꧁༺ 𝓑𝓵𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓫𝓵𝓾𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓰𝓸𝓵𝓭 ༻꧂

𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 5

The night was dark when the prince left the castle, covered by his cloaks hood as he exited the palace gardens to the surrounding forests. He made his way smoothly through the twigs and branches that made the maze like trees - someone who didn't know their destination would get lost in them, as they were quite deceiving - stepping on the right stones, pursuing the correct directions until he reached an abandoned mage's hut.

The mage's hut was in ruins, as it had been years ago. The roof had caved in on itself from the overgrown wildlife leaning on the house for support, and the door was far beyond broken. Some of the mud and planks used for walls to stabilise the hut were missing, large chunks allowing for perfect viewing inside.

But that's not what the prince of Rohan was here for. The hut had no real importance to him other than to keep the conversations he would be having private and secure. He were to be meeting a pirate, one with information he could use. He strode towards the mage's hut, his boots splashing in the water of the river banks surrounding the broken home.

As his cape flowed behind him, he made a sharp turn behind the hut, and was satisfied to see that the ragged pirate was already standing, waiting. The older man grinned slyly at the sight of the prince, his rotten teeth flashing before the younger man. The prince grimaced at the sight. The pirate was much taller and broader compared to him, the elder's face gruff and bruised, his lazy eye lopsided and misdirected.

"So," the prince began, adjusting his posture, "what information have you got for me? Spill it now, unless you want your head jabbed onto a spike for the entire country to see."

"'Ey, 'ey," the pirate chuckled, "give me a sec, will ya'? Haven' even given me a chance to speak yet, an' yer onto me!"

"That's because I don't have time for messing around. Now, tell me if my brother is back or not."

"He is, an' he brought a siren with 'im, too."

"A siren?"

"Yes, yer royal princeliest. Or Liam, innit? I can call ya's Liam, can' I?"

"You will address me as your highness or as Prince Liam." Liam said. "Tell me more about that siren. Is it with him now?"

"Yeh, he's with 'im. Said he was a siren prince, an' even Chris is fine 'bout it."

This was good information. A siren prince in Rohan? The amount of fame and power he could gain from killing one of those including his wanted brother would be formidable in his case. He was already in debt from what he'd had to owe another kingdom that his was aligned with for destroying half of their cities when they were last at war with a threatening power.

He was in a bad position in his parents and the public eye, ranking low in the noble part of the pyramid. A dead siren's head in front of his people, after years of them disappearing from the pages of books, a monster that he killed for the sake of their protection - the perfect headline for the next newspaper.

"Where are they now?" He asked urgently.

"Down by the ports at Blackout Scurvy. We're stayin' there for a few days." The pirate replied. "Why ya' wanna know, 'uh? Whatcha gonna do, kill 'em in their sleep?"

"That's one idea, but I can't just kill them, you fool."

"Why not? It'll get the job done."

"Get the job done, yes. But it could also possibly damage my reputation more if anyone found out and it got to the whole country. I could be hung!"

"Ah. Right. Well, how ya' gonna get 'em, then?"

"Not me, you." Liam pointed a finger at the pirate, then opened his cloak to reveal a small vile filled with a crystal clear substance. "I want you, tomorrow, to put this in the siren's drink, whatever it is."