Consort

Chapter Six: The Mechanistry

Rune was anything but unalert as he followed on behind the strange man that had rescued him mere moments before from...well, what must have been a pair of Emolitians. Prince Dorran...a prince? Why on earth would a prince be out in the city, when the King himself doesn't allow civilians onto the streets after sundown?

"A stroll, as I said." Rune heard the prince mutter, and was suddenly taken aback. He paused, refusing to walk any further as he stared, dumbfounded, at the pale figure before him. The prince turned after just a short moment, sighing deeply and looking rather unamused. "What seems to have fazed you, boy?"

"I...I...I...I..." Rune couldn't speak. Couldn't react. Blast it, that fukka prince just read my mind, didn't he?! No, impossible! Simply impossible! It-

"And what if I did?"

He bloody did it again! He-

"You would do well to calm your thoughts, Rune. And to perhaps...oh, I don't know, use a little less profanity?" The prince sounded highly amused as he spoke, a sly smirk playing across his thin lips; he slightly resembled a wolf, now that Rune thought about it, with his long and thin nose much like a shapely snout, his thin and pale features, slanted almond-shaped eyes and feral smile. "Admiring, are we?"

Rune just gaped, disgusted. "Gawd, no."

"Then shall we continue, boy? We haven't long to go, you know. A few minutes' walking, at the very maximum, and then you shall have reached your precious Mechanistry."

Wait... "My precious Mechanistry? Oh, no, you must be mistaken, I've never been there before in my-"

"Nonsense, boy. Every civilian of Damnatalia has, at one point or another, gone to the Mechanistry, the upper-class for some sort of upgrade on their robotics or plating, and the lower-class for apprenticeships or low-paying jobs."

"Well...I'm not a civilian-"

"Sh!" Dorran suddenly snapped, whipping his head around to look at Rune. "What my father, and that Sybilan and his blasted government and mindless minions do not know shall not hurt them, nor shall they hurt you. There are eyes everywhere, Rune, so watch what slips out of your mouth in future. I will not inform you again, for my own sake as well as for your own."

"But why is it for-"

"Sh!" Dorran snapped, more hastily and demanding than before. The prince quickly led Rune through a darkened alleyway, and the young boy followed on reluctantly, not exactly pleased to have to pass through such a dark and shifty environment with a total stranger. "I am not a total stranger. You know my name. Many are not even aware, when I pass through the city, that I am the heir to my father's throne, and so you know more than most others do. Besides, it is not as though I shall seize you by your neck and kill you for your blood; you are lamia, and so your blood is unclean to those such as myself."

Blood? Unclean? Oh, gawd, he doesn't mean...

"My father's closest associate, Prime Minister Larten Sybilan, requires me to drink blood in preparation for my transition on my 18th birthday, when I shall be crowned as the new king of Damnatalia, and shall be successfully changed into a full-bred lamia."

"Lamia? What's that?"

"Foolish term for a vampire, what you are. Latin is a dead language, and yet the religious nut- The religious leader believes Latin is a beautiful language which should be mixed with our own terms and...well, our teachings."

"And how can you...how can you read my-"

"Don't say it. My peers are unaware of my ability, and I would much rather they remain unaware. Shall we continue?"