Ileus: The Dark Prince

The celebrations of Rolfe and Iona's ascension to the throne had started. When Ileus reached the palace gardens in front of the throne hall, he could feel the vibrancy and enthusiasm in the air. He was surprised as well as happy when he saw that even the fae soldiers had joined. 

Over the past a little over thirty days, the entire group had become like a close-knit family. They would help each other in various tasks. While General Arel was alive, he was giving orders to them, but once he was slayed by Edyrm, all of them, including the demon soldiers took orders from General Yion and none protested. 

Ileus chuckled when a group of fae soldiers that was dancing to the drum beats asked him to join them. And Ileus joined, as General Yion watched him. Ileus loved it and every beat of the drum weaved magic in his feet. When the dance was over, he chuckled at the fervor. The fae soldiers gathered around him and General Yion. Yion summoned every fae soldier across the ground. It was that Ileus announced, "The fae soldiers can leave for Vilinski today along with General Yion.." Murmurs erupted around him. "The General will be leaving in three hours from now. Please gather in these gardens by then." The announcement was short and impactful. Ileus had thought that faes are going to be happy to leave, but apparently, there was sadness. Ileus exhaled heavily and then began to leave along with General Yion when a group of five fae soldiers came to him. They bowed to him and the General. One of the them stepped forward. He looked nervous as his gaze darted between Ileus and Yion. His wings rustled behind him and the fae standing on his right placed a hand on his shoulder as a sign of support. 

The soldier nodded once and in a low, yet firm voice said, "Prince Ileus, we—" he looked at the four other men flanking him, "We would like to stay back in Galahar and not go to Vilinski." 

General's nostrils flared. Yion narrowed his eyes as Ileus jerked his head back. "Why?" asked Yion in a sharp voice. All the soldiers of Vilinski were bound to the throne of Fae kingdom by a blood oath and breaking that wasn't a child's game. And he didn't like the fact that just because he brought them to Galahar to help the demon king, now they wanted to serve him. He snapped, "You are bound to King Ian by a blood oath, which you can't break. How do even think that you can stay here and serve him?" 

The tension was so palpable in the air that they knew that General Yion could burst anytime. In fact, their act bordered to treason. They held their heads low. When none of them spoke a word, the General shouted, "Explain yourself!" His hand went to the hilt of his sword. Even though Ileus wanted to intervene, he didn't. He understood the protocols of kingdoms and he didn't want to get into a small disagreement. So, he just stood there with his arms crossed across his chest. 

The fae soldier didn't look up, but he said, "The five of us have found our life partners in this land." 

A look of shock was etched on Yion's face as his hand slipped from the hilt. "Life partners?" he repeated as if what he heard was incorrect. 

"Yes," the fae warrior said in a gravelly voice and then turned his head over the shoulder on the left. His eyes became soft and a smile appeared on his lips. Yion and Ileus turned to see who he was looking at. 

A demoness soldier dared to walk to stand next to him. Yion remembered her very well. She sometimes helped in the kitchen also. With hazel hair that spilled to her waist and warm brown eyes, she looked at him with panic written all over her face. The fae soldier held her hand and squeezed it tightly. His expressions melted to that of love. He said, "I plan to marry her, m'lord. She is pregnant with my baby." 

If Yion wasn't standing firmly on the ground, he would have stumbled back with shock and perhaps fallen. Yet the shock on his face was so obvious that a low rumble that vibrated into a deep laughter came from Ileus. Yion's gaze flitted from the soldier to the demoness to Ileus. He didn't realize but his mouth was open. Finally, when he collected his thoughts, the words that came out were rubbish, "How do you know that she is pregnant?" 

The fae soldier didn't know how to answer him, so the words that came out of his mouth were rubbish too. "We banged a lot!" His face turned crimson and the demoness wished that the ground cracked and she hid beneath it.

Yion's hands went slack beside his body. His gaze raked all other fae soldiers standing behind him. And then when he looked past them, he saw four more demonesses standing there and looking at him with anticipation in eyes. "Are they all pregnant?" he blurted. 

"Yes," said the soldier. He looked at his partner with crazy love in his eyes and said, "I have found my love. Her family is in a village and are farmers. She wants to go there and join them and I too want to join them. I want to live a life without wars and battles and incessant training. I wish to see the face of my child and there is not a day that I haven't imagined how he or she would look." Suddenly he knelt in front of General Yion and said, "Please General, let me stay here. Or—" he lifted his head to stare in his eyes. "Or slay me and my partner. I can't live without her." His hand went to his sword. "We both are ready to die, but we won't part." 

There was so much conviction in his voice, in his words, that Yion was speechless for a long time. He had never expected that the kingdoms that were enemies like forever, could have incidences like this too. He took a deep breath and said, "I will have to talk to the princess about it. She is the only one who can break the blood oath and release you all. If she is willing, then I have no qualms." Then he faced the rest of his soldiers and announced, "We leave in the next three hours. Be prepared!" 

The fae soldier bit his lip and closed his eyes, as his partner bowed to her waist to General Yion and Ileus. With a heart that was filled with emotions, Yion turned to go back to the palace, where a feast was waiting for them. 

Ileus gave a smile to the five fae soldiers and then walked back to the palace. He was sure that his soft-hearted wife would allow them to stay in Galahar. He had never thought that there would be such wonderful unions, and it was a genuine shock that demons and faes wanted to spend their life together. But— He looked up at the sky that was bright and sunny with a few lazy clouds drifting. Yes, the Loredom was strange. He let out a low laugh and followed Yion inside the palace. 

He raised his eyebrow with dread when he saw Anastasia.