The Prince and I - 13

Once we were safely inside we found a dark corner in what had probably been a storage area of the original building.

“Now talk.”

Connor nodded. “I don’t know where to start.”

“Maybe with why you really left home, or perhaps who those men were. Or both.”

As dark as it was I could barely see him when he got up and began to pace, but I could hear him, his footsteps on the rubble-strewn floor and his voice, tense with emotion.

“The men work for… someone who’s an enemy of the man who brought me here. Before you ask that man isn’t my father despite what I told you. My father’s dead. I’m that man’s ward.” He paused for a minute. “He’s nice enough but as I said, controlling. He wants to be certain nothing happens to me.”

I snorted. “This sounds like some fairytale where the evil lord wants to kidnap the prince and make him do… whatever.”

“It does sort of, I know.”

“So what are you, the heir to a fortune or something? Poor little rich boy?”

Connor stopped pacing. I had the feeling he was looking at me, or would have been if there’d been any light. “No fortune, not the way you’re thinking.”

“Then what?”

“You won’t believe me.” There was a soft chuckle. “You were closer than you thought when you said it sounded like a tale about fairies. Only…” Again he paused and I heard him walk away then stop. “You asked where I was from, when we first met.”

“Yeah I did, and you said you’re not from around here. Are you visiting from back east or overseas or something?”

He blew out a long breath. “Further away than that.”

I laughed. “Got it, you’re an alien sent to this planet to take us over.”

“Just to learn about you, and not from another planet.”

“Okay Connor, the joke’s gone far enough! Now how about you tell me what’s really going on with you? I’ve heard about kids who are abused and make up a story as a way of coping. Is that what you’ve done?”

He walked back, sitting down beside me before he replied. “I’ve never been abused; no one would dare do that to me.”

“Someone tried in case you forgot. Those guys in the alley you told me about. Or was that just a story too.”

Sighing, he said, “It was the same two men who were chasing us. That time they almost caught me.”

“They came pretty damned close this time too, Connor.”

Out of the blue—well sort of I guess—he asked, “Richie, do you believe in magic?”

“Eh, some of the things Criss Angel pulls off come pretty close to making me believe. Why?”

I heard a rustling sound. Suddenly there was a soft glow—sort of like from a firefly was the closest I could think of—but brighter. I could see it came from something he was holding in his hand. “Cute light, where’d you get it?”

“It’s an amulet. I took it when I ran from my… well you’d call him a king, our word for him is aran. It’s supposed to protect me.”

“Not doing too good a job of it, is it?” I replied snarkily, trying to take in what he was telling me while wondering just what drugs he was on.

“Because it is not attuned to me. It belongs to the king. He’s my uncle so we share the same bloodline but for me the match isn’t perfect. And…” By the light I could see the scowl on his face, “it has protected me sort of. It warns me when my enemies are near, just not soon enough.”

“You really believe all this bullshit don’t you?”

“It’s the truth!”

“Uh huh, so you’re some fairy prince who stole a magical amulet, ran away, and now the good guys and the bad guys are hunting you.”