The Poison Prince

BOUND and struggling, the guard fought as best as he could against the thick rope that was cutting painfully into his wrists.
“When you’re hanging from the gallows I will laugh! You’re not going to get away with this!”
Xylia stepped forward, crouched down low and pressed her finger over his lips. They were warm and wet with spit, but she didn’t flinch away in disgust as much as a part of her wanted to.
“Shush now.” She smirked, letting ice freeze over his mouth and form a gag that spread right across jaw. She stood back up and tilted her head to admire her work.
“Will that hurt?” Julius asked her quietly, glancing down at the single guard who had tried to put up a fight. Thankfully they had overpowered him and managed to restrain him without leaving him with anything more serious than a few bruises. Still, he had been one of his soldiers and Julius did not want him to suffer any more than was necessary.
Xylia shrugged. “I have no idea." She confessed honestly before glancing down at her powerful hands. "Ice doesn’t hurt me.” She closed the door on the imprisoned guard, blinking slowly before she looked back at Julius. He gazed back at her with a look of both awe and worry etched across his usually stoic face.

It was in that moment that she wondered what she was capable of. Winter had never chilled her bones the way it did The Dracas. She could hunt in snowfall and not feel her fingertips sting with the icy air. All these years her body had been showing her signs that she was different, but Xylia hadn’t given them a second thought. She had just assumed she was hardened to the weather after surviving in the forest for those years alone. Now she knew better, but now was not the time to think about she should have known sooner that she was special.

“We’ll spread the word to the other guards. Hopefully we can get most of them to come to your aid, Captain.”
“Do not put yourselves in harm’s way for us, Harvard.” Julius said firmly, though his pride slipped through. He was happy to have such loyal men in his ranks.
“Captain, we do this for the kingdom, and the prince.” Harvard said with a quick, nervous smile. “There are more of our men near the banquet, but we cannot fight with you there. The queen…”
“I understand. I never expected you to go there.” Julius gave a quick nod and then patted the young guard on the shoulder. “Time is of the essence, men. We must act fast before anyone knows we’re in the castle.”
The two guards murmured their understandings and quickly took off away from their assigned posts. Julius watched them go and his heart swelled with pride. He knew his men were loyal, but he never expected that two young guards would take it upon themselves to run around the patrols and spread the word of his return and his quest to overthrow Devanna in the name of the prince.
“How successful do you think they’ll be?” Zechariahs asked him.
“I wish I knew. My men have already surprised me tonight. It shows that I can never truly predict what they’ll do when it comes to something like this.” Julius said, a small glimmer of hope coming through in the flicker of a smile that crossed his face.
“Or maybe they’re just loyal to their Captain and not the royal family.” Xylia suggested, causing Julius to cast a look of horror in her direction. She couldn’t help but to smirk at the reaction from him and explained further for his benefit. “You have a King who has been heartbroken and grief stricken for the last ten years. The queen is cruel to the people she governs, and they all think the prince is as mad as those sent to asylums and hospitals. To everyone who isn’t part of this little revolution, the future of Lyris looks terrible.”
Julius considered this for a moment. As someone who had been by Prince Taiden’s side for all these years he had never truly thought about what the outside world, or even his own men, must think of the kingdom they swore to protect. They did their duty, but most did it through fear or because they had families to think of first. Lyris itself must look ready to fall to everyone else; Xylia was right.
“Let’s show them the truth then.” He steeled himself, resolved to restore the realm that was rightfully Taiden’s to greatness, even if doing so would cost him his life.

The path through the castle towards the banquet hall was clear right up until the final corner. Julius assumed that Harvard and his companion had been quick in spreading the message and that most of the patrols had steered clear or had focused their attention elsewhere. Maybe they had forged a plan of their own that he would never know of if he died in the great hall at the hand of one of the queen’s loyal men.
He heard the quiet conversation and the scraping of armour as the final set of guards moved outside the closed doors of the banquet hall. It was their final barrier before they would reach the queen, but their toughest. Any noise, any battle, and the guests inside would be alerted to the trouble. This was the last chance to turn back, if that was ever an option.
He pushed Xylia and Zechariahs away from the corner, glancing over his shoulder before he spoke to them for what he feared could be the final time.
“This is it. Those men are not likely to side with us, and if they do it’ll be in the middle of a ruckus that will have already alerted the guests to our presence. There’s no going back now. Are you both ready?” He fixed his eyes on Xylia, watching for even the slightest wavering in the young girl. She was carrying such a burden that he wouldn’t blame her at all if nerves grasped at her now. Yet she was calm, nodding with conviction as she gripped the handle of her dagger tightly.
There was nothing left to say. Julius took a deep breath and stepped out, pulling his sword free and facing the men who used to be loyal to him. Now they served the queen. They wore emerald pins on their capes and none seemed pleased to see their Captain return.
“The Queen has ordered your execution.” One boldly stated stepping forward with his hand resting threatening on the handle of his weapon.
Julius nodded once, confidently walking up to his men and giving them a chance to stand down. He didn’t want to hurt them. He knew them all well. One had a family, another took the post to make his sick mother proud. They were not his enemy.
“I thought as much.” He glanced at his drawn sword and sighed. “The queen will not be a threat to anyone for much longer. If you fear her-“
“She’s our just and rightful ruler.”
Xylia pressed forward, leaning in close to Julius. “It’s not worth it. Look at their eyes.” She whispered, tense and ready in case any of them moved to attack.
Julius did as she instructed, focusing his gaze on the narrowed slits of the man commanding the group. He saw it. The way the steely blue was freckled with emerald green. An emerald green that was undoubtedly reminiscent of Nephille.
"The Queen has never controlled the guards before. Not with magicks."
“Is she desperate?” Zechariahs offered, tightening his grip on the sword handle.
“Or it’s not Devanna’s doing…” Julius murmured, his eyes never leaving the guards closing in on them.
“That’s Queen Devanna! Or have you forgotten your place, traitorous scum!” Without a second of hesitation, the guard brought his sword swinging down towards Julius who blocked with relative ease. Xylia saw the hesitation in his eyes though. He was reluctant to fight these men, because they were his own. She supposed it would be like fighting The Draca for herself. They may not have accepted her, but they were all she had.

She ducked from a swinging blow, and struck out with her leg, swiping the ankle of her own attacker. It did little against the steel armour, but it bought her the chance to roll away. Reaching out she blasted her attacker with a shot of ice, aiming for the hand he clutched his sword in. Hand frozen to hilt he staggered back. His eyes were wide and glued to where his hand was frozen to his blade, so he didn’t see Xylia jump up until it was too late to deflect her attack. She pushed her dagger into his neck and winced as the hot blood sprayed out, showering her in freckles of crimson. She watched his body crumple to the floor, the guard reaching up to his neck desperately, but it was too late. He was bleeding out fast and nothing could save him. As the last seconds of his life drew in, Xylia saw the enchantment fade from his eyes. The flecks of emerald green vanished and he was his own man again; fearful of the shadow of death.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered, stepping away before the last glimmer of life left his tearful eyes.
Xylia instead switched her focus on Zechariahs, who was struggling. Backed into a wall by a guard who was far more skilled a fighter than he ever would be, he had fallen into difficulty. His ailing health wasn’t helping matters, and Xylia watched him wheeze as he meekly blocked. All he could was stick to the defensive. She took a shot with her blast of ice, freezing the guard to the floor, allowing Zechariahs to free himself and regain control of the fight. She didn’t want to take the battle from him because she knew his pride would never forgive her.
“We need to go.” Xylia looked over her shoulder to see Julius staring forlornly at the dead guard by her feet. Looking beyond him she saw the other laying still on the ground. “Unconscious.” Julius confirmed for her gruffly. “Which is why you need to get in that hall before he comes to and can call for reinforcements. Who knows how many others have been cursed by the Nephilites.”
Zechariahs grunted as he shoved his sword up through a gap in the armour of the last guard. Panting, he dragged his weary form back to the others and used the weapon like a cane to hold himself up.
“It’s harder than it looks.” He said, trying to play off just how sick he was. Xylia knew he was in no state to be here battling alongside them, but she wasn’t about to argue with him again now when time was not on their side. Zechariahs had made his choice just like she had made hers.
She fixed her pale eyes on the large doors and looked them over. “So, do we kick this down or knock, or…?”

Allela came skidding to a halt just as a troop of guards ran down the opposing hallway in the direction of the banquet hall. She watched them with cautious blue eyes and pursed her pale pink lips.
“That can’t be good.” She whispered to herself.
Taiden pulled free his own sword, drawing her attention back to him. She scoffed softly and quirked her eyebrow. “And just what are you doing, Prince?”
“If there’s a fight, I’m fighting to help Xylia.” He answered confidently.
Allela placed her hand atop the shining blade of his sword and pressed hard until he lowered it. “You are all this kingdom has left. As much as Xylia needs to survive this, so do you. So let’s not blindly run into battle.”
“But you’re fighting for her. And for me, you said.” Taiden pointed out, confusion spreading quickly across his handsome features.
“I have trained my whole life for a fight like this. I pledged my life to Xylia a long time ago.”
“But you don’t know her.”
“Do the guards in this palace know you?” Allela asked, quickly walking on in the direction of the banquet hall. “Would they still lay down their lives so that you and your family could live if under attack?”
“Of course they would.” Taiden responded quietly. “It’s their job.”
“And finding and protecting Xylia is mine.”

Julius barrelled into the large, heavy door with his armoured shoulder, narrowly opening it even with the force he put behind it. Xylia saw him wince, but she had to assume he would be alright, because the gazes of the hundred or so people in attendance of The Queen’s Banquet was upon them. Where she expected to see Lyris crimson instead there was Nephille emerald. It was all about Devanna and right then, a royal captain, a dying Draca, and a girl who could control ice had stolen that from her. Looking straight ahead to the top table, the anger was clear to see. Devanna’s face was turning scarlet, her eyes narrowed into slits fixed solely on Xylia, and she rose slowly to her feet, gloved hands pressed against the table.
“You should be dead.” She spat, much to the surprise of many of her guests. Others were too scared to move from their seats, or even turn their gaze away from the intruders. “Guards!”
Swarming like loyal bees to their queen, guards poured into the room from the upper floor and quickly flanked them from behind, too. Julius glanced back and cursed beneath his breath.
“There’s no way out now. You’re mine.” Devanna hissed. She didn’t seem to care about her guests seeing this side to her.
“We’ll see about that.” Quickly, without hesitation, Xylia put up a wall to block the guards from reaching them from behind. It wasn’t her best work, but it was enough to buy them some time at the very least.
“Impossible.” The new voice caught her attention, and Xylia looked back to the high table where an older woman, dressed entirely in emerald now glared at her. “Kill her, Devanna. Kill her now.”