Page 11 of The Night Prince 3
“Declan!” Aquilan’s voice was low and rushed, but loud enough to get the young man’s attention.
Declan spun around to face them as Aquilan raced down the hallway towards him, boots lightly dancing over the fangs. The sword in Declan’s right hand was gone. Declan winced and he reached up and touched the back of his neck.
Blood Weapon. He’s turned Sorrow’s End into a Blood Weapon. No one but Vex could do that… or Vex’s child…
The world spun and Rhalyf felt a mixture of nausea and awe. None of this should have been possible. The Night King had a child! That child was a friend–as he saw Aquilan embrace Declan, he amended that to more than a friend–of the Sun King! Vex was somewhere near here. Close. He had to be close.
It’s over. All over, Rhalyf thought weakly. I did not run far enough. And I have been found.
“Did Lord Declan kill the Leviathan? Oh, my! How many fangs there are!” Elasha stated.
“Lord Declan?” Finley lifted an eyebrow at her.
“Yes, I’m not certain of his House. He didn’t say,” Elasha said uncertainly.
She thinks Declan is an Aravae. Oh, my gods how insane this is. I suppose that hoods hide a variety of sins. She couldn’t see his rounded ears.
His eyes met Finley’s as the young man opened his mouth to correct her. Finley’s mouth clicked shut, understanding that it was not a good idea to point out that Declan was supposed to be human. Who would believe that now in any case? And really what was the point in hiding any longer? It was all going to come out. Worse, Vex must be here. Right now. Somewhere up ahead. He had to warn everyone. He had to…
“Remember when uncle told us yesterday that he had no time for love?” Elasha laughed lightly as she tilted her head down the hallway to where Aquilan was running his hands up and down Declan’s arms and shoulders as if to assure himself that Declan was uninjured. “What a difference a day makes!”
A day… It's just been a damned day since we returned to Tyrael. I never thought things could go so wrong so fast. I was imagining nude picnics and long evenings at the Dawn, but it’s all over now. All of it. Just the ending must come.
Still smiling, Elasha asked, “Do you know his family, Rhalyf? I think it must be a very good one. He’s so kind and brave and powerful! Though, I am surprised that I haven’t seen him at court before.” She tapped her chin as she regarded Declan critically. “And he dresses a little eccentrically, but that doesn’t matter, I suppose. I mean that can be changed, if it has to. But I do need to know his House to make sure that it is of… of… well, you know. That he is fittingly royal.”
Rhalyf stared at her and thought about bursting out into bitter, hysterical laughter. Declan was royal all right. He was the Night Prince. Heir to the entire Kindreth empire. Son of Xelroth Vex, most powerful of all elves in existence, most powerful of all magic users. If anyone were royal enough to date Aquilan, it would be Declan Wilde. But, of course, for all the same reasons he was the absolute last person that Aquilan could ever be with.
Does Vex know about Aquilan’s nascent feelings? Is he watching all of this and laughing?
He gazed back down the hallway towards the doomed potential lovers. Declan’s eyes were covered by those sunglasses, despite the pitch blackness of the location, but then Aquilan gently removed them. Declan blinked as if even this darkness was not dark enough for him, but then smiled shyly up at Aquilan.
What did you tell him, Declan? Did you admit killing those Leviathan with a Blood Weapon? Aquilan’s expression says “no” but what does he think happened here? That the Leviathan just dropped dead? That they were dead before you ran down the hallway for no reason? Infatuation may be blinding him now, but not that much. Not that much…
He heard the thump of Glom’s four feet as the naki lumbered up to them.
“What’s going on? Why are we stopping” Helgrom asked as he and Snaglak reached the corner.
Glom stuck his head between them and looked hungrily at Snaglak’s bare thigh.
“Fangs!” Snaglak’s eyes grew huge as he saw all of the fangs littering the ground.
“Not so loud, big man,” Finley raised and lowered his hands. “There might be living Leviathan nearby.”
“Hope so!” Snaglak chortled. “Killing fun! Fangs money! Money for beer and food!”
“You mean my beer, my food and then, eventually, my money,” Helgrom chuckled. But then he sobered and looked very hard at Rhalyf. “How did so many fangs come to be here exactly?”
Rhalyf opened his mouth, but no words came out.
“Declan!” Snaglak chortled. “Declan big boss. Declan kill all Leviathan. Declan let Snaglak have fangs, Finley?”
That last was said with a rather pathetic, puppyish look by Snaglak. Rhalyf had not believed that an orc could look cute, but Snaglak was doing a shockingly good impersonation of that.
“I’m sure he’d be fine with it, Snaglak,” Finley said with a flash of a smile.
Everyone here but Elasha knew that Declan was supposed to be human. But as Rhalyf gazed among them, he realized that none of them believed that. Helgrom was stroking his beard. His amber eyes rested on Rhalyf and there was so much unsaid behind that gaze that Rhalyf nearly turtled in under the weight of it.
He knows! He knows Declan isn’t human. And he knows… Does he know about me?
