Royal Renegade

Chapter 3: Trigger

Prince Leonidas

Returning to Rerimas is a seven mile trip from the Crescent Woods done in a matter of minutes for me by foot. As soon as I make it to the castle I direct myself to the dungeons. This is where prisoners from the human Kingdoms are sent. Rather than punish law breakers by a death penalty, the rulers sell them to Rerimas for gold.

"Prince, you return so soon," the Keeper frowns, scrambling to his feet and bumping into his stone podium as he rushes to bow.

My stomach gurgles distracting me from giving a response. I know the veins under my eyes are still present. I massage my jaw when my gums begin to ache and a burning sensation singes the inside of my neck.

Observant, the Keeper whistles a tune and two of his wardens emerge from the darkness of a stone tunnel behind the podium.

"What will you be having today, my Prince?" the Keeper asks as he turns to me.

"Cadomian," I manage to rasp as my heart slowly pounds in painful hard beats. The wardens are less attentive and take their time reaching for a harness-like leather rope and rummaging for a set of keys from a metal box. "Now!" I demand.

The men jump at my outburst and rush back into the shadows of the tunnel. Meanwhile, my eardrums throb, vision blurs and hands clutch my head as a stabbing pain shoots through my brain.

I thirst.

Cadomian blood.

Her blood.

I want it. I need it.

"My Prince," the Keeper speaks cautiously, "you're showing symptoms of triggering. Should I send for the Queen?"

The skin on my arms turns pale in color. Faintly, I can hear the wardens a mile down the tunnel unlocking a cell. Before I reply, my instincts take over me and the Keeper is no longer in my sight. Instead, I suddenly find myself beside the wardens. They are startled at my presence and quickly back out of my way.

The bars of a cell door are ajar and as soon as I enter I face two women and three men. The women are crouched low in the back right corner of the stone cell grasping each other while the men are on their feet in defensive stances. I meet eyes with the largest of them.

Within a heartbeat, I have him out of the cell and restrain his arms behind his back. His body curves backwards exposing his neck to me and I can't resist. Shivers rush down my spine in anticipation and my fangs pierce through his white skin. The moment his sweet, fragrant blood fills my mouth my gums no longer ache and my throat stops burning. Closing my eyes, I wedge my fangs deeper widening the lacerations and my headache begins to fade.

Delicious.

Body thrashing, he attempts to break from my hold managing to yank his thick neck from me and my mind fogs over at the lack of contact. All of the stinging and aches return and I fall out of cognizance. I only vaguely hear shrieks echo against the stone walls that somehow paint red.

By the time I regain awareness, intestines among other organs decorate the walls, floor, and cell bars. The body of the man is in shreds and heaps against a wall of the tunnel. My clothes drip but pains diminish.

Panting, I place a hand against one of the cell doors. Screams fill the air again and I glance up to meet the eyes of crying women. They nearly stack atop one another trying to move as far against the back of their cells as they can.

My heart aches, but this time out of guilt.

We don't usually kill the prisoners when we feed from them. Our Kingdom will lose all of its gold if we constantly pay to bring in replacements especially of male prisoners who tend to produce the most blood.