The Palace Beast

*** WESLEX, NORTHERN KINGDOM OF WEX ***

The day has begun anew. Reaching his hand out to his shredded royal mantle lying next to him, Prince Damon notices how, up close, light pours through every gap between the fibers, just as it used to come through the walls of the beach hut, illuminating like brilliant fire-flies every morning.

He glances around after rubbing his bleary eyes. "This can't be," he said with haste. His gaze was just drawn to the walls of his mighty fortress in Weslex. How he got there was still a mystery to him.

He steeled his nerves and sprang up to his feet and then he started making his way toward the entrance gate.

On getting closer, he heard the guard on the first watch tower echo to the other guards, "The crown prince is here! Open the gate!"

With a sense of haste, the gigantic ancient wooden gate opened with a loud creaking sound.

One of the guards sighted that their lord and master was on foot, he hurried to the gate with his horse for the prince to ride on. However, the prince showed his appreciation and declined. He preferred to continue on foot as he let his thoughts have the best of him.

'How did I get here?'

He has no memory of what happened while he was in captivity. The last thing he recalled was being forced to drink more wolfbane to weaken him.

Prince Damon didn't want to show his men how feeble he was. That's why he chose to continue on foot. He could barely walk.

His gaze was suddenly drawn to another horse riding toward him fiercely. The rider was rogue as he could easily make a guess who it was.

He emits a soft sigh expressing sorrow.

The horse finally came to a halt next to him with a soft neigh sound. Prince Eliot narrowed his gaze on his brother. "You look like one back from hell," he said. There was a concerned look on his face but he tried to hide it as soon as possible to avoid sending a signal of compassion to his elder brother. After all, they are still in dispute because of the Princess of Maxis.

"What brings you to my fortress," he glared. "Have you come to mock me or what?"

"I am here on father's business," Prince Eliot said as he slowly descended from the horse. He drew closer to his elder brother and continued in a refined voice. "Have you forgotten the king's matter is urgent?"

Instead of answering him, Prince Damon hissed loudly as he shoved past him forcing his younger brother to tilt back on his heels.

"Father was worried about you," he said, trying to get Prince Damon's attention. "And so was the rest of..."

"Tell Father, I live," he cuts in sharply, interrupting Prince Eliot from finishing his sentence.

This wasn't the type of answer Prince Eliot was hoping to hear. Especially seeing his brother look tattered and his royal mantle shredded. He insisted on getting the truth out of him. He gripped him by the arm and pulled him toward him. "I am not leaving until you tell me what happened to you."

*** KINGDOM OF MAXIS ***

King Gilbert continued to stare at her daughter's sleep like the sleeping beauty. It breaks his heart not to see her move. Her breath was beginning to faint. He cried out to the healer to do something.

The healer stepped in, carrying a flask. He quickly removed its wooden stopper and hastily emptied the red content down the princess' throat.

"What's that?" King Gilbert gaped at him with a confused look. He saw the red content but couldn't tell the difference between it and blood. He's certain they look the same.

The healer glanced at the king. He sighed with relief and opened up to speak. "That's the blood of an eagle, enchanted by a white witch."

"What?" the king's eyes widened. He couldn't believe the healer would give his daughter blood to drink. "She's not a beast or a bloodsucking monster!" he lashed out.

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The healer tried to explain himself to the king and the reason for the remedy he used but the king pushed back the healer's words as he continued to lash out at him. "What do you intend to achieve given my daughter the blood of an eagle?! I would have you beheaded and then hang your head on a stake for people to abhor!"

The healer was not given a chance to explain his actions. As the king continued to unleash his ire on the healer, the jerking of the princess continued once more, drawing their attention back to her. The healer thrust his hand over the princess as he tried to hold her down and firm but the jerking was too vigorous for him to handle. "I need your help," he said to the king.

King Gilbert rushed toward the bed. Just as he was about to grab his daughter, thick grey smoke started oozing out from the princess's unconscious body. Her body began to sound like a sizzling meat. The king's eyes hardened and narrowed into slits. "She's dying!"

The healer has seen all manner of ailments ranging from natural to supernatural but he has not seen someone's body oozing out grey smoke without fire. His mind raced with thoughts of what would be his face in the hands of the king if the princess died.

Not saying a word to the king, he quickly placed his hand on her forehead and began to chant a few phrases in Latin. A cheap spell he learned from her white witch. The more he increased the tempo of his voice, the more vigorous the jerking grew.