A new Challenger Approaches

Malus looked around at the crowd that had gathered to watch him and became anxious. He had spent his whole previous life avoiding being seen and now he was in the spotlight. Malus fled, running to the carriage and slamming the door. "Well that was brave of you," his mother said with a smirk. He glared at her for a moment and looked at the silver knife still in his hands. "You have your father's sense of justice, and recklessness, and his bravery in the face of stacked odds." Malus' mother looked at him longingly then turned and looked out the window, knocking against the wood with her hand. The carriage started moving again. Malus looked out the window watching the street bustle, only now when he looked out people stopped and waved as he passed. He sunk into his seat and leaned to the side to avoid being seen. "Looks like news spreads faster in big cities than bad smells in a small room, haha," his mother looked down at him with an amused expression that shifted to a serious one. "You need to be more careful, you may have gotten out this time, but nobles in this country are more viscous than Demons."

Malus looked up at his mother. "I understand. I will be more careful in the future, but what he was doing was wrong and I do not regret what I have done."

May made eye contact for several seconds before laughing heartily, "you have done nothing wrong. In fact you have done the city a service. However you should be more careful next time, you may not escape unharmed next time." Malus laughed and closed his eyes. Laying against his mother's shoulder, he felt warm and calm. Maybe this was some of that maternal love he was always hearing about. Whatever it was, he liked it. A short time passed before the carriage reached the palace grounds, coming to a quick stop in front of a path to the door. Malus followed his mother out the door where they were greeted by guards and a well dressed Elven butler who greeted them politely and led them inside. The interior of the palace was enormous, making Malus feel small even for his small body, like his very soul was being dwarfed. There were large glass windows on almost every wall with banners depicting Phoenixes between them in the foyer leading to the main house. [Wow, if this doesn't shout 'I have a lot of money,' I don't know what does.] Malus walked through the room, looking at the display of wealth unimpressed. He'd seen much better in his past life. His mother looked at him as they walked through the doors waiting to see his eyes light up as they entered but was disappointed to see his face actually darken when they entered. After passing through the foyer, Malus entered the great hall, which was decorated with suits of armor, art, banners and more stained glass windows. Light that poured through the windows beamed and displayed imagery depicting great battles and other scenery. As soon as the trio entered the room, the butler announced their presence and another group met them halfway through the room. The group consisted of two adults and two children, one male and one female of each.

Mallory had prided himself in his ability to read people at a glance, reading an aura he called it, turning people into an open book, exposing insecurities, personality and intent to him; this allowed him to discover and change his own aura at will.

Malus scanned the group. The adults appeared to be the king and queen judging from the crowns and attire. They both held an air of importance without feeling haughty. In fact, they felt friendly and amiable. The kids however were almost the opposite of each other. The girl looked one year younger than Malus and gave off an aura of bratty self importance that needed to be the center of attention with a hint of loneliness. The boy looked a year older than Malus; he gave off a calm and collected aura that seemed friendly but cold. The girl stood beside her mother with her arms crossed across her chest in a pouting manner. Malus guessed that she didn't want to be there. The boy stood next to his father with his arms at his sides. "Good afternoon, Your Highnesses," Malus' mother spoke first. "King Kai, Queen Alexandra, this is Malus, my son." Malus took a step forward, cracking into a slight grin.

"Please, Kiri, we are all friends here, you can drop the formalities." The king smiled and looked down to Malus. "Well maybe not all of us yet. How about it, are we going to be friends?"

Malus looked up at the king and squinted, dropping his smile to adopt a deadpan expression [What gives you the qualification? Being king? No, that right must be earned] Malus said nothing but scowled at King Kai.

"Man of few words? Well I'm sure we'll get along well enough. These are my kids, Kai Jr and Dibella." The boy stepped forward putting forth his hand and the girl was scooted forward by her mother. Malus shook Kai Jr's hand and faked a smile. "Hello." The boy stared at him with a blank expression and said nothing more [What's this kids deal? He's just staring.] Malus looked at him for a few more seconds before the boy turned and returned to his original position next to his father. The king looked down to Kai Jr and sighed heavily, obviously disappointed. Malus turned to the girl who was glaring at him with great intensity. [Oh great, one's daft and the other already hates me. I don't see either of these two being great companion material.]

"Why are you even here?"

Malus' thoughts were interrupted by a high pitched voice with some serious attitude.

"Excuse me?" Malus was genuinely confused as to what this girl's problem was.

Mallory had always been bad at dealing with girls and relationships. He never found the right girl. There was always some glaring flaw in Mallory's eyes. He eventually decided the only woman he would ever truly love was Lady Luck, who obviously already loved him.

"What are you doing here? No one asked you to come here and interrupt our day for your friendship." Dibella now had her hands on her hips and was staring down Malus.

Malus looked up to his mother with a pitiful pained expression.

"I need to talk to the king and queen for a little bit. Why don't you go play with Kai and Dibella?"

She ignored Malus' silent call for help and bailed herself, walking into another room with the king and queen, leaving Malus in the main hall. Malus looked back to the duo in front of him. Kai's expression was one of relief, like great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "Finally, they are gone," Kai sighed heavily. "Hello, my name's Kai Jr. Just call me Kai. My father is usually called "His Highness" or something, so it won't be that confusing." Kai put forth his hand again, more casually this time. Malus just looked at his hand before reluctantly shaking it.

"Ha, you're so afraid of Dad, you can't even greet properly while he's here," Dibella sneered, gawking at Kai.

"You be quiet. All you do is make snide remarks. If you keep this up, you'll never get married and you'll be a grey old hag."

Dibella recoiled and shrieked, "you take that back!" Malus stood and watched with an amused expression stretched across his face.

"Hey, Malus, you fight?" Kai was walking across the room to a table with a small decorative armory on it.

"No, not really, why?" Kai pulled out two swords, holding one out for Malus.

"Well, if we are going to be friends, we should fight first. The weak have no place near the royal family. It isn't safe."

Malus scoffed [yea, sure it isn't safe, you just want an excuse to fight me] "I'm more of a dagger person myself."

Mallory usually carried a couple of hidden blades that he had copied the designs of from a video game he had played once, but he rarely used either of them, preferring to avoid violence.

"Suit yourself," Kai turned and placed the sword on the table, instead returning with a dagger for Malus.

[Oh boy, I get to fight a 7 year old with a sword, not a high point of my career.]

Malus took the two daggers and stepped back from Kai, who took position ten paces away from him. Kai took a dueling stance while Malus took a casual stance.

Kai took the initiative and lunged forward to Malus' shoulder opposite of his heart. Malus parried and deflected the blade to just miss his arm. He then grabbed Kai's wrist with his free hand and pulled Kai close and elbowed him in the face. Then he wrapped his legs behind Kai's, forcing them both to their knees. Malus then forced his body backward, smashing Kai against the ground with considerable force. Kai's body made a dull thud as it hit the stone floor. Kai groaned as he rolled on the floor dropping the sword to hold his face.

"Wow, he destroyed you, brother," Dibella gawked at her brother from the comfort of the throne where she was sitting.

"I thought you said you don't fight," Kai recovered and slowly and stiffly rose to his feet.

Malus shrugged, "I don't really."

Kai looked at him unconvinced. "Uh huh, sure."

At this time the adults entered the room.

Queen Alexandra shrieked and ran over to Kai. "Why are you bleeding? What happened? Why are your clothes so dirty?" Alexandra gave Malus accusatory glares while tending to Kai. "What did you do to him?"

Malus shrugged and looked to his mother, who was seeming uninterested to the commotion [Some help you are.] Malus didn't know what to say and just stood there with his mouth open with a confused expression on his face.

"Mom, leave him alone, it was Kai's fault." Surprisingly it was Dibella who spoke up "Kai should learn not to fight with everyone he meets because he may find someone he can't beat like today."

Malus turned to Dibella to see her smirking and staring at him. [Don't think I'll start liking you just because you saved me today.] Malus outwardly smiled but inwardly sneered. The queen huffed and glared at Malus once more before turning back to Kai and tending to him. Malus' mother finally walked other and grabbed his hand.

"Well, we should really be going," she smiled and nodded to the king who said his goodbyes and left the room. Malus and his mother turned and walked out into the foyer. The queen and Kai came to see them out, but Dibella did not.

As they were about to get into the carriage, Kai came up behind Malus and grabbed his shoulder. "Hey, good fight today." Malus turned to see Kai smiling while trying to keep the blood coming from his nose from getting on his clothes. "It's good to finally fight someone who won't hold back because I'm the prince."

Malus grinned and chuckled, "I wouldn't hold back if you were the king, that would just be disrespectful to your skill."

Kai looked stunned and took a step back grinning. "I'm sure we will meet again, and when we do, I want a rematch."

Malus smiled and got into the carriage. "Haha, sure, but i won't hold back on you."

Kai laughed, "That's what I'm counting on."

Malus closed the carriage door. As they left, Kai waved and Malus waved back.

"What do you think of them?" May asked this after they had gotten down the road a little.

"Kai is alright, a little pushy but alright. Dibella is a brat though."

May chuckled, "well maybe they'll grow on you." Malus slumped in his seat and got comfortable. "I doubt it."