Page 56 of Searching for the Prince
“Ah, you’re awake,” Hyax said, wanting to keep Simon as calm as possible.
Simon frowned. “Who are you?”
They had hoped Simon would have begun to remember now he was no longer under the lich’s influence, but then he had only met him once so it might not be an indication he still had a Swiss cheese brain. “Prince Hyax of the Tasharick tribe.”
Simon cocked his head to one side and gave him a considered look. “I… you were a guest at my wedding.”
Hyax cheered inwardly, this was an excellent sign and suggested Simon’s memory wasn’t permanently damaged. “Correct, and that answers one of my questions, you know who you are. Don’t you?”
“Prince Simon, heir to the throne of the Calanti, and Viscount of MacLove,” he said as if it were obvious. “Where am I and where’s Robin?”
Hyax felt a prickling of energy from around Simon’s cuffs and he thought Simon was trying to use his magic. Simon held up his arms. “What the fuck are these?”
“This is not going to be an easy conversation,” Hyax said, but he didn’t think it would help fobbing Simon off. “You’re at Crofton Hall, you’re safe but only because myself and Ashley have warded this room with a mix of spells so complex I don’t think I could repeat it under pain of having my wings pulled off.”
The spells had been hard work, and he’d impressed himself with what they had created but he didn’t want to repeat them.
“Crofton Hall? As in Ben Redbourn, and Ashley’s his boyfriend and Senior Warlock?”
Simon was more with it than they’d dared hoped, him being able to recall the information was a great relief. “Yes, we weren’t sure which memories you would have retained. But I get the feeling you’re probably missing some… what’s the last thing you remember before you woke up?”
Simon took a moment, no doubt having trouble collating his thoughts. “I’d woken up after my wedding night.” His smug expression suggested he’d had a great time at Robin’s hands. “I’d got dressed to go somewhere, but… I… must have gone back to bed. Then I woke up here.”
Simon stopped talking and grabbed a handful of his hair. “Why the fuck is my hair red?”
Hyax sat on the edge of the bed, he hadn’t expected to be the one dealing with Simon waking up or being the one to answer his questions. “This is going to take some explaining but since you know who you are, it’s a good sign and I think you can cope with knowing.”
“Knowing what? And why shouldn’t I?”
Best to get this out of the way and be as straightforward as possible, Simon was a fellow fae and Hyax thought he could handle this. “Your marriage was several weeks ago, not yesterday. You went to a house viewing and you were kidnapped, we’re still piecing together all the details, but Robin and a few others got you back and you’re being kept in this room to stop who took you from trying to take you again.”
Simon was quiet for a while before he asked, “Who took me?”
Simon was an intelligent man and Hyax wouldn’t insult him by trying to fob him off. “The kidnappers we think were elves, but under contract and we’ve someone working on that angle, but you were found at a facility run by a Dr Ralph Mettle, who claimed to have helped you escape from a place where you were being ill-treated. You had no memory of who you were, and Mettle put the cuffs in place to limit you using your magic.”
“Why would he do that? And where’s Robin?”
Simon was more matter-of-fact than Hyax had expected. He’d been exposed to his peers and fae princes weren’t the sort to deal well with situations outside their control.
“Robin’s resting. We had to remove you via an emergency portal, and it messed with his vampire physiology, I will go get him as he’ll want to see you now you’re awake. But the person who took you was a lich.”
Simon shuddered, and Hyax thought the reality was beginning to bite. “He must’ve wanted my magic to use for himself.”
“That’s the hypothesis. A fae healer has done an examination, and found no evidence of physical or sexual assault, and that the only residual issue is your memory, which now seems limited to the period you were away.”
“Do you think I’ll regain my memories?”
The process might take some time, but since Simon had already remembered so much Hyax thought it wasn’t unlikely, but there were barriers, and the cuffs might be holding back more than just his magic.
“Possibly.” Hyax tapped one of the cuffs. “We need to get these off first and see. Releasing your magic might be the answer.”
Simon took a moment to examine the cuffs. “I think they’re elf. I’ve read about how they can enhance metals to hold a certain magic.”
Alex had confirmed their origin. “Yes, we came to the same conclusion and think we might have a way to remove them, but it involves a complicated potion that is currently under preparation and takes some time and constant supervision. The final ingredient would be elf blood and your blood.”
“Elf blood? What will I need to promise to get that?”
“That’s not the issue, Alex is Ben’s secretary and an elf, he’s also one of the brewers. He’s ready to add his blood when needed.”
