Chapter 12: Daemon

As Daemon strode through the palace corridors, anticipation mingled with a hint of unease. The revelations of the High Chancellor and the looming mysteries surrounding the dragon egg and the prince's condition weighed heavily on his mind. Determined to uncover the truth from his cousin, he went to the prince's chambers in the castle, the Silver Wing.

Arriving at the prince's bedroom's door, Daemon knocked once and a timid maid who only glanced at him opened before announcing his presence to the bedridden man. "Lord Daemon is here to see your highness," she announces shyly.

"Oh, dear cousin," Magnus greeted him with a sigh of relief. "It was about damn time. Leave us, Rosy, I have a lot to catch with my friend here."

The maid bowed before asking if she should bring refreshments, which the prince declined, ordering her be left alone to chat with Daemon. As soon as the door closed after her, the one who was supposed to be sick or at least spirit deprived, stretched his body on the soft pillow leaving out a big yawn before addressing his guest.

Daemon studied him - his dark radish hair was dishevelled as if he had just woken up, his freckled face shining in the sunlight coming through the high windows and there was a playful glimmer in his dark green eyes. Overall, he seemed to be health embodied.

"You really took your time coming to visit this sickly friend of yours. More than a week. Is this how you treat your sovereign?" he asked jokingly.

Demon couldn't help but smile at his good disposition. "You know you were not allowed to receive visitors until today, don't you?"

The other man scoffed. "When did that stop you?"

"Were you not the one who instructed me to wait and believe everything will be alright?"

"Yeah, yeah… And it is. Alright, I mean. Better than that even as everyone is fooled by my stellar performance."

"So, I understand that you are still able to use spirit?"

At his question, the prince smiled knowingly and let out a surge of spirit reach his cousin who was able to feel it. "As you can see, my abilities were not affected at all. And all thanks to my new little friend, Lady Ivalyn."

The revelation surprised Daemon. "Lady Ivalyn? How so?"

"Well, Daemon, do you remember the talk we had a few days before the ball, about the many letters she sent to me, writing to urgently meet me?"

"Of course, the ones who made you believe she was seeking you for marriage?"

"I was way off. But I wonder if I really am to blame, counting the mountains of letters that are daily delivered asking to marry a noble lady or another," Magnus answered, referring to all the proposals he received only because he was the next ruler of the kingdom. "You see, Lady Ivalyn wanted to reveal something much more important than a wedding and she didn't seek me with those intentions at all. She was visibly shocked and, disgusted I think," he laughed loudly remembering the lady, "when I brought that up. No, the lady wanted to warn me and to offer a helping hand."

"A helping hand?" Daemon inquired.

"Do you remember how quickly she approached me soon after my father's speech and took me outside to talk?" The prince waited for his cousin's confirmation before continuing. "We did talk, mostly she did. During that conversation, she revealed her father's detailed plan to curse me. She claimed she could stop it and offered me an antidote, which, as you can see, worked perfectly."

"What kind of antidote?" Daemon questioned, suspecting the efficiency of the mysterious potion.

"It was a portion which she instructed me to drink as soon as I woke up after the ball, before having breakfast. The poison that could have cursed me was in the tea served at the meal which was confirmed by the castle's mages. The very ones who concluded I can no longer use spirit. A bunch of idiots as you can see, although they were right about the tea."

"How could they know?" daemon asked, wanting to know how they could find that out, but not that it didn't have any effect.

"Simple, they had a potion which they used to test the tea. God knows who made it, but it showed the tea was tampered with. But testing whether I could use spirit or not, that part they guessed because they don't know of any antidote for the potion. Of course, I claimed my ability is gone," he smiled triumphantly.

The prince's disdain for magic was well known. The ones that called themselves mages were only a shadow of their forefathers, unable to properly awaken their power and relying on the conversion of mane from one another to be able to cast only the simplest spell. Both Daemon and Magnus knew what magic was capable of centuries ago from reading most books about it in the castle library, being able to confirm that magic was mostly dead. It probably died with the last dragon.

Looking at the prince, lying victoriously on the bed, it was hard to believe he was the same monster from the battlefield who destroyed the enemy's defences with ease. Or that it was him who made all the strategic moves to win and even get back the land the kingdom lost for such a long time. Both good and bad rumours about them started after winning the war but while daemon was shielded in the east, far away from the capital, Magnus was always at the heart of it all, making his reputation both worse and bad, depending on who you asked. But one thing was for sure, no one dared to cross him.

Daemon chuckled seeing him happily resting in his bed, having a good laugh while the rest of the castle burned with worry for their prince. Thinking about it, Magnus should have taken the time to rest earlier. He really deserved it although if he'd ask the High Chancellor about it he'd surely say that kings never rest.

It seemed that he should thank Lady Ivalyn for that. Thinking about her, many questions rose again in his mind.

"I am curious as to what the lady said to convince you of the truthfulness of her words. Her reveal of the duke's plan turned out to be true, but how did you trust her so early on?" he asked.

"Well, she came with a very convincing argument. Like I won't be able to ever use spirit and that my life depended on it. She told me about her father's plans in detail and about how she desired to take my side in this. A very convincing lady, won't you agree?" he asked without breaking his good disposition.

Daemon couldn't believe his ears. "What? Was that all? And you believed her?"

A big, sneaky smile made its way on the prince's face. "Not really. She swore with her life, so I proposed binding our lives together."