My Cursed Alpha Prince

CHAPTER 5

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For the first few days, nothing really changed. Caspian went about his activities like he always did, and nothing really indicated that something had changed in his life. He began to wonder briefly if it wasn’t all just an elaborate scheme by his mother to remind him that he should be getting married soon.

His father, he believed, was incapable of such kind of displays. And of the many times when Caspian had actually wished that his father would be capable of showing any sort of human emotions, this was certainly not one of them. He was glad to be left to his own vices, and do with his days as he saw fit.

No one brought up the issue of his impending nuptials again, and for that he was grateful. It meant that he had enough time to interrogate the vampire they had captured, which his father instructed him to do. Caspian was much too happy to do it, because he felt like he needed the distraction more than anything else. He had the vampire chained up in the dungeons, with silver chains which burned his flesh continuously.

The vampire’s name was Malfort, and he was nothing more than a lowly lieutenant. During the first day of interrogation, he refused to answer any questions that Caspian asked. In return, the latter had one of the guards beat him up violently, spilling blood all over the ground. He then grabbed a wooden stake and pressed it to the creature’s heart, his eyes burning as he glared into his own amber eyes. The vampire was so cold that Caspian was afraid he might get frostbite just by touching him. But he glared into Malfort’s eyes and drove the stake even more into his chest.

“I’m only going to ask this one more time,” he said. “And you can decide whether or not you’re going to reply me or not. Be aware your choice will bear a consequence, and you will get to decide what sort of consequence that it.”

“f**k you!” the vampire growled, spitting at his feet.

Caspian shook his head, and then he slowly began to twist the stake into his chest. At first, the vampire tried to remain defiant, even in the face of impending doom. He gritted his teeth, and growled lowly the deeper the stake sank into his chest. He tried to look like he wasn’t bothered, but once it pierced his skin, and he began to feel a burning sensation in his chest, he realised that they weren’t going to stop. They wouldn’t care if he died, because more would come and they would all be killed.

“Wait!” he exclaimed. “Please, I’ll tell you what you need to know, but please don’t kill me.”

Caspian straightened up, settling a cool gaze on his face. “Well, that was easy,” he said. “I’m really disappointed in you for not being a tough one to break. Now what am I going to do with the rest of my night?”

He stepped back as the vampire’s head hung, and he handed the stake back to Jurien before turning to face him once again.

“Go on,” he said. “I’m listening.”

“We were sent as scouts,” the vampire said. “Our mission was to gather as much information as we can about the Xanian forces, the geography of their land, how swiftly they respond to emergency situations, and how densely populated the towns are. We’re also to figure out the defences of the palace, and whether there are any weak spots which can be exploited.”

“Is that all?” Caspian asked.

“Yes,” he said. “It’s all we were told to do. I swear it.”

“And who was it that sent you?”

The vampire paled, and his eyes grew wide in shock. He looked like he was going to break down in tears, and he visibly shrunk back in terror. Caspian had seen this enough times to know that look. Clearly the vampire was afraid of whoever had sent them, which meant that it had to be someone powerful; someone who would stop at nothing to get what they wanted.

“Was it King Raemon?” he asked.

If he hadn’t been looking straight at him at the exact moment when he said it, then perhaps he would have missed it. But he saw the way the vampire’s eyes widened in fear, and how he began to tremble like a leaf caught in an autumn wind. The chains which were wrapped around his hands and feet rattled loudly, and blood began to spill from his eyes as he cried.

Caspian exchanged a look with Jurien, both of them surprised by what they were witnessing. Clearly, Malfort was terrified at the mention of king Raemon’s name, but it wasn’t clear whether that was because he feared the vampire king, or because Caspian had hit the nail on the head.

“If it was him, then you can tell us,” he said in a calm voice. “I can assure you that there is no way that he can get to you here. You’re safe, and if you cooperate with me and tell me exactly what I want to hear, then we can leave this ugly business behind us and be done with it. There’s no need for any of this to go badly.”

Malfort’s gaze shifted between Caspian and his companion, and the flaming torch in the latter’s hand. A wildness crept into his eyes, and Caspian saw the exact moment when the madness took him. His eyes rolled back into his skull, his mouth opened partially as though he was about to scream, and his fangs protruded suddenly.

“My prince!” Jurien exclaimed, stepping between him and the vampire just as a piercing scream came from the man’s mouth. It was a shrill, terrible cry, and it echoed all through the entire dungeon, so loud that Caspian thought his eardrums were going to explode. He dropped to the ground and covered his ears tightly, while the vampire trembled violently in front of him. It was as if some horrible demon was trapped within him, and it was trying to get out.

Jurien stepped in front of Caspian to protect him from whatever was happening. But Caspian didn’t need protection. The vampire wasn’t going to attack, and when he dropped to his knees and blood began to spill from his eyes, nose and lips, it became clear exactly what was happening.

He was dying.

Caspian didn’t know a way to save him. He wasn’t sure if he could even be saved. He stood back and watched as Malfort suddenly burst into flames, the terrible green light exploding all around the dungeon. Jurien turned his back to it, while shielding Caspian from the searing heat.

When the flames subsided, but the heat still lingered in the dungeon, Caspian straightened up to survey what had just happened. Malfort was gone, and in the place where he had been kneeling was nothing more than a pile of ash, and the silver chains which were still sizzling at his feet.

“f**k!” he groaned, glaring at the pile of ash. Jurien straightened beside him, unscathed but the fire. Caspian didn’t expect anything to happen to him after all, because Jurien was immune to fire. It was something Caspian had never really thought about, because from the very first day he met him, Jurien had always been like this. But today, that had saved his life. And he was grateful to his friend for that.

“Well, I believe this proves it,” he said. “King Raemon is plotting an attack.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” Jurien replied. “There could be other reasons why he suddenly burst into flames.”

Caspian turned to look at him as if the fire had fried his brain. When he noticed Jurien was smirking, however, he realised that he was teasing him.

“Have you ever seen a more carefully planned, fail-safe mechanism?” Caspian asked. “He must have placed a spell on all of his subjects to make sure they are never going to betray him. And if they did, then they would end up in the same state as Malfort.”

“You have to give him credit,” Jurien said. “It’s a smart tactic. None of his men will ever betray him. And I shudder to think what an army of ten thousand vampires devoted to one man could spell for us.”

Caspian also dreaded the thought. Even after they left the dungeons and went back up to his chambers, he kept trying to figure out exactly what king Raemon was planning. Why would he want to attack Xania? Was he trying to expand his territory? That seemed like the most likely option. The peace with the vampires had always been a tense one, neither of them really trusting each other but both of them acknowledging the power that the other possessed. For a very long time, the vampires had been nothing but a weak counterpart, too disorganised to pose a threat to Xania. But they had been growing in number over the last few years, and now they had an army which could almost match the Xanians.

If it had to come to war, then Caspian was ready. He was sick and tired of the vampires encroaching into their lands, abducting their people and pretending that they weren’t responsible for it. His father wasn’t going to do anything about it, so naturally it fell to him to try and fix this. He knew that even if he told his father about it, the man wouldn’t do anything about it. He would simply tell him to ignore them. Unless there was a blatant attack by the vampires, then he wasn’t going to act. That was the exact reason why everyone was losing faith in the monarchy. Caspian didn’t like to admit it, but his father was weak. He was a pushover, and anyone could get away with anything to his face. All he would do was tell them to do better, and he would turn the other cheek.

But Caspian wasn’t like that. If the vampires wanted war, then that was exactly what they were going to have. He didn’t care what his father would say, but he was not going to sit back and let the man ruin their legacy by allowing their enemies to fester like an untreated cancer.

“You still have to tell him about it though,” Jurien said. “It’s your duty as his war commander to inform him of any impending attacks.”

“But what’s the point?” Caspian muttered, pacing the length of his room. “It’s not like he’s going to do anything about it. You already know exactly what he’ll say. I know for a fact that he will simply tell us to sit back and assess the situation, then evaluate all the possible problems which could arise from this. He would never bother to do anything to actually remedy the situation.”

“The law is the law, Caspian,” he said. “You must tell him, even if he won’t do anything about it. To refuse that would be treason and you know it.”

“Fine,” he groaned. “But when the vampires attack, and our heads are mounted on a spike atop the palace walls, then you should know it was because of you.”

He walked out of the room and made his way towards his father’s chambers, the last place he wanted to be. As a child, he used to dread having to see his father. And even as an adult, it wasn’t a pleasant thing.

When he reached the door, the guards bowed and let him in. Caspian walked into to find his father poring over and old book. He looked up slowly, an irritated look in his eyes.

“What is it this time?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“Father, I bring news as your war commander,” he said.

“What is it?”

“The vampires of Dalmatia,” Caspian said. “I have reason to believe that they are planning an attack soon. The vampire we interrogated said…”

“I know about the Dalmatians plan already,” he said. “Will that be all?”

“If you knew about it, then why haven’t we done anything yet?” he asked. “Are we going to just sit back and let them get away with it?”

“We will deal with the matter accordingly,” his father said. “For now, you need to get ready. You will be leaving for Avarel tomorrow to meet your bride.”

He returned to his book then, a dismissive tone in his voice. Caspian glared at him for one whole minute before he turned around and walked out.

It was that day that he officially decided that he hated his father.

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