A killer is better than a lair

Landon was the first to regain consciousness, he got up from the ground and looked around at the surrounding. He found himself in the middle of four very handsome beasts. Three that he was very familiar with and one whose origins he couldn't recognize.

The prince was lying to his right while the others laid in different directions around him. He wrecked on he could have ended up in that situation. The memories of the day's events cane back to him and he released a sigh of relief that he was still alive. He watched the prince sleep and shook his head. It still surprised him how the devil can afford to look like an angel in his sleeping state.

He got up to leave but noticed the royal adviser was awake and was staring at him. "Are you going to stop me?" he asked him.

"I don't waste my energy on beings who quit," he said softly.

"I don't understand."

"What's there not to understand. You came before the prince with tall claims and the next minute you ran away. If you aren't quitting then what are you doing?" he asked him.

"It is easy for you to say. The prince is a demon who doesn't deserve any kindness or love," he said remembering all the lives he took for stupid mistakes that he had made.

"I suppose everyone is entitled to their opinions," he said and got up. He stretched his body and walked ahead into the forest.

Landon followed behind him. "What is your opinion of the prince," he asked him after they had walked some distance from where they had taken a nap.

"I don't dare judge others as I would not wish them to judge me. It is easy to judge from your shoes but it is only when you've walked in others' shoes and are sure to make different decisions than the one they made can you decide it right to judge them," he said.

Landon listened to him and thought about what he said. He was sure that had he been the prince he would not treat lives as a joke. To kill for no reason was not excusable by any means. No matter the reason, a murderer is still a murderer, he thought.

"The prince is a demon not as a beast but by heart," he said with confidence. Ryker stopped in his tracks and grinned.

He looked ahead at the burned grounds at the edge of the forest and his grin dropped. His face became cold.

"You are one to talk. If one was judged by their hearts then all will be demons, whether it is by lying or killing people the sin is equal. Don't you agree?" he questioned.

"A killer can't be compared to a liar. It's not possible," Landon said disagreeing with his thinking.

"A killer in a way is better than a liar. They deliver death instantly but a liar kills slowly with one lie on top of another with each passing day," he said rendering Landon speechless. "Just like you, you are male yet you pretend to be female. To add to that you fake being pregnant, you've accused the prince of crimes that he is not capable of committing in his lifetime. In a way you are no better than him," he explained.

A chill ran through Landon, his chest tightened and his mouth turned dry with fear. The fear of being exposed to the royal adviser clawed through him and he froze. He couldn't move and couldn't find the strength to speak.

"Why are you silent now. You were very opinionated a moment ago," he said grinning more from Landon's reaction.

Landon got the chance to observe the adviser properly. He had a round face, olive-green eyes, and a straight nose. He had full pink lips, he was tall and full-figured. His long brown curly hair flowing down his shoulder.

He was good looking but his looks lacked a bit from that of the prince even when the prince wore an evil smirk. Ryker took a step closer to him and placed one of his hands on Landon's shoulder.

"Tell me, are you any different than a demon for toying with someone's life as you have?" he inquired of him.

"N..no," he replied in a shaking voice like a scared lamb at a slaughterhouse.

"So you find it wrong to judge when you are not free of sins?"

Landon nodded his head to him, his body was trembling with fear. He could just imagine what would become of him when the prince found out about him. This time he sure he won't kill the subjects but he would be the one to suffer the earth of the demon prince.

"Th..the prince d..did you tell him?" he asked in a soft almost unheard voice.

Ryker smiled and understood why the prince managed to tolerate the male. He too was finding it hard to stay mad when he was acting so innocent.

"I have not told him," he told. Landon let out a breath he didn't even know that he was holding. "But I wouldn't be relieved had I been in your shoes," he added. Landon looked up to him with questions in his eyes. He wanted to know why he added the last comment.

"The truth is that the prince is someone who can't be surprised by anything. He doesn't get drunk and can't fall asleep. When he closes his eyes, he is very much awake, and when he drinks no matter how many glasses of wine or alcohol, he will always remain sober. He has super hearing so he can hear things from miles away," he explained to Landon.

Landon frowned not getting the reason why the royal adviser was pointing this thing out to him. He thought carefully but he couldn't come up with any reason.

"That night that you pulled this game with the prince, you had thought that he was asleep and drunk had you not?" he asked. Landon's blood went cold. He figured out what the adviser was trying to tell him. That meant that the prince was wide awake and sober that night. 'The prince knows that I lied,' he thought hitting his lower lip.

"For as long as I have known him, nothing ever gets past him. The prince is always in on everything going on around him and if he doesn't point it out doesn't mean that he is unaware, it just means he has his reasons for letting it happen," he said sending Landon further into fear. "And he is the one who told me that you were male," he added not losing the smile on his face.