Chapter 110
"This is Vorbuk's new servant, Ashley." Princess Isis introduced the man to everyone for Vorbuk.
Their whole group was standing around the guest room that Prince Leo was using in the Cista palace. Vorbuk was sitting between Princess Isis and Ashley on the floor. He had returned to his wolf form on their way back in order to maintain some of his mana. Tiredness was already starting to befall him for using that form longer then he had intended.
"You bought a slave?" Prince Leo's tone was flat and cold. His words still managed to come out before anyone else could comment on the situation.
"Your Highness, calm down." Daryl spoke calmly to Leo before turning back towards Vorbuk and the other two. "You know how risky this is, right? Did you even look into what he was enslaved for doing?"
Vorbuk did not look too deeply into Ashley's private matters. Learning that he was from the kingdom of Drethia in the far east he could only presume that the fire the slave had mentioned must have killed someone from noble or higher status. He did not pry any further for information on him because he did not want to risk creating a dangerous rift between him and his new servant. Though he was aware that not looking deeper into it had a chance to put others around him at risk, he felt he could deal with that if the problem started to look possible.
Vorbuk nodded in Daryl's direction as the princess remained silent on the matter. The only ones who knew what Vorbuk did or didn't ask about were the three of them involved. When Vorbuk nodded his head to lye and claim he knew the reason for Ashley's capture the other two simply went along with him. It was Vorbuk's choice and neither of them were intending to go against his choice in the matter.
"What's done is done so we can only see what happens from here." Daryl closed his eyes momentarily with a sigh as he spoke.
"But this man is dangerous!" Prince Leo could not help but object to the idea.
"I am not going to fight with you guys over this matter. Do you think I had any right to trust you when some strange prince begged me to follow him in the beginning?" Vorbuk spoke to the prince as him and Bredret were the only two in the room that could understand what he was saying.
Bredret was keeping silent in the corner of the room simply observing the situation. He had no intention to intervene in their matters. In fact the whole situation made him feel tired.
"That's not.." Leo stopped talking mid sentence.
That's not the same thing. Prince Leo could only finish those words in his head. At the same time he knew those words were not a hundred percent true so he could not finish saying them out loud. It was true that in the beginning Vorbuk did not consider him a friend either. There had been no trust in the beginning when he had begged the wolf to follow him around.
Prince Leo turned and stormed out of the room so that he could clear his head. Storming down the palace hallway he came to the palace stairs. His steps halted as he could hear someone coming up behind him from a distance. Someone had followed him from the room without saying a word the whole way.
"What do you want?" Prince Leo asked the question before turning to see Ashley standing there with a gentle smile on his face.
"Your Highness," Ashley's voice was calm and clear compared to when he spoke in front of Vorbuk. As he made his way over towards the prince he leaned in towards him. Whispering directly beside the prince's ear. "no matter how close you are towards my master.. if you can not even protect yourself you have no right to act disrespectful towards him."
"What are you talking about?" Leo clenched his fist ready to send a blow towards Ashley.
Time was something the prince was not given. His fist never made it to Ashley because the slave's hand had already slammed into the prince's chest flat. Prince Leo's body tumbling backwards through the air. Shock filled him as he released he was going to fall straight down the palace stairs because of this man.
The moment before his body could get out of reach Leo's shirt was grabbed firmly by the hand of the same man, Ashley, who had just shoved him. Ashley was holding Leo in place so that his body was leaning over the stairway. If he let go of the prince, Leo would have no choice but to fall straight down.
"If you want to deserve the right to be worthy of my master you should work on yourself first." Ashley smiled politely before swinging his arm that held onto Leo.
Leo was sent tumbling to the side onto floor beside Ashley. Breaking out in a coughing fit, he struggled for a second to catch his breath. It was true that Leo could be considered weak among their group. He was the only average human besides Daryl. Humans were common just like many other races that filled the world, but besides his swordsmanship his magic was still considerably weak. The prince could not compare to the other companions and he understood that.
What is his intention in telling me this? Am I being mocked by a slave? Prince Leo thought this as he tried to understand what intention the slave could have for his actions.
"What am I suppose to do? You're trying to compare a human to your kind? I can not just grow my magic like a demon or beast." Leo found the thought of being compared to the other creatures unfair. Different beasts grew at different speeds and for humans it was usually slow.
"Are you sure magic is the only thing you need to become more capable? Act like a child in front of an enemy and you are going to die. Pitifully at that." Ashley snickered at the thought and turned around to leave. "Whether you die or not.. I do not care. It will only be bothersome because I will have to help my master clean up your mess when you act stupid. I can already tell your the foolish type."
Ashley had no intention to stand around and listen to the prince complain further. The prince could only sit there on the floor and watch as Ashley walked away. It was obvious to them both that they were not going to be able to get along that well in the future.
Leo was childish in the eyes of Ashley who desired to protect his master. However when it came to the prince he felt like Ashley was another obstacle in his way. Prince Leo only had one person he considered a friend in this life and now that one friend had invited someone Leo felt was dangerous to stay by their side.
The prince did not even realize that the man he hated had intentionally pushed his buttons. Ashley wanted to light a fire in the prince so that he would become more motivated in the future. If his master was going to be surrounded by this group he wanted to make sure they were worthy to be by his side.
A genuine smile slipped onto Ashley's face as he walked the hallway.