Sons of Hellfire: Book 1 [Wattys 2016]

Aeric - 12

"Where'd Luce go?" Aeric asked Vajeel as he stepped inside the house, tossing his sword onto the ground. He exhaled hard, rolling his neck. Though he had hacked away at a stump until it was nothing more than firewood, he had also spent a majority of his morning sitting in a tree and conversing with a squirrel.

Ever since he had honed his ability into a skill, he had taken the time to meet the creatures that lived around his own home. Other than Luce, his next closest friend was a squirrel named Rife that lived in the branches of Aeric's own home. They talked about the forest and its inhabitants and surprisingly, the animals were quite receptive of Aeric once they knew of his ability to understand them. He knew more about their lives than he ever thought he would.

"Out," replied Vajeel who was diligently working on a patchwork quilt. Vajeel had completely spoiled the surprise months ago and told him of her present without caring, but Aeric didn't mind either. He just tried not to see what the quilt's patches were made of. "Don't leave your weapons on the floor."

He reached down to pick up his sword, twirling it in his hands. It was growing old from years of use, but still held up. "Gathering?"

Vajeel shook her head. "Out."

That caused Aeric to pause before he went upstairs. "Out?" he echoed. "What do you mean 'out'?" Nothing against his friend but he knew that there was little to no reason for Lucien to ever just go 'out'. He was a prince renounced, a runaway. Lucien either stuck around the tree, went out to gather food, or took some time by himself to just think. Usually, Vajeel would state any of the three. 'Out' was not a usual one. "Did the Senses say that?"

Raising her head from her work, Vajeel let her cloudy gaze fall on him. "No. They said 'danger'. And Lucien went out."

Fear gripped Aeric's chest. "And you didn't stop him?" he asked. Unless he went deeper in the forest, there was only one place for Lucien to truly have gone in all of Artus. And of course that meant danger. "Where...exactly has Lucien gone?" He was dreading the answer he already knew.

Vajeel gave him a smile. "I promised not to tell. He was on his way to get your birthday present."

Aeric whirled around back to the door, walking fast. "If he went out into town, he could be recognized and captured. If he went to the castle, then it'll be even worse of a fate. Please," he said, pausing at the door to give his guardian one more imploring look. "Please tell me he went deeper into the forest for the day. That I can deal with."

The woman breathed deeply, pretending to think. "No..." she said slowly, causing Aeric's panic to spike. "I don't think he said anything about the forest."

"Blast it all," Aeric swore, gripping his sword tightly. "And you won't tell me at all where he's gone? He could be in danger right as we speak. You could have sent him to his death sentence without even caring."

Vajeel raised a hand and flicked her fingers, urging Aeric to leave. "Oh, I'd know," she hummed. "And I do care. But he seemed quite insistent on doing this for you so don't blame me for him going off on his own."

Aeric felt helpless at the thought of Luce finding himself in a tight spot just to get him something for his birthday. "Gah," he groaned, flinging the door open and rushing into the woods.

As he tramped through the undergrowth, he began thinking quickly to himself. Luce was usually quite closed off when it came to personal matters and even to this day, he hadn't disclosed much about his castle life to Aeric other than that it was drab and horrible. He was also not that amazing at presents, half-heartedly giving Aeric gifts on his birthday that he had Vajeel help him create, yet Aeric treasured them greatly. If Luce truly was out to go find him a present, he feared what trouble it might have gotten himself into.