The Death of a Prince

"Your Grace?" A voice from behind the study room's door interrupted his musings.

"Come in."

Faust showed up with a swollen purple eye and several bruises on his face. The Kasai king looked at him with pity. Thankfully he was hiding his face with a bird mask. His friend would have never like that. The king was just relieved that he had made it to Kasai alive despite the despicable things done to him and his wife.

He was told Amidamaru wasn't as fortunate. It was the Kaminari monarch who revealed the sword man's fate to him earlier during the prisoner exchange. The Tao king boasted that he was the one who cut the warrior's life short with his own sword, which the king had kept to prove his claim. He had returned it to Kasai and suggested that the Harusame be used to behead the prince. This request did not sit well with Yoh's friends and had caused an uproar among the throne room's audience. Manta and Ryuu walked out in protest. They probably went down the dungeons to check on Yoh.

Faust took out an empty vial from his pocket. "It had been done. I gave it to him while he was taking his last dinner. It would take effect immediately. Let's just hope it turned out well. I trust my formula but the dosage was too much... It was necessary so we could get him to the state that we wanted."

King Mikihisa nodded. "May the Great Spirit bestow him mercy..."

"Your Highness! Your Highness!" Somebody was frantically knocking on the door.

Faust opened it to reveal the head of the prison guards.

"I'm sorry to disturb your peace, Your Majesty, but your son... Prince Yoh is dead!"

At the Kasai palace hallway...

Princess Anna ran as fast as she could when they had told her what happened. She did not want to believe it at first but they all heard the bells being rung three times to inform the kingdom that a royalty had died. The messenger from Kasai did not share the details of the prince's death. He just informed them that instead of holding an execution, the palace would be holding the heir's wake until tomorrow afternoon. Then by sunset, they would light up his funeral pyre as per Kasai custom. King Yuan had reservations but he finally agreed to let the princess come to the palace to see for herself.

"Let me know if he is really dead or they are just making it up." The Kaminari king told her before going back to his tent. The Kasai heir was dead and that's all that matters to him. The timing for him was irrelevant. The bird king had another child but he did not care. He was sure that he would forever grieve over his other dead son. It was almost midnight. He and General Tori would just check in the morning. They were too drunk from the festivities around the bonfire earlier that night.

The palace guards escorted the princess to the chamber where they were keeping the body. She was grateful that they let her go inside alone. She needed to compose herself first. She was not sure if she can take it all in. She wasn't the sole visitor though. She found Prince Hao standing beside the stone table, peering at his dead brother's face.

Prince Yoh was dressed up in a ceremonial white and blue suit. They had removed his pony tail so that his pitch black shoulder-length hair spread out from his beautiful head. Amidamaru's sword, the Harusame, was sheathed and tied around his waist. He was laid over a bed of white lilies, yellow mums, and forest green ferns. Three long white candle sticks in a golden candle holder was burning by his feet.

"He looked as if he is just sleeping," Prince Hao took his twin brother's arm. "But there's no pulse. I checked several times."

"You must have been delighted to see him dead," the blond princess muttered.

Prince Hao was unsure. He had always wanted his brother to disappear. He was the rightful ruler to the throne since he was the first born by a few minutes. Yet their father chose the weak son over him. He held that grudge for years while he was exiled to Mont St Michel. He was lonely there.

He hated the duke's butler, Marco, and his army of lowly household servants. His meek fiancée was fearful of him and did not show the slightest interest in him. The duke's relatives verbally expressed their disapproval over Jeanne's arranged marriage to a foreigner.

You don't know what I'm feeling right now...