"It seems you are aware of the law that makes the trade of slaves illegal in Azlantean. That law does not elaborate on slaves that were not traded for in Azlantean. So I am well within my rights to bring slaves into this country, as long as I don't buy and sell them in this kingdom I am not breaking any laws."
His answer made me feel sick and furious at the same time. How could there be such a devastating loophole in the anti-slave law?
"I got these two beauties in the kingdom of Mannon..." he slimily gazed over the two young girls and it made my gut twitch in disgust.
"You seem so interested in them. Perhaps I should have gotten you a few slaves as a present instead." He laughed loudly at his own joke, which made me even more furious.
"I hate slavery."
I was so mad that I didn't even care that I was being rude. I saw the two slave girls look up at me for a moment, before quickly looking down again. There had to be something I could do to help them. There had to be some way that I could free them...
Duke Irathmus looked taken aback by my sudden comment as his sarcastic facade dropped for a moment. But then he regained himself and straightened up.
"Very well..." he tried to fill the awkward silence I had caused in the room.
Suddenly I felt Cassian's large hand come to rest in my shoulder which instantly acted like a soothing pill. My shoulders loosened up a bit and I felt myself calming down more.
"Brother. It has been years since we last saw you. What has brought you back from Mannon to come and see us?" Cassian's time was pleasant but not friendly like you would expect a tone between brothers to be.
"To meet the lost prince of course." Irathmus grinned. "I felt I had to do the honorable thing and present him with a fine gift as well."
With that, Irathmus signaled a gesture to his back.
Besides the two scared slave girls, his entourage consisted of a burly-shaven-headed man who had a very gnarly-looking scar across his cheek. He was huge, at least six foot seven, fully armed with swords and spears, all secured to his back. When Irathmus signaled, the man picked up a trunk-sized cage that was covered with black cloth from behind Irathmus.
The giant bald man stepped forward and slowly placed the cage just in front of me. The cage reached the height of my waist and I could hear gentle purring from inside it.
I looked down at the cage curiously. I wanted to remove the black cloth and take a peek at what was inside.
"Well then go ahead lost prince. Take a look inside at the magnificent present I prepared for you." I was filled with a sense of mistrust for this man and I imagined that he had put some kind of horrible thing inside a cage and given it to me to deal with. But I didn't want him to see me sweat. So with one swift motion, I reached out to the thick black cloth and whipped it off of the cage.
I was half expecting some kind of poisonous snake to jump out and attack me, but instead, in the middle of the cage lay a lump of white and black striped fur. I tilted my head to try and make out what this fluff ball was. Cassian squatted down again to look into the cage while I heard my mother and uncle Savras step forward to come to get a better look. I heard curious whispers from the sides of the hall from the servants and attendants who were watching this strange interaction.
For a moment I thought that the duke had gifted me a fluffy blanket in a cage but as I watched the fluffy heap I could clearly see the rise and fall of its chest. Thence the fluffy blanket was breathing and was actually not a fluffy blanket but instead some type of animal. I stalked around the cage looking at the small creature until I found the shiny white button of a cat-like snout. I could then recognize the outline of its cat-like face and closed eyes and small whiskers. It looked like a white tiger cub. It was really adorable. So soft and cute with pristine white fur with thin black stripes and big baby paws.
Even though it was about the size of a cat, it looked so majestic and beautiful as it slept inside the cage.
"If I'm not mistaken it is a very rare bread of saber tooth from the Valhalla kingdom... judging from its white fur and stripes, Is it not the Hekate Sabertooth?" Uncle Savras asked as he squinted at the animal.
From the corners of the room, I heard footsteps walking toward us. I tore my eyes away from the sleeping white saber tooth to see Sir Jabari, my guard, and Sir Sakaru my fighting teacher, walking towards me. From their introductions yesterday, I distinctly remembered that they were Valhallen people from Valhalla. Maybe they were stepping forward to give their input since this matter involved their horn kingdom.
"Duke Savras is correct. This is a Hekate beast, one of the most sacred animals in Valhalla." Spoke Sir Jabari as he looked down at the sleeping animal.
"When I left my Kingdom, these animals were said to be near extinction and extremely hard to find. How did you manage to get your hands on one Duke Irathmus?" I could see the confusion in Jabari's eyes, it was almost as if he couldn't believe that he was seeing a real Hekate in front of him.
"Aha..." chuckled the Duke. "I paid extremely good money to get my hands on this little one. I paid for all the best hunters and trackers to enter Valhalla and capture one for me." Irathmus smiled as if what he had done was a good thing.
"Unfortunately the fully grown mother Hekate of the cub wouldn't let her child go without a fight. The darned beast just would not give up." He sighed.
"So, in the end, I just had the mother killed and then took her cub."
For about the tenth time today, this man-made my gut twitch in disgust. How could he speak so freely about killing one of these creatures and stealing a scared animal from a kingdom?
Although I hadn't known Sir Jabari and Sir Sakaru for very long, I knew that they had very sharp control over their emotions. Their faces displayed very little of their feelings and it seemed they had trained themselves mentally to give away nothing from their expressions, but right now I could see fury leaking out of their stone faces.
Even though they had left their home kingdom a long time ago, I could feel the hurt they felt at having their sacred creatures killed for the sake of a mere present to me. I felt so guilty right now. A lump of disgust had formed in my throat and I knew that I wouldn't be able to accept this gift.
"In that case, I can't accept this." I croaked out as I took a step back from the sleeping saber tooth.
I heard my mother's surprised gasp as she turned to me, as well as murmurs, form the edges of the room.
"You killed this poor creature's mother and took it from its home. You should take it back to Valhallen Duke Irathmus and set it free." I said determinedly.
"You won't accept my gift?" He asked coldly as he looked down at me, his fake smile gone. I stared squarely at him. My answer was clear.
"Fine by me." Irathmus lifted his hand and signaled to his bald guard.
The bald men acted like clockwork. The man reached behind his back and slid out a silver knife from his trove of weapons and brushed past me in an instant toward the cage. In spite of his large size, the mountainous man was so quick on his feet. The large man reached inside the cage and roughly pulled the sleeping Hekate out of its cage by the gruff of its neck. The poor thing woke up in pain and screeched pitifully as the man held it up in the air. I watched in horror as the man raised the dagger and was moments away from stabbing the cub.
"Wait!" I shouted preempting his fatal move. The man's hand stopped mid-air.
"I'm afraid this is the best action lost prince." The Duke grinned.
"How is this the best action? You should take it back to Valhalla and reunite it with the other Hekate." I snipped back at him.
"I'm afraid that is impossible..." he sighed with a thin smile on his face.
"This beast is the last of its kind. Its mother was the second last. Even if I take it back, the cub will have nothing to return to." I was beyond furious now. How could he kill the mother Hekate knowing that the species was so endangered?
"Even then, it belongs in Valhalla in its own lands, where at least the setting is familiar to it."
I hated the way that the Duke chuckled down at me like I was some naive kid who was spouting out nonsense. Little did he know that I could drive in my previous life!
"Don't you see lost prince, that wouldn't do it any good either." He sighed.
"Look at it. Does this look like a creature that would survive a day on its own? Even though it is in pain now and is close to death, it doesn't fight back."
I looked up at the small helpless hetake in the painful grip of the Duke's guard. It just hung there, given up, hopelessly waiting to die. The poor thing was probably traumatized after witnessing the death of its mother and then being taken away from its home. It was all alone in this world. With no home and no family. I felt a great connection to this little cub. I wanted to bring the life back to its eyes. I wouldn't see it killed now or ever. I would take it in and look after it.
"It's hopeless lost prince. The merciful thing would be to let me kill it, don't you think?" Even now his tone was mocking me.
"No." I was burning with new passion and determination.
"I take back what I said. I will accept your gift and raise this Hekate." I announced proudly to him.
"Give it to me," I commanded.
There was a long pause, wherein I could see him struggling. He wanted to kill this little animal in front of me. He wanted to be cruel and sadistic and see me panic. This man was evil. He didn't want to obey me, but he had to. In the end, it all came down to rank. I was a prince and he was a duke so my word trumped his.
He was taking too long though.
"Give. It. To. Me. Now." I commanded again slowly.
Again, the duke hesitated to command his guard to give me the animal. So instead I took the cub for myself.
I dipped into my well if power and flicked my left hand in one swift motion. The silver dagger in the bald man's hand went flying towards the back wall of the hall instantly.
The guard looked visibly confused and I saw the shocked expression run across the duke's face. With another motion of my hand, pushing my palm forward into the air, the bald man was knocked a few feet backwards, while the little cub levitated in the air. With my magic, I pulled the floating cub towards me as gently as possible so as not to alarm it. I made him float right into my open arms and cradled it in my chest as gently as possible. The duke had been right about one thing, this little cub had lost the will to live. He seemed to motionless and still, but even so, I smiled down at him. I was determined to make him whole again.
I turned around to my mother and father. My father was still seated in his throne, while my mother had already gotten up and was standing just a few paces behind me.
"Mother, father, may I be excused?" I asked politely.
Father nodded his head once, while my mother seemed a bit too shocked to speak.
I bowed to them both and began to walk to the doors of the great hall. I wanted to go back to my room so that I could set up a bed for my new little pet.
As I passed by Duke Irathmus, I stopped just in line with him.
"Duke Irathmus," I said softly.
"Please refrain from calling me the 'lost prince'. My official title is Prince Torryn Leonis Rosenheim and I expect you to call me by it."
I took satisfaction from the look of his jaw clenching in anger and the fists by his sides tightening.
I won this round.
I calmly made my way to the exit while stroking my pet gently, leaving this encounter behind me, but not forgetting the two young slaves by his side. I would help them in some way, somehow.
I smiled as I turned back to see Nanny Zelda and my maids, Sir Jabari, Sir Amren, Sir Sakaru and Lord Leopold following behind me.
I grinned at the thought that my entourage was so much better than Duke Irathmus's entourage.