“Prince Adrian, how nice of you to join us on your own volition, you saved us the trouble of finding you”, said while Edeus he rested back on his chair.
“Hello teacher, long time no see”, Adrian greeted Edeus, then without looking reached out to Ember’s plate and stole a strawberry.
“Noooooooo!”, Ember screamed with tears forming in her eyes, but it didn’t deter the young prince from throwing the strawberry in his mouth.
“Teacher, I know why you are here, and I’m not coming back.”, Adrian finished the strawberry and stated while looking at the old mage in the eyes. He crossed his arms, his posture exuding defiance and confidence.
“It’s not up to you, little prince. Do you have any idea how worried your parents are? The king sent me personally to drag you back, willingly or not”, as soon as Edeus finished his words, the old man behind Adrian placed his hand on the hilt of the sword hanging on his hip. Edeus, raised an eyebrow at the act.
“Do you really want to do this Barth? I have to say, willingly bringing the prince out here is the opposite of what a royal guard should do, don’t you understand the danger you have put the prince in? Augur Glareon saw the prince leave the walls. Demons are aware he has left the capital and are hunting him down.”, Edeus’ dissatisfaction reflected on his rough tone, however, the old man, Barth didn’t react to his words.
Instead, the prince answered for him, “I expected the demons to be after me, after all I went out of my way to spread rumors about leaving the capital. But I wasn’t expecting an augur to interfere, my efforts ended up being wasted, but well, that just makes things easier for me”.
Rodderick looked at prince Adrian with eyes full of curiosity, he didn’t look much older than him, but his attitude was completely different. Even in the shabby clothes he was wearing his presence looked regal and elegant. He held his head high and was full of confidence even when arguing with someone as powerful as Edeus, it made Rodderick feel inferior in every way. “So this is what a real prince is like”, he thought in admiration.
Edeus sighed, he rested his arm on the table and leaned closer to the prince.
“This is about your sister, isn’t it? What is it? Revenge?”,
Adrian slammed the table and too, leaned closer to Edeus. Their faces now close to each other kept staring at the other’s eyes in a stare contest than neither was willing to give up on.
“Of course it’s about my sister, and if my father and Elizabeth aren’t willing to do anything, I will do it myself. I’ll drag those bastards behind a carriage until they leave half their bodies on the street”.
The other patrons of the inn stared at their table after noticing their argument.
Red hair was only seen in the royal family and was an incredibly rare sight. People who did not live in the capital could pass their whole lives without ever witnessing a member of the royal family, but there it was, a small prince in the flesh.
But as the tone of the conversation grew more sever, people started getting worried that things may escalate, nobles and other people in power could have someone executed on a whim. Some patrons left their tables in fear while some of the demon servants, who were often target of human frustrations hid behind pillars as to not bring themselves harm.
“It seems all the talent you have has done nothing to make you brighter. You are foolish for trying to take the demons on your own and even more so if you plan to drag this town into it”, Edeus was furious.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“This town can burn to the ground for all I care, the Earl should be happy his head is not resting on a pike after his blunder.”
“Enough! You are coming home!”, Edeus reached his hand towards Adrian’s arm but it phased through.
“Wha?!”, Edeus froze in shock as Adrian’s image disappeared. A red strawberry dropped on the table.
Rodderick too was speechless. Both the prince and the royal guard had disappeared in an instant.
Ember on the other hand, reached to the strawberry she thought had lost forever and embraced it like a lost child.
“What happen? Did he turn invisible?”, Rodderick asked confused.
Edeus shacked his head, “No, just a magnificent display of wind magic.”
He had used wind magic to levitate the strawberry and to reflect the light creating an illusion of himself and Barth, while simultaneously creating sounds to mimic a conversation.
It was a display of absolute talent. Edeus sighed. “Prodigious students are always the most problematic”. He closed his eyes, unsure of what to do next, tapping the table with his index finger.
“I will retire to my room, we will find him tomorrow. Rodderick, feel free to finish your meal, I will leave the door open. The room is 305”, Edeus stood up and slowly made his way upstairs, he looked sad and defeated. Rodderick had never seen him mage in that mood.
Rodderick then looked at Ember who remained at the table and was eating her last strawberries in tiny bites to make the experience last. “Ember, is Adrian Edeus’ student as well?”, he asked with curious tone.
“Yup, the prince went to the magic academy but was really talented, to the point that the courses weren’t benefiting him anymore. That’s why the crown picked Edeus to teach him instead”.
“Excuse me”, a servant bowed and placed a hot beet soup in front of Rodderick, “Please enjoy your meal”, she slithered away as quickly as she came, it was then when Rodderick looked around and noticed everyone staring at their table.
Ember who finished her fruits stood up and walked away from the table, untrouble by the awkward atmosphere.
“Alright Ricky, I’ll go ahead, enjoy your soup”, Ember waved and left Rodderick alone in the inn’s awkward mood.
….
After finishing his soup Rodderick left the inn and walked through the town. He should have gone to Edeus’ room to rest, but there was something he wished to do first.
He walked down town and once again found the house where Adrian was staying.
He knocked on the door twice and waited for a minute. However, nobody answered. Did they change locations?
Rodderick reached to the doorknob and opened the door. It wasn’t locked. He pushed the wooden door backwards and it slowly made way to the light, illuminating it’s interior.
“Hello?”, Rodderick spied inside, despite the illumination, the interior remained mostly dark, the interior had the old smell of decay and humidity. Not the place one would look for a prince.
“P-Prince Adrian?”, Rodderick gulped and walked forward. His steps made the wooden floor noisily creek which made his anxiety grow.
Suddenly, something grabbed Rodderick by the back of his collar and raised him on the air.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!”, scared he started kicking the air, his assailant was behind him so he couldn’t see them, but he could feel their powerful grip on his clothes.
“He seems to be alone, prince Adrian”. Rodderick was let go and with a bump, his butt impacted against the wooden floor.
“Ouch…”, Rodderick rubbed his ass while looking back. He could see the face of Barth, the royal guard thanks to the poor illumination that came through the open door. However, his image soon grew dark as the door was slowly closed.
Click. Rodderick heard, as the door was locked, trapping him inside.