The Sorcerer Prince

Chapter #2

     "...... and that's how King Vincent reestablished the alliance with GolenEye. This alliance was once's between Liblicen and GoldenEye, but this changed when the Zemrlt lost their throne.......", the history teacher drones on, his monotone voice making Seto sleepy.

      The two of them are in a private tutoring room connected to the library. Seto's always had a knack and fondness for history, but this teacher always makes it all sound so boring. He's sitting at a desk with his elbow propped up to hold his head. He feels his eyes slipping closed, but then the teacher slams his ruler down on the desk. Seto jolts back up with a wide eyed stare.

"Pay attention! I don't suppose that you studied for your test?", the teacher stares down at him, "How many army camps did the GoldenEye resistance have during the Piscus's nine year ruling?".

"Five. There were five army bases, and one camp for civilians", Seto answers instantly without any hesitation.

The teacher looks at him ruefully, "All six bases were army camps, Prince Seto. All the human civilians were under Piscus control".

This isn't the first time that Seto has gotten that question 'wrong'. He's so sure that one of the bases wasn't for military that he always argues about it. The first half of this war, and a lot of history before it, is always easy for him to remember. The class continues for another half hour. Seto is expected to know all this stuff so one day he can become a great king. Most days, he doesn't feel very kingly.

"Ok, Prince Seto, your lesson is over for today. You have a magic lesson scheduled in the court yard in-".

"No".

"Excuse me? Am I mistaken? King Vincent told me Master Erika was coming to-",

"I'm not going", Seto says with a blank expression, standing up and walking towards the doorway. He refuses to get into another yelling match with a new magic teacher.

"Prince Seto! It's vital that you learn to use your magic. As sorcerer royalty, it is vital that you learn. The other Liblicen races are held in check because of-", the instructor is once again interrupted.

"I don't have magic!", Seto nearly screams at him, tired of having the same conversation over and over again. There it is. He's magic-less. A dud. He's the first sorcerer in his line to be born human.

Prince Seto storms out of the room, fuming and in a sour mood. He has a dormant sorcerer rank in all the official files, but he knows that he's nothing but human. The other Liblicen hybrids would never except a human king. Sorcerers are bad enough in their eyes. The hatred is still running thick from the king before Vincent, who lived for hundreds of years with an inslaved demon. Everyone keeps insisting that Seto's magic will come with practice, but he knows better then to hope. He can dress the part and act the part, but no purple magic will ever come when he needs it.

The halls are thankfully empty as Seto decends the stairs to the bottom floor. There's only one person in the entire castle who has never expected more from him. Seto grabs a torch off the wall and uses another to light it when he reaches a spiral stairway at the back of the castle. This staircase descends deep into the ground where the dungeons are. The prince's steps never faltered with being so familiar with the dark staircase. Two soldiers sleepily stand guard at the entrance to the dungeons. They both snap to attention when Seto walks by. He gives a polite nod, but doesn't say anything else. He's been through here enough times that the guards don't ask him questions anymore.

The dungeons are actually quite large. There's another entrance coming from the city where most people enter from. The castle's own doorway is hidden by a stone door that blends in almost perfectly with the wall. More guards stand along each passage. King Vincent isn't keen on putting people into the jail for long amounts of time, but there are still plenty of prisoners with life sentences from the last king. Seto ignores their shouts and yells at him. Some of them have actually seen him coming down here since he was a child, when he would stop and chat with everyone who said hello.

Prince Seto makes his way back to the darkest part of the dungeon. There's only one prisoner back here, and there's rumors that they keep it dark just for him. The prisoner has been here since before Seto was born, but he doesn't know how long exactly. His one torch quickly becomes the only source of light. He approaches the last cell in the row and sets the torch in a cubby in the wall. Seto then sits down on the floor with his legs crossed and waits.

The prisoner in the cell doesn't move for a few minutes. Seto remembers that the first time he came down here with a torch, he sat for thirty minutes before he could get the prisoner to open up his eyes. The man is slumped against the other wall with both of his hands chained above his head. He's tall with broad shoulders, long hair falling in front of his eyes. Seto can't imagine how uncomfortable it would be to sit in the same position for years. The weirdest part about the prisoner is the shiny metal casing on one of his arms and the opposite leg. One side of his face is also covered in metal with a dead light for one eye. In all his visits, Seto's never asked why he's like that. One thing he's always recognized is the shiny solar panel along his arm. Those are all over Liblicen in the bigger towns to power lights.

Slowly, the prisoner wakes up from his death-like sleep. His robotic eye flickers to life first with a dim glow. His brown human eye opens next as he sits up a little and focuses on Seto. He smiles.

"Back already? I thought that a prince would have better things to do then wander around a dungeon".

"I take your company over any 'princely' duty, Matt".