands on her shoulders like she was the anchor that would keep his ship at bay as the storm that raged outside now felt as though it was in his mind.
“What do you mean my brother is missing?” He said, deathly quiet.
“The envoy sent to Tetonia has gone missing. No word has been received about their arrival and the last hawk just returned with no response.” Liana choked out.
Aldric felt a cold sliver run down his back.
“Where is my father?”
“Meeting with his council. In the King’s Room.”
Aldric hurried to put on his boots, throwing his overcoat on before lacing them and belting his sword around his waist.
“Liana, return to your chambers immediately. You may not see me for weeks, but I must find out what has happened to my brother.” He commanded.
Jumping to his feet, Aldric kissed her before she could respond and ran out of the room. His leather boots smacking on the stone floors echoed down the hallways as he sprinted through the keep, making his way directly for the King’s Room, set directly off the main throne room. Two King’s Men, the personal guard of his father, stood on each side of the large doorway to the throne room. They did not say a word to the crown prince as he slammed his hands into the massive wooden doors, throwing them open with a crash as they impacted the walls. He repeated the action when he arrived at the door to the council chamber of the king’s advisors, the door bouncing off the stone as it ricocheted off the wall. Four of the King’s Men stood outside the chamber, rasping metal ringing through the room as they pulled their swords free in unison.
“No,” the king said in command as he raised his hand to stop the knights.
They resheathed their swords in unison again and bowed their heads. Athuen sat in an oversized, high-backed chair at the head of the table. He was wearing a much simpler version of his royal decorum, which he liked to wear while performing his daily duties when he did not need to be seen by the common people. His hair was cut short, as he had kept it for the past few years, when the gray began to appear in his dark hair. He did not wear his crown.
“Leave us, all of you,” King Athuen commanded, leaving no room for argument.
The group of older men and women in the room also bowed before shuffling out of the chamber. They were followed by the King’s Men, who positioned themselves outside the door.
“I suppose Liana told you of Cedric,” Athuen said, softening his tone, “She always knows things she should not.”
“I am going to find him,” Aldric stated.
“No, you are not. I am already missing one son. I refuse to lose another, especially my heir.”
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“You expect me to sit in this keep while my brother is a prisoner or tortured or something else?”
“You do not know that is what is happening to your brother.”
“You are correct, because we don’t know what is happening to him!”
“Enough!” Athuen roared, finally breaking and matching his son’s aggression, “This is not an item for debate! This is an order from your father and king! You are to stay here and wait while the knights of this kingdom search for your brother!”
“I refuse.”
“And what, pray tell, do you expect me to say to your mother? I have yet to tell her about Cedric and you expect me to add your name to the list?”
Aldric stared at his father, quiet filling the room. The rumble of thunder rolled outside.
“I am going to find my brother. You are welcome to find a swordsman with the skill to stop me.”
King Athuen sighed, hanging his head. He did not speak again; he just waved a hand, not looking at Aldric, for him to go. Aldric turned and stormed out of the chamber. The King’s Men outside stood at attention when he exited, but he did not even glance at them as he rushed out of the keep. He made his way down to the stables at the edge of the walled courtyard of the castle proper and began to ready his horse. By the time he had finished strapping down his saddle, Liana had walked through the stable door, dressed in her riding clothes, holding two packs.
“You are not coming with me,” Aldric stated, not looking at her.
“I’m a faster rider than you. I’ll not slow you down,” she rebuked.
“You know it's not that. You are the Ward of the King. Your life means peace for the lives of everyone in the kingdom. You cannot be risked no matter the cost.”
“And your’s can, Crown Prince?”
“He is my brother.”
Liana did not argue further. She knew she would not win and would not be able to catch up to Aldric at this point. His horse was saddled and ready, while her’s was not even awake in its stall. She sighed and lifted one of the packs to him.
“Take this. I packed for you. I knew what you would do.”
Aldric let a small smile slip through the anger that had stained his face.
“Thank you, my love.”
“Come back to me or I will curse your name until my death.”
Aldric kissed her again before jumping onto his horse, securing the pack to the back of his saddle.
“Cedric and I will return. Of that, be certain.” He promised her before kicking his horse, taking off into the pouring night.
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Lightning crashed, and thunder roared as the trees swayed in the heavy wind. Aldric held a covered lantern with one hand, gripping the reins with the other as he tore down the main road. His coat was drenched, his tunic underneath dripping and cold, and the chill was on his bones. He rode harder and faster, which made the cold seem colder, and the rain hit harder. Lightning flashed above again, and Aldric saw a small flash of light through the trees far to his right. However, he ignored it and kept moving forward. He had ridden for over an hour out of the territory of Havery, and at this point, there would hardly be anyone living this far from the city. He felt his horse begin to slow and knew he was pushing it too hard. It would be days before he arrived at Tetonia, and if he kept his current pace, his horse would drop dead long before he arrived.
He pulled the reins back, slowing the horse to a trot, letting it catch its breath momentarily as he struggled to keep his lantern covered. It was flooded by this point, and the flame sputtered out, leaving Aldric in the darkness of the woods and storm. Heavy clouds had blocked out the moon before it was even seen in the night sky, meaning the pitch black surrounded him. Lightning lit up the sky, and the small flash in the woods was visible again. Aldric squinted in the darkness, trying to see what was making the light, as he suddenly felt an impact on the side of his horse. The beast reared, loudly whinnying, throwing Aldric off to crash into the ground with a heavy impact. Lightning flashed again, and Aldric could see that arrow shaft sticking out of the horse’s quad before another and a third joined it. Two more stuck the horse in the neck and eye before it fell to the ground, bleeding and choking, as darkness fell again.
Aldric jumped to his feet and could immediately tell his shoulder had broken in the fall. He pulled Magebane free of its scabbard with his good arm, holding the bastard sword with one hand in front of him. The opal in the hilt gave off a dull glow to barely light the area. Lightning flashed again, revealing the circle of cloaked figures around him in the trees.
“I am Crown Prince Aldric of Eldoria! Who dares attack me?!” Aldric shouted over the wind.
The figures’ only response was to take a step towards him, tightening the circle around him. While Aldric was the most skilled swordsman in Eldoria, possibly the entire continent of Aetheria, even he knew he could not survive being attacked by ten men who had him surrounded.
“You wish death upon yourselves?!” Aldric shouted again to no response.
The figures closed in around him, now fully enclosing him, as the cloaked person in front of him raised a hand from under their garment. In his hand was a blood-red stone that emitted a faint red light, clashing with the glow from Magebane, which began to glow brighter, meaning magic was present. Aldric shifted the blade to point toward the lead figure.
“Gifts have no power against me, warlock. You would do well to flee now,” Aldric demanded.
The stone began to glow brighter as a deep red liquid began to leak from the edges of the rough rock, but the stone was not leaking. Aldric realized the stone was drinking blood from the man’s hand as he wordlessly twisted in pain, dropping to one knee, still holding the stone up. This was a Dark Gift, one that was powered by some form of macabre sacrifice to keep its magic alive. Aldric roared a battle cry and charged forward, raising Magebane over his head to bring it down on the man before he finished whatever malevolent spell he was casting, but the cloaked figures behind him were faster. Two grabbed his sword arm, wrenching it down, as one grabbed his injured arm, twisting the shoulder to cause excruciating pain in Aldric’s body. He cried out in agony and was pushed down to his knees by the men. His vision began to swim as pain blocked his thoughts, and his face felt warm as tears ran down his face, but they were too thick to be normal tears as Aldric felt blood on his lips. Blood was leaking from his eyes and pooling in his mouth. He hacked and wheezed, spraying blood in the air where it was scattered by the pounding rain. He tried to wrench his arm free, but that only worsened the pain in his shoulder as he cried out again, hoping that someone nearby might hear his calling, but he knew it was almost impossible that someone would be close enough to hear him over the storm that was raging around him.
The man holding the stone was now dead on the ground, his skin gray and pallid, and all the blood drained from his body and into the stone. Another one of the cloaked figures reached down and pulled the stone from the corpse’s cold grip. Aldric attempted to shout again but felt a large hand slam over his mouth, cutting him off. He felt a weight and burning pain as he looked down to see the bloody stone slammed into his chest, the sharp edges cutting through his coat and tunic to dig into his skin. His scream of pain was muffled by the hand over his mouth before he clamped down with his teeth, biting deep into the man’s skin of his hand. The man did not make a sound but did wrench his hand back in surprise. Aldric was not certain if the blood in his mouth was still his own or his attackers.
“I’ll see you all hung from the walls of-” Aldric started to shout but stopped when a sudden, burning pain exploded in his chest.
The men around Aldric let him go as he fell to his hands and knees, howling in agony, vomiting blood and bile from the pain. His vision was entirely obscured now as it felt like his very bones were burning inside of his body. He tried to push himself up, but he could not even form a thought of moving to focus as he dropped to the ground, his arms no longer able to support the weight of his body. He screamed until his throat gave out, and all that he made was hoarse sounds as he began to writhe on the ground. He could not tell if his vision was failing or if it was just the darkness around him as he fought to stay conscious. Then, a massive boot came down with a crunch on his face, and everything disappeared.