The Demon Lord And His Hero

"Emi, would you like for Riaku to survive to a long and ripe old age?" Syryn asked the avian who he assumed was easier to sway. He wasn't averse to emotional manipulation if that was what it took to get him answers.

The veiled avian turned to look at him. Her hands were still on Riaku's shoulders, sheltering him as best as she could from a perceived danger that only she understood. The sight of his sister protecting him displayed the contradictory nature of the prince. The fragility in him was perfectly balanced by his demonic strength. It gave an illusion of weakness and strength coexisting in harmony.

"Why are you asking such a question? Of course, I want my brother to live a long and healthy life!" Emi's voice shook as she answered Syryn.

"How much would you sacrifice to ensure his safety?" He asked next.

"Emi, leave us." Riaku sounded less breathy now, no doubt trying to sound like he was feeling better. His unbelieving audience did not buy the act.

"What do you need?" Emi said to Syryn using her guard voice. It was more confident and businesslike than her Emi voice.

"I want to help your brother but to do that, I need information. What is this punishment he's going through?"

"No." Riaku raised his head to meet Syryn's curious eyes. "I am grateful that you want to do something about this but I've said it before and I'm saying it again - it's none of your business, Syryn. Nobody can help me."

Red couldn't believe he was planning a future tryst with someone so stubborn. Nevertheless, he wanted the prince to stay alive while his interest in the man remained. "Riaku," the redhead slowly dragged his thumb across the blood on the avian's chin. "You've been marinating in Nua all your life, haven't you? Just because your incompetent healers cannot help you, it doesn't mean no one else can."

Riaku watched the redhead focus on the blood that was being smudged between the child's fingertips. There was something very disconcerting about how the young boy commanded respect and carried himself. It was almost like he was an adult. A formidable one.

"We already know about your other secret. What's the harm in telling us just a little bit more?" Syryn added with sincerity. "You've already come this far, Riaku. Help us to help you."

Syryn's gaze flickered to Emi. Between Riaku and Emi, she had more to lose. It was harder to watch a loved one die than to lose one's own life. The dead slept but it was the living that mourned.

"Brother, please," she kneeled before Riaku and kowtowed with her head touching the snowy ground. "I cannot stand by and watch you kill yourself like this."

Riaku stiffened at his cousin's show of obeisance. "Emi, you're asking me to violate the ancestral laws that have been around for generations."

"It's not right, brother. This burden has stolen away your life. Why should you suffer for the sake of people who will never know what you've had to endure all your life?" Emi's hands were balled in fists on her lap.

"I'm not alone in this. So many before me have made the same sacrifice. Emi, it is my duty," Riaku said with the quiet dignity of a prince.

Syryn had been rummaging in his bag while he listened to Riaku and Emi's exchange. After much searching, he finally found the dart that he had given to Artemus during the friendship meet. The tip was coated with a very lethal dose of drugs that would have knocked him out for a few seconds. Riaku was a demon but Syryn couldn't be sure of its effects on a man suffering from an internal injury.

"What do you intend to do with that?" Riaku asked when he noticed Syryn absentmindedly staring at the dart in his hand.

"I wanted to poke you with it. I've changed my mind though seeing how weak you are. Anyway, we're wasting time. If you don't want our help then we can't force it." Syryn's desire to aid Riaku came from seeing the interest that Red had in the man. Now all he wanted was to take a long hot bath and change into clean clothes.

"I'll tell you everything," Emi said to the alchemist. "Brother Riaku is stubborn but so am I."

"Good girl, Emi." Syryn gave her a nod of approval. He had been right about his assessment of her.

"Emi, you can't. If the elders find out-"

"We will worry about that when they find out," his sister cut him off. "I give up, brother. Nothing you say will change my mind."

She then turned to Syryn. "Riaku's sword is called Sorrow."

"Emi, I'll tell them myself." The prince decided to spare his cousin sister from committing an unpardonable crime. Voluntary sharing of such sensitive information with a foreigner was a crime that invited the death penalty. "It is unfortunate for us all that you had to see so much of what we hide in plain sight," the prince looked at both brothers. "We have relied on you, and in doing so, have endangered your lives. I apologise for putting you through a difficult time. With all our gratitude, I will trust you with the information you need."

"Good decision-" Red said to the prince who was getting too formal for his liking, "-to have asked us to come with you. Someone up there must be watching out for you, Riaku. If you weren't such a filial grandson, you'd be scarecrow meal by now."

Riaku grimaced at Red's words. He didnt believe that someone was watching out for him. If that was true, they would have freed him rather than prolonging a life that was not his own.

"Sorrow," he began to speak in a stronger voice, "is a peculiar weapon. He likes to receive a sacrifice every time I unsheathe him. And it has to be a living sacrifice worthy of his power. If I fail to provide him with an adequate kill, Sorrow hurts me."

Riaku's explanation had finally put to death Syryn's questions - about the malice that he sensed from the weapon, about why Riaku was seemingly injured for no reason.

"So you're saying that you have to kill a person whenever Sorrow comes out of his sheath?"

"Yes. If I put him back into his scabbard without sacrificing, the result will be disastrous. You saw for yourself what happened to me when I failed my duty. I made use of him when we left the rift, and then again when defending myself from the scarecrows. In both cases, there was no sacrifice to give him."

"I'm going to make a wild guess about why you have so many guards despite your- abilities," Lucien told him. "Are they sacrifices for Sorrow if the prince fails to kill his opponent?"

Riaku smiled bitterly. "Yes."

"He's never taken the life of any of his guards so don't let that look fool you," Emi told them. "Brother Riaku's nature makes him unfit for wielding Sorrow. You never should have received him." Her cutting remarks were scathingly cold.

"And why can't you just get rid of it?" Syryn asked. "There are hundreds of weapons better than this shitty thing. What's so special about it anyway?"

"I've already said too much so I cannot reveal Sorrow's ability. As for the question about getting rid of him, I've been bound to him by blood."

Syryn couldn't help but think of how Riaku and Salem were similar to each other in more ways than their physical resemblances. Both were tied down by curses that wanted their lives.

"Have you tried undoing the binding?" Red asked. "There has to be a way to uncouple you from it."

"I've been tasked with the duty to protect Nua. To break the bond with Sorrow would be to rebel against the will of the elders."

"But you're the prince," Syryn jabbed a finger at Riaku. "How can they sacrifice a prince just like that? Don't you have a say in it? What about your parents?"

Riaku lowered his head and it gave them the impression that he couldn't meet their eyes. "I am the sacrificial prince."

Red immediately scowled at Riaku's words. "What the fuck is a sacrificial prince?"

"Someone who absorbs the wickedness of the sword and gets punished by it," Emi replied. "He's not even allowed to receive healing because it is considered rightful retribution for failing to carry out his duty."

"The weapon doesn't seem to have a problem with it so why can't they let him be healed?"

"We can't be sure of that," Red replied. "Didn't he say that internal damage had never happened before? Maybe the stupid thing hurt him harder because Riaku dared to let you treat the wound that it gave him." Red's reasoning could not be refuted without further investigation.

Syryn was quiet as he thought about how he could help with the prince's internal injury. Was there a way to ask Sorrow what he did inside Riaku?

"Even if we do find a way to undo your connection to the weapon, you'd refuse it, wouldn't you?" Red asked the prince.

"You have read me well," the prince replied.

"You care too much about the people who are responsible for your enslavement."

Riaku's breath condensed into a mist when he exhaled it out. Syryn's attention had been so riveted to the avian's plight that he had nearly forgotten about how cold he was feeling. The prince's misty breath reminded him of it and his body gave a little shiver in response.

"This sword lends me its strength and I use it to protect the people of Nua who have nothing to do with my situation."

"Enslavement. Say it Riaku," Red kneeled in front of the prince and held his gaze with an intensity that surprised the avian.

"What does it change?" He asked the redhead.

"It changes you. You're still making excuses for your enslavement. Only when you accept that injustice has been meted out to you will you then begin to take your first step towards the freedom you seek."

"What if I don't deserve it?" A muted response.

"Then do you deserve to be chained to this creature?" Red poked at the sword with his booted foot.

"Nobody deserves it."

"Good job, princie. Now you get it."