Page 12 of Danny's Dance

I stared from Darren to Regan and frowned. I didn’t understand. How could this young, shaggy looking guy be a prince? Not just a prince, but the first in line for the throne? What was he doing here? Why had he run? Why was he attackingus?

“I did not, no... I didn’t expect to find a prince here at the edge of the Woods of Erald. And I certainly didn’t expect him to be attacking us. What the fuck are you doing?” I asked, none of it making sense. Why would the heir be running around, robbingpeople?

“Trying to survive,” Darren said, running his hand through his dark hair. I stared at the young man sitting in front of me, trying to figure out what was going on. The dark lines underneath his eyes told me he didn’t sleep much, even though he looked exhausted. The tight skin around his eyes a sign he didn’t laugh mucheither.

“W-Why did you a-attackus?”

Darren shrugged, yawning as he cracked his knuckles. “Like I said, just trying to survive,man.”

“So nobody send you?” I eyed him suspiciously, still not convinced that the heir was going around robbing people so he could “survive”. Surely, there must be more toit?

“Why would anybody send me? Look, people coming out of the Woods of Erald are usually in a haze. Taking them out is easy. You’re the first ones who actually put up afight.”

I stared at him, trying to read his emotions from his face. He was either a brilliant liar or he was telling the truth. Beside, I couldn’t imagine the prince being anyone’s employee. He certainly would be too proud forthat.

And even if he was a sell-sword, Chesca would never hire him. He was too good and could’ve actually killed us. That was probably why she kept sending sub-par assassins and mercenaries after us. Just to make it very clear that she could get her hands on me anytime. I guessed it was more a game than anything else to her. Like everything else she did. This war was just one of her twisted ways to torment me. She couldn’t care less about the actual politics of itall.

So if Darren wasn’t sent by her, it could honestly just be a coincidence that we had run into him. Maybe he really was who he claimed to be. Darius Laruel. The lost prince. Running around in the middle of nowhere, throwing knives at people and robbing them of their money and probably their lives aswell.

“Do you know of a certain Chesca?” I asked again, still suspicious about the whole thing. This didn’t make anysense.

“Not that I can recall,no.”

“Y-You sure?” JP asked cautiously. I could tell that he was still on the fence about this whole prince thing. Regan nudged us and hesitantly, I stepped into a littlecircle.

“D-Do you think he is w-who he says he is?” JP whispered, staring at the young man who was sitting on a random stump ofwood.

“Yes, I do,” Regan answered, surprisingly enough. He wasn’t one to just take somebody’s word forit?

“Why?” I hissed back, still looking at Darren, refusing to let him out of my sight for onesecond.

“Add a beard and greyhair.”

I tilted my head as I mentally added those features to Darren’s face and as I did, the pieces suddenly clicked. “Ooooh.”

“W-What?”

“He’s the spitting image of the king,” I blurted out. Regan nodded, a smug glint playing in his eyes. He must’ve felt quite pleased with himself for connecting the dots first. “So we’re sure he is Darius. What’s he doing out here? Why did herun?”

“C-Can we just ask h-him?”

I chewed my lip as I stared at Darren. He didn’t look like he was a big talker, but then again, it couldn’t hurt to try. Maybe he feel more comfortable revealing his secrets if we told him who wewere.

I reached out for Regan’s hand and gently squeezed for reassurance. He gave me a nod of encouragement, as I spoke out a name I had alwaysloathed.

“Forgive us. I should’ve introduced myself, but you were too busy throwing stars at me. My name is Danielle D’Ors, daughter of Aldwin D’Ors and the sole heir of my clan’s lineage. This is my first mate Regan Sy, son of Reginald Sy. And this, this is JP. He’s also mypartner.”

A snort escaped from Darren as he faced us. “Are you trying to tell me you two are the heirs to the noble houses of thisland?”

With a nod, Regan and I revealed our own horn necklaces. Mine was engraved with a slender wolf and decorated with beautiful roses on the edges. The red rose had always been our insignia and since the beginning of our lineage, we had prided us on our flame red hair. I repressed a smile. Both JP and Regan were dark-haired. It was highly unlikely that any of my children would have a trace of our signature red hair. Maybe for thebest.

Regan’s amulet was carved much more roughly and had two swords crossed over a wolf. His house always did value strength over anything else. No wonder his father disapproved of Regan mating with, as he called it, “a delicate rose”. I just wished that Regan had come to me instead of going on a journey to forget about me. Although ultimately, that was how I had bumped into him in the middle of nowhere, so it might’ve been for the best, after all. Ever since I met Regan, I felt stronger and more in control of my wolf. He gave me the confidence and the strength I always lacked. He was my perfectmatch.

Darren inspected our necklace and nodded, a glint of something appearing in his eyes. He believed us. With a rather serious look, one that didn’t suit his youthful appearance, he turned to us. “What are the daughter of Aldwin and the son of Reginald doing together in this littletown?”

“What is the crown prince doing here?” Icountered.

The young man chuckled. “Touché.”

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