Ch6 - Heartless Prince

Are assassins heartless, or simply numb?

The purple neko took a calming breath, before he opened the door.

The room was dark.

These were the royal guest quarters.

Damiaan stepped forward, entering the room.

His eyes strained to see in the darkness.

Suddenly the door closed behind him, leaving the room pitch black.

He listened for a heartbeat, yet nothing.

"So, you are the assassin...

Damiaan, they said."

The voice was calm, composed, and authoritative.

A voice that commanded respect, and attention, but also putting one at ease.

The neko's eyes were adjusting to the darkness quickly.

He could make out a silhouette, but nothing else.

"I enjoyed your show.

You caught my curiosity for sure.

Based on your physical traits... you are a neko.

Assassin... is a rather uncommon line of work for a neko."

Damiaan felt unsure what to do.

These sort of meetings were meant for talking.

Coming to an agreement on work.

Working out payment options.

Discussing exactly what the 'client' wanted.

This meeting was going to be more difficult than he realized.

The prince had likely not been told he didn't speak.

Chances were the prince would become annoyed at his silence.

Possibly, even enraged.

His tail swished a bit, he'd been excited about this.

To excited.

He hadn't brought a single thing to allow communication.

No notebook, no blood.

He knew hand codes, but those were for combat not discussion.

The prince stood, and a couple candles suddenly lit.

The prince had dark hair, and looked barely a couple years older than Damiaan.

He had an elegance to even his stance.

His clothing were completely royal, even a little showy.

"In observing your duel...

I have come to the conclusion that you are...

At least, half blood demon.

No other species has such abilities."

Damiaan stepped back a little, eyeing the prince a bit.

Most did not know what other species he was.

Even his teachers had not guessed it.

He had given the one-on-one trainers a book, to inform them.

After which they were able to properly help him hone his skills.

And even teach him new techniques.

The other students knew of his abilities, but simply believe it magic.

Nekos did normally possess strong magic.

The prince gave a bit of a smirk.

"Are you aware, that the royal family has a bounty out on any blood demon?"

Damiaan stepped back again.

He had nothing to defend himself, he hadn't expected to need to.

Instead he gave a light growl, as a warning.

Even if he had no blood, he had combat training.

And claws, plus his own blood if needed.

The prince chuckled.

"Do not concern yourself.

I will not attack you." he said moving over to a mirror.

Damiaan felt unsure what to do.

Only because he believed him.

The prince continued speaking.

"You should be aware though...

That if I did decide to attack you.

I could kill you with minimal effort."

Damiaan gave a bit of a glare.

He wasn't sure about that, he'd definitely put up a fight.

The prince poured two glasses of water.

"I'm sure you were informed.
That the royal family... are all shadow demons."

Damiaan nodded lightly, as the prince walked over with both glasses.

He offered one to Damiaan as he spoke,

"Due to the blood demon's rarity, I doubt it came up.

But shadow demons are blood demons' natural predator."

The neko gently took the glass, watching the prince with suspicion.

The prince gently sipped his glass before speaking.

"This is because we do not bleed.

We have no blood at all, not even a heartbeat.

Thus, all the blood demon's abilities are useless.

A blood demon cannot sense a shadow demon in the slightest."

Damiaan held the glass, as he thought on the subject a moment.

It was true, if he could not see the male directly in front of him...

He'd have no idea the male was there.

Every skill he'd developed to detect and find people...

It was useless.

"You should consider yourself lucky.

Had anyone else in my family witnessed your skills...

They would not have hesitated to kill you."

Damiaan just held his water, looking at it.

He then looked to the prince, with suspicion.

If that was the case, why had the prince not killed him?

"You are being awfully quiet.

I half expected shouting.

Or at least questions."

The neko looked away from the prince.

He had no way to respond.

The prince stepped close to him, the prince was a bit taller than him.

"Look at me." he said calmly.

Damiaan did, though not fully.

His eyes simply shifted to the male.

The prince had emerald green eyes, in brilliant contrast to his dark hair.

"Can you speak?" he asked.

His eyes shifted away, and he shook his head no.

"Ah," the prince stepped back, with a bit of annoyance in his face.

"By birth?"

Again, he shook his head no.

The annoyance faded a bit, "By injury then.

An injury here, at the academy?"

Damiaan's expression turned a bit quizzical.

This was an odd game of twenty-questions, yes/no style.

Why did he care for the details?

He shook his head no.

"Before?"

He nodded.

"How old?"

Damiaan held up one hand, to represent five years.

"Five?! but I-" he caught himself before saying more.

The prince took a deep breath, but looked angered.

Damiaan examined the prince, there was something he wasn't sharing.

"Were you attacked?" the prince asked, once calmed.

The neko crossed his arms, still holding the glass.

He refused to play this game anymore.

The prince watched him, and with a bit of anger spoke.

"Answer the question."

The neko just stared defiantly.

"I could kill you where you stand.

Answer the question."

Damiaan shrugged, he knew the prince wasn't going to kill him.

Whatever it was that the prince refused to share was also keeping him alive.

"Have you always been this stubborn?" he asked.

Damiaan smirked.

Based on what everyone said? Yes.

"Fine, I suppose you have a question.

I see no problem answering, one question.

Though I see no way for you to ask it."

Damiaan made a motion pretending to write on his hand.

"Ah, writing. That would work.

There should be writing materials in the desk."

Damiaan walked over to the desk, and set the glass down.

The prince sipped his water more.

Damiaan found some paper and a pencil.

He wrote down a question and walked over to the prince.

He kept more paper, and the pencil though.

The prince took the paper, and read it.

"I'm not hiding anything." he said.

Damiaan did a small motion to indicate he should turn the paper over.

The prince did, and it read in large letters.

'Bulls--t'

The prince growled, and crumpled the paper as he stood.

"How dare you?" he said, with a snarl.

"I am the prince, and heir apparent of the Heartless Empire.

You will treat me with respect."

Damiaan handed him another piece of paper.

The prince took it, and it read,

'Do not lie to me.'

The prince read it, then chuckled.

"I'm letting myself get riled up by you, again."

He sighed, "Fine, you want the truth?

I do not think you will believe me."

The neko shrugged, he was willing to listen.

"Do you remember the boy in the woods?

When you were five...
The one who saved you, from your sister..."

He thought barely a moment, before nodding.

The prince laughed, "That was me.

I had run away from my handler while touring the kingdom...

I'm still unsure how I found your forest.

Your forest is not on any map, so I was not able to return."

Damiaan stood there, absorbing the information.

The prince continued,

"I did search for you.

I only learned one thing...

Purple nekos... are extremely rare.

I honestly laughed, when I was told the duel would be between a wolf demon, and a neko.

But imagine my surprise...

When you walked out.

A purple neko.

I was... flabbergasted.

After the duel, I insisted that I had to have your file...

Are you aware this school destroys it's student's files every season?

All it had was your first name, species listed as neko, current grades, assignment ranking, and a picture."

The prince sighed.

"So little info... But based on your ranking...

I could see you have a natural talent for this.

Anyway, I told them I wanted to meet you.

My intent was simply to employ you as my personal assassin.

So that I could keep tabs on you..."

They were both quiet, and the room was silent for a long time.

Clearly the prince was waiting for Damiaan.

Damiaan gently wrote, then folded the paper.

He offered the paper to the prince.

But before the prince took it, Damiaan pulled it back.

Damiaan walked over to the door and opened it.

He set the folded paper down on a nearby table.

Then walked out.

The prince walked over and picked it up.

He unfolded it, and it read,

'I do believe you.

And I accept your job offer.

Find me a representative you trust.

It was good to see you again, Prince Tynan.'

The prince stood in silence.

Then looked out the open door but Damiaan was already gone.

He chuckled, "Well played."