The Lycan Prince

“I hear there is a troublemaker among this crop of maidens, she has to be careful or she won’t be selected and you will have to dump her in the Royal harem.” a tall slender blonde young man said as he lay sprawled on a seat chugging down some wine in a gold chalice.

“I can’t say that I blame her, if I was being forced to be picked like funiture by some prince I did not know I too would be belligerent.”  a tall young man with dark hair who looked more muscular than his counterpart answered as he stood in front of the window and looked out at the horizon. 

“…maybe there will be something exciting to look forward to, who wants a woman that’s programmed to do your bidding?”

“That is just silly. Any maiden would be lucky to be considered by you The Mighty Prince Caine.” the blonde man insisted.

“I still think that it is a ridiculous tradition, I am supposed to be mourning the loss of my father, not getting entertained by a bunch of witless werewolves who aspire to a life of leisure.” Caine said in irrritation. 

Since the king's death Prince Caine had holed up in the office which had been his father's which was now more or less his or it would be as soon as he was crowned king.

He had been detached from everyone and the only person who had been able to gain access to him was his cousin Theo who was more like a brother than anything else as they had grown up together and Theo knew him more than anyone else did, Caine trusted Theo wholeheartedly.

He was most comfortable in his presence as he did not have to pretend about being a big bad lycan king around him, with him he felt safest and could allow himself deal with the emotions caused by his father's death.

While Caine knew that in time he would eventually have to face all of the things that he was currently hiding from but for now all he wanted to do was stay away from the intrigues of court life and the pressures that choked him so badly.

“You know what your problem is?” Theo asked cheekily then answered his question himself. “…Your problem is that you are a romantic.” Then chuckled as he stood up from his chair and stood beside Caine. 

Dressed as usual in white flowing pants and a white shirt, Theo managed to always look fluid and comfortable, Caine envied his ease with his life and the fact that he did not have to deal with the burden of being a leader.

"Don't be ridiculous." Caine scowled and turned away from him.

Theo's handsomeness and boyish charm drew people to him and put them at ease, he was one of the most liked people in the kingdom, if the kingship was a popularity contest Caine believed that Theo would easily win it and that would have relieved him of his ever present burden.

Caine was aware that a lot of people liked to compare them and some spoke about how well Theo would would embody the role of a king because unlike him Caine was stiff and unrelenting and not very approachable but that was what happened when Trion The Great was your father.

It made Caine feel a little jealous that the people easily embraced Theo while they looked at Caine warily but how was it his fault that he was born under the circumstances that he had been born in?

It had beeen drummed into Caine's ears right from the start that it was his responsibility to be a leader and as soon as he was able, his father had him training for this task, Caine had never had the opportunity to relax and be free.

“Am I being ridiculous or are you? Which young man does not dream of the fortune to choose a mistress from a group of women carefully selected for his pleasure? You my friend are a lucky man.”

caine just sighed in exaspersation 

“All of those women there want a chance to make you happy.” Theo continued.

“No you are wrong, they are vying for a chance to become my mistress. Why would i want to be with a woman who did not have a mind of her own? Who is willing to be with me simply because of the position that she would acquire.” Caine said and Theo looked at him then burst into laughter and Caine frowned.

“It is not at all funny Theo, what is the point of it all? Moreover I think it is only a mad man who desires more than one woman to share his life, i mean look at my father.” he insisted.

“And only a fool would turn down the chance to have different women to serve your needs. Why do you act like a virgin brother?” Theo needled and Caine turned away a little embarrassed.

Theo was right, Caine was a virgin and no one knew. he found the thought of bedding random women too disgusting to contemplate so when Theo would take him to brothels he would pretend to take one of the whores with him but i would pay them and send them away.

Theo never knew what happened there so he did not have any cause to look at him strangely. Caine hated this tradition that forced him to entertain all these maidens when he knew that nothing about them would excite him and he decided right there that as soon as he became king he would end this infuriating tradition.

But for now he was not king so he would have to go along with whatever they had to do.

“And your father is the greatest King to rule our kingdom. Listen, I had the luck of seeing some of the maidens and you are in for a treat, you lucky son. I wish that I had the choice of first pick.” Theo said dreamily. 

“Well go ahead and have first pick, I know that I will not have any interest in them.” Caine said morosely. 

“You know that the first pick is the Prince’s honor, you need to see this as the honor that it is and stop being so ungrateful.” Theo scolded and when Caine remained mute he continued.

“You know that you will have to make appearances don’t you?”

Caine waved off his question. he would make those appearances, albeit reluctantly. There were more important things to be dealt with than listening to and entertaining a group of simpering maidens.

“Where are we on the marauders that have been attacking the east side of our borders?” Caine asked snapping into serious mode. 

“Unfortunately they seem to have just disappeared into thin air and no witnesses were left alive to speak of what they saw.” Theo answered.

“That is not acceptable, we can’t have killers appear out of the blues and then disappear after wrecking havoc. I want all our land and sea borders covered by soldiers.” Caine directed.

“There should be no further attacks but in the event that there is another I want us prepared and there must be the capture of at least one who is going to tell us who has sent them.” 

“Of course your highness.” Theo said, all traces of teasing gone out of his expression.

“I want the soldiers deployed immediately.” Caine added and Theo nodded and exited the room, leaving the prince alone.

Seems like the kingdom’s enemies had been waiting for the death of the king in order to make an appearance. 

He had not even been dead for up to a week and there were reports of attacks. Caine felt it was a bad omen that his reign was starting on such a violent page and he would go there himself and chase away the marauders if he had to.

He just wished that The Reaping would end already, there were important matters of state that needed to be dealt with.