by Dan Wingreen
"Are you saying that I have a choice now?" he asked slowly.
The Prince nodded. "Yes. It's completely in your hands. If you decide you never wish to see me again I promise I won't complain to the King about it."
That more than anything, save the apology, surprised Elias. Although, when he thought about it, maybe it surprised him more than it should have.
"I notice," he said slowly, "that you never said you would respect my wishes to never see you again."
The Dark Prince smirked. "Just because I apologized doesn't suddenly mean I'm not me, Elias. I've never been one to deny myself the company of something or someone that fascinates me."
"Wonderful," Elias muttered.
"I do very much hope you'll still help me, though I know I have very little right to ask it," he said more seriously. "No matter what you might think, I really do want you to write a book for me. It wasn't just a ruse to get you alone."
"Why?" Elias asked, surprising himself. He'd meant to refuse outright, but apparently his curiosity was overruling his common sense again. "Why do you even want a biography? Why me of all people, assuming it isn't because of your ridiculous 'attraction'?"
"I've already told you," the Prince said. "I'm appalled by what passes for knowledge of me and Mournhelm in this kingdom. As for why I want you to write it? Aside from the fact that you can, it's for all the reasons you fascinate me. You don't fear me, nor do you hold me in awe or reverence, so you won't be afraid to ask questions I might never think of. Nor will you be afraid to argue with me about what might be best to include or discard. But most of all, it's because you understand evil, Elias, in a way that I've never seen anyone understand it in my entire life. I'm hopeful that means you'll be able to understand me as well."
Elias found himself stunned by the unexpected honesty of the Prince's answer. Not that he thought what he'd said was the entire truth, but that there was any truth in it at all.
"You aren't evil," Elias said after a long moment. "And you aren't telling me everything, either."
The Prince's lips twitched. "I may not be one of your compulsive offenders, Elias, but I assure you, I am evil. I was sired while my father wore the Mournhelm, that's why I can use magic. And it most definitely is an evil artifact, Elias, that much your texts have correct at least. I've murdered before, many times. I've taken enjoyment in it, and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again if I needed to. I know some of what you think of me, and I assure you, I am not your foolish, naive Crown Prince, nor am I another arrogant, vain noble who wasn't beaten enough as a child. Save for promises I made to my father, I could very well be this kingdom's death."
Elias knew better than to believe everything the Prince said, but he still found himself rather phlegmatic about the casual confession of murder. He was more upset to be reminded of the Prince's magic. "Evil that keeps its word?" Elias asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Evil that fears a greater evil." The Prince corrected him with a small grin.
Elias shook his head, but didn't press the issue. "Regardless of what you say—"
"Before you decide," the Dark Prince interrupted quickly, "I have a gift for you."
Elias scowled mentally at the interruption, but, to his amazement, it was mental. He hadn't had that much control over his outward reactions since he'd last seen the Prince.
Curious…
"A gift?"
This time, the Prince's smile was triumphant. "One I know you'll be interested in."
Elias raised his eyebrow skeptically, but before he could comment on the Prince once again assuming he knew Elias, said prince reached into the folds of his robe and pulled out a small book. With a perfect courtly flourish, he presented it to Elias.
"For you," he said. "In the hopes that it will whet your appetite."
After hesitating for only a moment, Elias took the book. When he did, the Dark Prince bowed.
"And now I shall take my leave," he said as he straightened. "If you find that you'd like to write my autobiography after all, you know where to find me."
Elias blinked.
He's just leaving?
Apparently so. With another short bow and a smirk that was quickly hidden, but which Elias was sure he was meant to see, the Dark Prince did, in fact, take his leave. It wasn't until several long moments after the click of the door closing echoed throughout the small room that Elias looked away from it to the book in his hands. It was small enough to be held in one hand and not very long, only about two hundred pages or so, and on the cover was small, neat handwriting.
On The Fauna of Mournhelm; A Primer – A-C
And then under that, penned in the same writing:
By The Dark King.
Without taking his eyes off the book, Elias stoked the small fire, pulled his chair over to it, pushed his glasses farther up his nose, and settled in to read.
Chapter 7
It took Elias less than two days to completely finish the book, minus a few short breaks to have a small meal prepared when he could no longer ignore the pangs in his stomach, and a much longer break to track down the Crown Prince and inform him, in no uncertain terms, that if he was ever concerned about Elias in the future he was to come to Elias himself, not gossip about it behind his back, and most certainly to never go to the Dark Prince. Even though he cautioned himself not to take too seriously the words of a man who spawned said Dark Prince, by the time he was done reading the Dark King's book he still found himself with several pages of notes and questions and suggestions for how to continue his studies. The first course of action would be, of course, to verify that the creatures the book mentioned actually existed. Most he had heard of before, but some—like the cat that launches itself headfirst into trees to splinter them, or the four-legged casket which explodes when it walks into the desert—seemed more than slightly ridiculous. But, Elias had once seen a Wolpertinger that was brought by a foreign guest, which had escaped and ended up in the castle game preserve, swooping down from the sky on its wings to impale the more normal variety of rabbit on its rather large antlers before drinking its blood. So he wasn't going to discount the others out of hand. The problem was, he knew which books in the library dealt with strange, foreign creatures, and anything about Mournhelm itself, and they were suspect at best.
There was really only one source of information in the castle on the creatures listed in the Dark King's book, and Elias had very little choice but to speak with him.
But he was hesitant.
Apology or not, peace offering or not, knowledge Elias desperately wanted more of or not, Elias was still greatly disturbed by his loss of control. He had no illusions that it couldn't happen again. All he had was the word of a Dark Prince that he wouldn't use magic on Elias again.
Could he trust him? Trust a man who seemed to spin lies and obfuscations as a matter of course? Trust the man who could so easily take away his control with magic and then just as easily give it back with mere words? Elias thought maybe he could, if he knew the real reasons why the Prince wanted him to write this book, and why it was seemingly so important to him. But the fact remained that he didn't trust him.
And yet, he still found himself believing what the Prince had said. After all, it had been four days since Elias last left the Dark Prince's rooms. Four days where he could have told the King all number of falsehoods about the way Elias had treated him after he had given his word he would help the Prince. Elias knew the King better than most thought he should, and he knew it wouldn't be hard to spin a tale the King would take as a personal insult. But the Prince hadn't. Elias hadn't even seen him since he'd left. Despite everything Elias knew about him, telling him the Prince wouldn't keep his word, it seemed that he was.
In the end, that was enough to get Elias to go back to him. That, and the knowledge he was practically salivating over. It was a character flaw, his thirst for new knowledge, but Elias was self-aware enough to know it was a character flaw, and that was enough rationalization to completely ignore his common sense.
Which was how he found himself once again at the Dark Prince's door the next evening.
Elias knocked without hesitation, a feat he was secretly proud of since he almost turned back three times on his way there, and was mildly surprised he was actually able to touch the door this time. He was even more surprised when there was no answer.
If this is some ridiculous scenario where he isn't here and just when I turn to leave I find that he's standing right behind me I swear that I'll—
He cut off his unproductive thoughts, pointedly refused to turn his head in a direction which might even look like it was behind him, and knocked again, harder this time.
And got a response.
"The door is open! Just leave it on the table. And don't touch anything or my wrath will be swift and terrible!"
Elias raised an eyebrow, but nevertheless found the door was indeed open and went inside. The room was empty of princes, but he'd somewhat expected that since the Prince's voice sounded like it was coming through several wooden doors. Since Elias had nothing to place on any table, and he didn't fear any wrath no matter how swift or terrible, he decided to explore.
Elias had never actually been in any of the castle's other guest rooms, and he wondered if they were all this opulent, or if this was a special set of rooms for a royal guest. The large room he was in was most likely meant as a drawing room; however, it wasn't at all set up to receive guests. There were no gaming tables present, nor were there any decanters with spirits to warm guests on a chilly evening visit. Instead, much like Elias's room, most of the available space, including every single table he noted, was covered in some kind of reading material. Books, maps, loose pages of what looked like notes; the rooms looked more like a messy study than the room of royalty.
And messy was the operative word, for there seemed to be no organization to anything. It was like the Dark Prince just left things wherever they were when he lost interest in them. However, despite the general disarray, the room was warm and comfortable, with a blazing fire in the large fireplace and dark tapestries covering the walls to insulate and hold in the heat. The large floor to ceiling windows on either side of the fireplace were covered with heavy closed drapes so the only light in the room was from the fire and several braziers bolted to the wall, giving the area a soft, almost intimate ambiance. Elias found it comfortable, despite himself. Especially when he found two armchairs completely free of scholarly detritus set facing each other at an angle in front of the roaring fire.
The Dark Prince still hadn't made an appearance, however, so instead of taking a seat and waiting patiently, he took a closer look at the books. After a few moments of perusal, he froze, his eyes widening.
Almost every single book he found was written by the Dark King.
Surely a King couldn't have enough free time to write so many volumes?
He glanced through several at random, and to his surprise every single one was written in the exact same hand as the book he had in the pocket of his robe. He quickly looked over the titles. Farming with Manticores, Volcanoes; Their Birth and Death, On the Gods: Truth vs Myth, Falling Stars and Where They Come From, How to Kill Everything: A Guide to The Vulnerabilities of the Inhabitants of Everywhere, and more and more in similar veins. They were all written neatly, all with a table of contents in the beginning and a list of sources at the end, even if those sources were mostly research in the field. Elias couldn't help it; he let out a small, disbelieving laugh.
The Dark King was a scholar.
And a very good one at that. Elias should have realized it when he was reading the book the Prince had given him, since it read almost exactly like any of the professional zoological texts he'd ever looked through. At some point in his life, the Dark King must have been trained as a scholar. There was no other explanation.
Several thoughts started to germinate in Elias's mind, then, about the Dark Prince. He felt he had a piece of the puzzle which would unlock insight into the foreign royal, but before those thoughts could coalesce into anything useful, a door along the back wall opened and a very naked Dark Prince walked into the room.
Well, not exactly naked, per se. He was wearing a towel around his waist, and another over his head, but Elias had never considered towels appropriate attire.
The Dark Prince froze when he saw Elias, and for the longest time they both stared each other. The Prince in startled confusion, and Elias in mounting horror. Horror that only grew when he realized his eyes were glued to a small droplet of water that was slowly running down a damp, slender porcelain chest.
"Elias?" the Prince asked hesitantly.
Hearing his name broke him out of his trance. He spun around and faced the fire, hoping, most likely in vain, that the heat he felt in his face came from the flames and nothing else. "Do you make it a habit of walking around unclothed?"
"I make it a habit to do many things when I am alone in my own rooms," he responded after a small hesitation.
Elias thought it was meant to be a teasing statement, but it sounded more defensive than suggestive, and Elias felt himself relax, slightly.
At least he didn't plan this.
"Well, you aren't alone anymore, so I suggest you wear something designed to cover your whole body. And dry yourself properly!" he added after a small pause.
"I was planning on it," the Prince said dryly. Then, to Elias's relief, he heard the sound of muffled footsteps and a door opening, then closing. Just when Elias was about to turn around, he heard the door open again. "And don't leave."
Before Elias had a chance to speak, the door closed again.
He waited, slowly counting to ten, before turning back around. The room was, once again, prince-less.
And this is why one makes an appointment instead of just dropping in on someone who isn't expecting you.
Apparently, there was at least some wisdom in his old, mostly ignored, etiquette lessons.
Elias felt his lips twitch and quickly schooled his expression. The last thing he wanted was for the Dark Prince to see him smiling after seeing him unclothed. It would only send the wrong message.
A few moments later, the door opened and out stepped a thankfully non-nude prince, wearing a pair of black, cotton pants and a plain black tunic, untucked but mostly tied in the front. The small, pale triangle of visible flesh was much easier to ignore, and Elias made a point to meet the Prince's eyes.
"I am clothed," the Prince said, misinterpreting something in Elias's expression. He ran his fingers through still-damp hair, quickly attempting to style it. "And I refuse to wear a robe in my own chambers."
Elias blinked. "Very well."
They looked at each other in silence for another long moment before the Prince spoke.
"Dare I ask why you're here?"
If Elias didn't know better, he would have sworn that the Dark Prince was just as disturbed by the naked incident as Elias was.
Pushing such unproductive thoughts out of his head, he reached into his robes and pulled out the small book.
"I have questions."
Immediately, the almost guarded look on the Prince's face melted into a small, satisfied smirk.
"Do you now?" He practically purred.
Elias barely held back a scowl. "You knew I would."
"Hmm. Yes. Yes, I did," the Prince said. "Or, at least I hoped. I wouldn't want to be accused of making assumptions I can't possibly know you well enough to make, would I?"
This time, Elias did scowl. "If you don't want to answer my questions, I can just leave—"
"No, no," the Prince said quickly. "I never said that. Like I said, I hoped you would want to discuss the book with me, and I would be more than happy to answer any questions you might have."
Elias narrowed his eyes suspiciously but after a moment said, "All right, then what—"
"If"—the Dark Prince cut in—"and only if, you swear a solemn promise that you'll write my book for me."
Of course.
Elias crossed his arms. "R
eally?" he asked, his voice flat.
The Dark Prince just smiled. "Think of me as a shop, Elias. Not a library. Access to my knowledge comes at a cost."
Elias stared evenly at the Prince. Honestly, he knew before he came over here he would have to come to some kind of an agreement with the Prince; he was just relieved it was something he was actually willing to do. He was opening his mouth to accept, when he was interrupted yet again.
"Before you answer, you should know exactly what you're agreeing to," the Prince said. He tried fixing his hair again, but quickly gave up with a brief scowl before turning his full attention back towards Elias. "If you agree to help me in return for access to my books and my personal insight, of which the latter is by far the more valuable, you'll be bound to meet with me daily until the autobiography is completed to my satisfaction. You will forsake all other projects and pursuits until such time as our agreement is over. If you think to get what you want from me and then lock yourself away in your room, I will go to your king and tell him that you have refused his favor. This choice is yours and yours alone, Elias. But once you make it, there is no taking it back. I will not release you from this promise again, no matter what passes between us and no matter what actions or words of mine may be offensive to you. This will be your last chance to refuse. Think on it carefully."
"This was your plan all along, then?" Elias asked, scowling. "Tempt me with knowledge and then get me to agree to whatever you wanted?"
"I am a Dark Prince," he said, his smile predatory. "I told you, an apology isn't going to change who I am."
Elias studied the Prince for a long moment. "And if I agree, your promise not to use magic on me stands?"
For a moment, the Prince almost looked offended, but he smoothed his expression out almost immediately. "I already told you I wouldn't. Not unless you asked for it. That promise has nothing to do with this agreement. It stands whether you say yes or no."
"And I'm just supposed to trust that?" Elias raised an eyebrow. "That you'll keep your promise with no 'greater evil' to back it up?"
