Swords clashed together as a young man desperately defended himself from the man lunging at him. Sweat dripped down his head as he swung his sword hitting the man's sword, preventing the man from slicing at his skin.
A cheeky grin grew on the man's face as he lunged at the young adult aiming his sword towards the young man's side.
The young man jumped back trying to avoid the man's sword but as he did so the older man quickly swept his feet out from underneath him. He landed with a thud and his sword clattered onto the ground a few feet away from him. The boy looked up at the older man but was ment with the silver tip of the blade just inches away from his eyes.
The older man smiled as he pulled the sword away from the young man's face. "That was quite impressive, young prince." The older man held out his hand to help the boy up. "You manage to hold against my attacks for five minutes."
The prince scowled as he slapped the older man's hand away. He pushes himself up. "It's not good enough. Brother is stronger than you and can defeat you in two minutes." He patted his clothes trying to get the dust out.
The old man grinned as he let out a chuckle.
The prince's head snapped towards the older man as he heard his chuckles. "What are you laughing at?" he snapped glaring at the old man.
"Well it can't be helped, Prince Daemon. The first prince was taught by the grand duchess when she was in her prime as the Murderous Countess." The old man's grin was from ear to ear.
Daemon rolled his eyes. "You're nothing but an old fool" He reached down and picked up his sword. "No woman could be that strong, let alone teach my brother anything." He looked back at the old man. "And don't call her a Grand duchess!" He pointed his sword towards the old man "Paige Ari is just a duchess! Just because people say she's great doesn't mean she's a grand duchess!"
The old man dropped his smile. "You're right prince Daemon" He bowed slightly, putting his hand over his heart. "It was just a fumble of my words, please forgive this old man."
The prince slashed his sword down before sheathing it. "It'll forgive you since you're getting so old and senile but make sure you don't mess up your words next time or it will cost you your tongue." He stood tall as he glared down at the old man bowing to him.
"Of course, prince Dae-"
His words were cut off as a maid stepped onto the training ground they were on. "Prince Daemon. Your Father, the king, is calling for you to see him."
The prince whipped around and faced the maid. "Father wants to see me?!"
The maid nodded her head slightly. "Yes, his majesty wants to discuss important information with you." Her face was cold and her eyes held no warmth.
The prince swallowed a lump in his throat. "We'll, uh-, We'll resume training later. I have to go talk with my father." The prince walked over to the maid. "You're dismissed. I'll head to my fathers office-"
"His majesty asked me to escort you there personally." Her tone was unwavering and her gaze was as cold as ever.
"O,oh. I see. Then let's get going"
The maid turned and started walking towards the large castle. The prince followed hastily behind her. They walked through the large hallways. Her heels clicked on the marble tile as the prince could feel cold sweat running down the back of his neck.
They stopped at two large doors. The maid raised her hand and knocked lightly upon the door. "Your Highness, I brought the second prince."
There was a few seconds of silence before the doors opened. In the doorway was a tall man in his mid twenties with his hair slicked back and with a monocle lens on his right eye. He looked down at the maid and the prince. "His highness has been waiting for you." He stepped to the side and opened the doors.
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?"