The Rowdy Prince

King Zachaeus, looked gloomy, staring at the night sky from his high-rise balcony. A gold-plated box clutched in his palms. His expression was sternly dark, as flashes of scenes played in his mind. Screams of women, chasing footsteps, a bloody hand clung onto the hem of his clothes; the person on the brink of death uttered a request which he reluctantly fulfilled. The dying person's eyes showed no signs of despair or fear, rather they were filled with hatred and a strange aura of strength, followed by an ear-splitting scream.

Zachaeus closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then proceeded to open the box. The insides of it were covered in red velvet and in it, there was a white round crystal, shattered into pieces. He took out the biggest shard which still has the shape of its initial form and looked at it, before putting it back, and closing the lid. He then went up to a locker that was concealed within a phoenix statue in his room and put it back. Soon his phone rang; the screen showed Nezeira's face. He picked it up and answered,

"Yes, my dear."

Nezeira spoke from the other side, "Greetings father, I have had a werewolf apprehended and did some initial questioning. He seems to be adamant and we need answers. I need your counsel on what should be done."

Zachaeus, "I understand, you want to use torture, your usual method. Right?"

Nezeira, "Since he is adamant, yes, and also it is required that we find Rhain before he strikes again."

Zachaeus, "I would have let you use torture if it was Vladmore. In Cresia you are bound by their etiquettes."

Nezeira, "Then what do you suggest we do?"

Zachaeus, "Let me hold a conversation with Xavier and Niamh on this matter. Till then just stick to normal interrogation."

Nezeira, "Sure, father. I'll take my leave."

Nezeira disconnected the phone and went out of the outhouse to the holding cell for the prisoners. She entered and sat down on the chair in front of the bloodied werewolf. She then calmly spoke,

"There are two options for you. One, I will start torturing you with silver needles while keeping you alive. Then when the full moon comes we will inject you with wolfs-bane. And you know what will happen to you then."

She then swiftly went near the werewolf and grabbed his bloodied chin and forcibly raised it up and said in a sinister tone.

"Imagine the pain of not being able to transform due to the wolf-bane, as your body trying to shift breaking your bones."

The werewolf shivered in fear at the thought of it and tears started to glisten in the corner of his eyes. Nezeira, let him go and returned to her seat. She then looked straight and asked,

"Who are making these Beasts? How many are you guys, in this? Where are the others?"

The werewolf looked tiredly and shook his head unable to stand straight due to his injuries and the silver chains. Nezeira looked at him with a calm steady look. She then got up and while leaving, gave out orders to clamp down the chains a little more tighter. As she left the holding chamber a shrilling scream from the werewolf was heard. Nezeira looked frustrated and called up Ywain to ask about anything else they found so that for the time being she can investigate it.

"There wasn't much information about who else is on this, Princess, except that it seems that this has been going on for some months now. The secret outlet to the area looks like has been used to go to and fro. Also, we clicked pictures of the whole area but they are of not much use."

Nezeira, "Send them to me. I'll see if I can hit something."

Ywain, "Yes, Princess."

They both hung up and within the next second Nezeira received a series of photographs. She took them to her room and opened them. For the next two hours, she carefully scrutinized the photos, but could not hit any clues from them. Feeling extreme frustration she stretched herself, reclining on the chair, head up looking at the ceiling. She sat straight and looked at her laptop screen. The footage of Rhain captured on the day of the attack is beside the image folder. Just like that she casually played it. The whole scene played again and at that moment something caught her eye that she or anyone else failed to notice before. Suddenly, Nezeira became alert and watched the footage again and when that scene came she paused the video to have a careful look at what she missed before. Her eyes went wild looking at the screen. Immediately she called up Ywain again and told him that she wants thorough scrutiny of the object she spotted and sent it to her. A few minutes later Ywain called up,

"Princess, what is this thing?"

Nezeira, "I have no idea. I must ask Father about it."

Just then alarm siren went off. It came from the holding cell where the werewolf was restrained. Nezeira ran out with her sword towards the cell and then she witnessed the horror. Several royal guards were being mauled by the werewolf in an attempt to escape. The thing about werewolves is that they can grow fangs without shifting, at will, with their eyes turning yellowish green, like those of wolves. Nezeira took out Requiem and charged at him. She gave a lying kick on his chest making him fall dragging on a bit. He snarled at her getting up on his feet again. In the meantime, the royal guards swarmed the place with wolfsbane bullet-loaded guns to subdue the werewolf. When he charged again at Nezeira several bullets flew piercing him from all directions. The strong effect of wolfs-bane rendered him weak and thus incapacitated. Nezeira sheathed back her sword and went up to him. She grabbed a tuft of his hair and asked in a vicious tone,

"How did you get out?"

The werewolf was so weak that he almost could not speak. He murmured something and shook his head. By that time the Chief of the guards came and said,

"That's a question we all should be asking you, Princess. It's broad daylight so your team cannot come out, except you. And this vermin was under your watch."

Nezeira's temper was provoked and she narrowed her eyes and came face to face and hissed, her electric blue eyes fixed on the Chief in an utter menacing way.

"Are trying to say that this was my fault?"

The Chief, a little intimidated by her demeanor, said, "If not then what do you have to say in your defense?"

Nezeira gave out a smirk and said, "I thought the surveillance of the Cresian royal palace is unparalleled. Yet here you, are making wild assumptions and accusations."

The Chief retracted and said, "We will see."

He stomped off ordering the men to escort the werewolf back into the cell. Nezeira stood in her place with a concerned look, trying to comprehend how the werewolf got out. Nezeira was about to leave when her eyes fell on the figure standing on a high-rise balcony of the second prince. He had a wicked smile on his face and an evil demeanor. The dark brown eyes met the electric blue ones, and sparks flew. Sparks of severe hostility, for Nezeira at that moment, could clearly fathom what led to this sudden chaos. When it comes to the security of apprehended people she is the most articulate person, leaving no gaps for any lapse. Here too she did her job likewise, so how did the werewolf be able to break through the levels of security and attempt an escape unless someone made it possible for him? And that must be someone who holds enough authority to enter the cell and manipulate the incident without being questioned by the guards.

While locking her gaze on Yihan, her eyes became more fierce and the latter was taken aback by the intensity of it. Yihan could feel the extreme arrogance and overconfidence in him wearing away with every passing second under the scorching gaze of this vampire princess and before it could completely incapacitate him, he quickly went inside. Once in, he could feel his aggravated heartbeat. He proceeded to drink water before calming down a bit. His phone rang. His assistant was on the other side.

"Sir, you are three days behind your shooting schedule. We really need to proceed with it otherwise the production will incur a severe loss."

Yihan, answered, "Fine, I will be there in a couple of hours."

No matter what Yihan felt restless and started to think of the fact that it might not have been a wise move on his part to do what he did. But according to his conscience, something has to be done to teach the princess a lesson for trying to be rude to him. Yihan dressed up and left for the shoot.

Nezeira, on the other hand without losing any time jumped in to find out what went wrong. In the meantime, an inter-kingdom inquiry has been set up by King Xavier on the incident that left a dozen men mauled who are now susceptible to transformation. An issue that never happened for over five hundred years as per the Pact. Yet now this has been a cherry on top of the already mysterious doom the kingdoms are facing. Nezeira checked everything and eventually found out what went wrong. She was furious yet, chose to stay quiet and prepared for the meeting, which was scheduled post-sunset. As the meeting convened over the video-conferencing a series of incidents were discussed which led to the werewolf getting free. Since he is still reeling under heavy wolfs-bane it was impossible to force a statement out of him. The imperial guards on duty were called in and everyone testified that the last one to visit the werewolf was Nezeira. However, they looked a bit distressed while giving their statements. Nevertheless, things were still vague with the only clear fact that Nezeira was the one directly involved. All through the time, Zacchaeus spoke nothing and so did Ywain. In the end, the meeting concluded that Nezeira should bear the responsibility of the casualty. Nezeira calmly stood up and said,

"I take full responsibility for today's incident and will accept any punishment."

Xavier, turned towards Zachaeus and asked, "What do you propose on this?"

Zachaeus, "Since the Princess failed to keep up with her responsibility it is natural that she be moved from her leadership position. I propose, General Ywain as her replacement."

It seems like the suggestion worked and all agreed to it. Ywain came forward and accepted the responsibility. The meeting concluded with Nezeira returning to the outhouse. She was about to step in when her superhuman senses felt something odd. She carefully unlocked the door and stealthily entered. And almost catching her off-guard four huge UV flashlights came on falling squarely on her, following the lights coming on. Nezeira stood there unbothered and unharmed. The masked intruders with flashlights were stunned at the revelation. Nezeira looked at them and said in an icy tone,

"Are you guys done? Because if UV rays are something you thought you could use to subdue me because it's night-time, then I am afraid it is not going to work."

Then she started to walk towards them. The two masked people started to retreat with the shorter one suddenly turning around and jumping off the window escaping, leaving behind his companion. The taller person, seeing that their plan failed, tried to flee but Nezeira, in lightning speed caught the person by the collar hoisted him up, and with one swift move snatched away the mask revealing a handsome face. She coldly stared at the dark brown eyes and spoke,

"Perhaps you care to explain why you are being so shamelessly rowdy in bringing me down, Your Highness!"

Yihan, gasped as he looked terrified of Nezeira. All his plans and calculations to 'teach this Princess a lesson' went under the water, as he thought her to be just another vampire. Nezeira looked at him and said, all while hoisting him high up,

"Care to explain your little fun this afternoon, all to teach me a lesson? If not then I have more than enough proof to show who is actually responsible for the mayhem."

Yihan shook his head and said, "No wait, please do not do anything. I will be doomed."

Nezeira then spoke again, this time with severe hatred, "You have destroyed the lives of your own people to get to me. You are a despicable person. And if I want, I can do the same thing to you right here right now with just one phone call. There are countless ways to screw you for life without killing you, Prince. So listen carefully, what I have to say."

Yihan nodded quickly and said, "Yes, yes tell me what you want."

Nezeira, "I want access to your entertainment industry for some investigation. And you will make it happen."

Nezeira, let him down and yet kept her hold tight and spoke again, "There is a certain jewelry designer Mr. Judas Malcolm, who designs the most exquisite jewelry for the top tier people. I want an audience with him as soon as possible."

Yihan nodded and said, I will see what I can do. Please let me go."

Nezeira, "If you try anything funny, Your Highness, I won't to your parents rather it will be made available for the whole kingdom to watch."

Yihan quickly freed himself from her clutches and fled. As he was gone, Nezeira returned to her laptop and switched it on. Pictures of two men flashed on her screen. One of them is a vintage portrait and another one was of the present. The thing about them is that they look exactly the same. Nezeira's phone rang, and it shows a restricted number. She received the call and the male voice on the other side spoke,

"Did you get the file?"

Nezeira, "Yep."

The person, "Hey Goofy! I never thought you would ever return to Cresia. It's good to have you here."

Nezeira, "I didn't return. Just business. But, it's good to talk to you too."

The person, "Won't you visit them?"

Nezeira, "I haven't given it a thought yet. Let's see. Thanks for the favor though."

The person, "Naaaahhhh…don't worry about it. Call me if you need any."

The call got disconnected. Nezeira put it on the table and stared at the picture. She ran her finger on the part where both of them wear a ring with an ankh, carved in it, a symbol that belongs to the god of craft.

Elsewhere at a remote countryside dilapidated abandoned cottage by the edge of the pine forest of Cresia, lights flickered as someone lit them. He then proceeded to take off the hood and looked at the bracelet in his hand as his eyes glowed red.