“But Denis, is this necessary?”
“Indeed, Your Highness.”
I felt my left side being poked by someone's index finger as I looked around for any sign of danger. Walking through a moor as serene as this was not a good idea when there was such unrest.
“Why are you so stiff, Denis?”
“I am just alert, Your Highness.”
“But why?”
Because even after being a descendant of the royal family of bodyguards, even after having a peculiar sort of magic in my veins, even after being trained since I was a kid for this, I don't believe I can protect you.
“Because I have taken the oath of protecting you from any forthcoming harm, Your Highness.”
“Oh, shut up, with all that highness, will you? It feels as if someone's been measuring my height.”
He chuckled.
I turned towards him, saying,
“Your Highness, please note that your life might be in danger right this second. If checking on your people wasn't a necessity, you wouldn't be seen wandering about. It is my duty to protect you and just let me do it.”
Unintentional as it was, my tone at the end came out harsher than I'd have ever meant for it to be. And his now quiet demeanour was unnerving. For Prince Alfen was not a quiet person.
“I know, you know? It's just, it gets ridiculous every time. I don't have magic like my sisters do. Or my parents. I can't even protect myself. I just feel useless. How will I ever protect my people?”
My guard fell at that.
I was astonished by this revelation. Our kingdom was supposed to be a haven for people with or without magic alike. But the crown prince himself would feel this way, it wasn't quite believable. It was a sad thing to know.
“I have known you for a long time, Al–Your Highness. You have le—”
But before I could say anything else, I heard noises.
My head turned sideways. Four people were standing there.
All sharp eyes on us.
Rebels.
“Isn't this nice?”
“Having a nice little walk, our dearest Prince?”
They mocked.
“I wonder what must have propelled you to walk on such a moor as this, that too with no one but this sorry excuse for a bodyguard.”
I found myself whispering to the prince, “Your highness, I need you to run back to the palace, I can handle this.”
“You must be cr—”
In that situation, I pushed him behind me in a protective stance, walking ahead to fight them.
“I am not leaving.”
I heard him shout from somewhere behind me, but I couldn't respond because at that moment the rebels started using their elements.
Someone threw a hot ball of fire at me, I just let my protective wall do the work.
Simultaneously, they threw everything they could at me. Things around them, their elemental magic.
It was different, somehow. I couldn't put my finger on it, but their magic, had a sinister force with it.
I saw some kind of black mist surrounding us. I could not find the prince.
I looked around, trying to get out of it. But it was strange, not like any magic we used in Afirani.
I realised quite later that it was cursed magic, abolished in our kingdom. The reason why our magic couldn't defeat them.
I have to inform the palace about this.
But first, the prince. Where was he?
I tried in vain to get out of it, but the more I tried, the more it closed in on me.
It was becoming difficult to breathe.
I just had to focus, I could get out of it. But how do I focus? Where is the prince? How do I inform them of this? How do I do anything?
I have to save him. I can do it.
You cannot protect him. You truly are not of much use.
Focus!
I closed my eyes. Telekinesis.
Focus.
Breathe.
Believe.
Get out of here, remove the mist, show the light. Yes.
“Denis?”
That was familiar.
“Denis?”
The Prince.
The looming shadow started falling away.
As I was opening my eyelids, I found someone in front of me, going in for the punch at my face, but he was soon thrown away and I held him from falling face-first on the ground.
“As I was saying, you must be crazy to think I would just leave you alone.”
A smile graced his face making mine do the same.
It was contagious.
“And as I was about to say, you have learnt to defend yourself, you just don't know it yet. You are not useless. Your people admire you and your courage. You just need to believe in yourself.”
As do I.
I looked around again, the rebels had disappeared with the most as if they were part of it.
After all, cursed magic wasn't child's play.
But we knew there were more to come. And we? Well, we were just to defeat more of them.
Oh, and also inform others of this predicament.
