Balam: Virgo the Pure (Trials of the Zodiac Book 2)

THE MARK OF ROYALTY

ZAKHAR

I looked around me, feeling like I took a hit off a canister of helium as the mountain giants bowed before me. Their deep voices vibrated off the walls of the pub. There was no way I was what they were saying I was. I had been an orphan my whole life; nobody ever claimed me.

I spun around, looking at the people who gathered by the doors, all holding this glimmer of hope. I didn't have the heart to tell them I was an outcast. I was a poor child who had been the guard of a goblin for decades. I had been nothing but a disappointment.

Balam and his group—Jalen, Kai, and Rashid—were still on their feet, their expressions a mirror of my astonishment. We exchanged bewildered glances as the room remained somewhat frozen in time. The fire giants I had been boxing stopped moving, unsure if they were allowed to keep fighting.

"What's happening?" Balam said, his voice was barely loud enough to hear. His labored breathing didn't go unnoticed. That fire giant prince was using the same magic Sebastian handed out. There was something there, but it was not the time to get answers.

I opened my mouth, but I had nothing to say. I looked at the elderly giant who had first identified me. He rose to his feet and approached with surreal reverence. My heart raced as he spoke in a tone filled with awe, "Prince Nikolai, it is truly you! Your return is momentous. We must inform our King immediately." He spoke in German, a language I had been forced to learn while living with Sebastian after the Cold War. He saw the economically devastated and split countries as the perfect place to make deals.

He called me Nikolai, which echoed in my mind, along with the title of Prince.

"I'm sorry, sir, I'm from Midgard. My name is Zakhar Ivanovich," I told him, using the kindest tone I could manage between exhausted breaths. Ivanovich wasn't even my real last name; it was just something judges give children when the parents are unknown.

Prince Breki, the fire giant, cut through the silence by slamming his hands against a table that smoldered under his blazing touch. He glared at me, his expression darkening with disbelief. "This... this is absurd," he growled. "You expect me to believe that pitiful creature is a prince?"

I had no time to respond before Prince Breki lunged at me with a fiery intensity. His fists broke into flames and aimed them at my chest. Instinctively, I ducked and rolled, narrowly avoiding the infernos raging in the fire giant's hands. The pub erupted into chaos as the royal guards joined the fray, their loyalty to Prince Breki unswerving.

I moved around them with ease. I was thankful the prince was too worked up to realize he wasn't using his siphoning curse. It didn't affect my growth because it was an ability of my birth. It affected Balam and his crew; without it, they could rejoin the fight. Rashid threw knives at the giants while I engaged the prince.

I summoned my strength and shifted my form, growing larger so we were the same size. Angry opponents were owned that I was easy to fight. I couldn't hit him due to his molten hot skin, but I could evade his attacks, forcing him to expend energy.

Balam jumped between us and slashed at the prince's leg, only missing because the prince slipped on a bowl of stew. I followed up with a punch, feeling the heat radiating off of him as my hand touched his chest. Kai and Jalen ran forward, a bubble of mud floating in the air ahead of them. They launched it at the two conscious guards, promptly snuffing out the flames they were producing.

"We can't kill them. I need to get to the Autumn festival, and killing a prince wouldn't help our efforts," Balam said. I looked around, wondering what was happening. The fire giants were still coming at us; they weren't going down, and our hands were tied behind our backs.