The Demon’s Light Bearer……(bound by love,broken by fate)

“Watch where you’re going young lady” the man scolded. Sabine apologized.When the man had gone far,she pulled out the purse. A broad smile occupied her pretty face. She shook the the purse and shook her head. “It’s either the rich are getting poor or it’s just an unlucky day”. Shrugging it off,she ran down the street towards the market. Soft gray clouds had gathered nudging the sun aside. This last one she told herself. Sabine darted through the market, a flash of faded red dress. Old Man Patrick waved as she swiped a pear from his cart—his payment for last week’s mended roof. She tossed it to a hungry child, winking. "Run quick, Andie!" Behind her, a shadow stirred. Prince Kant watched, lips quirking. No one stole with such joy. Sabine knew her next target.He appeared rich and seemed to have smiled at her not long ago. She knew all the faces that visited the ever busy market except for his face. Then it clicked. He is most probably a tourist. She recalled the many times she had stolen from tourists.They always had heavy purses of silver. She smiled broadly.It wasn’t a very bad day Afterall. She walked towards him,plastering a smile on her face. “The sky looks gloomy sir.You might have to find an inn before it starts to pour” The tall fine man stood before her expressionless. She thought she had noticed him smile at her before she came.Maybe she was mistaken.But she was here already and had no plans of leaving until she got his purse. “as if heaven itself is about to throw a tantrum” Sabine’s lips curved up into a knowing smile. Perfect.He spoke that means the conversation would continue. “It wouldn’t take long before it pours.Everyone is parking up their goods.Soon the market will be empty.There is an inn not far from here,I can take you” she offered. He didn’t react nor did he speak a word. She wasn’t about to waste her time on this one. Just as her knuckles brushed the leather,sudden and silver. The stranger snapped his cloak’s hood up, trapping her hand against his hip. He glanced down. Eyes like storm-lit seas met hers. “Looking for something?” he asked, not unkindly. Sabine grinned, pulling back empty-handed. “Just admiring the weather.” A sudden downpour sent them diving under the same awning. He shook rain from his hair like a shaggy hound. She laughed—a bright sound against the grey. “Stealing shelter, thief?” he teased. “Only borrowing,” she shot back, eyeing the gold clasp on his cloak. The petrichor filled her nose as she watched umbrellas bloom and people scurrying home and some for temporary shelter. She snuck a look at the stranger who stood beside her. Gently she wrapped her hands around his purse,thick with silver.She could feel her heart bursting with joy. He didn’t flinch. “run little theif”,he murmured. His breath grazing her ears. “Before I decide to keep you”. She snatched the purse and ran.But his shadow followed her. Rain teased the air,kissing her cheeks with cool fingertips. The sound of rain on the ground and boots stepping on the mud was the music that accompanied her till she got home. Totally drenched but too happy to care about catching a cold,Sabrina poured the silver on the very old,worn out table that sat in the middle of her room. She lit the lamp since it was dark inside and counted the silver. “Twenty-five!” She exclaimed with joy. She added the coins and other silvers she had stolen for the day. She smiles satisfactorily as she summed up the amount. The shadow watched as she pulled an old tin from under her collapsing bed which was banking on the help of an old box to stand. She lifted the cover of the tin and poured the coins and silvers into it sparing just three pieces of silver. The girl untied her hair which was packed into a bun.Drying it with a piece of clothe she unhung from the nail on the wall. He watched her keenly. Next she made to unzip her dress. He turned away immediately not wanting to disrespect her even though he knew she could never find out. The clanking of metals told him she was done. He watched her eat whatever unpleasant thing it was that she was eating. “Can’t she just buy a decent food with the money she stole?” He wondered. He made to leave.Bored of the sight he was seeing. The sound of rain droplets had reduced,signifying that the rain had subsided. He was needed back at the palace. **^^ “It is not from the Vyrfrost clan” “My soldiers saw the signs and reported that it was the Vyrfrost clan” Prince Veylan stated,maintaining his composure. He just couldn’t stand prince kant’s all knowing self. “Maybe they didn’t observe carefully,first brother” prince kant stated. “Are you saying the crown prince trains incompetent soldiers?”Prince veylan’s right hand man asked. “First brother misunderstands me” Kant defended with a slight bow. “Enough!. Maybe your soldiers misjudged the situation.Prince Kant said it’s not from the Vyrfrost clan and I believe that” The ministers murmured in dissatisfaction. “Father”… The Emperor’s gaze didn’t waver as Veylan flinched. Around the obsidian council table, ministers froze.Even the Hound Prince kept his eyes lowered, though Kant’s knuckles had whitened on his dagger. Veylan’s voice cracked:"Forgive me, I only” "You only forget," the Emperor cut in, glacial. “That the Hound, for all his….taint, knows this room demands a ruler’s tongue. Not a boy’s." Kant’s shadow stirred like a living thing. Veylan’s face flushed crimson. The lesson was clear: In this court, even the favored son was disposable. “You both are excused” Both princes left the court. Prince Kant mounted his horse.Riding to his quarters.Located at the east of the palace. It was previously called the peony pond before he was born.But after he started living there as a child,it has been called the hollow haven.Cursed with emptiness and darkness. An air of melancholy hung around the quarters. Unlike the other royalties,he didn’t have much personal servants.Just two servants worked for him and the woman that weaned him as a baby. His quaters were rumored to be dark and eerie and rumours spread in the palace that the second prince didn’t take in any extra servants because he was hiding a secret in his quarters. Some said it was because he didn’t have a golden core and was too ashamed of this.Afterall he barely talked even as a growing child. Others believed that since he had no maternal love as a baby,he didn’t know how to associate with people which was partially true. He even refused to get a right hand man unlike other princes. He was the god of swordsmanship and his archery could never be rivaled.His martial arts was perfect and among the ladies he was the most popular not only for his looks but for his strengths and political achievements. Therefore he was called the hound prince.For he was like a blade in the emperor’s hands. They said he was a good strategist and had won several wars and all the time he was compared to the prince Veylan who held no candle to him in terms of looks and achievement. People said he got his ethereal beauty from his deceased mother although it was a taboo to speak of her in the palace so nobody dared bring her up. Even the few that spoke about her spoke in hushed tones and terror filled eyes.She was rarely talked about. Ismond found him in the stables.Shadows pooling like ink beneath the rafters. Kant stood with Wind—the lone stallion he’d chosen himself, brushing its midnight coat with a tenderness he showed nowhere else. Not the Emperor’s gold-trimmed destriers. Not the blood-bred chargers offered to a prince. Just Wind. Wild-tempered. Unbroken. A creature that refused a royal saddle, much like its master. Ismond cleared his throat. “You have been away doing the Emperor’s bidding”. Kant ignored him.Patting wind. “The attacks,you didn’t report it’s source” Ismond stated knowingly. Kael’s hand stilled on Wind’s neck.“I have to know their intentions before I report” The horse snorted, steam curling like phantom chains in the cold air. “Veylan must have his soldiers in every nook and cranny in search of whatever point you missed”. Isn’t it dangerous to play these games?” He stated not in a fearful way.More like he was thinking out loud. Kant walked past him,towards the chamber. He had something else in mind.The thief today. If he gave her shelter and money would she work with him as a spy?. “I am going to ashfeld” Ismond stated and teleported. The friendship between them was not as light as most bromance. It was a ship that started because of shared pain and circumstance. Somehow both men have seen themselves in each other. Ismond has worked with kant since he turned 10. Unlike kant,he talked a lot and had time for women.He also had time for alcohol but he was a fierce warrior.He had fought every battle alongside kant and even if kant barely spoke to him and he was the talker,he could feel every of his emotions.A friendship that suffered unsaid thank you’s’.It thrived more on silence and quiet “I’ve got your back”. He was taken in as a mercenary at a very young age after his city was destroyed in a war. Since then he has worked in the palace enduring everyday until his tenth birthday when he was chosen by kant to be one of his soldiers. He was the captain of bastion of scars.A fortress city where prince kant trained blood-soaked arena,frostbitten loyalties. Since prince kant was mostly needed by the emperor,he let Ismond take care of it’s affairs.