Chapter 45: 44. The Lost Prince

Remus arrived at a large house at the edge of King’s Harbor. The house had a gloomy air, blanketed in shadow behind ghostly trees. Messy twigs and thorny weeds snaked around the deserted yard. It was an abandoned orphanage. The cruel owner was a grumpy old man, with a pale complexion and a bald head. He had been collecting stray dragon boys and girls his entire miserable life, selling them to high-ranking lords for gold. They earned him every penny he owned, but he treated the children terribly, beating and starving them, all except for one particular boy.

“The surprise I told you about is in that house,” he said to Fenris, the second prince of the northern realm, as he rang the large bell hanging on the door. Fenris glanced around their surroundings, thinking it was the perfect place; no one would suspect that the young wolf prince, his competitor to the throne, was hidden there.

The old man came to the door, staggering. He wore a decent green robe and with expensive silver trimmed shoes. But his fine clothing couldn’t hide his ugly character. “Who is it?” He asked with a raspy voice through the door.

Remus took a ring off of his finger and showed it through the peephole, without saying anything. The old man shuddered as some of his most terrifying memories came back to him. He recognized the ring at once and opened the door.

A rotting scent flooded out. Remus and Fenris both furrowed their brows. The old man knelt on the ground, trembling with fear. “My lord… I don’t know you’d come today. Please forgive me… I didn’t prepare anything…”

Remus walked into the house and looked around. Everything was dirty and broken. Two huge staircases spiraled upwards and stretched off to both wings. He saw a few children peeking at him from dark corners. All of them were in tattered clothes. “Where is the boy? I’m taking him away today.”

“The…the boy. Which one?” The old man asked, without lifting his head.

Remus kicked the old man. “You know which one I’m talking about. The boy I sent to you years ago.”

The old man climbed up off of the ground and said, “Yes…yes, I remember now. But I may need more money if you intend to take him away…twice the amount you send every season. The boy has grown fond of me. He will miss me, and this place..”

Remus took out a chunk of gold and threw it to him. “Shut up and bring the boy to me, now!”

The old man immediately stood up and ran upstairs.

“Are you sure this boy is my nephew?” Fenris asked Remus in a low voice, “The Eclipse is coming. We can’t afford any mistakes.”

“Yes, I’m sure, Fenris,” Remus whispered back, “He is the prince of the northern reign. We’ll have a check of his mark.”

“Marvelous. As soon as he’s dead, my men will attack the city, just as I promised.” Fenris was pleased. After one more small step, the northern throne would be his. His elder brother, Olcan, refused to wed any women since his luna died. Without a proper heir, Olcan would have to give the throne to him on the day of the Eclipse. All he had to do now was to kill his nephew. He had searched for him for years.

His original plan was to kill him, push him from high up and make it look like an accident when he was a bit older. But who could have guessed that the boy would be kidnapped right out from his crib? Knowing he was still alive, he couldn’t sleep at night. His ambition to become king had begun to haunt him more and more. He was lucky to have a friend like Remus, and even luckier to find the prince before his brother, Olcan. He would kill the rightful heir as soon as possible and blame his death on the dragons, staging a fake attack as thanks to Remus.

The boy came down from upstairs. He was a short and chubby boy with a round belly. He panted from simply climbing down the stairs. But no one could blame him; with an extra fifty gold every season, the old man had to let him eat more. If he was too thin, the scar-faced dragon prince would certainly blame him for not taking good care of the boy.

“These two lords will take you home,” the old man said to the boy.

Fenris walked over to the boy and checked his back. He saw a mark, shaped like a crescent moon, right on the center of his spine. Fenris nodded with a hidden grin, “Yes boy, I will take you home now.”

--

Leila rode her horse in the middle of Thorn’s large party. Thorn rode beside her and stared forward. It had been days since they left. They hadn’t talked much since they initiated their journey from the Jubilee Inn. But when she strayed away from Thorn, leaving his sight for just a moment, Thorn would appear right next to her and keep her company in silence.

“Can I ask you a question?” Thorn said, without looking directly at her.

“Yes?” Leila said.

“If, I’m saying *if*, Mother Dragon forbidden me to mark you…Would you still stay with me?”

His question astonished Leila. She could never have imagined that. It was simply outrageous and too hard to believe. But she knew that there was something making Thorn upset, since Dagen had told them her true identity. Thorn also wouldn’t ask this question if he didn’t believe it as a possibility.

She was excited to finally go to the place that haunted her dreams; she hoped it could reveal her true power, and allow her to get to know her family. It was as if a long-lost treasure suddenly reappeared in front of her. Thorn’s sudden suspicion had quelled her excitement at once. For a second, she didn’t know how to answer him.

Thorn sensed her silence and decided to not to push her further. He led his horse and rode ahead. They hadn’t talked much since then.

Leila looked at Thorn, who was determined not to look at her. Hugo approached them from the front of the party. “My prince. We will soon arrive at the Craggy Mountains busiest village. There’s a large inn on the main street, it should have enough rooms for all of us.” Then, Hugo leaned closer to Thorn and whispered, “The brothel is on the same street. I checked. It’s still open.”

Leila heard the word brothel but her eyes remained fixed forward. *Did they plan to go to a brothel? She knew that they hadn’t had sex successfully, thanked to Dagen. But couldn’t he tolerate it?

Thorn nodded at Hugo, “We’ll go there after we get settled at the inn.”

Hugo nodded back. “I’ll go deal with the inn.” He rode his horse to the front.

“How many days do we need to stay in the inn?” Leila asked Thorn.

“It depends. I have something to take care of, royal affairs. We’ll get back on the road after I’m done.” Thorn looked at Leila. “You have a good rest at the inn. I know you must be tired.”

“It’s fine. I’m not that tired.” Leila said, hinting that they still could get intimate, “You know. That question you asked me before…”

“No need to answer,” Thorn cut in, “I wasn’t thinking straight. We’ll discuss it later. ” Thorn then kicked his horse and quickly rode forward to join Hugo.

--

Behind the huge rocks and dense woods, a man with a bald head dressed in a dark robe with a single eye patch lurked beside the road.

“Alpha Luca,” another man said to him, “They are finally here. They seem to be checking in to the inn on the main street.”

Luca stared at Leila. A disgusted hatred burst up inside him. His skin glistened with a golden sheen, but its luster seemed dimmer since he lost one of his eyes to Leila. “Yes, they’re finally here. I will definitely complete the tasks the queen gave me this time.”