The Dark Prince

Part I

                                   THORNE

Thorne stalked the castle grounds, his footsteps echoing off of every wall. To his dismay, nothing entertaining had come to him for a great amount of time, which might've been a good thing, considering what he enjoys to watch.
He flung open the gates to the garden, needing to clear his head, his parent's disapproving voice ringing in his mind and giving him a migraine.
Two guards pushed past him, grumbling something about another prisoner.
*finally, something somewhat fun. Hopefully.*
He turned swiftly and followed the guards without notice, despite his impossibly tall figure.

Once they had reached the dungeons, someone caught Thorne's eye.
A young man was pacing his cell, mumbling something to himself. His hair was dark, almost onyx, and pulled back into a messy ponytail, with a small pen tucked behind his ears and a notebook in his hand. His clothes were old and worn-out, but seemed to fit him fine. He looked...completely innocent.
' 'what's he in for?' ' he blurted, making the man look at him.
' 'blackmail, and fraud, I believe.' ' the guard responded, looking somewhat bored about this whole situation.
Thorne smirked slightly. *intelligence. Something I haven't seen from a criminal in quite a while.*

                                         ~*~
Once the guards had left, Thorne stayed behind, just to watch the prisoner.
*strange*, he thought. *he hasn't stopped moving all evening.*
The prisoner met his gaze, and stopped mid-pace.
*he's...fascinated? Intrigued? Intimidated?* Thorne found it pretty difficult to analyse his expression.
Finally, after a few tense moments, the prisoner spoke up.
' 'from the way that you've been staring at me for the past half hour, I assume that I've piqued your interest and curiosity?' '
His voice was dramatically arrogant-sounding, which spiked something like annoyance within Thorne's body.
' 'hey, it doesn't happen to many people. Consider yourself lucky.' ' he replied with a grin.
And, to his slight surprise, the prisoner grinned back.
' 'well, this is the first time I'm not intimidated by a prince.' '
Thorne sarcastically put a hand to his heart. ' 'you offend me! How dare you not be intimidated in the slightest?!' '
The prisoner chuckled, and Thorne found himself laughing with him.
*strange, I've never gotten along with a criminal.* he thought.
*so why does this feel so...natural?*