The Reincarnated Prince

Chapter 10: An end to the Banquet

"What's taking you two wenches so long?!" Came the clumsy voice of Irathmus getting impatient while waiting for his plate of golden boar.

The two girls jerked nervously at the sound of his voice as if they had been conditioned to fear it. Before leaving to deliver his meat to him, the stronger of the girls curtseyed to me and whispered a 'thank you' under her breath.

As soon as they walked down the side of the table back to Irathmus, I felt my mother place a gentle hand on my shoulder.

"Rory..." She murmured with a questioning look in her eye. "You're trying to set those two girls free...?" She asked with concern in her voice.

I nodded warily, wondering if she would be happy or upset with me.

My mother reached down over my father's lap and wrapped her arms around me tightly. She was so warm and smelt nice. A mother's affection was so great.

"What in the world did they feed my Rory in that forest to make him so kind and brave?" She thought out loud.

I heard my father chuckled from above us as he placed his large heavy hand on my head and gave me a few pats.

"AHHHH!" The sound of the two girls shrieking from the other side of the table frightened me. My mother gasped at the horrible scream while my father's head shot up in alarm.

One of the girls was on the floor cradling her face, it was obvious that she had just been struck. The other girl ran to her and wrapped her arms around her injured friend.

"You wretched whore!" Irathmus's face was boiling red with his forehead creased into so many angry frown lines. He was drunk and angry, a terrible combination for an already hostile person.

"How dare you try to escape me!" He shouted with such violent passion and so loudly that I wondered if he was a little louder than the announcers. Irathmus turned and picked up the sacks of gold and threw them on the floor furiously. The sacks broke open on the impact and the gold spilled out onto the marble floor. The nobles seated next to him had looks of terror on their faces.

Irathmus stomped towards the two girls with hatred in his eyes. He violently grabbed hold of one of the girl's hair and hauled her up by it, causing her to screech out in pain and try and claw her way out of his grip. This was all happening so fast and I was still so shocked at his outburst that I found myself unable to react in time.

"You damned whores! How dare you disgrace me at this banquet!" Irathmus didn't even look human anymore, he had been completely taken over by rage and was unable to think rationally.

"I'll kill you for this, I'll kill you right now." In an instant, Irathmus had reached into his sheath and had drawn his sword. He swung it back in a great swing and was about to bring the blade down against the girl's neck. Finally, my senses had kicked in and I realised that I had to act immediately. I raised my palm and aimed at the duke, planning to send a blast of wind that would knock him off balance. However, the cold searing voice of my father stopped me in my tracks.

He called out a simple command. It was so quiet that I thought he could only have been talking to me because no one else would be able to hear it, but only when I saw a sharp metal arrow whizzing through the air did I realise that my father had commanded a knight to act. The fearsome arrow pierced Irathmus's elbow just before his blade was about to connect to the girl's body.

Irathmus let out a pained howl as he dropped his sword and staggered backwards. I looked with horrified eyes at the arrow that had managed to cut right through the bone of Irathmus's elbow. Blood gushed from the wound and painted the floor red. While the two girls quickly scuttled to my end of the table, away from him.