Prince of Blood and Shadow
I. Chapter 6

“Sleep,” Inias whispered to the man with his fingers gripped around his throat. The guard blacked out in the snow as purple mist enveloped them. As the guard slipped in the snow and fell, Inias pressed him up against the tree, his breath fogging in the icy air as he surveyed the unconscious man. Damnit…now I’m really screwed, He thought as he backed away from the sleeping man. After the encounter with Keira, his guard had approached to drag him back to his room. They forbade him from going beyond the castle grounds, and Inias had wandered half a mile into the groves.

He wasn’t in the mood to be dragged home again. And after a loud argument between them, Inias tossed a purple poison dust, casting the man into slumber. Styx avoided the mist, only returning to Inias’ side once he’d stepped out of it. He pulled the scarf away from his face, revealing the intricate rune work sewn into lovely patterns over the black fabric. His immediate reaction was to hide it, almost leading him to abandon the freezing man in the snow. The sun was setting, and the wind blew more fiercely.

Inias wrapped the scarf around his face and stepped back into the mist. He unhooked his cloak and wrapped it around his guard as he hurled him over his shoulder. “Come on Styx!” Inias called when he caught the fox chasing another rabbit. He yipped and rushed to Inias’ side.While walking, they heard a woman’s cries carried by the wind. He realized the second it reached his pointed ears, causing them to twitch in its direction. The same woman from the throne room, who had been giving him angry looks, cried once more. Endolyne Redwood, one of the eldest members of the high council, mother of Ashryn Redwood. She’d accompanied him frequently to victory and had complete faith in his delusions of grandeur.

Those victories were only empty boasts. The heir to the throne wasn’t sent on dangerous missions across the Vale. Ivaran had handed him the most effortless and guaranteed wins once his training was done. As time passed, he must have believed the exaggerated tales people told upon his returns.

Despite her skepticism, Keira always had faith in him. Her quick thinking often played a key role in saving his skin, and she never hesitated to take the blame when they got caught drinking in the crypts. He had let Keira and Lady Redwood down, despite their kindness towards him.

“If won't even try to save them-.” He snapped his eyes shut before that flashback could begin and tightened his grip on the body slung over his shoulder. The guard had stirred upon his shoulder and Inias wanted to be in his room asleep before he woke. He made his way across the now empty training yard towards the gardens, where the guards were less frequent. He ducked behind a large rose bush and rested the guard against it by the fire. “I’m sorry,” Inias whispered, backing away. He caught the shadow of a guard approaching and circled the bush to slip into the castle.

As he walked the torch-lit halls of the castle, he took long, deep breaths. One more confrontation and he’d snap like he had in the grove. He curled his fingers into fists beneath the sleeves of his solid black tunic and twisted a corner before another guard could spot him. Keira’s room was in the east wing, Inias’ in the distant royal wing. He needed to see her, to talk her out of this suicide mission. If another person died over his mistake, it would shatter him.

Styx, with his nose raised, disappeared around the final corner. “Kitchen’s just below us. We’ll grab dinner after I see her, okay?” Inias turned to retrieve the fox and stopped when he found him outside a door, whimpering. The door led to a storage room, nothing of interest except festival decorations. As he neared it, he heard something inside, voices.

Inias strained to decipher the distant voices and turned to Styx. “What are they saying?” he whispered to his fox companion, whose eyes radiated a deep amber glow. They seemed to pull him in as the surrounding hallway blurred from his vision. Inias felt an odd sensation while gazing into Styx’s eyes, as if he could see his own face. After a lingering moment, the indistinct voices took shape within his mind. He had seen himself through Styx’s eyes and now seemed to listen through his ears.

A hushed voice hissed, “Couldn’t have her sniffing around,” from behind the door. Inias recognized the familiar, wolfish tone, but couldn’t place it. His eyes remained fixed on Styx, who seemed to recognize it as well. With each word, the voice grew clearer. “They should be on their way. Let the goblins finish her. They’ll just think she snuck off and got herself ambushed, like the last party.” The words hung in the air, as he tried to piece it all together. “Should’ve heard her, yelling down the hall at her dad. ‘I’m not giving up on him! He’s still out there!’”

The pounding of his heart filled the silence. Whoever else was in there remained quiet enough that Styx couldn’t hear. Keira. She’d planned to go after her brother. Had she already left? “I’d have liked to take my time with her, but we were rushed.” Another pause. He hated every quiet moment. “No, Sylvis has no idea-.” Inias gripped the handle and tore the door open to replace a black silhouette of a tall man wearing a wide-brimmed fedora hat and long dark coat. Styx growled at the figure and rushed towards it but it swiftly moved across the wall, escaping through a small crack.

Across the room, Vayne’s eyes fixated on Inias. His expression was a mix of surprise and fear as Inias slammed the door shut behind him and Styx. “Where’s Keira?” Inias asked as claws extended from his nails into razor sharp hooks.