The War of Ares (manxman) (boxyboy)

Chapter Three - He was evil. Pure and simple

Koa.

  He lost it. He completely lost it and I knew I couldn’t stand there and do nothing. The poor boy he was attacking didn’t look like he had much experience with swordsmanship. Hell, he looked like he was still twelve or thirteen. He didn’t appear to know the prince, which meant he was just unlucky. I had heard enough about the prince to know he was dangerous, and that if you crossed him there was no going back. But I also knew he didn’t need a reason. If you were unlucky enough to be on the other end of his anger, there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. So most people just allowed it to happen.

  I, however, was not most people when it comes to that.

  From the treetop, I was able to see everything clearly. I take a clump of hardened soil in my hand and mold it into a ball. Once the prince turned around, I threw the ball at the back of the prince’s head, successfully hitting the target spot at the back of his head.

  Almost immediately the men look around to find who had hit their heir. I didn’t want to show myself to them, even though most of them wouldn’t know me. So I stayed put and waited. I watched the prince turn around and curse, his eyes burning with rage. I could see the anger in them, but nothing evil. It was disconcerting to say the least. I had expected to see more evil than anything else. And when I didn’t I was left puzzled.

  “Spread out and find the bastard who did this,” the prince shouted at his men.

  The men – although I should probably call them boys – scrambled around looking for me. They didn’t know that, of course. But it was me they were looking for. And I found myself smiling despite the situation. I don’t think the prince would have been happy to know I could see him but he couldn’t see me.

  I noticed Noel didn’t leave the princes side, not once. Not even after the incident that had just taken place. I didn’t know whether I should have felt sorry for him or not. He was a glutton for punishment that was for sure. I wasn’t sure if there was any empathy in me for him. He was evil. Pure and simple. And he wasn’t trying to hide it. He never had. And that enraged me. A man who had come from where he had come should have had more compassion. But he was cool and heartless. There was no emotion there apart from lust for the prince. And I stated to wonder if some of that lust hadn’t morphed into love over the years.

  “Don’t worry, your highness,” he said. “Your men will find them.”

  It struck me as odd, I realized, that nobody ever used his name.

  The prince glared up at him. He was still rubbing the back of his head where the clump of soil had hit him. “He would have been found by now if you had gone with the rest of the men.”

  It was then I wondered: Why are they so sure it was a man?

  A pained expression flashed across Noel’s face. It was so brief most people would have wondered if they had seen it. But after years of being around people, of learning to read them. I knew I had seen it.

  “Would you prefer it if I went to look?”

  The prince said nothing, but the glare he aimed at Noel was enough of an answer. Noel stepped away from the prince and went headed for the woods. A fierce expression masked the emotion on his face. Almost.

  An older man was walking towards the prince. I knew from experience that he was Lucifer, the king. There was something about the king. Something I was never able to identify. But he gave me the chills every time I saw him. I had met him a few times, although he never knew who I was. Not like his son…

  No! I snapped at myself. I couldn’t go back to that time. I had to let go of the past. But sometimes our past is hard to escape. And I knew it was not going to be easy. Sitting in a tree, looking at the two people who probably hated me the most, I knew my past was going to come back and bite me at some point. It would have been easier, I thought; if I knew more about my past. But there were a lot of secrets. And I’m not just talking about royal secrets.