The Beast Within

A King's Game: Chapter Six

The prince was absent at breakfast.

I wasn't asked to entertain him, and for that I was relieved, but it was short-lived as Roland found me at the meal's conclusion and brought me to his room for another boring round of chess.

My skill in the game had not grown in a day, a fact that didn't please my opponent.

"It's not important that I win, is it?" I asked.

"I suppose not, but it speaks to the quality of your mind. It appears you have no passion for plots and tactics."

"Not a bad thing, in my opinion."

"Mm."

I lost three rounds before he removed the board from the table and poured me another cup of cold tea, still lacking lemon or sugar.

"Have you remembered anything about how you gained the power of the wolf?"

"I fell asleep and woke up as a wolf. That's all I know."

That's all I will ever know, so stop asking, I wanted to add.

He stroked his beard in thought.

"What about before you went to sleep? Did anything of note happen—were you attacked, perhaps?"

A flash of fur and teeth crossed my mind.

"No," I lied.

He paused and I used his lull to ask a question of my own.

"What happened to make the prince sick?"

"He was born with his affliction." Roland released a dark chuckle. "One could say he's the walking embodiment of the word."

"What do you mean?"

"There's hardly a thing that exists that doesn't pose a danger to him. Even the air could throw him into violent coughing. The prince doesn't have a sickness, but is one." He sighed. "It's a cruel design, to make a royal with such...complications. Myself and the other physicians blame his mother, of course, for she was a weak thing. We hoped that by having a strong father the son would turn out different."

"Where is the prince's mother?"

"Died giving birth to her son, though it was no great surprise. As I said, she was weak."

"That's not a nice thing to say about your former queen."

"No, it's not. But it doesn't make it any less true. The child came out wheezing and gasping. Day and night he struggled to breathe. It took all the wisdom of the physicians to formulate a plan, and several days to find a room in the castle where the air was the most clean."

"How did you do it?"

"With a bit of luck and a lot of imagination. We placed meat around the castle. The meat that decayed the quickest was obviously exposed to the worst air, and the meat that stayed fresh the longest proved where the air was pure. The most elevated rooms, we found, were the best, so we placed the child's crib in one of them and made the rest of the area the royal wing. We keep guards and servants away as much as possible to avoid contaminating the air. Our plan worked and the infant survived, and we set to creating medicines to combat his fits. Now you know about his fragile state, and you'll be more careful the next time you're graced with the prince's company."

"If he's so ill, how is he able to sit in the hall for meals? Surely the air there is bad, with all those people."

"The prince drinks a potion anytime he leaves his room. But we must be careful with how often he ingests it, for too much might poison him. His days are planned out well ahead for his protection."