The next King

Chapter 2

The next morning, Luchigan went to the dungeon to visit the boy he had caught in the woods. "I guess the hunter later turned to be the hunted," he teased him.

"What sort of untrained prince are you? Starting a conversation without introducing yourself or asking of my name," the boy fired at him. The prince looked curiously at him, "wow! You don't look anything like nobility, but that's some real noble words coming from you. My apologies, boy. I'm prince Luchigan, third son of King Galliard, the best fighter in the whole of Cistra and the ladies man of the kingdom." The prince flung his long curly hairs and continued, "you are?"

"I am Regis, a hunter and a protector of my little clan which is outside the walls of your kingdom," said the boy.

"Regis, eh? Nice name you've got!" the prince smiled, "now could you tell me why you wanted to assassinate me."

"I didn't know a dummy like you could be chosen for a prince," said Regis, turning his face away from the handsome prince, "I didn't tell you I was an assassin. I am a hunter!"

"How dare you call me dummy?!" Luchigan fumed.

"The betterment of a man starts when he admits to who he is," Regis said.

"What a brat? I wonder what gives you so much confidence to say your stupid words to me. Cause if you weren't behind the bars of the dungeon, I would have reaped your skull into pieces!" Luchigan threatened.

"You have the power to get this dungeon open. Why not do it and then show me that your words are not just empty threats," said Regis.

"You really want to die," Luchigan said, "pray my elder brother doesn't come here to talk to you."

"If I were a prince, I'd be a far better one than you," Regis said. "What? That's totally not possible. I'm handsome and strong..." Luchigan was about to complete his statement when Regis interrupted with a laughter, "...but you can't hunt."

"Who said I can't hunt?!" Luchigan asked him. He was totally pissed off at Regis' impishness. "From the way you were chasing that boar, I could tell it was a lost game. Even while chasing it, you couldn't get an aim with your arrow and this resulted to magical attacks," Regis laughed, "what a prince you are!" "You're an untrained and unruly brat. I won't spend more of my time with the likes of you!" Luchigan cursed. He stood up and started walking away from the Regis' cell.

"I hope everyone is busy praising you for the boar I hunted," came Regis' voice in a calm but insulting manner. The prince heard this and with speed, rushed back to Regis' cell.

"Brat! Watch your mouth!" Luchigan bellowed in embarrassment. "Open the cell and call me ‘brat’ again," Regis threatened.

"Don't worry, you're going to get your due punishments!" Luchigan fumed and walked away angrily. Regis laughed at him and went to lay on the mattress in his cell. He kicked his leg in the air and hummed a soft melody. "Brother! That little punk of a bush boy I caught yesterday has not the slightest respect for me. I feel he has no respect for the family too!" Luchigan reported to his elder second brother, Crollo. Crollo was the most calm and calculated among the three of them. He was a skillfully fighter as well and was loved for his gentle nature. He loved his younger brother Luchigan and never joked with anything about Luchi. People loved him for his gentle nature but his calmness was a deadly one too. He could slaughter someone just cause he has calculated and come to see that person as a threat to the kingdom.

“Luchi," he called calmly, "if you hadn't reported to father I could've disposed of him right now."

"No, I don't mean you should dispose of him. I mean, come and check it out. That's not normal. He has no fear or respect," said Luchigan.

"Hmmm," Crollo puzzled. "And he thinks he's better than me!" Luchi ranted. Chrollo laughed and told him to go prove to the boy that he was better than him.

"If I go back there, I'm surely going to fight him and beat him to trash!" Luchi fumed. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. Take him on a duel and prove you're better than him," Chrollo said.

"He's a hunter and I'm a fighter. I'll probably best him. I want to beat him at his own game. I've been hunting for four years now and he thinks it has been a waste of time! I'll show him it's not!" Luchi said. "Now, easy my brother. Don't do anything without telling father," Chrollo told him.

"I hope he'll listen to me", said prince Luchi.