"Speaking of councils, Lily. Please, summon the crown prince for me. He needs to be briefed about all this if he's going to be king someday."
The poor maid immediately went pale at the mention of the crown prince. She began to wring her fingers in fear. "Well.... uh....your highness, Crown Prince Lexx is missing from his chambers."
"What do you mean....missing?"
"Your highness, he's not in his chambers."
If she was scary before, Queen Aura was now straight up terrifying.
"Your highness?" Lily called tentatively.
"Alert the royal guards. I want Lexx in this palace as soon as possible."
"Yes, your highness."
MEANWHILE....
"You were totally right, Ali. The festival is definitely a must see."
"I told you, your highness. The best tour guide in all of Mirac." He exclaimed while beating his chest in pride.
"I told you not to call me that in public." I cautioned.
"My apologies, your highness."
I facepalmed, then turned around to take in the scene around me. The festival going on around them had no specific incentive. It was just the town people coming together to celebrate joy, happiness and family in an explosion of colour, music and culture. It thrilled me, made me appreciate the efforts mother is making at ruling the kingdom. If only she also appreciated my desire to explore the world.
I sighed. "Now Ali, my good man. What does a man have to do access the most delicious street food around these parts?"
Silence.
"Uh... Ali?"
Still silence.
Come to think of it, who stopped the music? why is everyone looking up? What's so eye-catching?
I raised my gaze to see a red orb hurtling towards the festival at break neck speed. "Well that's weird. Ali, is this some sort of fireworks or something."
Ali was seemingly tongue tied alongside everyone else. Until someone screamed.
"RUN!!!!!"
It was complete pandemonium from then on. Ali vanished into thin air. "Teleportation affinity huh? Not cool bro."
People were running around and screaming everywhere. Some people with abilities were deploying shields made of various elements to protect themselves. Fire, water, lightning, plants, you name it. Some lady had deployed a space type barrier and was urging people in to take cover. And I, well I was trying to find somewhere to hide. Don't get me wrong, with my exceptional power affinity, I was probably more capable of defending myself than everyone here combined. But I can't have someone recognizing me here now. Mother would have my hide pinned on her study wall if she found out I sneaked out again.
That was until something slammed into my back, knocking the very air out of my lungs and slowly but suredly sent me to la-la land.
Oh, I'm so screwed.
Next thing I knew, I was, well awake. Trying to adjust my eyesight, I found out I was conveniently seated between two groups of arguing knights.
"Who are you guys anyways. I've never heard of your faction before." Okay, so he's the leader
of the first group, which is starting to look a lot like royal guards. Shit.
"As I explained before, we are The Ivines. And we're going to be needing this gentleman." The other guy retorted.
"Do you even know who this 'gentleman' is? He's the Crown Prince of this kingdom."
"Unfortunately, we don't answer to Xeroy royalty."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean we don't care if he's the Prince, we're going with him." Rude.
"I'll love to see you try."
Alright, things are getting a bit hotblooded around here. Enough observation . I stirred a bit, immediately capturing the attention both groups.
"What's going on?" I questioned, getting to my feet.
The Royal guards immediately dropped down on one knee. "Your highness, we were sent to retrieve you by the Queen."
I'm so in trouble right now. I kept a passive face. "Who are these gentlemen then?"
"We are The Ivines, your highness." Their leader proclaimed with a bow. "I'm afraid you have something of interest to us."
"What do you mean?" I didn't take anything.
He nodded at one of his men who went off and came back a few seconds later with a decent sized mirror. He set it in front of me and gestured towards my shirt.
"If you don't mind, your highness." I shrugged and took off shirt and I think someone gasped. I faced my reflection in the mirror.
"See, nothing."
The captain of the royal guards pointed at my back. "Your back, your highness."
"What do you mean my...." I choked on the rest of my sentence as I caught sight of my back in the mirror.
"Isn't that the orb from before?"
Said orb was currently embedded in my spine, don't ask me how. Originating from the web were a network of lines cascading all over my back, like I had a vicious red tattoo. The lines formed a pattern, one you could only find in a rune book.
I was freaking out in every sense of the word. I immediately summoned one of my best attack spells, intending to force the orbs out.
"I wouldn't recommend that." The captain from before warned.
I paused, trying to clear my head and collect my thoughts. "You said the orb belongs to you, right?"
"In a sense, yes."
"So, you can get it out?"
"No. But we know people who might be able to."
I sighed in resignation. "Can I see my mother first?"
"What do you mean, your highness. Surely, you don't mean to go with these people." The captain protested.
"If they can get whatever is lodged in my back out, then yes. For now, let's head to the Royal Palace."
"Yes, your highness."
"Alright."