Princes of Prophecy

Contents Copyright- Dedication -Trigger Warning:Map of Dezrothia12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243- Acknowledgements -- Authors Note - Copyright © 2023 MJ Colgan and AC LawlorAll rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. For information contact: [email protected] Cover design by Diana TC, www.triumphbookcovers.com - Dedication - To the fates,Kindly unfuck your shit.To the characters,Seeeee… we trieddddd!To the readers,See above.To our parents,See nothinggggg! Close your eyes and back your nosy asses away from this book slowly.To our daughters and husbands,You know what you did. Trigger Warning:This story contains content that might be troubling to some readers including, but not limited to attempted murder, attempted rape, blood, emotional abuse, murder, physical abuse, profanity, PTSD depictions, violence and war.Please be mindful of these, and other, possible triggers. Map of Dezrothia 1Act first and ask the fates for forgiveness later.The concept wasn’t new to me. Fuck, it’d been my modus operandi for as long as I could recall. Far too long for me to consider wasting time with prayers to save my soul, anyway.Could there be another way to deal with this? Possibly. Was it worth the risk of wasting time to figure it out? Absolutely fucking not.Crouched over my former puppeteers’ not yet cooled corpse, I was more than ready; I was willing and looking forward to channeling the rage coursing through me into doing what needed to be done.Some might argue with themselves, might need time to convince their head, their heart, and their soul that it was for the greater good first. But not me.I knew full well I wouldn’t be able to wash the blood from my hands anytime soon. Just like how I knew it would likely haunt me. But there was no self doubt. No hope for another way. No internal debate about whether it’s right or wrong. Whether I should or shouldn’t. It just was. I would deal with it.For the crown.For the realm.For him.I tore my eyes away from Kane and surveyed the room from my position.Kneeling beside the dead king, the metallic scent of blood was almost overwhelming as I eyed the windows the thrakos had most likely come through.His wide wings shattered the panes of glass into a thousand glittering fragments as he forcefully plunged himself to where the king had slept soundly for so many years.I could almost hear the smash, followed by the thud of heavy boots as they slammed down on the shard-littered floor with a crunch.I could see the body of his majesty, his chest mutilated where the thrakos had thrust its clawed hand through his flesh and ripped out his heart.I could smell the crimson pool where the innocent bystander lay, having only made it a few steps into the room before their fate was also sealed.Then me.Deep, red liquid dripped down my already savaged face while defensive cuts down my arm caused blood to drip at my side.This would become our new reality. Soon.“Tell him. Admit to Alaric what you did!” Kane hissed, cutting through my thoughts and bringing me back to this reality.The one where it looked like Kane had just slain his father. His black ceremonial sword–the one that so many castle folk would have witnessed him carrying on the way here–was discarded next to the body and coated in the King’s lifeblood.“No can do, I’m afraid, little brother,” Elikai’s smarmy voice followed in reply, completely unaffected by the death of his father. “We can’t have you two spinning tales of how I played any part in the unfortunate demise of the King, now can we? No matter how small that part may have been.”I glared up just in time to see him pressing his forefinger and thumb together patronizingly.That fucking cunt.My fists clenched and my teeth gritted, as he cemented what I already suspected to be true the second I’d entered the massacre that was the king’s chambers. Well, former king. He’d orchestrated this mess and was now pinning it on Kane.Anger heated my veins like molten lava as my blood boiled, the pressure rising to the surface, threatening to erupt and spill over with Elikai in the volcano’s path. I’d get the full story later. There was no time now. But there was no doubt in my mind that was what was happening.It was true that Kane hated his father, but he was only here right now for her.He had planned on talking Elikai out of marrying our Angel, not slaughtering the King. Cold-blooded murder wasn’t his style. He fought hard, but fair and honorably. I, however, didn’t have an ounce of that innocence left in me.“Elikai–” Kane started, his own anger bubbling below the surface, but it mixed with a tone of astonishment and disbelief as the truth of the evilness that dwelled beneath his twin’s charming facade sunk in once and for all. As though he was surprised that someone so like him could be so different.“Nekane, might I offer some big brotherly advice? Perhaps, and this is just a suggestion, you should spend more time working out how to make fathers death look like an attack from someone who isn’t his own traitorous flesh and blood, and less time here reminding me of how it’s all your fault that I am now but a grieving orphan. First mother, now–”My lips pulled back in a snarl that I couldn’t fight. Fates how I wished I could murder him right here and now. Instead I growled, “Dont yeh fuckin’ dare finish that sentence, it’s fuckin’ bullshit and yeh ken it!”If there was any way in which I could fashion this to implicate that prick, I would. Unfortunately, I’d already determined that there was no way to twist this scene