Puppet-2

When Jarad entered the council room, he spotted his boss, Howard, beside him was one of the fiercest warriors in the whole Gorgon kingdom, General Lord Tarrain. And then there was the strongest person in the whole kingdom on the main seat, Queen Charlotte.

He immediately bowed down, as the social etiquette dictates. "Rise, Jarad," Queen said in a plain voice.

He got up and started looking down. He didn't dare to look anyone in the eye, he was scared. Also, he didn't want to offend any of them.

"Do you know why we have called you here Jarad?" Howard asked.

"I dont know sir."

"Do you wanna guess?"

"I dont… know… sir." His voice had started breaking up, he was about to cry. But he controlled himself, he didn't want to cry in front of royalty.

"Look towards me Jarad," Howard said. He slowly moved his head up, and still, his eyes kept looking at the floor.

"Look at me Jarad!" Howard yelled. He looked up. His eyes were watery, he was very close to crying.

It is then General Tarrain chimed in. "I am afraid, I have some grave news son."

"It's about your friend, Adui." Howard added.

"Wha…" he just mumbled, his throat was hurting, and he was about to cry.

"Your friend is in grave danger." This time Queen added.

"Wha… Ho. How?"

"We dont know. His house in Laverdale was burned down, according to the City's Watch, the fire was caused deliberately. So we want to know whether you told anyone about our little talk to anyone. Anyone. Your spouse, children, anyone." Howard added.

"No one, sir. You ordered me to keep quiet about it, and I did just that. Even my wife doesn't know about this."

"How can we know, that you are telling us the truth?" Queen asked.

"I am telling you the truth your majesty. I have no reason to lie to you."

"We will see about that," Queen said, then she turned to Howard. "Do it."

"Jarad, as the stakes are high this time, we would like to use magic on you. It won't hurt you a little bit, I promise. But if you lie at any moment, then I won't be able to keep my promise."

From their looks, he could tell, that he didn't have any right to decline their offer. He had to go through it, no matter what.

***

3 weeks later.

Rupert opened his eyes, his body was wrapped around soft and silky sheets, and the smell of herbs and medicine was spread around the, making him realize that he was in some sort of medical room. He got up and looked around, he recognized this room in the darkness, this was his room.

His body was aching as if he had been lying in the same position for a long time. But then his body was the least of his worries, he woke up because he had some work to do, and his and his mother's life depended on the completion of the task. He cannot falter now.

He pushed his sheets aside and got up. He stretched his body a little bit, to open it up, it had been locked up for a long time. He went to his wardrobe, opened it up, and brought out the sharpest sword in there. As he closed the wardrobe, he looked at himself in the mirror.

His body was full of scars, most of his injuries had healed from his last battle, leaving behind a very heavily scarred body. He would have been upset before, his handsome face was not there anymore, but he was not upset today, after all, he had some work to do, and he had no time to be upset, he had a mission to complete.

It was then he saw the most peculiar thing about his body, his eyes, they were pitch black, long gone his beautiful lilac eyes, now only darkness remained in his eyes.

'What happened to my eyes, he couldnt help but question himself.

Your eyes were always like this. Came a voice. He turned around and spread his sense. But there was no one in the room.

Who is there?

It is me your master.

My master?

Yes boy, your master.

Wait, you can hear my thoughts

Yes, I can. After all, I am your master. Dont you remember? You said that you will serve me for the rest of your miserable life.

Oh yeah.. I remember now. You are the one that gave me that mission.

That is correct. I am here to help you, Rupert. Go now. Go, my boy.

Yes, master, He raised his sword, with determination in his eyes, he had to complete the mission, even if it cost him his life, his master had commanded him to do so, and his mother's life also depended on this mission, he could fall, nor falter…

The guards stationed outside Prince's room were diligently doing their duty. But they were all startled when the door of the Prince's room was opened from inside, no one was supposed to be inside, so they all took out their weapons, but they stopped in their tracks, when the Prince that they were supposed to guard came out, completely naked.

"Your Majesty." The head guard mumbled he was shocked that the prince was able to walk when it was just a few hours ago physicians declared that there were no signs of recovery

"What should I do with them, master?" Guards got confused, they couldnt understand to whom their prince was talking, after all, there was no one in this hallway except them.

Kill them of course. He nodded his hand and started bringing his mana to aid him. All the guards started getting a bad feeling, as they felt their Prince's mana increasing…

Without a warning, Rupert pounced at them, and started slashing them one by one, they tried to retaliate, but none of them could match his prowess, and after a scuffle that lasted for a few seconds, Rupert came out unscathed. Then without showing any sort of remorse or emotion, he started moving, he had a mission to complete.