3
~*~
Prince Aloysius of Gorias expected a lot of things. He expected the sun to rise and set everyday. He expected his Hunters to follow under his command. He expected to do dangerous and tricky missions under the crown of his father. He even expected to maybe, possibly, even die sometimes.
What he didn't expect was to wake up in his base camp with a Raven clawing at his throat. He was a man enough to admit that he jumped out of his wits and grabbed the bird in his hands. His blue eyes flashing with fear. If there was one thing he didn't like, it was birds and his father had a bunch of them.
He threw the Raven onto the floor only to find his father standing exactly where it had been. He had forgotten his father could also change into a bird. He cringed inwardly. Not a good start to the day then.
His father, Diomedes 'The King' Gorias, stood up and brushed himself off. His father was dressed in a royal blue dress suit and had a golden cloak wrapped around him. He wore the Crown of the Tuath which, hopefully, Aloysius would one day inherit. Strapped to his side was a golden spear. It glowed with unearthly light.
Aloyisous wondered if he was seeing things or if it was Majik. He remembered the day he'd been riding in the forests around the barracks and had found the spear. It was rightfully his but his father had taken it.
"Aloysius, I have a task for you." Diomedes boomed. His father walked outer of his chambers and into the crowded hallways of the Hunters' base camp. Aloysius trailed after him uncertain of where they were going.
His father seemed agitated and very unsettled for some reason. It had been weeks since he had last seen his father as well. Sometimes Aloysius could go for months without seeing his father, ever since his mother died.
His mother, Adelle Murias, had died when Aloysius had been almost 12. It happened a week before his twelfth birthday but he didn't like to think about the first death of many he witnessed. Ever since then his father had become a bitter, sad old man, although Diomedes himself was barely 39 years old.
Soon after Aloysius' mother's death Diomedes had gone on a rampage, invading, and destroying, Finnias and overthrowing Murias. Aloysius, barely being 12 had been locked up in the castle oblivious to it all. All he had known was his best friend Mae had been taken from him.
Mae, Maere, Maereígan, it was all the same. All he knew was someone had killed his best friend. The night his father had told him she was gone was the night Aloysius promised that he would train with his father's Hunters and find Mae's killer and seek revenge.
Ever since then Aloysius had trained, with the help of his best friend and cousin Damianus, and he now stood as the captain and leader of the highly esteemed Hunters of Gorias. He still hadn't found Mae's killer.
They had been walking for a good five minutes and they seemed to be slowing down. The Hunter's barracks was a large building with many different rooms and wings and twisting corridors. The dorms were in the east wing and in the west wing was the massive cafeteria. There were over 300 proper Hunters and at least 2000 normal soldiers. The Hunters all had special abilities, the soldiers did not.
In the south wing lay the many training rooms and classrooms. There was also a massive library where the Hunters studied ancient battle plans. The north wing consisted of the stables where they had over 400 horses. Some were Majik.
There were a couple of Arabian horses which were unearthly fast and there were some horses from all four kingdoms. There were horses as swift as the wind from, the conquered continent, Finnias, horses that could run on water from Murias and horses that breathed fire from Gorias. There was even one steed from Falias that could run on any terrain and was unbelievably strong.
Of course Aloysius rode the fastest steed from Gorias although he usually didn't need a horse...
The stables was where they were heading as he followed his father through the maze that had become more of a home to him than his castle since he turned the age of 12. They finally reached the stables, the smell of hay and horses hitting him like a loaded cart.
The horses were kept in separate stalls. The rows of stalls went on for eons, so far that Aloysius could barely see the end. Aloysius loved horses. Loved them almost as much as he loved Damianus' chocolate cake.
His father made his way to the very end of the corridor of stalls, Aloysius fast at his heels. There were many stable boys taking care of the many horses. This part of the stables was for normal horses only. There were even some Hunters in and around the horses looking after their favourite steed.
His father opened a black door that lead into the part of the stables where the Majik infused horses resided. They were kept in stone stalls rather than wood lest one of the fire breathing ones decided to burn it down.
Aloysius' gaze met with the fastest fire horse that stood with its head poking out of its stall mere metres from where he stood. It was his favourite steed. Javian was its name. The horse in question whinnied when it saw its master and began to stomp its feet looking for attention.
As he passed the stall he patted the horse on its nose. His father kept walking leading him to the very back of the stables. No one was in this part of the stables as most of the best trained Hunters, who dared ride a Majik steed, were training.
His father sat down on a pile of hay. Aloysius leaned against one of the stone pillars in between the stalls.
"Aloysius, my boy," he said. Aloysius cringed at the greeting. "I have a task for you. As you know a WindWielder was spotted in Lármad. I want you to track her, capture her and bring her to me."
When Aloysius' Hunters had told him they had spotted a WindWielder in Lármad he had gotten excited. Mae had been able to wield the wind. There was a sliver of a chance it was her, if somehow she survived his father's purge.
WindWielders were rare nowadays as most of them had been living in Finnias when Gorias had taken over. There were a few left, like his best friend Damianus. Most of the WindWielders were in his father's control it was rare to find a wild one.
Aloysius inwardly cursed, he sounded like he was talking about an animal. Just like his father had. He didn't want to follow his father's commands like a dog but maybe this girl was Mae, maybe.
"Ok, and how exactly am I supposed to do this?" He answered.
"Follow her, track her, ambush her, abduct her, I don't care just leave her uninjured. I have great plans for her. She has a lot of raw power but she can't control it. You have your....ways of tracking her. You have until Samhain to obtain her."
Aloysius frowned. That only left him with less than a fortnight to track the girl. He supposed it would be enough time. Especially with Damianus' help.
"You can't tell anyone of this mission. Not even Daminaus. Caine doesn't know and I don't want him to. He would only try to take her for his own sick experiments." The King added, glaring coldly at Aloysius.
There wasn't any trace of fatherly love in his eyes. None at all. Not like Caine, who always looked at his son, Damianus, with unwavering affection and appreciation. Aloysius scowled.
"Why not? I have less than two weeks to find the girl and capture her, Daminaus would make the process ten times quicker."
"No Aloysius, you cannot." His father almost squawked and because Aloysius could never say no to anyone or anything he nodded his head in agreement.
"Ok, father."
"Not father, your majesty."
"Sorry, your majesty." Aloysius barely managed to get out through gritted teeth. Sometimes he hated his father but he was his father by birthright and so he had to stick by him. Is that not what family meant?
"I want that girl at the foot of my throne by Samhain, boy." Diomedes boomed, swishing his cloak behind him as he exited the stables, leaving Aloysius propped against the stable wall.
~*~
A while later Aloysius was still bothered by his father's visit. He couldn't get it off his mind. Although he doubted capturing the girl would be hard, she must have been running for at least 4 years or so and she must have been pretty damn good at it too.
The other point was the fact he only had two weeks to do it.
Aloysius threw dagger after dagger at the painted target on the wall of the Hunter's training rooms. He threw them furiously, one after another. They smashed into the wall with so much force the pommel of the dagger was almost touching the wall.
The only problem was they were barley on the target and Aloysius usually made the bullseye every time.
He growled in frustration but keep hurling the daggers mercilessly into the wall. The other Hunters who were training in the same hall had stopped their activities to gob at him. He didn't care. The hall had gone silent and all that could be heard was the sound of the daggers crashing into the wall.
An shroud of fear had ascended upon the watching Hunters as they gathered around the raging Prince. They didn't make a sound for fear they would be massacred, well at least that's what Aloysius thought. During a sideways glance he noticed one of the Hunters, Séamus Clarke, a fierce sharp shooter motion towards one of the younger Hunters and point him towards the door.
In his maddening rage, Aloysius misinterpreted the interaction and turned towards the man, swinging two daggers out of his boots. Aloysius' vision had gone red and all he could see was blood, he didn't even remember why he was angry in the first place, all he knew was this man had been whispering behind his back.
Just as Aloysius had aimed the dagger the door to the training room swung open to reveal Damianus Amaro in all his glory. His blonde hair gleaming in the light of the skylights, his deep grey eyes filled with mixed emotion.
Aloysius barely spared a glance towards his best friend and continued to aim towards Séamus who was now slowly walking towards the edge of the room, arms in the air in surrender.
Damianus pushed through the throng of bystanders and into the unintentional clearing that had been created around Aloysius. He swept across the empty space and grabbed Aloysius' arm. As if Damianus' touch was an antidote for his rage, Aloysius snapped out of his anger as quickly as it had come. He dropped the daggers and they clattered to the ground, the sound of metal hitting wood resonated throughout the room.
"Come on." Damianus said, his voice smooth as if it was all in a day's work. Aloysius blushed and turned Scarlett. He didn't know what had come over him. He hung his head in shame and followed Damianus out of the large training hall.
They walked in silence until they reached Aloysius' room. Damianus opened the door with a bang using his Wind Majik to push against the wood. He sat in the one of the large armchairs beside the marble fireplace and gestured towards the other, indicating four Aloysius to sit.
"What exactly was that?" Damianus asked a couple of seconds after Aloysius had made himself comfortable on the couch.
"I was angry. I don't know what happened. I guess I'm more like my father than I thought. I've never done that before, Damianus. What's happening to me? What's wrong with me?"
Daminaus sighed.
"If you're worrying about becoming your father don't. When your father gets angry he burns down villages. You only threatened to stab Séamus. That's child's play compared to everything else."
"You're right but.... I just.... I don't know anymore."
"Whatever your father has asked you to do, whatever it is, I don't expect you to share it with me. I know your father well enough to know that you probably can't tell me. I just want you to know that I'm here for you. I only wish he'd let me help...."
He trailed off, his face contorting into one of wistful thinking.
"I wish you could. It cannot be though. I am sorry." Aloysius frowned.
"It's okay, mate. I'm here for you." Damianus said joyfully, snapping quickly out of his haze. He jumped out of the armchair and gave Aloysius a pat on the back before saying, I'm here for you, again and leaving the room.
Aloysius sunk back into the armchair. Could he really capture a young girl and condemn her to his father?
~*~
Guys,
I am sooooo sorry. I've been working on this chapter for literally forever. I know. It's been over a month but I hope this 2.2k chapter is good enough to suffice. I literally procrastinated so bad. I even drew up family trees and a map of the entire Tuath which I may post sooner or later. I also have face claims for some of the new characters including Damianus!
Questions:
What do you think of Aloysius?
What do you think of the father, son relationship between Diomedes and Aloysius?
What is your opinion on Damianus?
I hope you liked this chapters. Drop a vote or a comment of you did.
CGMT11 xxx