The King's Choice

Chapter 1

The prince took a couple deep breaths before walking in. As he walked in he saw a large long table at the center of the room. Sitting at the top of the long table was an old man with brown hair and brown eyes. Silver hairs could be seen in his beard.

The old man looked up from the paperwork he was looking at. "Finally, you're here. Sit."

The prince made his way into the room and sat in a chair opposite of the old man. "You called for me, Father?" The large doors shut with a loud bang making the prince jump a little in his seat.

"I'm disappointed, you've been training with count Carlson for a few weeks now yet you can barely hold your own." The old man flipped through a couple of pages seeming uninterested in the conversation.

The prince balled his fists in his lap as he held his head low. "I'm sorry Father," He looked back up with determination in his eyes. "But I'm working really hard! I'm sure I'll surpass my-"

"Enough!" The king shouted, cutting the prince off.

The prince flinched at his fathers loud voice and tucked his head back down.

The King sighed as he leaned back in his seat. "It's evident that you won't be as strong as your brother. Both his mother and his closest ally were warlords. It's pointless trying to get stronger than him."

The prince looked up at his father, shocked. "But!"

"Silence!"

The prince became quiet as he sat back in his chair hunched over a little.

The king let out a groan. He raised his hand and rubbed his head. "Not only are you not as strong as your brother but you lack the confidence and the charisma to turn people onto your side. You're lucky I was able to send your brother off to war. If he was here he would most likely have gotten the neutral party on his side by now. You need all the nobles on your side for you to become the crown prince."

The prince bit the bottom of his lip as his father pointed out his faults. "I understand father. I'll do better. I'll get the nobles on my side, don't worry."

"I'm not worried about that right now."

The prince looked up at his father, a little hope glimmered in his eyes. "You're not?"

The father let out a frustrated groan. He waved his hand. The young man from before walked up and set a file down in front of the young prince before turning and walking back to the door and stood there.

Daemon looked down at the file confused and concerned before looking back up at his father. "What is this?"

The King stood up. He walked over to the window and looked out of it looking down at the palace gardens below his window. "With your brother off at the war he can't grow his influence. I told him to aid our allies in their battles, I really sent him to die. However because the war is so far away I can't get any news if he's dead or alive." The king looked back at his son who was listening to his every word. "Oh the off chance he returns alive you need to have grown your influence and power."

Daemon smiled. "I will, father! You don't have to worry!" He looked down at the file before picking it up. "Is this a list of nobles that I could change to my side?" He opened the file but stopped as his eyes laid on a picture of a woman.

She was wearing armor with a black and golden cape. She had long Pink hair that was pulled into a braided bun and had stunning blue eyes.

"That is Duchess Paige Ari, She's known as the Winged Duchess since she's majestic and powerful like a phoenix. But they also call her the innovation duchess since she's constantly changing and growing. Not just as a person but in power as well."

The prince looked up from the paper to his father. "Why are you telling me this?"

The king looked out into the distance where the snowy mountains were. "With your brother off at war he can't grow his influence, however Duchess Ari is a problem. She supports your brother in the fight for the throne and while he's gone she continues to grow his influence for him just by supporting him. Other nobles look to her because of her strength and leadership and follow her"

The prince stood up from his seat. "Then why don't we just take her out. We can hire some assassins and they can-"

"It's not as easy as it sounds. Duchess Paige is a formidable opponent. She is strong and intelligent. Not even I can touch her so carelessly. She was a general in the great war ten years ago. She can easily kill assassins. What's more she's surrounded herself with nobles who follow her word like it's the word of god."

The prince looked at his father shocked before looking back down at the picture of Paige. Her soft smile in the picture soon turned into a prideful smirk. The prince gripped his fists and looked back up at his father. "Then how do we get rid of her?"

The King smiled as he looked back at his son. He walked over and grabbed the file. He started pulling out pages and laid them out. "These people in the pictures are her followers."

The prince stared down shocked as he saw many women in armor all with the same phoenix symbols stamped in the corner of their picture. His eyes scanned over all of them. All looking beautiful but prideful.

"These are not all of her followers but the few noble ones we know of. Some hide in the shadows."

The prince reached his hand forward and rested it on Paige's picture. So we need to take out all of them to take out her?" He looked up at his dad longing for his answer.

"Not quite." The king walked over and sat down at the table. "Paige has built a group known as the Crimson Phoenix. It's a group of aristocrats who have eachothers back and operate like their own kingdom. There's no signs of treason or plans or rebellion but they're too strong. At this time they threaten my own power as the king of the nation."

The prince got a confused look. "Then how are we supposed to defeat them?"

The King smiled. "NIX is set up in a way that puts Paige at the top. Think of it like an arch, Paige is the keystone. She's what holds everyone together."

"Then we just take Paige out and the whole alliance comes crumbling down."

Daemon became silent as he saw his father's glare. "Have you not been paying attention? I already told you that Paige is too strong to take out. However If you knock out the two stones holding the keystone the keystone will fall a little. Things won't be in place anymore. At that point one good blow and the whole thing will come crashing down."

The Prince sat back down. "I see, so we just need to take out her right and left hand men?"

"Exactly, but we have to do it quickly. You need to take them out one after another. Last time I took out her right and left hand but I didn't deal the final blow quick enough."

"What do you mean? What happened?"