Naeva-To Fight a Monster

Chapter 6

Adrean Phillip Terro, son of Charles Maxwell Terro and crown prince of Tierisch, was supposed to be in bed. Or at least in the capital.

Instead, he now crouched behind a pile of stones outside the city gates, having snuck out while his father was in a late meeting. Given Adrean's status, no servants questioned him on his way out of town, so his father was the only one from whom he needed to hide.

Slowly and silently, he unsheathed his sword. It was a rapier, traditionally a woman's blade, but Adrean found the broadswords most soldiers used to be unwieldy. This rapier, however, was light and quick. When he'd first tried fighting with this, he found it far easier to slip through one's defenses than it had been to batter them out of the way. Adrean was thin, and while he was well-toned, his strength and build didn't exactly make him the kind of prince one might expect to see in the Noble Nightly magazines.

Of course, that hadn't stopped Father and the magazine's producers from pressuring him into posing for a cover. Skinwalkers' eyes, that was humiliating.

If Adrean was to be honest with himself, he didn't like being heir to the throne. He didn't even like being nobility. Every time he went into the streets, he could see the looks in people's eyes. They were careful to show him the utmost respect, and as a result, he could never be sure that they meant what they said.

I bet no one else desperately wishes to be insulted, he thought with a wry smile. Maybe I should do some more obvious things to annoy Father. Get disinherited, live a normal life, maybe join an order...

Wishful thinking. Even if he really hated his father enough to do that to him, Adrean was too cowardly to let that happen. As much as he hated the fact that his life was laid out for him, the idea of change scared him even more.

Where is he? Adrean stood up and looked around, no longer hiding. Almost every night, he would sneak out of town and wait for Ambrose Maro, the captain of the city guard, to ambush him. That training was far more effective than what Father had him do. It kept Adrean sharp, and he'd even managed to incapacitate an assassin that had come for him last month.

"Maro?" Adrean asked cautiously. He thought he'd been ready, with his stealthy approach, but perhaps Maro had thought he wasn't coming and had already gone back inside? "Maro!"

Adrean stiffened as he realized that Maro's strategy could also have been to delay the attack until Adrean lowered his guard. It wouldn't be the first time.

Something darted towards him out of the darkness.

Flames suddenly burst to life over Adrean's head as he turned, the explosion throwing him off his feet. As he slid on the ground, ashes floated down around him.

"What... the..." Adrean managed, sitting up. Whenever Maro used magic on him, he'd always made sure that it wouldn't hurt him too badly. Now, though...

That could have killed me... An assassin?

Now with his sword at the ready, Adrean searched the darkness. He couldn't see any assassins, but he'd figured a long time ago not to trust his eyes. He'd been stabbed by an invisible illusionist as a boy, and he was not keen on allowing that to happen again. Especially not while he was sneaking out. His father and sister would never let him hear the end of it.

A man stepped into Adrean's field of view. Maro. He looked pretty beaten up, but his left hand still sparked with electricity as his eyes darted around. Finally he relaxed somewhat, and the arcs between his fingers stopped. "Are you okay?"

Adrean nodded, not lowering his blade. "What was that?"

"A phoenix. I'd hoped to kill it before you arrived, but I took too long. It noticed you when you stood up and I barely blasted it in time. Otherwise, that explosion would have been a lot closer, and you'd be sans your face."