Demon Heart | Prince of the Barren Sands Volume 1

Chapter 26 (EPILOGUE)

The fine blade of the bloody scalpel clinked on the edge of the once white porcelain bowl. Sahl discarded the grim instrument into the vessel and began attempting to rinse the red stains upon his hands in the basin nearby. The water possessed a reddish tint from previous cleansings. But no matter how much he scrubbed, no matter how hard he tried, the blood never seemed to be completely gone from his skin or from under his fingernails. As though it wanted to remain indelible and remind him of things that he didn't want to remember.

"I hope," Sahl spoke over his shoulder, his clothes also bearing the scars of blood. "I've proven my worth and my loyalty to you. I know I'm not as experienced as Touran was, but—"

"You did well." Prince Relastin gingerly raised himself up in the bed where he'd allowed the surgery to take place. He'd spent hours staring at that blue ceiling in what was once the chambers of his former Chief Physician. Staying fully awake while Sahl performed the necessary surgery.

The prince gazed down and the wrappings on his sore and tight chest. The blood red stain near his heart where Kaden had pierced him with his Rohs Fang was bright and bold. He touched the edges of the wound through the bandages and felt the twinges of pain that wanted him to scream.

But, as Prince of Ison, he would not succumb to such weakness.

"I wonder if they found Touran yet?" Sahl asked, continuing his scrubbing.

"I don't think they're going to find him within Ison," the prince remarked. "The coward has no doubt fled the city. He knows better than to hang around after the treachery he pulled."

"Well, he did a good job destroying my stills," Sahl moaned. "Bastard knew exactly how to rig them to blow and cause maximum damage. It's going to take many dozen sunrises to rebuild what was lost."

"Then good thing we have a strong surplus right now. Thanks to you." The prince continued to fidget with the hole in his chest residing under the bandages.

"You probably shouldn't be doing that," Sahl said, noticing the prince's actions. "The salve, courtesy of your sister, will make it heal quickly. But I'm not entirely certain how your body is going to react to those metal spacers I inserted to keep a gap open. So that we'll have access to your heart for pumping in the essence."

"As much as I wanted to kill Kaden, I suppose I should thank him for this?" The prince threw his legs over the side of the bed and stood, naked except for the bandages across his chest.

"I'll never understand that mindset." Sahl shook the remaining water from his hands, resigning himself that whatever blood remained attached to them would come off eventually. "Another fraction of an inch, and he'd have skewered your heart. And you wouldn't be here and sitting on Ison's throne."

"Luck," the prince grabbed his royal green and red urk, "works in mysterious ways." He then wrapped it around himself

"Apparently, Kaden was not the only one who luck favored. Should I inform your advisors that rumors of your death have been greatly overstated? I hear a couple of them are already preparing a contingent to speak to your father about who should ascend to the throne."

"Well, looks like I have more than just one more traitor to deal with." Then the prince's harsh assessment softened. "Ah, I suppose they're just doing their duty. But, on the other hand, I can't have disloyal people around me. I guess I'll have to deal with them." The prince shrugged. "I hope it wasn't Foru. I liked him. Kuu, however, I could do without."

"How would you deal with them? Like any other traitor?"

The prince did a one shoulder shrug. "Ison is a rough city. People run into problems all the time on the Mains and more so on the back alleys. Even of the Upper Ring. Sometimes people even die."

"How would your father take you killing one of the advisors he personally appointed to you?"

"Me? Oh no. Like I said, Ison is a rough city. Lots of bad people lurking in the shadows." Prince Relastin shrugged again. "I don't control any of those unsavory sorts."

The conversation ended as both men heard the distinct sound from weapons and armor of Royal Guardians heading towards the room down the hallway. An obvious brisk pace caused metal weapons and armor to clang and ring. The prince grabbed up his sword, not wanting to chance their intentions. The rumors of the severity of his injuries might have prompted someone to send them for him and to finish him off if necessary.

But, when they reached the door, and two of them stood straight at attention on either side of it, Prince Relastin suspected that such dubious plans was not what they were here for. Another soldier donning the red urk of a family who had served Ison loyally for at least now two generations, marched in. He took a respectful knee and bowed.

"My prince," he said.

Prince Relastin recognized this man as one who was extremely loyal. And one he had sent on an important mission just before he went under the knife. "What did you find, Sahkar Bola?"

"We went into the Barrens where you said," the captain informed him. "We did not find a body. Nor any scraps of one. Only three burned out torches, and a lot of blood. Both human and from Black Rohs. A trail of it led east, and we followed it."

"And you found what at the end of it?"

"Nothing, my prince. The trail simply ended. No body. No more blood."

"What about carcasses of Black Rohs?"

"Well—yes. We found a lot of those. He apparently was not so dead as to not be able to put up a fight."

The prince chewed his lip and considered the news. It wasn't unexpected, but unwelcome none-the-less. "Thank you, Sahkar Bola. You and your men are dismissed." Then he added, "Take a day of leave. Consider it a reward for your loyalty in these strange times. Find a whore to bang raw, or whatever you please."

Sahkar Bola rose. "Thank you, my prince."

He snapped a turn and marched out, as did the two soldiers with him.

"You think Kaden survived the night?" Sahl asked after long minutes of silence.

"With his luck?" The prince stood stoic. "And the way it never seems to run out? I'd count on it."