Unlikely Alliances (The Pack)

Three - You Are Pure

'What do you mean?'
'One of the prodigy's in the cellblock, a lava mutant, tried to escape last night. We managed to catch him before he could get free, and is set to be executed in two hours. You're expected to be there, obviously, and-'
The young prince stopped listening to his father after that. The prodigy - Preston, if he remembered correctly - had been either brave or stupid enough to try escaping?
Why?

He must not have realized what would happen, if he got caught... Robert thought to himself, resisting the urge to re-adjust his crown while tuning back in to what the king was saying.

'-do it yourself. You need to start proving to the people that you're strong enough to lead this land.'

'...Hm? Oh, sorry father, I didn't hear the last part. Could you please repeat it?'

The king stared at his heir with a tight jaw, a hint of anger flickering in his eyes as he spoke again. 'As I said, you are to execute this monster to prove your worth to the kingdom. It shall occur in the main courtyard, and he is to be hanged for his crimes.'

WHAT?! But he didn't do anything wrong! 'Father, if I may object; What crime has the mutant commited? Surely, just exercising his ability isn't cause for such a punishment.'
As soon as the words escaped Robert's mouth he regretted opening it. The elder royal's gaze hardened, as if staring directly into the prince's soul and picking which part to crush next. 'For centuries, the law of this land has stayed the same; Prodigies are beneath us, and by making use of their abilities it may be a threat to the kingdom.'
'But Mother and I-'
'Enough, Robert. Go to your room, I'll have a maid deliver the clothes you'll be wearing for this event.' The prince, albeit frustrated, pursed his lips and gave a slight nod to his father before walking away.
'Oh, and Robert?'

What is it now.
'Your mother may have been a prodigy in life, but in her heart she was a keeper. You, too, are such: You've been blessed to be born a keeper. You are pure.'

The Cavaloran walked away from his father with clenched fists, silent curses blotting out any other thoughts in his brain.
"You've been blessed."
"You are pure."
"In her heart, she was a keeper."
No, no she was not. My mother was proud of who she was, as was I before she... I need to visit Lachlan. He may know what's going on.

==========
'He tried to escape, and got caught.'
'By who?'
'Ashley and Castor. I think they saw his glow, and they took his down the hall after electrocuting him.' His Astralan friend explained sourly, tapping his fingers against a side wall every few seconds as if trying to banish excess energy. 'He was so close. He could have been free.'
'And I'm the one who has to execute him.'

Lachlan blinked a few types at this information, searching his friend's face for any sign of humour or joking; None. The prince was 100% serious.
'Your dad, right?'
'Yeah. He says that I need to "prove my worth", or something like that, but I don't get it.' Another thing Lachlan noted was that the prince's sophisticated way of speech often dropped away when he wasn't around the castle staff. He found it intriguing.
'And on top of that, when I try to tell him that prodigies aren't what he says he just- Shuts me down, saying that my mom was "A keeper in heart" and that now she's "pure" and I just-'

'Calm down buddy, calm down. Deep breaths, take your anger out on something later. You need to stay focused for now.' The blond instructed, with Robert nodding and running a hand through his hair.
'I don't want to hurt anyone, Lachlan. Especially if they haven't done anything wrong.'
'No good person does, but unless by some miracle Preston manages to wake up and escape within the next hour or so, then you might be forced to kill-'
'He can do it. If anyone can pull off the impossible, Preston can.' The boy to the left of Lachlan's cell - One of Preston's friends, Kenny - piped up. 'He'll get out of there alive. He has to.'