Nielle sat dispassionately on his horse and slowly passed through the city. He was followed by ten armed members of his Black Guard, who forced passers-by to look down. It wasn't like Nielle ever did anything unjust to them, it wasn't like he went around kidnapping people for his sadistic games or imprisoning them illegally. However, despite his presence, people feared him as if he were a criminal, when in fact he was the one who was cleaning the country of crime. Nielle thought that none of them had a clear conscience.
However, he never cared about people's opinion. He actually enjoyed their fear, as they gave him further assurance that he couldn´t become king.
If his oldest brother was walking through town, everyone would throw flowers at him and try to impress the Crown prince. But Nielle didn't want to change it.
Once they were out of town, he finally picked up the pace at a gallop and headed in the direction where he had to stop before saving his new toy. The camp, where one of the local guards was based, informed him that they could use his presence due to a shift in the case of thefts that were happening in the city.
Nielle knew that they probably didn't discover anything new. But since it wasn´t far and he didn't intend to come here next time, he stopped by. He knew that his new Lacrisan would survive, so together with his men he got to the camp, where the guards were already waiting for him. He simply jumped off his horse, leaving it in charge of one of hs men.
He went with the rest to the camp. He saw a few familiar faces among the guards who secretly worked for him, but since some of them didn't trumpet it to the world and some of them were even forbidden to do so, he didn't look at any of them directly and just made his way to the part where the soldiers and Laren were supposed to be waiting.
Laren was one of those he was not secretive about. Sometimes he considered placing him somewhere as a spy, since he was loyal and capable, but because of his explosiveness and immaturity, he wasn´t suitable for this job. He was better placed somewhere where he can shout his name to scare away any morons who might try to cause trouble in town.
"Your Highness," he greeted, "we arrested him." He declared enthusiastically.
Nielle looked at the black-haired young man with equally black eyes, whose look screamed loyalty: "Who did you arrest?" He just raised his eyebrows slightly, as if he didn't believe it, "Two days ago, I received a message that you were comletely stuck. I was going to punish you and suddenly you caught someone?" He laughed.
Laren looked down at the ground, "I'm trying my best, sir."
"Try harder," he declared and walked up to the guards, "who did you catch?"
The guards looked at him and bowed gently before they began, "We found a suspect at the river who wanted to pay with the stolen money," he clarified, handing the prince a pouch.
Nielle looked in, even though he knew it was full of stolen coins just by the gold ribbon of their main bank's brand. He threw the pouch to Laren and looked at the guards: "Where is he?"
,,He´s helping to set up the tent, sir." the guard explained.
Nielle blinked in disbelief: "What?"
"The tents...when we arrived, the wind picked up and two the tents almost fell on him...he felt guilty, so he's helping build them." He explained.
Nielle was silent for a moment in confusion before a loud laugh escaped him, "Your suspect...is setting up tents somewhere without your supervision," he looked at Laren, "do you need new training? You do." He clarified.
"Sir! It's not my camp, I said it wasn't a good idea, but they just won´t listen and-" he started, but Nielle just walked around him and moved on.
"He didn't appear to be aware of the seriousness of the situation at all," the guard began, "he cooperated and showed no signs of escape." One of the guards clarified as he led Nielle towards the tents.
"You're not my men, I don't blame you," Nielle began, to the mild relief of the guards, before adding, "I'll send the information to Louis."
The guards stopped and looked at him startled, "Your Highness, Prince Louis is a busy man, we shouldn't burden him-" he tried, but Nielle cut him off.
"Brother is really busy...and when his soldiers are as incompetent as they are now, he's going to be even busier." He said.
The men stared at him silently. However, since they didn't want to get on Nielle's blacklist, they went straight ahead. They walked in silence until they reached the center of the camp where several guys were sitting. Rue was next to them, holding a cup of water in his hand, laughing contentedly with the men, as if it wasn't just a moment when they got to know each other.
Nielle chuckled softly as he immediately noticed the suspect and moved towards them even without the guards. As soon as the guys noticed that someone was approaching them, they realized the identity of the prince, got up and bowed in alarm, since no one expected his arrival.
"Your Highness." They said in unison, but Nielle ignored them.
He looked with interest at Rue, who was the only one who didn't greet him. At first glance, he looked so different from the rest that Nielle wanted to find out what his luck tasted like. However, since he got such a taste several times a day, he knew how to control it and so instead he just smiled softly.
Their suspect didn't look like he was poor and had to steal. His gold- black robes looked similar to his, if not more expensive. His long black hair with orange highlights tied back in a ponytail looked elegant and his overall appearance screamed grandeur. Nielle only felt this way in the presence of his father, and even that he didn't admit as openly as he did now, when this boy was standing in front of him.
"You have beautiful hair." Rue suddenly complimented Nielle.
Nielle considered for a moment if he really just directed the sentence at him or if he just heard wrongly, before he lightly laughed, "Thank you."
One of the guards nudged Rue to be quiet. He whispered something quickly to him, and Rue looked at Nielle with interest again.
"Prince Nielle," his tone changed slightly for a moment, as if getting serious, but immediately softened, "we're waiting for you, aren't we?" He smiled again.
Nielle didn't know if his impression was really correct and this Lacrisan was talking to him as if he was chatting with a child. Nielle was in his twenties, Rue looked to be around the same age, and since everyone treated him with respect as someone of higher rank, he suddenly couldn't adapt. However, he found it extremely amusing.
"You're a suspect in a theft case," Nielle approached him to get a better look at his face and added, "I'm in charge of all the cases, although you don't know me and you're obviously not from around here, it would be best for you to learn the local rules." He clarified.
"I only came today," Rue admitted, "I'll learn them." He nodded.
Nielle also smiled: "The first is that you should talk respectfully to the people with higher rank," he informed him and walked closer, "the second is-" he finally looked into his eyes and fell silent for a second.
"The second?" Asked Rue, who knew the first rule.
"You have really beautiful eyes." Nielle stated more quietly, but Rue still heard him.
However, as soon as Nielle reached out to him, Rue stepped back and blinked lightly, "Thank you."
Nielle looked at him curiously, trying to figure out if his irises were really gold or just a reflection of the sun. He had never seen anyone with golden eyes before and didn't think any of the Lacrisans had them. He knew that the luckier someone was, the brighter the irises were. But golden ones were indeed nonpareil.
What´s your rank in Lacris?" He asked.
"Lacris?" He confused Rue, who had only heard the name of the country.
"Aren't you a Lacrisan?" Nielle raised his eyebrows as if he couldn't believe that he wasn´t. The Equil people were all dull and the Rinsel people had nothing but black eyes.
"Sir," Laren interrupted their conversation, "If we interrogate him, we'll find out who he is."
Realizing that he was here on duty, Nielle sighed deeply. He looked at Rue, who he would have taken into his collection, at least for pleasurable looking, if he didn't have to go after his toy in the hands of criminals.
"He didn't steal them," Nielle said, "where did you get them?" He looked at Rue.
"I found them by a tree in the forest." He answered.
Nielle laughed at the unconvincing explanation he received, "Really?"
"Really." He nodded and Nielle surprisingly believed his words.
"Okay," the prince looked at Laren, "let him go...I still have a lot of work to do today...when I'm done, I'll put someone in charge of your training." He patted Laren´s shoulder, causing him to turn pale in shock.
"Sir...he is the prime suspect...we still haven't interrogate him." He said.
"You said he wanted to pay with money. If he stole them, do you think he would have taken them out infront of the guard?" He glared at Laren, "You really need new training."
"But-" Laren objected, but one look from Nielle made him shut up. He could literally feel him saying that if he kept Rue any longer, he'd have Laren locked up instead of a real criminal.
"Your Highness," the guard wondered, "he was stealing water... should we really let him go?" He asked.
"Water?" Nielle only now realized what Rue was stealing.
"He said that he didn't know that it wasn´t free." The guard said.
"Yes, I wanted to ask something," Rue said, taking a step towards Nielle, "why is there a charge for water?"
Nielle looked at him and sighed deeply, "When you go to another country, learn their laws," he advised, "be grateful that I let you go and don't anger me."
However, although he had no intention of offending anyone, Rue really didn´t understand why something natural wasn´t free. In any case, he didn't want to create conflicts, let alone fight, so he finally nodded and walked away.
"Wait!" Laren objected, "Don't you think it's suspicious how easily he got captured and now he's just walking away? I bet he stole something from the camp, as well."
"I didn't steal anything," Rue clarified in a calm voice filled with a pure confidence that irritated Laren.
"Laren," Nielle looked at him, "go ask for ten good slashes...tell them to use the whip I brough last time." He commanded.
"What?! Why?!" He paled again.
"You piss me off." For some reason Nielle was irritated just by fact that someone suspected the strange Lacrisan of stealing. Even though he hated them, even though he had no compassion for others or anything like that, he still felt a special kind of favor just looking at this particular one.
But not the kind he usually felt in their presence. It wasn't a sadistic favor with the intention of harming them, it was more like looking up to him. Like a child looking up to a parent, and as stupid as it was, as much as Nielle didn't understand where his feeling came from, he couldn't shake it off…and he didn't want to.
"But sir!" Laren was scared.
"Fifteen." Nielle added.
Laren fell silent, fear glinting in his eyes at the thought that Nielle was serious, and after a moment he stepped back and looked down at the ground.
Nielle went out of the camps with Rue. Once they were outside, Rue took a closer look at the group of soldiers. About ten, not pleasant-looking guys, were standing by their horses, waiting for Nielle's return. Each of them was dressed in a black uniform, had a sword of the same color on their side, and a silver pendant hanging from their neck, the form of which Rue couldn´t see from a distance.
"Do you need something?" Nielle didn't understand why he was hypnotizing them with his gaze.
"You have a lot of soldiers," Rue stated, "why are they all wearing black? Is that the color of your army?" He was interested and moved closer to Nielle. However, he was prevented from doing so by one of the soldiers, who drew his sword in front of him in a second and forced Rue to stop.
"Let him be, he's harmless," Nielle said, even though he knew nothing about him.
Rue laughed softly and reached out to the man's sword in an attempt to touch it when the man thrust it back sharply.
"Why did you come here? Are you going to live in Rinsel?" Nielle wondered.
"Just passing through." Admitted Rue, who didn't know how else to define it.
"And where did you come from?" Nielle continued the interrogation.
Rue only smiled gently: "I was walking through the forest, where I was stopped while drinking some water. I have never heard of water being charged before." He stated.
"In Lacris it's not," Nielle pointed out, "I'm not surprised you don't know, but while you live in Rinsel you should learn the rules. It's not our fault, it's tolled. Most rivers flow from Lacris. While you Lacrisans are asking for money to let it flow here, we can't give it for free," he clarified, "all rivers of our origin are free of charge."
"Ah, I see," smiled Rue, who accepted the reason and turned to leave, "Luck with you." He waved to them and walked away.
"Luck with you," Nielle didn't want to bother with him anymore, but then he remembered what had to be asked suspicious individuals, "one more thing! Where are you headed?" Nielle wondered.
Rue turned and smiled lightly, "I don't know."
Nielle looked at him for a moment with the strange feeling he had about this Lacrisan. After thinking for a while about where he came from and whether their paths will cross again, he returned to reality, where he dealt with more interesting things. He sighed deeply and urged the horse to move. His Lacrisan was still in the hands of criminals and he couldn't wait to meet him.