He found himself entranced by the boy he picked up from the middle of the Emerald Sea. If he did not know better, Zephèl would have thought he was a beautiful young lady. It was his first time meeting someone from the Stone Empire face-to-face, but he had heard rumors of the beautiful inhabitants of the magic infested lands. It amused him that the boy had compared his looks to his brother, the first prince and heir to the throne of the empire. He had no choice to take it as a compliment, considering he had never had any interactions with anyone from the royal family of those lands. His father and his advisor forbade it. The boy continued to cry. Whether it was out of fear for his situation, or he simply wanted mercy for his crimes, Zephèl could not figure out why. But he was not one to find pleasure in torturing a person for information he most likely did not have. Yu had spoken his title with pride, however, something was lacking. Was it confidence? If the boy was hiding something, he definitely fooled him. At the moment, Zephèl was at a loss for what to do with him. He knew who the boy was now and was pretty sure he meant them no harm. He also could infer from the state they had found him in, that he did not end up near their borders on his own. If this boy was really royalty from the Stone Empire and he was now this close to their Kingdom so suddenly, Zephèl feared that the Empire would take it the wrong way.

Waiting patiently for the boy to calm down, he took a deep breath and tried to relax his mind. Unfortunately, too much was amiss for him to truly relax. He needed answers. He needed to make sure his people were safe. He continued to gently run his fingers through the boy’s hair. It was dirty from days of not washing and being found in the middle of a field. There were still little pieces of grass and dirt that clung to him, but Zephèl found himself wondering just how majestic this boy would be if he was given the chance to wash up.

Immediately dismissing the thought, he cleared his throat to speak again. Yu hadn’t fully calmed down but Zephèl recognized the fact that he needed to deal with the task at hand for the sake of his people.

“I think I am correct in assuming that you did not end up in our kingdom by choice, and that you, yourself, probably mean myself and my people no harm. But I need some answers,” Zephèl chose his words very carefully. He had no obligation to make his prisoner feel comfortable, nor did he have to treat him as nicely as he did. But that also didn’t mean couldn’t coax information out of someone with kindness.

He took a deep breath, his eyebrows knit in a stern expression, forcing authority into his tone, “You ended up in our and, as a royalty from the neighboring Empire with whom our relationship is not the best, is cause for suspicion. Please be honest with me, why are you here?”

The boy lifted his head so quickly that he nearly hit Zephèl in the jaw. His eyes were wide and lost. It was hard to act so cruelly against such eyes. The young man was clearly sifting through his own thoughts and Zephèl respected that he may need a moment. Clearly something was amiss and the boy knew that he, himself, should not be there either. He let his gaze wander to Geredyn for a moment who was clearly getting impatient and Zephèl shot the regent king a dark look. It amused him the first few times when he treated the boy like a viscous criminal, but the boy’s innocence, whether it was sincere or a facade, was too blatant for him to bare seeing any more blood drawn from him.

Yu’s tears stained the elegant sea of ruined black silk that was wrapped around most of his body. His eyes were red from rubbing them with his palms and it was a shame to see such a beautiful person in such a state. However, as if trained response, the boy soon sat up completely, with obviously forced composure and his legs neatly tucked under him.

“There is something amiss in the place you call the Stone Empire,” The boy’s voice was shaking as he spoke, but he was surprisingly very serious and mature, “I fear that my brother—“

“The one I look like?” Zephèl found himself cutting in as though they were having a normal conversation.

“Yes, the one you look like, Angiel. I fear that he is planning something and for that he needed me gone. I think he wants to start a war,” The boy continued his story. He explained how his brother and his brother’s closest friend tried to kidnap him and cross the border. He explained his lack of political importance within the empire but his significance to the Stone Empire’s magic. He did not brag about his blessed skills, but even Zephèl could understand that the boy must have had amazing powers beyond what he was willing to share. He continued, telling Zephèl everything about how he fell from the window and was transported to the realm that belonged to things called Vhysps, and that the Vhysps sent him somewhere else for his own safety.

He remained quiet as he listened to the rest of Yu’s story, trying to comprehend exactly what he was talking about. There were many things he couldn’t understand. He had questions about the Vhysps and about how the boy talk with the gods, something that was impossible for the people of his own Kingdom who do not worship gods. Many of the things the boy talked about were so outlandish that Zephèl almost did not want to believe him. He could tell that Geredyn was becoming frustrated with all the magic that was involved in this boy’s story. But at the same time, it was so unbelievable that no one would say something that outlandish under such conditions unless it was true.

“I see,” Zephèl cleared his throat, “So you are saying that the heir to the throne of the Empire wants to start a war with us then? On what grounds and for what reason?” He quickly cut in once Yu finished talking. Out of everything the boy said, that was the only part he could clearly grasp on to with some confidence.

“Well, that is the thing. I am not sure who he wants a war with or why,” Yu started off slowly.

The way the boy was so uneasy about the way he was talking, it was frustrating. He had the best interest of his own people in mind. He wanted them to be safe. Under the sudden pressure, something inside himself snapped and Zephèl soon lost himself. Without any restraint on his own actions, he had the boy pinned under him with his knee in the boy’s abdomen and his a fistful of his robes in his hand. Drawing the boy’s face close to his, he stared daggers into the boy’s skull. His own eyes were wide and his breath was heavy and tense. Fear was splayed on the boy’s face, but Zephèl ignored it.

“Answer me clearly!” He shouted, roughly shaking the prince by his collar, “What is your brother’s plan? Will he try to kill my people with your Aeastalth sins?”

The boy was clearly at a loss for words and Zephèl was becoming even more impatient. He raised his hand to strike Yu. He would hurt this young man if it meant saving his people from an unneeded war. The boy closed his eyes and the next thing he knew, Zephèl was thrown halfway across the room. His back slammed into the wooden floor. The wind was knocked from his lungs and his senses were immediately knocked back into him. However, Zephèl was already too furious to restrain himself as he hauled himself back to his feet and stormed back over to the bed. Geredyn was already wrestling with the boy, trying to restrain him and his magic. It did cross Zephèl’s mind for a moment why the boy chose only to hit him with the magic when he could have used it earlier against Geredyn, but he let that thought go immediately.

Zephèl stood at the end of the bed, his arms crossed in front of his chest and his feet apart. There was a plump bruise forming on the side of his head, and it pulsated. Pain swept through him with every contraction of the swelling, but he effectively ignored that too He watched the smaller boy fight to get away from Geredyn. It would be no use either way. The chain on the shackle on his leg only extend as far as the entrance to the room. Zephèl had a bitter smirk on his face. The little prince managed to pull a fast one on the old advisor, biting at his hand and arm, and narrowly kicking him in the groin. Yu dragged himself off the bed, half crawling from the pain of his healing wounds, to floor in front of Zephèl’s feet. He was on his hands and knees as tears started to stream down his face again,

“Please, if not for my people, then for yours. I am not sure what my brother wants, but if our lands’ relations are as bad as you say, then it is possible. Please, let me see your King!”

He was begging, pulling on Zephèl’s pants, grasping onto his muddy boots. It was a pitiful sight, but Zephèl was still unhappy. He had treated his prisoner with such kindness, and he repays him by flinging him halfway across the room with his disgusting magic? He kicked the boy off of him, and started to turn towards the door,

“My father is sick and is still recovering. He has no time to waste on helping your people, and neither do I. As far as I am concerned, you are nothing more than a bargaining chip in stopping this war you speak of. Consider yourself unlucky for getting involved.” His own voice was cold and distant, not something that even he was used to.

Snapping his fingers, he had Geredyn hold the boy back as he made his leave. Geredyn followed behind him and the moment they were both on the other side of the entrance to the room, he unceremoniously slammed the door in the boy’s face. He could hear the boy screaming at him in an incoherent, musical language on the other side of the door. Zephèl assumed the range of the boy’s magic was shortened and they could not communicate anymore. He turned to Geredyn who seemed less than pleased by the results of their interrogation.

“You went too easy on him. I still think he is hiding something.” Geredyn’s arms were full of bite and scratch wounds. Zephèl had to hide an encroaching smile on his face. That boy had more fight in him than he initially gave him credit for.

“You think so?” His voice was distant as he narrowed his eyes on the now locked door, “Well, it appears to me you that you misjudged how the people of the Stone Empire use their magic. He never uttered a spell, nor did he wave his hands. But it looks like we caught a pretty big bargaining chip. Hopefully it wont come to that though.” He was decisive, and the last thing he wanted was a war.

Geredyn’s gaze wandered to the door. They listened to the boy’s screams in silence. Zephèl could not understand it and he knew that Geredyn could only understand so much, but as the screams went on, Geredyn’s hardened look slowly softened. He had to wonder if the boy was penetrating even his hardened defense. “You feel sorry for him,” He mused

The hardened soldier cleared his throat, tearing his gaze away from the door. He quickly stiffened into his usual soldier’s stance.

“We have been around that Aeastalth for too long. He has hypnotized us with his sins. We should go to the Temple of the Two Heroes and purify ourselves,” he put a hand on Zephèl’s shoulder and started to usher him away from the door.

As they both started down the hall, Zephèl noticed Geredyn stealing a few glances back at the door to the boy’s room. Zephèl grinned knowingly, shrugging his shoulders, pretending not to notice.

“Hypnotized, huh? Well, the maids will be too afraid to go near him. We can let Mathias have the honor of serving his highness.”

The two men continued into the new council chamber, towards the Temple of the Two Heroes.