Prince of Blood and Shadow
I. Chapter 8

The castle was abuzz with activity after the fire incident. Guards clad in thick black armor rushed around searching for Inias and that fox of his. They’d woken the king, much to the guard’s horror, when he flung them across the room with a quick spell from his lips. Interrupting the king’s slumber was a risky endeavor. Lord Aubron was there beside Sylvis as he inspected Vayne’s body. The room still held the scent of fire and shadow. Standing charred were the broken wooden crates, and the walls stained black.

The scent of Inias’ fox lingered in the air as well, painting a decent picture of what happened. One of them had picked a fight and given Inias’ recent outburst in the yard, Aubron feared it may have been him who started it. Aubron had done all he could to protect him. Inias had never meant to get those soldiers killed in the battle and he wanted to believe in that sweet boy who’d once visited him every other Saturday to drink tea with him organize his bookshelves. That sweet child wasn’t in there anymore, replaced by the entitled brat he’d grown into.

“Inias,” Sylvis growled, bawling his hands into fists as he stepped away from his dead friend. Inias had killed Vayne over their confrontation in the training yard. He could scent that bastard’s dark magic all over with room. Aubron shifted and glanced around at the destruction. “Vayne sure held his ground,” He leaned down to scoop up a figurine of a winged woman wielding a staff with a frown. “He’s out of control!” Sylvis shouted and shoved his fist through an untouched crate of figurines which crashed onto the floor, shattering into many pieces.

Angry footsteps echoed in the hallway outside the storage room. The pair heard the shifting of armor as the men standing guard outside stood to attention. “Can’t I have a moment’s peace?!” Ivaran came around the corner dressed in a simple robe he’d thrown on once he’d heard the news. His gaze shifted from Aubron to Sylvis, then to Vayne’s lifeless body on the floor. Inias. He could scent it too, the fire and the lingering spell work.

“Inias seems to have...” Ivaran waved a hand to shut Aubron up as he stepped into the room with a scowl on his face. It was a mistake to allow Inias outside his room, but Lord Aubron had insisted they not cage him. He would’ve had the boy beheaded, were it not for the man’s gentle guidance. “I can see what he’s done, Lord Aubron, what I’d like to know is where he’s run off to!” His icy voice rose, echoing off the walls and down the halls. First his brother and now Lord Rouan’s only son lay dead. How many more would die by that devil prince’s hand?

Sylvis stepped forward, bowing as he cleared his throat. “Earlier today, he and I got into a fight. I asked how he was feeling and…he snapped, lunged at me,” Sylvis lied through his perfect ivory teeth and ruby red lips, “Rurik and Vayne pulled him away, but that fox knocked Rurik to the ground. After that, one instructor broke up the fight. I’m certain he did this to get even with us,” Ivaran’s gaze was pinned on Sylvis through the obvious lies as if he saw right through the boy, but let him continue. “The guards say he jumped out that window and disappeared into the woods,” Sylvis explained as he raised his eyes to the king.

Ivaran glanced at the body and took in the surrounding scene before he returned his eyes to Sylvis. He’d seen the whole fight, heard their snide remarks. If he were Inias, he would’ve lunged at him too and the king was half tempted to take the boy’s tongue for lying. Lie or not, the four of them had gotten into a fight and now one of them lay dead at Inias’ hands. He needed Sylvis unmarred. As a young relative of his late wife, the king regarded him as a spare. Now that Inias was revealing his true colors, he needed Sylvis more than ever.

“I’ve also heard that Lady Keira is missing as well. Her father has already left the castle in search. I’m certain we’ll replace the two together.” Aubron explained as the king stroked his scraggly gray black beard. Keira had been heard earlier in the day arguing with her father about her brother’s fate. She was convinced Vestin was still alive out there and Aubron couldn’t blame the poor girl for having hope. No one had seen her leave, and she hadn’t escaped through the locked window in her room. The last time anyone saw her was when she’d stormed down the hall and locked herself in her room. While contemplating the day’s happenings, he sensed something was amiss.

“Aubron, I think it’s time we rid ourselves of future trouble,” Ivaran spoke after a long silence. Enough was enough. Inias couldn’t be allowed to drag their kingdom and the Nightfang legacy through the mud any longer. If only he’d seen the monster growing within his nephew sooner. He couldn’t allow that demon to lead his kingdom. That much was clear now. “Sylvis!” Ivaran snapped, causing the young boy to straighten up, “I’m ordering you to avenge your friend. Put an end to my nephew and his girlfriend! That little fox too.”

“Your majest-.”

“Shut it, Aubron!” Ivaran roared, his voice echoing down the hall once again, causing the guards to shudder beneath their armor. “I’ve been lenient with him for too long and look what’s happened. Their breed is cursed. They’re demons and it’s time we deal with them as such!” The horns, fangs, claws, they resembled the Nightfangs of old. The ones who’d conquered Nightfang Hallow, savages, beasts. In those days they’d bathed themselves in the blood of elves and goblins, forcing out from the south of Harrowsvale. Eleven ruling generations, all striving to eradicate that cursed demon blood from their lineage. It was his duty as king to root out the monsters within his lands, even when they were born of his blood.

“I’ll burn him as an offering to my friend in the otherworld.” Sylvis bowed, looking at Vayne on the floor. “Do whatever you like, as long as he’s dead.” Ivaran waved the boy away. Sylvis left the room, flanked by three guards, as he walked down the hall.

Aubron stepped forward, leaning down to inspect Vayne further and shook his head. “Your majesty, look,” He raised the boy’s head, hints of foam still tainting his lips. “Poison, what of it?” Ivaran rolled his eyes at the man opening the boy’s mouth. “Why would Inias poison him?” Aubron stood to his feet, wiping his hands with his own brown night robes. “Poison isn’t the boy’s style. He would go right for his heart and tear it out.”

“It’s late, Aubron. Let the guard’s figure that out,” Ivaran growled, storming out of the room as four guards fell into step behind him. “Your majesty, wait!” Aubron called to him before he could leave. “I want to investigate further, just to be sure.”

Ivaran was ready to just wave him off again and call it a night, but he stopped and stroked his beard. Aubron had a point about the poison. Why attack Vayne just to shove poison down his throat? Inias was more than capable of tearing the boy to shreds without lifting a weapon. He’d seen his nephew tear through enemies with those claws of his. The only poison he’d ever used was that purple sleeping powder. “Fine, but until he’s exonerated, I want all available swords hunting him. Then we turn our attention the Ravenmoon clan.” With that, the king stormed down the hall as two women, clad in white, entered the room to collect Vayne’s body.