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| One: Richard | ||||||
| They were seriously in the doghouse now, he had no ideas how it had happened, but they had been neatly surrounded and escorted down to the planet they had been orbiting. | ||||||
| They hadn't even meant to be there; it was just as if he had been drawn there by another power. He glanced down at the ropes that bound his wrists, and stared hard at them as they changed, only for a second, into chains. He let out a groaning sigh, he would need to use his other persona here, that of the God Kencaris. | ||||||
| He watched as they managed to pull his best friend from the craft, and it was no mean feat as Windfeather was a centaur, a winged centaur, a dappled steel grey with charcoal hair, tail and wings. And as he watched he almost gave up hope; these people knew how to capture and handle a centaur. | ||||||
| They had already bound his wings to his back and hobbled his front legs and were proceeding to hobble the back as ropes on his arms held them stretched out behind him. | ||||||
| He looked about him again, looking for the third member of the group, and almost missed a darker shadow far in one corner if it weren't for the shine from two yellow eyes. | ||||||
| 'Stay safe,' he mouthed and both eyed closed for a moment then opened. | ||||||
| As they were led away, he was amazed to see that Windfeather was the one being asked the questions and had the most guards; he, on the other hand, only had one guard, as if he were an afterthought. | ||||||
| They were led to some sort of high walled compound, with two large metal grill doors, solid and heavy, the only way in or out, and a good number of guards patrolling on top of the wall. When they entered, he first took note of the buildings within. They followed the wall around leaving a large circular central area. | ||||||
| The closest the door were no more than shanty sheds and lean-to's, but as they followed around the wall, the houses got better until you reached what looked like a town hall directly opposite the doors. | ||||||
| But it was the occupants that made both the prisoners freeze in their tracks; there were literally hundreds of centaurs, and as he looked around, he could see improvised clan flags everywhere except the shanty area. The thrall area, he guessed. | ||||||
| He almost groaned when he sported the familiar running stag backed by the moon symbol flying above the town hall building. | ||||||
| It was to this building they were led, and a tired looking young male centaur answered the guards summons. | ||||||
| 'What!!' his angry demand faded as he spotted Windfeather 'what in the Sword's name is that doing in my presence?' | ||||||
| The one who had led them into the compound sneered at the young centaur, 'Just thought you would want to be informed of the new arrival, prince.' The title was said with no respect at all. In fact, it was made to sound degrading. 'And this,' I was grabbed by the hair and flung at him, 'is your new pet, a gift from your Lords and Masters.' | ||||||
| With that, he just turned and left us there with the young centaur glaring hatefully at his back until the metal door slammed closed with a deafening bang. He then turned the glare on to Windfeather. | ||||||
| 'And what, by the Blade, are you doing here, and where did you come from?' | ||||||
| 'We are mercenaries,' I answered, using a 'Kencaris' trick to free myself from my bonds, and Windfeather of his hobbles (I might have need of his speed), while his back was turned; being the god of freedom has its ups... Sometimes. | ||||||
| 'The buggers captured us moments ago. As for where Windfeather comes from, all I know is his planet was ravaged by war and his people fled.' Suck on that for a bit. 'As for me, I'm the son of a disgraced princess and 5th in command of our mercenary band. Windfeather is my second, and my name you were so kind enough to ask for is Richard Lucas.' | ||||||
| Windfeather looked shocked at my outburst, but I had to sort out a story that hid who we truly were, for now anyway, and what I said was the truth. Windfeather's people did flee a war, not the Mytholian war that this prince was obviously thinking of, and my mother is (well, was) a disgraced princess. 'The best lies are always 90 % truth or so, Cooan (our mercenary's head of intelligence and also an Angel) says. | ||||||
| The day ended with Windfeather dismissed to the thrall quarter, still bound, and myself, I was dumped in a small cellar room in the 'town hall' by Prince Jake Masralin Wildhart, Heir to the Sireship of Mytholia. A centaur thought dead by most, as were the rest held here, I guessed. | ||||||
| I, Prince Heir Richard Kencaris Wildhart-Lucas of the imperial throne of Mytholia, just smiled at my uncle with stubborn pleasure as he slammed the door on me and locked it for the night. I can handle my grandfather at his most superior, my mother in a bad temper; this new arrogant Wildhart would be no problem. | ||||||