The Demon and the Elf (Book 1)

Chapter Twenty Six pt 1

Chapter Twenty Six

Drokn's only brother, Tahgayn. Or perhaps, just a stranger living in the palace for brothers they had been but only in name. He was, frankly, a minor character at best.

One of little words, he was quite the strange one around the palace. He had no presence or ambition. Some say he never cried even as a babe. What a contrast to the well outspoken, passionate first heir. A child born from a brief time of amiable companionship of the king and queen rather than the obligation that rooted Drokn's birth. Perhaps that was what created the stark difference between the two heirs.

The two brothers had been raised separately. Not intentionally, but rather a consequence of circumstance. A few years apart, their curriculum was set at different points. And where Drokn focused on proving himself and being seen, Tahgaryn wanted nothing to do with the spotlight and naturally stayed away. His only desire was to feel peace and maintain peace. A peaceless life was too much of a bother.

The only similarity they shared was that they were both hidden from the public eye. After Drokn's birth was deemed insignificant to the king, the king had hid the very existence of his heirs, hoping perhaps one day he could claim the second son as the first. Aside from the palace staff, the public's rumors gathered the existence only of a single prince, but with no face to match the title.

Brothers in a situation as theirs would often find rivalry and bitterness, the young one feeling contempt over the older's right to the throne. However, in Tahgaryn's case, it was just the opposite. He enjoyed the careless life he was able to live and let his brother take on the troublesome aspects of a king's son he did not want to deal with. Gifted as he was, he did not take advantage of his strengths.

For... he simply did not care.

He was a creature lazy beyond belief. A being uncaring for his parent's affection or praise, uncaring that he did not have rights to the throne. He would only sit around on his bed and read books to pass time, living a life that followed a scripture quite mundane without issue.

The first moment he finally started to care about something was when he woke up one day to learn he was to become king after Drokn's supposed betrayal. What bigger travesty to a lazy being than to enforce the responsibilities of a king? Heart throbbing, eyes wide, for the first time in his life, he worked hard. He worked hard so that he would have to work no more.

Surprisingly, when he put his energy forward, he was actually very, very capable.

He had his father's magic and his mother's innovation. Too unfortunate that he simply lacked any motivation. That was, until then.

He remembered when he was a babe and had just learned to walk, he had heard something of rebels from the palace staff. Perhaps because he was so young, they were not too cautious around him. As a little one, he truly did have no clue what the topic of their whispered conversation had meant.

Little did the palace staff know, the little prince was a rare one who held the memory of his youth. As he grew older, the memory of such a moment existed, but was unimportant and unthought of. Palace affairs weren't something that needed to consume his mind as long as they didn't affect him.

But when it had its use, the memory resurfaced. To the staff's defense, as Tahgaryn became an adult, the palace seemed very innocent, unplotting. Despite the numbers in rebels, they did well to remain secretive. Lucky for this demon, however, a prey was right under his hands.

Literally.

Holding his instructor's hands, he took a chance. Awkwardly, he stated how thankful he was for the instructor's knowledge and moved his palms to conform below the instructor's ears. Although very, very odd to witness, his smile was charming and the instructor was charmed. Not only so, the young prince was plainly known to be awkward. Such a random display felt not too suspecting, even if questioned.

What the instructor, who taught the laws of the land and none of spellcasting, hadn't known was that his genius pupil had developed his own listening spell. Marked with wet ink and a little blood backwards on his little finger, by cupping the instructor's face, he stamped the markings behind the ear, only to be hidden by the instructor's own hair.

Now, all that the instructor could hear until the ink washed off could be heard by Tahgaryn, as well. And with a lucky pick, his instructor was indeed a part of the rebels as he wandered to a meeting soon after his session with the younger heir.

Listening in on the conversations from time to time, Tahgaryn deducted their plans, all the while secretly engineering poison and tools for the grand day. His days off turned from reading books to recovering in bed from the poison he inflicted on himself for testing. Oh, what dreadery it was to be in pain. But if it would provide him an ease of life in the future, it was well worth the temporary discomfort.

Despite his sacrifices, the palace staff assumed he was just in bed for the reason that his laziness had somehow become worse.

He had initially hoped to make his entrance, or lack thereof, the least dramatic as possible, secretly helping with his tools from the sidelines of the rebel's already built plans. Alas, all of such was ruined as he could hear the chaos within the planning with Drokn's sudden disappearance. Vrona had somehow twisted the story to claim that Drokn had left to find his mate and had been captured instead. Of course, to keep the next heir in good graces among the rebels.

Witnessing the actuality, however, was grossly tiresome as he watched his idiot brother pick a fight alone with the king. Tahgaryn had crouched and kept himself hidden within the room, his magic's presence controlled and contained to not disclose his existence. Yet, before he knew it, he had to reveal himself and control the king until the rebels had come forward with their newly formed plan.

So much for an undramatic entrance.