The Phoenix Prince

by Kristen Gupton

  “Why wouldn’t you let me in last night?” Jerris asked.

  “I honestly needed to get my head on straight. Evil or not, Peirte was the first person I’ve ever killed. God willing, he’ll be the last. I’m dealing with that and it’s rough. I know it was for the best that it happened, but if we’re being honest here, I enjoyed it, Jerris. I really did, and I think that’s incredibly dangerous. I’m walking a painfully narrow line right now. I had no control at some point there, and who knows when I’ll lose it again?”

  “You survived. If that’s what it takes for you to do so now and then, I’m all right with it. For what it’s worth, I’ve never given a damn about the whole vampire thing, and even though you’ve gone through some sort of change, I still don’t. You’ve just always been Keir, still are,” Jerris said. “I’ve never been scared of you, and I never will.”

  “I appreciate your faith in me, I do.”

  Jerris nodded and moved over, untying Keiran’s horse and passing the reins to him. “It is what it is, Keir. There’s no need for thanks or appreciation. We should get underway.”

  Keiran took the reins and pulled himself up into the saddle. He looked down at Jerris, keeping his horse in place for a moment. He found himself reaching out to try and read the other despite his earlier resolve. “You are now, and always will be my best friend. I hope you believe me.”

  Jerris laughed and shook his head, his mood having improved. “I do, though you know, you’ll outlive me, and if you keep my dead body around to talk to after I’m gone, people are going to really start to wonder about you. I mean, they already do because you’re so damn weird, but it won’t help the situation one bit. So let’s just be friends until I kick off, aye?”

  The prince had to laugh and shook his head. “Jerris, someday one of the girls that you cavort with will get jealous and do you in. She’ll probably do a great job in hiding your body and get away with it, too. I’ll never get the chance to have you fixed up and hung with my trophies.”

  “The fact that you already were thinking about putting me with the trophies is disquieting, Keir. And there you go again with the jealousy about my popularity amongst the women. You think that whole prince thing you have going for you would have counted for something somewhere along the line. Someday, I’ll tell you my secrets and you can finally take care of Thana. You know, at the goat farm we all live on. You’ll have lots of kids.” With that, Jerris grinned with pride, and turned to go out and get his horse. He thought his pun was slick, and he giggled to himself along the way.

  If making fun of his lack of a sex life made Jerris happy, Keiran was willing to let it go unchallenged this time. Besides, as much as he hated to admit it, Jerris was the only one of them experienced in that area. “I have to wonder why I bother.”

  * * *

  The coronation proceeded without any real complications. Keiran arrived at the cathedral after moving down the crowd-lined street. The old stone building was packed with people as well, the coronation of a new king being the biggest event for the country in a long while. Word of the prince taking down a bear on the hunt had spread fast, and the people were interested. Rumors of him also narrowly escaping assassination and killing the old grand councillor were circulating. Everyone had long disliked Peirte, so the idea that Keiran had been the one to finally dispatch him didn’t hurt his image with the populace in the least. Added to the rumors about his vampirism, he was a creature of fascination to them.

  If nothing else, Keiran had already proven himself to be far more interesting than Turis Lee ever was. In a time when the country was hungry for any sort of change, Keiran was filling the role very well.

  He moved up the aisle of the cathedral with Jerris on one side, Kanan on the other. When he got to the end, Father Beezle was there and greeted him with a smile.

  “Prince Keiran Valis Lee Sipesh, heir of King Turis Lee Sipesh, have you completed the hunt and proven your worth?” Randall asked, not needing to read the words from the book before him. This ceremony was held in the common language of the country for the benefit of the spectators.

  Keiran knelt down before the altar and hung his head in submission. “Aye.”

  “Do you vow to protect Tordania and her people at all costs?”

  “Aye.”

  “Are you willing to sacrifice your very life for the country should the need arise?”

  Keiran lifted his gaze and looked up at Randall. “Aye.”

  Randall turned his eyes back to the book, and read off the list of Keiran’s responsibilities. The recitation took close to an hour, during which Keiran remained perfectly still. He made the effort to actually pay attention to what he was being told. At the end of it, the priest asked Keiran another series of questions, which he answered appropriately.

  The aged priest nodded his approval and moved around the altar, standing right before Keiran. He was handed a small box by one of the other priests attending that he opened. Randall took out Keiran’s new ring. “You have chosen to be represented by the work horse. To facilitate daily life, and to be able to support your countrymen in times of war. Is this correct?”

  Keiran gave a small nod. “Aye, I have.”

  Father Beezle looked at the ring and smiled to himself, pleased with the design the jeweler had finished up just that morning. “Your second icon, chosen by the church, is that of the phoenix. Not only for your resilience from threatened death, but in the belief that you will renew and restore Tordania into the land she once was. Your hand.”

  Keiran lifted his right hand up, offering it to the priest. The phoenix having been chosen for him made him smile a little. Though he’d been against any mythical beasts in his seal originally, he had come back from the dead. It was appropriate.

  “With the placing of this seal, you are bonded to the country for life. Its fate and yours are one,” Father Beezle said, sliding the ring onto Keiran’s finger, officially making him the king. Another priest moved in from the side, placing a simple gold circlet onto his head, completing the coronation. “Rise and lead your people.”

  Glad that it was over, Keiran stood up and turned to face the crowd. There was some cheering, the people willing to accept him and give him the chance to prove himself. Even Jerris was smiling, despite it all.

  It was Keiran’s nature, however, to be self-conscious, and he soon moved down the stairs to be flanked by his guards. In their company, he walked out of the cathedral and into the square before the building. The wagons had arrived from the castle, and the small plaza had been quickly transformed. Tables and benches hand been moved in, and countless servants and volunteers were dressing the tables with food and plates.

  Jerris slapped Keiran on the back as they looked over the scene. “Not so hard, eh?”

  “No.” Keiran reached up and pulled the circlet from his head. The king of the country never really wore a crown, per se. This had been strictly ceremonial. He reached over and set it into the mess of red hair on Jerris’ head.

  The guard puffed up a bit, trying to look regal but it failed. “I don’t think anyone wants me to hold this sort of responsibility.”

  Kanan quickly agreed and reached over, pulling the crown from his son’s head. “God, no, we surely don’t.”

  The new king laughed and shook his head, before looking down at his ring. In the center of it was the horse rearing up. The background behind it was the phoenix, the wings sweeping around the perimeter of the seal. He was pleased with it, and let the others have a look before moving over to the table set for him.

  Keiran sat at the head of it, Jerris and Kanan moving in on either side of him. Keiran wasn’t ready to start eating yet, as he still wasn’t hungry. If he’d been in a different frame of mind, he might have given thought to the fact he hadn’t eaten anything solid in two days.

  That was lost on him for the time, however.

  The party started around them, wine and ale flowing freely. While he made no move for the food, Keiran did help himself to the alcohol.
Jerris watched on, happily observing that Keiran was pouring back one drink after another without much of an obvious effect. That was the way he had been in the past, and the young guard was pleased to see it.

  Hours passed, and Keiran had to admit he was having a good enough time. In the late afternoon, the main dinner was finally served. The bear was divided out, and Keiran forced himself to go ahead and eat the cut of it that was presented to him. He had to admit it wasn’t bad, though it was considerably different from anything he’d ever had before. He decided it was somewhere between beef and pork. Still, it served its purpose, and everyone seemed contented. Countless desserts were paraded out afterward. Keiran sat back and talked with Jerris and Kanan. Corina moved by frequently, busy working but making the effort to stop and check in on her charge as often as she could. He only was able to steal a few glances of Thana throughout the party. That was disappointing, but she was busy.

  The weather held out and when night descended, a bonfire was lit in the center of the square. Keiran looked into the flames, drifting off into thought. For as much ale and wine as he’d put down, he was feeling remarkably coherent. His comrades had slipped well past the point of complete inebriation, however, and the conversation had become disjointed. The events of the last few days started to eat at him, and Keiran politely excused himself from the table.

  He wandered, unescorted, back up the stairs of the cathedral and slipped through the doors. The interior was dark, illuminated by a few oil lamps and candles. Keiran roamed through the structure, exploring it freely. He’d never gotten the chance to do so in the past. In a corner, he found an unlocked door that led to a stairwell. He moved up the steps carefully, until reaching the top.

  He’d arrived up in the top of one of the cathedral’s spires. The tower room was encircled with windows, and he went over to one, looking out. He could see the party still going on far below, his eyes easily making out small details he never would have noticed before his transformation. Keiran was so focused and fascinated by his increased visual acuity that he didn’t hear the quiet movement up the stairs behind him.

  “My Lord?”

  He spun around, spotting Thana. She’d startled him, but he tried to keep his outward look of calm. There was so much emotion swirling around the female that he couldn’t pick up on any singular thought. His heart caught in his throat as he studied her. There was a slightly nervous waver in his voice when he responded, though it had nothing to do with being startled. “Thana, you surprised me. How’s your hand?”

  Her brows rose and she lifted it up a bit. There was a light bandage around it. “It’s fine, doesn’t really hurt unless I accidentally bump it on something.”

  “Good, it looked worse than maybe it was,” he said. Keiran’s hands came together before his stomach, fidgeting a bit in his anxiety. He knew he must be coming off as an idiot, but he’d be damned if he knew what he was supposed to do.

  Thana looked to the side for a moment, looking insecure in her own right. “The white stag.”

  Keiran quirked a brow. That seemed like a fairly odd thing to say without context, and he cocked his head to the side. “Aye. I wish that had panned out. If I’d gotten one like the old legend says, it would have been wonderful.”

  She bit her lower lip, and reached down to open the bag hanging at her hip. She pulled out an old, battered book from within. There was a ribbon hanging out from between the pages, and she opened it, eyes scanning the page. “The legend doesn’t actually say that you have to bring back the white stag. It says that the future king will see a white stag on his hunt, and that the animal will lead him to great strength and power. He will return from the hunt a changed man.”

  “What?” Keiran was hopelessly lost and forgot his nerves for a moment, stepping closer. “I’ve read the story before, I’m pretty sure it does say I’m supposed to bring it back from the hunt.”

  Thana froze for a second, realizing she was honestly about to give up something to the new king that might cost her life if she’d misjudged him. Her dark eyes flicked up from the page and she turned the book around toward him, shaking her head. “No, it doesn’t. Those are the modern translations. This is the original story.”

  Keiran felt a wave of anxiety from her, and he looked down and took the book, reading over the page. Two things instantly struck him before he even reached the passage regarding the deer. First, Thana was literate. Secondly, this book was written in the old language, and there was no reason she should be able to read it. In fact, it was illegal for her to have been taught the old language since she was neither clergy nor royalty. It was punishable by death, and had his father known, she would have been executed for it.

  “Where… where did you learn to read this?” he asked, meeting her gaze again.

  Her cheeks burned and she looked to the side, resolving that she wouldn’t lie to him. She had faith in the vampire. “One of your teachers lived in the room across from the one my mother and I share. I wanted to learn, and she taught me at night in secret. Before she passed away, she gave me this book. It’s the only one I own. I swear it.”

  Through everything else, Keiran picked up on her fear over this matter. He gave her a smile and shook his head. “It’s all right, I don’t mind. The secret is yours to keep. I’m actually impressed. It took me a long time to learn to read this. I’ve never seen a legend book written in the old language before.”

  She relaxed slightly and moved to stand next to him, tilting her head to look at the page. Thana raised a hand and pointed to the passage in question. “Well, the part about the stag is right here. Look.”

  Keiran hesitated for a moment, feeling his stomach tense up as she moved to his side. He shook his head and forced himself to concentrate, looking at the book and reading. After reading it over three times, he lowered the book and looked right at her.

  She was right. It said that the white stag would lead the future king to greatness and power. The stag he’d found had certainly led him to something. In the course of his assassination and resurrection, he’d been forever changed and made stronger.

  “Clever girl,” he whispered, staring down into her eyes.

  Thana looked up at him in return, smiling at his compliment. “I think it was talking about you. It also says that the king in question will be able to defeat even death itself. Others read that and take it to be all mythological exaggerations, but your old teacher never did, and neither do I. Is it you, Keiran?”

  Keiran was moving his gaze from one of her eyes to the other, his heart pounding in his ears. She was getting him rattled, not by her speculation over him being some prophecy come true, but by her closeness and use of his actual name for the first time in years. “I don’t know. I suppose only time will be able to tell us for certain.”

  Thana’s lips parted slightly and she gave a small nod, her anxiety readily apparent. She’d always been drawn to Keiran, but had kept a respectful distance. It had been impressed upon her all of her life by Sorna that she should never dare to consider herself on the same level as royalty. The distance the older woman had enforced between the two had been artificial, however, even if Thana was a servant and Keiran was now the king. Neither of them had ever forgotten how much they’d enjoyed spending time together as children. Being reunited on a personal level had been inevitable.

  … and Keiran was different.

  Much different.

  Unsure of it, but unable to resist, Keiran’s left hand came up slowly and touched her cheek. Her eyes closed and she drew in a quick breath. Thana was hoping for something desperately, and Keiran picked up on it soon enough. It was the same thing he wanted.

  He leaned down slowly before closing his eyes and pressing his lips to hers. There was no thought given to the legality of it. Somehow, he had faith in that moment that they would find a way.

  For the first time in his life, Keiran felt like he was exactly where he was supposed to be.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

&
nbsp; Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11