Unfavored Prince

Oddly enough, Haalfrin notices that a few of the soldiers sit next to him while he's eating breakfast. When they ask him for his name, Haalfrin puts his bowl down. Instead of answering, he asks, "Why're you curious about me?"

One of the soldiers - a 15-year-old boy with brown hair and a plain face - looks down and says, "You beat up Jole yesterday. He's a really big bully. We thought that was cool."

Haalfrin sighs and puts a hand on his temple. "Let me guess. You thought that if you were seen with me that he'd stop making trouble for you. What's he doing, stealing your food? Is he taking your salary?"

The boy goes red in the face, and he looks down - confirming Haalfrin was right. The boy then gets a little anxious- most likely thinking that he's about to be chased away.

Instead, Haalfrin lifts his bowl back up to his mouth. "Well, suit yourself."

After Haalfrin finishes his meal, he grunts painfully as he tries to get back on his feet; his injuries are still making it hard to move.

When the 2 boys see Haalfrin walking towards the training field, the other boy - a blonde-haired lad around 18 years old - runs up and puts his hand on Haalfrin's shoulder. "Shouldn't you be laying down if you're hurt? Don't practice today."

Haalfrin's legs don't hurt right now, so he was planning on just doing leg excersizes to day.

However, when the two boys insists on him resting, Haalfrin gives in.

With a lazy plop, Haalfrin sets his weary spin flat on the ground, and he stares at the swaying tree branches above him.

'I don't want to get up. I don't want to practice. I don't want to talk to these boys.'

For some reason, after he got in that fight last night, he seems to have lost all motivation to do anything, and he's not sure why.

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Haalfrin ends up laying down for a few hours - doing nothing and thinking about nothing. The only reason he gets up at all that afternoon is because he hears some of the soldiers around him stand at attention.

Haalfrin turns his head over and sees a tall, well groomed man in a blue and black uniform walking towards him. The man has a silver badge on his chest with 2 stars on it - showing that he's a 2nd ranked officer - the step just above a squad captain.

As for the expensive golden stitching in his uniform, Haalfrin notices it immediately.

'He seems like he's paid well,' Haalfrin thinks, 'probably embezzlement. I mean, look at him! He's far better dressed than the other officers I've seen around Uthgraal with similar rank.'

While Haalfrin is judging the officer in his heart, the man in question gets just close enough to Haalfrin to speak clearly without raising his voice. He takes off his hat, gives a brief, but polite bow, and says, "Prince Tallus sent me here. He said he'd like to have a word with you."

Haalfrin briefly glances at the two boys who'd been talking to him earlier; they're off to the side sitting on a barrel.

The officer seems to think that Haalfrin has some business to do, so he quickly adds, "I won't be long."

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Haalfrin follows the officer all the way to the largest tent in their camp, which is set in a corner furthest away from the soldier's living area. He ducks under a tall tent flap, and the first thing he notes is the rich red carpets on the ground a table full of books.

If Haalfrin had been illiterate, he'd have assumed that those books are books on tactics or other military literature. However, Haalfrin CAN read, so he can tell that they're all story books, instead of something useful.

Laying on a stand next to the desk are two plates of food. It's certainly not rich, bloody meat you'd expect from a prince, but it's still significantly better than the cold, chewy stew all the soldiers are getting.

The very last thing Haalfrin notes is the prince himself, who is sitting on a chair anxiously; the man has such a small presence that even with his rich clothing, it's hard to really pay attention to the man.

The man - no, the boy - has a very plain, forgettable face, and he seems to have shrunken in on himself due to a lack of confidence. 'He can't be any older than 14,' Haalfrin thinks. 'No wonder this camp is out of control. This boy has probably never been in charge of anything in his life.'

The man's plain face is actually startling to Haalfrin, since he'd have thought royalty would look more... dazzling?

Haalfrin steps all the way inside, and he stands in front of the prince with his hands behind his back and his feet together - a proper stance from a soldier greeting a superior.

The young prince shuffles in his chair uncomfortably and stutters, "N-no need t-to be formal..." He gestures to the chair. "That's for you."

Feeling awkward, Haalfrin slowly sits down on a chair a little distance from the man. "Why's the prince being so nice?" Haalfrin wonders. "Well, no doubt after the commotion last night, he learned I was a mage. Is he really that desperate for a bit of magic to be at his disposal?"

Haalfrin looks around the room and admit it to himself. 'Yeah, he does seem desperate for help. I hardly saw any guards outside his tent, and he has no officers here to help him out, except for that one man who came to fetch me.'

The Prince is a small man with eyes a little too close together, with short, cropped hair and scrawny muscles. "Please," the prince offers while gesturing to the food on the stand, "you're probably hungry."

Haalfrin really doesn't feel comfortable eating the food, but it would also be insensible to turn it down without having a good excuse. So, he stands up and takes a small piece back with him to his chair.

"Are you... wondering why I called you hear?," the prince sits up straight and asks stiffly.

"Oh, I can imagine why," Haalfrin replies while nibbling on his strip of meat. "You just found out I'm a mage yesterday."

"Well, yes…," the prince coughs, a little caught off guard. That confused look on the noble's face only convinces Haalfrin even further that this little sod is a dimwit.

Of course, what actually surprised the prince is how direct this commoner is being with a prince. In his experience, nobles usually talk in veiled insults, and commoners either are scared of him or ignore him. He's not used to people being so direct with him. It's like he's being talked to like a normal person.

Haalfrin, however, has already decided that he doesn't like this boy, so he just assumed the boy was being stupid when he acted surprised.

The prince is clearly feeling uncomfortable from being stared at, so he sets his chicken leg back on the platter and asks, "Do you have any… er… affiliations? Any master or lord you serve?"

Haalfrin remarks in his heart, 'This boy really doesn't sound like a noble at all; he doesn't even know how to ask anything with tact or confidence.'

Of course, Haalfrin never would've considered that, being a bastard prince who was ostracized by everyone he knows for his impure blood ever since he was a child, it only makes sense for Prince Tallus to lack confidence in his speech.

Despite his misgivings, Haalfrin manages to keep his criticism buried in his heart out of habit when talking to nobles. Instead, he shakes his head and says, "No, I don't. I used to belong to a Kareen clan, but they all died recently."

"Oh...," Prince Tallus mutters as he looks down. Haalfrin stares at the boy for a good minute as the prince uncomfortably twiddles his thumbs.

Deep inside, the Prince knows it would be very unwise to suddenly ask for something after hearing that this mage just went through a tragedy. That would probably make the Kareen man hate him.

At the same time, Tallus is determined to not let Haalfrin leave until he gets what he wants; he can't afford to let him go!

Finally the prince lays his hands flat on the table and he leans towards Haalfrin slightly. "So," Tallus asks, "What are your plans after the war?"

"I don't think that far," Haalfrin curtly says as he stuffs the rest of his chicken strip into his mouth. "Thinking about your future makes you hesitate when you have to put your life on the line."

Tallus hears this, and he feels his heart clench for some reason. This man… Tallus just can't understand this man! People he can't understand are hard to deal with…

The Prince ignores the warning lights going off in his heart, and he just goes with what he practiced earlier that morning.

Prince Tallus reaches into a drawer on his desk and says, "Well... I know how hard it is to come across magical knowledge when you're a rogue mage. I have a few spare spell scrolls on my desk here. Is there any spell in particular you'd like? Just consider it a gift for working under me in this war."

Of course, the prince merely wanted Haalfrin to understand that there are benefits in being his permanent follower.

Haalfrin crosses one leg over his knee and says, "Hmm… You got a body strengthening spell in there? I only have a… fear spell I found by chance."

"Of… of course!" the prince stutters. Secretly, the prince thinks anxiously, "This man really doesn't know anything!? He must be a freshly baked mage then. This is the perfect chance to get him!"

Haalfrin takes the scroll, opens it up, and briefly looks at it. "What are yo wanting from me?" Haalfrin asks. "You're free to be up-front with me. Just ask away."

For the first time, the young prince smiles. "Well, my dream is to live quietly in the countryside. I'm a son of the king, so even if I give up the throne, I can live my life well. Still, I'd like help surviving this war. Plus, it wouldn't be a bad idea to have a mage or two with me to keep me safe."

Haalfrin gives a light chuckle, "Oh? So you just want to laze around for the rest of your life and read fun books?" He points to one of the books on the stack. "I see you've read 'the Unfavored Princess' before. It's a very popular book among the nobility.'

Haalfrin knows this because one of his clan's last raids intercepted a large shipment of luxury goods, which included books that had been ordered in from another country.

Tallus nods happily. "You can read?! Oh, good! Have your read it too?"

The older soldier shakes his head. "I've never liked reading about other people's stories."

To Haalfrin, stories are supposed to be a bonding experience between family and friends. They're supposed to be things you tell over a fire and a good drink. Reading stories off the dead pages of a book just feels... boring... and impersonal. Even after learning to read in his 30s, he couldn't bare to get into them.

"Oh...," Tallus deflates noticably.

Tallus then looks down at a note resting inconspicuously on his lap, and he's reminded of exactly what he was going to offer Haalfrin.

"Now," Tallus begins to say, "you're just a 1st Gate mage; you'd have a hard time getting the crown prince to notice you and employ you. How about you come work for me? You'll have a stable job and income, and few would be willing to bring trouble to you."

That last part actually isn't true. His elder brother, Crown Prince Kanus, has been purposefully putting his troupe on the front lines - hoping Tallus would get killed. Still, the only consolation Tallus has is that since he's so powerless, his brother isn't seriously trying to kill him.

Now, Tallus is fairly confident that Haalfrin will accept his offer. Who wouldn't want an easy, worry-free life?

This, of course, was completely the wrong thing to say for Haalfrin.

Haalfrin shakes his head firmly and says, "I'm just a soldier. I follow where the battles go. If you're not interested in fighting anything, then our paths won't stay the same forever… Still, you're my commander in this war, for now, so I'll obviously obey your orders."

Ignoring the shocked and uncomfortable expression on the Prince's face, Haalfrin looks around the tent, as if inspecting it and asks, "Do you have any experience in command - the military kind?"

Tallus blanks out – not seeming to understand the purpose of such a question. Rather, he doesn't understand why Haalfrin suddenly brought this up.

"Your men are a complete mess out there," Haalfrin explains, "They're underfed, untrained, and they run amuck in that camp of theirs. Are you going to do anything about that? Do you know how to run a camp?"

Feeling upset by such a question, the "prince" can only clenche his fists beneath the table. He knows Haalfrin is right, and that makes him angry.

However, before Tallus can raise his voice and ask for an apology, he sees Haalfrin's deadpan face, and his words choke in his mouth.

They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul, and for mages who are unskilled in controlling their mana, this can certainly be a telling feature.

As such, when Prince Tallus gazes into Haalfrin's eyes, he has to turn away… for there is only Death in there… Most people can't look Death in the eyes, after all. They like to live their lives doing everything they can to distract themselves from this inevitable truth.

Tallus, however, doesn't think too hard when he sees Haalfrin's eyes. He only feels intimidated, and that fear only makes him believe that this mage wouldn't hesitate to kill directly kill him, even though he's a prince.

Even when Tallus averts his gaze, his mind keeps wondering, "What's it like to die? Am I going to die soon? NO! I can't die! If I die, I won't be able to do the things I like doing anymore! The warm baths, sweet food... just being alive!"

Suddenly becoming aware of his own mortality, Tallus slumps in his chair once Haalfrin is gone. Suddenly, he starts praying to the gods, telling them how grateful he is to still be alive.