Lost Prince (The Trials of Death and Honor #3)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

PHOENIX

Harsh winter wind whips at my face, making a mess out of my hair. I tilt my head towards the sun and let my eyes shutter closed. Even the sunrays kissing my cheeks are cold, offering little comfort.

With a sigh, I open my eyes and turn my back to the sun. Above me, dark stone Ezkai Castle looms on the highest hill in Jaakii.

My castle.

One I earned with blood, sweat, and tears. One I sacrificed love for.

The gaping dark hole that opened up inside my chest the night my family burned in our childhood home has only deepened over the years. I’ve been on a crusade to close it, but everything I’ve done so far has only worsened the condition.

It’s like I’m fighting against the wind.

My family’s dead. Vasquez is gone. Roman’s dead. Jax’s locked up. Daegel’s dead. Vera’s probably dead.

Some days I wonder what’s the fucking point anymore?

Claiming blood debt you’re owed can be a lonely path. The late Ezkai General’s words ring in my mind.

Now I have two blood debts to collect. I close my eyes and sigh.

A chuckle echoes at the back of my mind, and sharp claws caress it. A reminder that I’m not alone anymore.

I’ve grown accustomed to the burning between my breasts where the snake tattoo lies, indicating my deal with the trickster god Lorca.

My punishment.

What is so funny now? It’s getting harder and harder to muster anger these days, which has been my driving force for so long.

You’re your worst enemy, Lorca purrs.

I’m starting to believe the trickster god.

“General.” Noire’s voice startles me.

I spin to find him standing a few feet away, hands folded behind his back. Two Ezkai with masks covering their faces, the ones who always trail after me everywhere I go, stand behind him. Same two personal guards I’ve tricked so I could sneak away and be by myself, wandering the castle grounds.

Noire’s eyebrows hike all the way to his nonexistent hairline.

I roll my eyes. “I wanted some peace and quiet. Don’t I get that much as a fucking Ezkai General?”

Understanding shines in Noire’s gaze. But he says, “It’s for your own protection, General.”

I wave my hand dismissively. No point in arguing—I’d lose the argument anyway.

“House Dzuni is present,” Noire says. “They’re ready for your audience.”

I nod curtly and head back to the castle to meet my government.

I thought competing in the trials was hard. I scoff to myself. That shit is easy as slicing a pie compared to sitting through a meeting with House Dzuni representatives.

The whole auditorium is in chaos, the noise echoing all the way up to the tall dome-shaped painted ceiling. If it were glass, and not stone, it would shatter, raining down upon our heads.

Every noble speaks at the same time, waving their hands and papers in the air, the wide sleeves of their silk tunics flapping. As if that can help them get their point across better.

My hands rest on the arms of my iron throne. I tap my nails on the cold metal, but through all the shouting, I can’t hear the satisfying sound.

A bunch of toddlers. That’s what my House Dzuni looks like today.

I want to tell them all to go fuck themselves for wasting my time. Everyone’s time. But as the new Ezkai General, the youngest one in history and the very first human, I can’t afford the luxury of losing my temper.

Something tells me that my government acting this way in a meeting with me is not a good sign.

A number of Ezkai line the walls on both sides of the entrance. There are still plenty of faces that aren’t familiar to me in Order of Ezkai. But I recognize Fern and Bloom.

When Bloom catches my eye, she winks.

I glance at Noire standing at my side. He watches the nobles in the lodges in front of us reaching high with a calm face, one eyebrow quirked up, amusement dancing in his eyes.

I wish I could find this funny.

As if Noire can sense me staring, he glances at me. I press my lips into a tight line. A corner of his mouth lifts.

“It’s nothing personal, you must know,” he says. He must be a mind reader. Or am I really this easy to read? “House Dzuni always acts like parentless children who need to be disciplined. It’s one of the requirements to be accepted into the House.”

I can’t help it. That forces a half smile out of me. I inhale and direct my attention back at the nobles.

“Nonsense!” A nobleman with white-as-snow hair and wearing a plum-color silk tunic says to one of his fellow nobles, leaning forward in his seat. “A new Ezkai General means a fresh start!”

“So, Nobleman Alberich, are we supposed to forget all the laws that have been in place for close to a thousand years now that we have a new General?” scoffs a noblewoman in a lilac-color tunic.

I remember her from one of Vera’s soirees I attended—Noblewoman Genji.

She was rather fond of Jax. “That would throw the whole country into absolute chaos! Your logic simply doesn’t make any sense. ”

Nobleman Alberich crosses his arms over his chest. “That’s not what I mean, noblewoman.

Don’t take my words and twist them into something they’re not.

” He turns his attention away from Noblewoman Genji, pinning me with his gaze.

“General, this new law you wish to pass was introduced by the late Ezkai General and wasn’t met with much support back then either.

We have spent many moons fighting over it.

Many noblemen and noblewomen gathered here today worry greatly that it might cause a drift, and put the government at danger because of it.

Is it truly worth all the trouble, especially when it’s not even your law? ”

I keep his gaze, calm.

This law they speak of is the thing Vera wanted, fought for tooth and nail. It’s the law that finally puts control over one out of many Caligos businesses that plague Ekios.

It’s the law that saves lives.

It’s the law that honors Vera, and everything she has done for me and everyone else, even if they have no idea about it.

Even if it’s the first and the last thing I do as an Ezkai General, I’ll pass this damn law for Vera.

I promised it to her, and I intend to keep that promise, spirits of the gods be damned.

Ignoring the pain that seizes my heart in its cruel grip, I tilt my chin up. “Whether it’s mine or not, it’s a law that’s for the good of all people. Now tell me, Nobleman Alberich, why does this law worry you and, according to you, so many others?”

“Well, General, there are…concerns regarding the issues that might come from trying to control the activities of Caligos businesses,” he says.

I arch an eyebrow. “Let me make sure I understand you correctly, Nobleman Alberich. You, mighty House Dzuni, worry about making the life of criminals inconvenient?” He presses his lips into a thin line.

I lean forward in my seat. “What an embarrassment that is. I would expect high society to be above it all. At the end of the day, you’re the noble people of high morals I swore to protect and serve, not those who choose to remain on the outskirts of our prospering society. ”

“You speak beautifully, General. If you don’t care about the criminals, then what about the reaction from your moral and honorable people?

You may not know it yet, you’re so new and fresh, but Ekions are set in their old ways.

I sense many won’t be happy to know that whores are considered equals to merchants, fishermen, and other hardworking people of our nation,” says a nobleman with an angelic face and blond curls falling over his forehead.

He adjusts the sleeves of his bloodred tunic and looks at me with his piercing sky-color eyes. There’s a challenge there. One that ruffles my feathers.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, Nobleman Yoni, but last Friday at the Golden Dragon you did look like you were enjoying yourself surrounded by the most beautiful women you call whores.

So much so that you even lost all of your wits and spent a considerable time that evening crawling on your knees…

” Noire trails off, voice full of innocent amusement.

The whole auditorium erupts with laughter. Nobleman Yoni’s eyes flash with anger. He speaks no more.

“It’s no secret all the noblefolk in this auditorium enjoy the company of beautiful younglings,” Nobleman Alberich says. “That’s precisely why we have Caetras, well-educated and behaved creatures we can worship on our knees if we so desire, and they allows us. It’s tradition.”

At least now I know who’s in cahoots with who. Nobleman Alberich and Nobleman Yoni are fighting against me on this too hard.

Way too hard.

I clear my throat. “So, you say that some whores deserve to be praised, while others can be left in the streets to be drugged and sold into slavery against their will? How’s that fair?”

Nobleman Alberich shrugs. “Life’s not fair.”

I manage not to roll my eyes.

“I hear your concerns, Noblemen,” I say. “However, I won’t allow my Ezkai or my government to stand and watch innocent lives go to waste any longer. It’s time for things to change.”

“Change,” Nobleman Alberich sneers. “Changing something that works is a waste of time and precious resources. You might not know yet all the intricacies of Ekios society and politics due to your youth and lineage, but this is beyond reckless. We’re balancing a very dangerous line here, General.”

The air in the auditorium shifts at his words. Many fae here may think a human Ezkai General, and one so young, scandalous. But none have the balls to voice it. Silence stretches, tense enough I can slice through it with one of my blades strapped to my thigh.

If I let this one slide, it will be a sign of weakness.

It will show these greedy nobles that they can walk all over me and face no consequences.

I lift my chin and look at Nobleman Alberich. “Yes, Nobleman. You’re balancing a very dangerous line here.”

He hesitates only for a heartbeat, eyes widening a fraction.

Nobleman Alberich bows his head and presses a fist over his heart. “Please forgive me, General. I didn’t mean to offend your honor.”

Hundreds of eyes are on me.

Noire’s gaze is the most pressing, but I don’t dare look his way. I don’t want to be known as the Ezkai General who can’t make a decision without their Taaslord’s approval.

“I am sure you didn’t,” I say after a pause.

“But as you’re so eager to advocate for the old ways and Ekios following the traditions, I’ll have you and your family exiled from Jaakii for disrespecting your Ezkai General as it’s accustomed by the old laws.

Your exile will last for seven full moons, or until I reign no more.

Only then are you allowed to come back to the city and claim your House Dzuni seat back. ”

I brace for the arguing and fighting. But none come.

The silence in the auditorium continues as Nobleman Alberich rises from his seat and two of my Ezkai escort him out of the auditorium. He doesn’t even look up, his head bowed in defeat. But I don’t miss the way the muscle in his jaw ticks.

This show of power will come to bite me in the ass.