[You probably should accept that quest now, Mac.]

Grimacing in frustration, not happy that System had broadcast my arrival, I called up the quest menu.

[WELCOME TO TALAHM, MAC DE Beleros

LEVEL ONE PRINCE

REWARDS: 100,000 GP

RING OF HIDDEN DEPTHS

RESPAWNS ARE POSSIBLE ONCE EVERY SOLAR CYCLE.

AS A NEWLY ASCENDED PRINCE YOU MUST REPORT TO THE CURRENT SEELIE RULERS.

QUEST: TRAVEL TO THE CAPITAL AND REPORT TO KING LUGH AND QUEEN MAB

REWARD: 50,000 EXP.

FACTION SEELIE COURT - 1000

FACTION UNSEELIE COURT – 1000]

[ACCEPT YES / NO]

Selecting Yes, I watched as the prompts acknowledged my decision and the windows closed.

A ring formed around my index finger on my right hand and the gold that I’d just been awarded was placed in abeyance until I could collect it.

My HUD also included a new tab for quests.

I didn’t have much time to examine System menus before a voice filled with derision and contempt interrupted.

“Really?” one of the men standing before me sneered, drawing my attention to a group of thugs. I could tell from the richly appointed clothing that the man that spoke was the leader of this motley crew.

The others? Probably those thugs and sycophants who had been complicit in Caraid’s death.

“This... Thing... Is a Prince? How can something with his tainted blood be a prince?”

I hated the guy already.

Not ten seconds in this new world and I’d found my first enemy. Caraid and I did have something in common; we’d both had to suffer abuse from bullies. His had resulted in death. But maybe, thanks to a quirk of fate, and the vagaries of reincarnation I could do something about that for both of us.

“Caraid,” I projected my thought towards my companion, hoping we would be able to have a mental conversation, “who is this douche?”

[Douche?]

[I do not know this word. But this elitist prick is our liege lord’s son.]

[Meet Knight Thom A’Kel, the bane of my existence.]

[He was the person who decided I should undertake ascension decades before my majority. He is the reason I died attempting that ascension!]

“He forced you into the ascension chamber?” I surmised.

[Forced. Ordered. The results are the same.]

[Thom A’Kel is the rightful heir of Lord Kel and Lady Patricia and as such able to give a lawful order. An order that I was duty-bound to obey. He used his right to command and ordered me to attempt the chamber.]

[His minions were there as insurance, in case I needed help to obey that order.]

“Why did he mean for you to die, simply because you’re a hybrid?” I asked.

[I’m not certain. I think that was the greatest motivating factor.]

[After my mother abandoned me at my birth, I was fostered with a family of sprites that served Lord Kel’s family. Sprites are a communal species, so one more child to rear made no difference to them.]

[The problem began when Lord Kel, who owes fealty to Duke Aengus A’Daoine was being feted during a Solstice festival. I was probably five solars at the time and had spent my entire life amongst the sprites, so to say I was uneducated, even perhaps a bit feral would have been fair.]

[Duke Aengus took exception to my treatment, furious that a Seelie son had been so badly neglected and ordered Lord Kel to raise me exactly as he would his own son. Further, he promised he would attend my Ascension to determine just how well Lord Kel had adhered to his edict.]

[Thom, fifty years older than me, and newly ranked to Squire became jealous as his father, afraid of Duke A’Daoine, showed interest in me for the first time.]

[His father had me moved to the family quarters, began educating me, training me to fight and educated me in magic and spellcraft. Lord Kel made sure I was decently clothed. Had tutors that instructed me in etiquette and propriety. And insisted I attend all family dinners and events.]

[Thom’s fury and jealousy grew as the years passed. His feelings, never well hidden, became physical abuse. He never could pass up the chance to make personal slights about my parentage or add real injury in the guise of weapons training.]

[When he gained enough experience to reach the Knight Rank, and as the acknowledged heir of Lord Kel, he was vested with responsibilities and duties of command. As well as the right of rule. A perk that allowed him to order me into the Ascension chamber.]

[Even unlawful commands must be obeyed when an invested heir invokes the Right of Rule.]

“I outrank him now,” I gloated. “So, I should be able to ignore his ‘right of rule’.

“I think things might just get difficult for him now.

“After all. How will he explain my Ascension to his Lord Father? System just proclaimed my new Rank to the world.”

[Things may have been different had S-Prime not taken action. I’m sure if I hadn’t been able to replace you and you had simply died, he would have cast the blame on you for your death, swore that you went into the chamber on your own initiative and that he tried to stop you.]

[He may have. Possibly.]

[More likely he would have kept quiet about Ascension, and I would have simply disappeared, no one knowing I had gone into the chamber at all. An ill-mannered ungrateful hybrid that repaid Lord Kel’s generosity with contempt.]

[Now he will have to admit the truth. He has no choice. System has proclaimed his perfidy for the world to see. To lie or break an oath to one’s liege lord have real-world consequences. It simply isn’t done.]

The anger that enveloped me over Caraid’s treatment wasn’t immediate. But my anger grew as he explained his situation. It was only then that I noticed a strange phenomenon, I saw red as my eyes narrowed in fury, and as I turned to examine Thom, that fury was made manifest.

Name: Thom a Kel

Rank: Knight

Level: 4

Perception has increased

Perception appeared to work like identify did in games I was used to playing. This meant increasing skills should work on the same principle. Use them and improve them.

As I was examining Thom, I noticed a gesture, a twitch of the hand that my former self would have never noticed. But with my heightened perception and awareness, I recognized the gesture as a signal. It must have been something that had been rehearsed often because his goon squad acted in concert, instantly, in response to that small twitch.

Weapons were drawn, and the four launched a coordinated attack that was purposeful and deadly. There was no testing of skills, no feinting for a position. They meant to kill me as quickly and efficiently as possible. Considering I was weaponless and practically naked since Caraid’s old clothes had been shredded in my transformation.

I’m sure they felt the chances of ending my life was good. Thom may have even taken the chance to gain levels. A Knight killing a Prince would certainly lead to a crap ton of experience and possibly a promotion or three.

'What level are these goons?' I asked Caraid figuring he would know and save me the time it would take to inspect each of them.

[They are all Knight rank and Thom’s vassals. Two are level one, one is level two, and one is level three.]

Perhaps I should have been worried, but I was too angry to let worry affect me. And as fast as they were, I was faster. It wasn’t a conscious decision to move or dodge; my body just reacted. A shrug of the shoulder, a minute twist of my torso, a tilt of my head, and I avoided all of their attacks.

They were so slow.

With my greater perception, agility, and intellect, I was able to react as if they were standing still. I knew when, where, and how they were going to strike. Their movements were jerky and stilted.

My rank and stats allowed my movements to seem fluid and graceful in comparison. Even with no formal training in martial arts or combat, my body knew what to do. I seemed to flow and dance among them as I launched my own counter-attack. Glancing blows, effortless but effective.

It happened so quickly, disarming them. Bones breaking. Screams of pain and anger. And Thom, backing up quickly to allow his sycophants to take the brunt of the damage, used the opportunity to begin casting.

I had no idea what spell he was preparing to launch, and my own casting ability definitely needed some practice before I would feel confident enough to get into a spell-slinging contest, but I did have a few skills and perks that might help mitigate any damage I was about to take if I couldn’t dodge his attack.

Activating Beleros Aura, the fire and fury that had been blazing and contained to my eyes seemed to explode to fill the room. Thom stopped casting, his eyes once filled with hate and determination, now filled with fear, as my aura enveloped everyone and everything in the room.

Have you ever seen a body burn?

Clothes quickly turned to ash, fire spread and engulfed them. Skin ruptured and blacked as their stored fats released grease and fueled the fires to burn brighter and hotter. The screams were bad enough, but it was the smells of cooked flesh that would give me nightmares.

They never stood a chance, Thom’s vassals. And within seconds, the blazing fires died as the fuel of their bodies was consumed, leaving behind piles of bones and melted metals.

And Thom? Thom was cowering in fear behind a shield that was protecting him for the most part. He was scorched and smoking. His clothes ruined. His hair singed. But he’d survived. And his survival at the expense of those that had been loyal and supportive of him only managed to increase my fury.

Fury that was interrupted as the smell and taste of burnt flesh finally registered in my mind. My body reacted to that taste with horror and revulsion and I vomited.

Great heaving eruptions of bile and food projected at and over Thom. I puked on him until my sides and throat were sore.

I had killed my first person. And there seemed to me to be little to glorify or celebrate in their deaths.

Blood, charred meat, and vomit, the remnants of four lives.

[Well,] Caraid said in amusement, [looks like this Prince upgrade is going to come with a few new interesting abilities.]

[I wonder if you can level-up projectile vomiting?] He said laughing.

Before I could respond, still trying to remove the last vestiges of vomit from my face, I was interrupted by a door slamming against the wall as it was thrown open.

I braced myself, uncertain who the figures entering were and if I'd be required to fight again. I hoped not. I needed time. Time to reconcile my actions with events.

Startled by their entrance I lost the link to the power I had been channeling to maintain Beleros aura. A trickle of energy I hadn't been aware I was using stopped flowing. The fires that still burned instantly extinguished, snuffed out as quickly as they had appeared.

Caraid was easily able to identify the intruder, [The man wielding the flail is Lord Kel, Thom's father and the liege lord of this stronghold. The two brandishing the tonfa are his guards.]

'Tonfa?'

[Accessing your memories…]

[They are similar to the batons and nightsticks your law enforcement officers would employ on Earth.]

Comparing the two men, I didn't see the resemblance. I wondered if the reason Thom was jealous might be because he suspected he was not the true son of Lord Kel. It wouldn't be the first time a Lord had been made a fool, raising a son that is not his.

Thom was a brute of a man. Easily over 7 feet tall, with a body that reflected hours and years of exercise. He had a strong jaw, high cheekbones, and flowing blue hair. If it weren't for the eyes, he would have closely resembled what most people envisioned a hero to look like. But his eyes were empty. No life, no fury, no hate, nothing. They suited him, a reflection on the qualities of his character.

There was nothing there to build a personality on. Maybe that was why he compensated. He chose to belittle and trivialize the worth of others as a mechanism to fill that emptiness by destroying others.

His father, on the other hand, was shorter, dressed in royal raiments and accouterments. He was softer, possibly from spending more time as Lord than in training, and his eyes, at the moment were filled with fury, no pools of emptiness. Anger was preferable to nothing.

At the moment, the worry and uncertainty he must be feeling were like sparks waiting to fan the inferno that could match my abilities, engulfing and incinerating everyone in the room. He was angry, confused, and afraid. Still, even in his confusion, he radiated a steadfastness that was built on a bedrock of experience and determination.

"What is going on here, and how did Odharc get into the Ascension chamber before his majority?" Lord Kel demanded.

"Father," Thom began falling to his knees, "it was a misunderstanding. We simply meant to show Odharc the chamber when he entered by mistake."

[What a contemptible snake.] Caraid said in fury.

[Entering the Ascension chamber without your liege lord's consent and before your age of majority has been proscribed. Thom lying will place the onerous of his actions, and the repercussions on you.]

[You need to make sure that Lord Kel knows the truth, or Prince or not there will be consequences.]

"You are going to risk lying to your Lord, as a further transgression of what you have done here today, Knight Thom?" I asked, my contempt evident.

"There were no mistakes.

"You lured me to this place and compelled me to enter the ascension chamber using your Right of Inheritance as heir to our Liege Lord. It was a direct command, given from you to me.

"You have hated, abused, and conspired against me from the moment Lord Kel placed me in family quarters.

"Today you attempted to murder me, knowing that if I died in those chambers, no one would ever know what happened. I would have vanished and been labeled an ungrateful hybrid that spits on the hospitality I had received from Lord Kel. Someone lacking in all honor by abandoning my duties to my liege," I was positively seething and hissing in fury as I concluded my denunciation. My anger real even if Thom's actions were directed at Caraid and not me.

If I thought Lord Kel was steadfast before, that composure was shattered at my pronouncement. His despair and disappointment with his son were brief. Thoughts flittering quickly across his face, it was noticeable when he connected Thom's actions and the ramifications of those actions.

The anger he'd demonstrated when he'd first entered the room was nothing compared to the inferno that blazed around him now. Recognizing what his son's crimes might mean to him and his territories. I was worried for a second that he was going to disregard the truth, in order to protect his son, until he responded.

"You stupid, stupid boy!" he spat in a tone so cold and devoid of warmth it was even more unsettling than the fury that was contained within his eyes.

"What do you think Duke A'Daoine will think of your actions?

"What do you think he will think of a house that plots to destroy and kill one of its own?

"What. Do. You. Think. He. Will. Demand?

"He ordered our house to raise Odharc as one of our own, to show him and teach him the duties and responsibilities of what it means to be Seelie.

"What you have done here today. This betrayal of guest rights and family. These actions are what you think it means to be Seelie?

"How contemptible. Even Unseelie wouldn't act in such a dishonorable fashion!"

"You leave me no choice," he continued, rage spent as quickly as it had appeared. Resignation and acceptance entered his voice, as his shoulders slumped in defeat, "You are stripped of rank! I renounce you and cast you out! Further, I remove from you your status as my heir, take back your royal prerogatives, and withdraw the protection of your name!

"You have no authority here!

"You are not a son of house Kel," he proclaimed.

"Guards! Strip him of his belongings. Allow him a set of clothing and 100 gold. Then escort him from these demesnes.

"He is declared anathema.

"If he is ever seen on our lands again, his head is forfeit. I name my daughter, Leian, heir to fief Kel."

[Actions have consequences: Your words have brought injustice to light. You have brought truth and justice to the man responsible for attempting to murder Odharc. You have been awarded 30,000 experience points. 9,970,000 experience points needed to Prince level 2.]

'Wait!' I thought to Caraid, 'are people going to be able to strip me of my rank like that?'

[I doubt it.]

[There are certain criteria that need to be in place for someone to be able to do that. First, you have to be a direct descendant. Second, you have to be the declared heir for the bloodline. Finally, you have to have been complicit in performing an unforgivable transgression.]

[Thom tried to kill a guest of his house. A guest that had been awarded family rights.]

[Guest rights are sacrosanct, and any violation of those rights can have deadly consequences.]

'What's stopping him from leveling up or hiring someone to assassinate me?' I asked. 'Seems to me he's going to be pissed about this, and his family and I are going to be the targets of his rage.'

[Nothing. I'm sure he will do exactly that.]

[You will need to be on guard, and you might suggest to Lord Kel that he create a geas. A binding oath that protects you from Thom while you are in this demesne.]

'Why not a geas that stops Thom from taking any action that may harm me or Lord Kel ever?' I wondered.

[A geas that so tightly constrains an individual's free will like that would unravel. The personality and the geas conflicting and battling for supremacy may even result in madness and insanity. It's always better to place a geas that is as lightly controlling and narrowly focused as possible.]

I agreed, now how to phrase it in such a way so that what must have been a painful decision for Lord Kel didn't transfer his animosity towards me.

"Lord Kel," I started, drawing his attention away from his former son and towards myself. Once I had his full attention, I bowed my head slightly, my attempt to be as regal as possible, "I have full faith that you did not know this person's intentions. What concerns me are any retributions he may attempt in the future towards you or your family."

Glancing back at his former son his face painted with anguish, Lord Kel nodded subtly conceding my concerns. "He wouldn't dare harm my daughter, Leian, his mother, or I. He may not be my son, but my blood still flows in his veins. To attack me or his sister would condemn him, there would be no place or person in this world that would allow him safe passage or refuge.

"But continuing to conspire against you is a real possibility."

"I can't protect you completely, his connections are too numerous, his network of friends to widespread. But I can gift you with some protection while in my lands.

"Knight Thom," Lord Kel began, his voice echoing with power and vitality that permeated the very air contained within the room, "As Lord of these demesnes, I bind you. I forbid you from making any further plans, from hiring, or from harming Prince Mac De Beleros while on these lands controlled by me or my vassals.

"Do you accept this geas? Know that refusal will result in immediate death. Further, recognize that oath-breakers are punished by the Wild Hunt!"

Thom's facial expression quickly morphed from resignation to indignation. I think he had hoped to plead his case and at least return to the family in a diminished capacity. Understanding the full gravity of his situation he bent his head in acceptance, "I, Knight Thom, accept the lawful geas placed upon me by Lord Kel."

System sound resonated within the room as an announcement was broadcast.

[Regional Announcement: Lord Kel has cast out his son Thom, stripped him of his titles, lands, and prerogatives and declared him anathema in these lands.]

[Thom has been geas locked to not harm Prince Mac De Beleros.]

[All Hail, Commoner Leian, Lord Kel's daughter, heir to the Kel demesne.]