Chapter 13: Daemon

There was a long pause before Daemon could articulate a word. Instead, he looked around and took a chair nearby, dragging it to sit beside the big baldachin bed. "And she agreed?"

"She did indeed. The lady didn't even hesitate," he straightened his back, drawing closer.

"So, your lives are bound to each other now?" Daemon asked to make sure his ears were not deceiving him.

Binding two lives required exceptional spirit control, a trait possessed by few, such as the prince. Even if someone else could use spirit, it needed a much bigger control and power. No one else in the kingdom could undo such a bond.

"Exactly." He looked very pleased with himself.

Daemon's mind swirled with concerns. "What if she takes away your vitality?" There was a double-edged sword in this manoeuvre. If the other party were to be talented in using spirit or magic, they could suck up the caster's life force.

"Does the lady use spirit, Daemon?"

"No, but…"

"Does she have magic?"

"Maybe, there might be a possibility," Daemon answered, not believing his ears. He didn't know who shocked him most. Lady Ivalyn who just put her life in a man she barely knew, betting it on something so fragile as trust as Magnus could take her life at any moment. Or his cousin who was possibly underestimating an ancient ability to manipulate nature.

"Even if she could use magic, that art is almost dead. It is but a shadow of what it once was. Mages today can barely form a shield to protect them from a craftier wind."

Not surprisingly, the prince was still the calculated strategist that took each risk into account before making a decision. The night of the ball he needed to accept the help the lady provided if he didn't want the poison to affect him and he did it in the conditions most beneficial to him. There was a reason why Magnus was also called the monster prince in his absence, and it wasn't only because his ability to use spirit was the most powerful in the last hundred of years, although that also played a part. It was because he ended a long war as only a teen.

The prince, the only heir to the throne, had always had a cold relationship with his father who, despite taking interest in his son's education, limited their relationship to just that. Daemon had known the king all his life and saw him as a just ruler and still benevolent to those who deserved it. Yet, Magnus seemed to never be the one to deserve it because there never was a moment where the king showed love or pride or anything else most fathers feel towards their offsprings.

Many, including Duke Hastings, thought that their sovereign was still mourning his late wife and, to a degree, blamed his son for her death. Not enough to hate him, but enough to be cautious and to test him with every occasion.

Their strained relationship was widely known throughout the capital, so it came as no surprise when, the day after his coming of age, the prince was sent in the middle of the battle with only one task - to do anything he could to stop the war or never come back. He could not refuse and prepared for battle, taking with him less than 500 of his best men and returning victorious after three years.

Daemon was one of those men, his cousin who knew him best and loved him like a brother. They were raised in different places most of their lives, but met so often that in their teenage years they were almost inseparable. They started as the naughty kids who stole food from the kitchen and grew up to be cheered on as heroes of the realm.

He was right, of course, yet it didn't make Daemon sure of it. "I must admit, Magnus, your tale is quite astonishing," Daemon said, contemplating the implications. "But despite the apparent truth in Lady Ivalyn's words, I can't help but feel cautious. Her sudden appearance and involvement in all this raises suspicions. What does she truly seek by betraying her own father and risking everything? Even if her life is yours now, don't you think it still is suspicious? Her father has a notorious reputation of wanting power and riches and will not hesitate to use everyone, even his own daughter to gain it. What if this is a carefully put together plan to harm you in the end?"

Magnus leaned back against his pillows, a mischievous grin playing on his lips. "Ah, cousin, that's the mystery that we shall unravel together. Lady Ivalyn's intentions may still be shrouded in uncertainty, but we have an opportunity to learn more. In three days' time, when she is scheduled to visit the dragon egg's room, I have invited her for tea in the garden. You will be there as well."

Daemon raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the plan. "Won't it raise suspicions if you invite someone suspected of cursing you to tea?"

"Only if they know it's an invitation. We will have tea together in the garden where the lady will meet us by mistake," Magnus smiled at the geniality of his plan and Daemon had to share a smile as well.

The prince nodded, satisfaction evident on his face. "Indeed, Daemon. Sometimes the best way to reveal the truth is by setting the stage for unexpected encounters. We shall see how Lady Ivalyn reacts and what more she may divulge."

As Magnus messed up his already dishevelled red hair, a memory surfaced in Daemon's mind of an impressionable young lady having a discussion with a lord in the garden outside the ballroom. She innocently, but seriously asked the man if the prince's hair became redder after the war because of the many men he killed. Both men hearing her question could not help but laugh at it, with the lord accompanying the lady even wondering if the prince's hair would turn blue if he were to embark on a literary career.

Their shared laughter lingered, and Daemon couldn't help but wonder how such a light-hearted moment could coexist with the web of intrigue and uncertainty that now enveloped them. Little did they know that the upcoming tea in the garden would be the first step toward untangling the mysteries that Lady Ivalyn and their intertwined fates held.