Dark Prince & the Doe

Chapter Forty-eight: A True Remerian Welcome

Chapter Forty-eight: A True Remerian Welcome

Anne

Anne's desperate prayers to the Life Aria were answered as she caught sight of Prince Kiren. He breezed past a group of soldiers, black hair whipping along behind him. One sleeve had been torn from his jacket, but he appeared to be unharmed.

"Calden!" Prince Kiren shouted and the bloodied soldier who had taken the monster from the air turned away from his horse.

"I found the prime," the soldier said, grinning smugly as he pointed back at the downed beast with his thumb. "We can go now."

Anne gasped. It was Calden. She hadn't recognized him under all the blood. The sixth prince himself had fought that massive beast? She had assumed the princes were all warriors who knew how to fight – they were Remerian, after all. But, for Prince Calden to be the one to take such a fearsome beast down...was it normal for Remerian royalty to be so...so involved in danger? To not just train and stand behind their men, giving protective enchants, blessings, and commands; to not just order their soldiers into formation and plan maneuvers from command tents...but actually wet their blades in blood, putting their own lives on the front line in the fight?

The only weapons her father and brother had ever touched were dull ceremonial swords and, even then, they barely had a grasp on how to hold them and not look completely out of place so close to bared steel. Even Aiden, as Knight Commander of the Sky Guard, would never put himself in danger like that. It was his duty to lead his men to victory, not put himself at risk of death and leave his men without his Aria-blessed leadership.

But Calden had fought, despite there being a hundred strong Azure soldiers who could take it on in his stead. It had been his flaming sword that had brought it from the air.

Prince Kiren sighed loudly. "Huntsman Carine told me you'd gone off in pursuit of the prime. At least you didn't go alone, but you should have asked for permission first."

"Sorry. We couldn't find you. I didn't want to lose the opportunity that had presented itself, so I proceeded."

Kiren waved one hand about. "You vanished! You were standing right next to us and then you were gone!"

"Cal!" Another bloodied man pushed past Kiren and patted Calden's shoulder. Her jaw dropped. It was Prince Larken; his armor was torn to shreds in the front and hung off him in scraps. All of the princes had risked their lives and fought with their men. "Snuck off to take down the prime? I saw your jump, nicely timed. Very impressive."

Calden shrugged his shoulders. "It was a small prime. It wasn't that impressive."

Soldiers were dragging the creature piece by piece into the distant tunnel's darkness, leaving smears of blood across the stone. It was so big they had to dismantle it to get it out of the carriages' way...and that was considered small?

Anne's hands were still covering her mouth, she slowly let them drop back to her sides. Closing her eyes, she searched for any remnants of the courage she'd clung to all day. She hid her quivering hands in her silk skirts. She couldn't risk falling apart. She was the representative of not just Atrezino, but Life.

She was the Voice. She needed to be untouchable. Unwavering. Brave and true. And most importantly, unafraid. For Life never fears Death. She blinked back her terrified tears and relaxed her face into the same demure smile she'd worn all her life and slowly approached the three bloodied princes.

"Aren't you going to give Cal a hard time for being reckless?" Larken asked jovially.

Oh, so Calden was being reckless? Maybe it was unusual for a Remerian prince to launch themselves off a fiery flying horse onto a small monster's back?