The humans have been at war with Elves for thousands of years. The hatred they had for each other runs deep into the depths of their souls, buried right into their bone marrows, to the extent that no human could stand the sight of an Elf and if one is caught, the worst kinds of torture were implemented.
Their favourite was cutting off the long pointy ears and nailing them to the walls of their borders. Some even competed on how many ears they’ve nailed.On the other hand, no Elf wanted to hear the word 'human'. In fact, if an Elf should mistakenly pronounce the word 'human', he is immediately executed and if a human is caught, he is turned into a slave and treated like a dog till he dies from exhaustion. The Elves weren't normally this brutal. In fact, they are naturally peaceful creatures and had proposed peace to the humans which was accepted but the human King breached the treaty. He lured the Elf King into his castle under the guise of a feast to celebrate six months of peace then he poisoned the Elf King and his guards and beheaded his only heir.This treachery blackened the hearts of the Elves and another war broke out.Thus, the war went on and on and on. Huge amounts of blood was shed, many many precious lives were lost and soon enough, the Elves got tired. Fighting wasn't their forte. They were better inclined with nurturing nature and healing so they lost a lot of battles. When they noticed their numbers were dwindling drastically, they stopped fighting and fled to a part of the world, where the humans couldn't find them. As time went on and the world continued to evolve, the humans soon forgot about war. Within a few years, they believed the Elves were extinct. People began to fabricate stories about them for entertainment. They acted plays and wrote novels that even described their coexistence as harmonious. Only a handful of people knew the truth. These handful of people still hated the Elves with passion and believed they still existed. Thus, they created an organization and operated in the shadows, executing missions to find out where the Elves were hiding.Prince Ron was currently reading a book called Fighting Destiny. He especially liked the character Theo who was a handsome elf with the air of nobility and a pro with a bow. Yes, poor Prince Ron had a huge crush on this character. He had already read the book hundreds of times but he always loved to re-read Theo's parts. In fact, he knew some dialogues by heart.Ron was about to read his favourite part of all when the large doors to his room swung open and his sister rushed in with her train of servants who had their heads bowed and quickly stood at corners to avoid the wrath of the youngest Prince. Everyone knew Ron didn't like to be disturbed especially when he was reading. Whoever disturbs him will be sent to pack horse shit from the stables or perform so other worse punishment so they closed their eyes and silently prayed to any diety to save them from the Prince's wrath. As expected, Ron was deeply displeased. He slammed his book shut then turned to face his elder sister with a frown that was enough to give a person wrinkles for life."What are you doing here?!" he spat. "You know I don't like to be disturbed when I'm reading. You did this on purpose!". He then turned to the guards standing outside. "And why did you let her in? You're all useless! You should have stopped her!"The guards began to sweat. How could they stop the crown princess from going into her own brother's room? That's the same thing as courting death!Princess Rose rolled her eyes at her brother's complains. "If you're done with your childish tantrum, mum and dad want to see you"Ron's face wrinkled even more. How could she call him a child? In front of the servants and guards?!Said servants and guards acted as if they were deaf, dumb and blind. "I'm not going. Leave me alone" he said just to anger his sister. He knew he would have to go. His dad, the king, doesn't entertain tardiness nor disrespect. He won't hesitate to seize Ron's books and ban him from the library then subject him to harsh training for weeks.Rose knew that she had actually hurt her brother so she decided to coax him. Besides, she was in a good mood. She was getting married soon! What Princess wouldn't be happy?"Dear brother" she said in a sweet voice. "Don't be mad okay. I know you don't like to be disturbed when reading but what father and mother want to discuss with us is very important. Don't take this matter to heart. Let's go. Afterwards, I'll persuade dad to let you go out"Ron's mood immediately did a 360 degree turn. A bright smile replaced the darkness on his face and the guards breathed sighs of relief. Princess Rose is truly a lifesaver!Ever since Ron turned 18, his father put him on house arrest and hired different teachers to educate him in matters of the state and about ruling a kingdom for when Rose gets married and becomes the queen of another Kingdom, he'd be the crown prince. Next in line for the throne. Ron wasn't really interested in becoming the future King. He'd rather go on a world tour and experience different things but he had no choice. This was his life whether he liked it or not. Sometimes he wished he really wasn't a prince. Since his sister had already apologized, he decided to let it go. "Okay. Let's go see them but you must uphold your promise""Of course brother" Princess Rose said, wearing a large smile. Both of them proceeded to the throne room, where their parents awaited. Prince Ron and Princess Rose look exactly alike. In fact, everyone who didn't know them thinks they're twins. The only difference was the length of hair, gender and their personalities. Where Rose was calm, sweet, smart and elegant, Ron was wild, brash, mischievous and easily angered. Not a drop of elegance was in his blood.In fact, some people question -in their own hearts of course- if he's really royalty. Maybe he was found in a ditch somewhere but the resemblance to the rest of the members of the royal family keeps them puzzled. The siblings had curly auburn hair softer than cotton, skin as creamy as milk and smooth as silk, cat like eyes with pupils the colour of emeralds and long lashes the colour of their hair. Their noses were straight and pointed and beneath that were small plump lips as red as blood. The siblings of the Kingdom of Ashenmore were just exquisite.Princess Rose has the figure of a supermodel and she loved to flaunt it. There wasn't a single type of cloth in the world she couldn't rock and there was no colour that didn't suit her. Coupled with her easygoing temperament, she was loved both within and outside the Kingdom. There was no man in the world that didn't want to marry her. Prince Ron on the other hand was quite short for his age. Even at 18, he looked 16 and this fact annoys him because people look down on him thinking he was still a child. He was glad his sister wasn't too tall so they were almost the same height. She was just an inch or two taller and she's four years older than him.Though he's quite lazy, his father still made him go through some exercises so he had a full six pack and nice muscles. It made any clothes he wears look like it was tailored just for him. Though his temperament was quite wild, he still had a lot of females dying to be with him. No matter what, they couldn't deny that he was a handsome young man.As they approached the throne room, the guards standing on either side of the large golden double doors pushed them open for the siblings and they they bowed. The siblings found their parents sitting on their thrones. They were the spitting image of their mother while the only thing they got from their dad was their eyes. A few other people Ron recognized were there. Like the Royal Advisor, Physician, members of the royal court and so many others.King Cain was dressed in a golden and maroon attire. He was holding the royal golden scepter which was passed down from generation to generation. He will also pass it down to Ron when it was time. His dark hair was streaked with silvery grey hair which was covered a bit by the golden crown on his head.One look at King Cain would tell anyone he wasn't to be messed with. He had a stoic expression and the hard look in his eyes commanded respect. Ron was most especially afraid of him. Queen Lilian was the epitome of elegance. She was dressed
Ron sneaked out of the castle through his secret route. It was a dark murky pathway underneath his grandfather’s bedroom which led to a cave at a riverside not far from town.His grandfather had showed it to him before he passed away. They used to go on so many escapades together. Witness festivals, celebrations, annual games and competitions and so much more. But after his grandfather died, his father became more strict on him which left barely any time for him to go out and have fun. He didn't like to be indoors all the time like some housewife. He preferred to go out, interact and see what the world was like. Reading from novels wasn't enough. This time, he took one of his grandfather's disguises. It was a black wig and crappy mustache. After he reached the cave, he took off his royal clothes, folded them neatly then stuffed them in a bag. He then put on the wig and mustache, coupled with a dirty brown robe. He looked like a beggar. Exactly what he was going for. As long as he mi
Ron entered two more taverns and even an inn but the information they had wasn't even close to Old Jack's. He was already tired so he decided to go back. Besides, someone might notice he was missing which will raise a lot of trouble for him.When he was halfway out of town, a group of goons appeared on the road. They were big and burly, all holding sharp looking daggers.The leader stepped forward, holding a sword which he pointed at Ron. "Hand over your money. Every bit of it and I'll think about you letting you leave this place alive"Fear crept into Ron's heart. He had never been in this kind of situation before. Worst of all, he didn't carry any weapon. He didn't think there would be any reason to.Sweat dropped the side of his face. He decided to use flattery and some sweet words to see if he could escape with everything he had intact. "Good, kind, handsome man, you look very reasonable. Can't we talk about this?"The goons snickered. It seemed like this guy didn't get the severi
Fear made Ron nearly fall to his knees. Nearly, for the silver haired man caught him before his body made contact with the floor.Ron fell into a warm gentle embrace. He raised his head, parting his long lashes to look at the man holding him. Cold violet eyes stared straight at the running man. Ron felt that there such a huge contrast between being in his arms and those beautiful eyes. "Don't chase him" he said, making those plum coloured orbs stare down at him. "He has never killed a person. I could tell, believe me. If he had, he wouldn't have hesitated so much to kill me. I doubt he would even hurt a fly after what he has witnessed today so please, don't go after him"The fear he initially felt disappeared without a trace. Something told him that the man would not hurt him. The man nodded. "You're injured" he said, eyes sweeping down to look at the bleeding wound on Ron's neck. His voice was deep, alluring and magnetic, tugging at Ron's heartstrings. Perfect. Just perfect!Ron wa
Queen Lilian pulled Ron and squished his face into her bosom. Ron struggled and struggled, trying not to get suffocated by the large mounds on her chest but her hold only went tighter and tighter so he gave up and went limp like a wet noodle. "My baby is going so far away" she sobbed, completely shattering her elegance in the face of her family. Ron knew exactly where he got his personality from.His mother might be cool, calm and collected in front of outsiders but with her family, she was just an ordinary person. She behaved exactly the way she wanted to behave. Ron's only problem was that he couldn't act like that. To him, it was like splitting his personality. He'd rather just be himself.King Cain and Princess Rose stood at the side, watching the mother and son. "Mum come on, I'll be back in at least a week or two. You've seen me every single day since I was born. Don't you think you should take a break? Besides, I'm an adult now so stop treating me like a child" Ron complaine
Ron talked and talked. He talked about the novels he read and the wonderful creatures within. He talked about how the brain works and how fun it is to imagine so many things. How amazing it is to just conjure stuff up and make it real in fiction. Everyone felt bored and wished they could just shut him up. It didn't matter if they didn't reply to what he was saying. Prince Ron was very skilled in the arts of talking to oneself. He cracked bad jokes and laughed at them himself. When he felt laughing alone was too boring, he forced the servants to laugh by threatening to punish them by packing horse shit when they return to Ashenmore. Next, he forced them to sing.Poor servants. After two hours, the prince still wasn't done so Leo thought of the only thing that would make him shut up. To put him in the carriage with the princess. If everyone cooperated, the King would not even know. "Prince Ron" he called. "I think you can enter the carriage now. I'll let you come out after a few hour
After a week's journey, Princess Rose, Prince Ron, the guards and the servants that went with them, arrived at the North's main gate. It was very cold so the siblings remained hidden in the carriage while the rest had thick coats on. Their faces were pale. They never knew the North was so cold. How could people survive in such a place?To get to the castle, they had to go through the town. The townspeople all came out to see their soon to be queen but all they saw where half frozen faces and one exquisitely handsome face. It was that of a young man, peeking out of the carriage window. He had soft looking russet curls, brilliant green eyes and a radiant smile. The women who saw this face were swooning. Some men were jealous while others felt it would be nice to have such a beauty to themselves. Prince Ron smiled at every person he made eye contact with. He even winked at some of the women. He felt that Netheridge was full of pretty faces. He hasn't seen a single ugly one. Even the men
Ron nodded and he and Ludiciel started to walk side by side. Ludiciel remained quiet so Ron used the time to look around. His face was straight, devoid of any emotion but his green eyes showed it all. The hidden excitement, the amazement, the joy. He felt like bursting. The Netheridge castle was awesome! It was so large he could hardly see the ceiling but there were lights glowing everywhere, making it look so magical. The walls were painted an icy blue which looked cold to the touch. He wanted to know if it was really cold but that would destroy his princely character so he retracted his hand. He also realized that since they stepped inside, it wasn't cold anymore.Ah pretending was so tiring. He didn't think he could keep up. His back was starting to hurt and his face was feeling a bit stiff. He wondered how his parents could retain such an expression for years. Leo gazed at Ron from time to time. His heart softened at the prince's antics. He knew Ron was a type of person that did
Kayziel snickered inwardly, though he kept his expression solemn. It didn’t matter whether the phoenix joined or not. The moment Zedekiel saw what he had to show, the damage would have already been done. He couldn't believe his nephew was still so naive. Even after all the centuries that had passed, he still trusted people easily.So foolish.Zedekiel had hacked off his limbs one by one and sealed him beneath the sacred roots of the Mother Tree. Stripped him of power, dignity, and freedom.Now, he had destroyed his plans to take over Netheridge and live a good life. Why should he let Zedekiel be happy?He already knew that Zedekiel was not going to let him off. He was going to die in the most painful way Zedekiel could conjure so he would take something from Zedekiel first.If he could not live, then let his nephew’s love burn instead.“What are you waiting for?” Zedekiel snarled, his grip tightening around the Soul Crucible. He had half a mind to not see what Kayziel wanted to show t
Alaric didn’t answer. His face, usually impassive, was drawn tight. His onyx eyes were stormy and his lips parted as if he wanted to speak, but no words came. He clenched his jaw and fists, unable to tell Zedekiel what he was about to see. How would he even tell him? They had opened the lantern, ready to unleash hell on whoever had possessed Ron but when they saw who it was, they knew Zedekiel had to be called back.Zedekiel drew in a deep breath. He didn’t need words to know something was deeply wrong. He couldn't wait to know what it was so he increased his speed, disappearing in a blur and reappearing before the cell door in the dungeon’s lowest levels. Alaric arrived three seconds later.They both stood still for a moment, facing the thick metal door and Zedekiel curled his fists. It was time to face whoever had made their lives hell for 3 months.He pushed open the door, the hinges creaking as they stepped inside. The room was dimly lit by the light pearls embedded into the walls
“Wow, I never knew Prince Ron was so brave and fierce.” Elliot said to Prince Ludiciel, looking thoroughly fascinated.Prince Ludiciel wasn't sure if it was because of Prince Ron or the story or both.“Judging by his looks, one would think he cannot handle a sword but did you see those moves?” Elliot continued. “He once wrestled a python and rescued a princess from a tiger. Then he saved your brother and travelled all the way to the North to marry him. Isn't that amazing?”Prince Ludiciel didn't know whether to laugh or cry. “It's amazing indeed.” He answered, nodding. He couldn't even imagine Prince Ron wrestling a python or rescuing a princess from a tiger. Knowing the lazy Prince, he would just assign Leo to do all the fighting and rescuing.Then again, it didn't really matter. It was a nice story Prince Ron told. Now he knew how Prince Ron met his brother.“But wait,” Elliot said, pausing. “If Prince Ron went after your brother, when did he get the chance to tell the story to the
He paused dramatically and everyone shook their heads.“Exactly! No, he didn’t!” Prince Ron pointed with glee. “He turned every one of them down, declaring boldly that he would only marry for true love!”Everyone went; “Awww.”“And then!” Prince Ron threw up his hands with a dramatic flourish. “One day, the brave Prince was at an inn. He’d heard rumors about some King in the North—one who dared to ask for his sister’s hand in marriage. But this Prince wasn’t the type to trust someone based on hearsay, so he went himself to gather intel.”At this point, Zedekiel frowned. Why did the story sound familiar but wrong somehow?“So there he was, chilling at the bar, sipping on ginger ale and chatting with the barkeep, when he spotted someone. A ridiculously handsome man, sitting alone in the corner, just enjoying his meal.”Zedekiel’s frown deepened. This story sounded really familiar…“What the handsome man didn’t realize,” Prince Ron continued, “was that a group of shady-looking bandits ha
Prince Ron gasped, eyes going wide. “Your what?!”Elliot smiled sheepishly, but his eyes flicked affectionately to Prince Ludiciel as he held his hand. He never really thought some harmless flirting with an Elf Prince in a flower house would result in a relationship but he was happy it did. Prince Ludiciel was the most caring, considerate, and loving creature he had ever met.Prince Ron was still stunned. He glanced at his beloved who was just smiling and then he realised that his beloved already knew! Was he the only one that didn't know? Was he the last to know? Why didn't they tell him first? His brother-in-law had found a partner! He was the one that was supposed to announce it in a grand style! Throw a party! Celebrate!He gazed at the couple then asked with little hope. “I-I'm not the last one to know, am I?”Zedekiel shook his head with a sigh. Was that was his little husband was concerned about?The Ice Fairy Queen, Prince Ludiciel and Elliot chuckled.“Well…the entire Royal f
Prince Ron sat obediently on a bed—well, as obediently as he could manage—while the Ice Fairy Queen moved gracefully around him, her shimmering white gown trailing like mist on ice. Her crystal blue eyes sparkled as she checked over him and gently examined his belly.“Would you stop staring at her and smiling like that?” Zedekiel, who was beside him, holding his hand, huffed.Prince Ron blinked. “But I’ve never seen an ice fairy before, let alone their queen.” He replied with a pout. Besides, she was really pretty. Her knee-length snow-white hair swayed as she moved, and everything about her was elegant, ethereal… cold, but really beautiful. He wondered if she had wings and if she would show him if he asked.“I don’t care.” Zedekiel grumbled. “Stop staring. Now. It's rude.” And what happened to him being the most handsome in the world? If his little husband wanted to stare at someone, couldn't he stare at him? The Ice Fairy Queen was his friend but he couldn't help feeling jealous whe
From the sidelines, Alaric and Talon watched in silence. Neither spoke, neither moved. They just stood there, watching Zedekiel and Prince Ron, a million thoughts racing through their minds.Talon’s gaze lingered on Prince Ron and Zedekiel, the way Zedekiel held his Prince Ron so tight, yet so gentle, the way Prince Ron melted into him, safe, reassured, like he trusted Zedekiel more than his own self and looked to the Elf King to keep him together. Prince Ron looked at Zedekiel like he was the only one he could see. As if when they were together, nothing else mattered and it was just them.His hands clenched at his sides in frustration. He wanted that. He wanted that and more. He felt envious—achingly envious. To the extent that his chest felt stuffy, and his teeth ached. He wanted to hold a particular person like that, have the person look at him with that kind of love, that kind of devotion. He wanted the person to trust him, to make him feel like he was the only one in the entire w
Prince Ron beamed, rubbing the back of his precious frying pan. Oh, he’ll make it count alright.And make it count he did.Some minutes later, the dungeon echoed with a loud CLANG as Prince Ron’s frying pan made direct contact with Hugh’s head. The unfortunate man let out a strangled grunt before slumping forward, completely dazed. He didn’t know if it was because he had received several beatings from Zedekiel earlier, but the human Prince’s hit was quite painful. He was tired and he wanted it all to stop.But Prince Ron was not done. He signaled the guards to lift Hugh up which they did. He then took two steps back and BANG! smacked Hugh on the side of his face. Blood sprayed against the wall of the cell and Hugh groaned, coughing out a mouthful of blood and a few teeth.Everyone’s eyes widened in alarm. Was the human prince that strong or was the frying pan really that heavy?Prince Ron glared down at Hugh, his grip tightening around the handle of the frying pan. For three months, h
Prince Ron’s attention, however, was immediately drawn to the weird and spooky looking lantern. His emerald eyes sparkled with curiosity as he pointed at the lantern. "What is that?" he asked, staring at the glowing light. He had never seen such a lantern before. Could it be a genie? He wouldn’t be surprised if it was though. He fell in love with his sister’s husband to be who turned out to be an Elf, married him while having sex under the moonlight and was now carrying his babies. He had also been kidnapped by a deranged Elf and was saved by his beloved who brought along a weak rude witch. They even battled the Dark Lord from hell who came to take him away and some hours ago, he was possessed by an evil uncle Elf spirit. Seeing a genie now who could grant three of his wishes would not surprise him at all.Although, he did truly wish it was a genie. His first wish would be to have more stamina so he could go long hours in bed with his beloved! He could never forget the way his beloved