Blood Moon's Paroxysm

Chapter 1

Casteel heard the dungeon's gates being opened an hour ago, wondering what had happened down there but he asked no questions to any of the royal guards.

While he was heading out for his usual training, a royal guard approached him and reminded him of a new task as the executioner of the kingdom, and future king.

From what the guard told him, he learned that a rebel was caught infiltrating the palace with nothing but a notebook in hand.

Odd, he thought, but normal since rebels in this kingdom would do anything to retrieve any piece of information that could bring its kingdom down to their knees.

The guard reminded him of his task given by the king that he retrieve information of the main rebel camp out of that foolish rebel.

Casteel nodded, then revolved around to head to the dungeon.

The dungeon guards opened the gates and greeted his majesty as he arrived, escorting him to meet the new and only prisoner in the dungeon.

When he caught sight of the prisoner who had curled herself into a ball and sat far away from the metal bar, he was startled.

He recognizes the long black hair of the girl, the casual dress she wears and the scar on her lower arm. And last but not least, he's familiar with the girl's wrist he'd once wrapped his hand around.

He dismissed the dungeon's guard and granted them an early leave, since he needed privacy for the interrogation session.

When all the guards in the dungeon had left, having the doors and gate shut off, Casteel had their privacy to begin his job.

"Oh you fool, Rebella," he says as he unlocked the cell. The girl still has her face buried into her knees and covered by her arms.

She'd only raised her head up to look at him after he'd positioned himself before her in the cell.

At last, he recognized that face of beauty.

He found himself staring into the depth of those dark red eyes, attempting to read her eyes and determine how she feels currently.

The prince had never been able to read them, as she'd always kept her facial expression dull. However, sitting in the palace's dungeon, locked in a cell with the executioner of the kingdom, it had been difficult for her to hide anything, Casteel saw fear in those insolent eyes. The girl was staring back at him impertinently, showing no respect to the future king of Araya, even though her life is currently in his hands.

The prince took a deep breath before speaking, "Like the life of an executioner I'd told you before, I would like to know where the rebel's main camp is."

The girl stayed silent, then switched her gaze down to her fingers, as if admiring the healthy nails she'd had. She does not seem to show interest in answering that question, she'd even ignored the fact that she's being interrogated.

The prince was treating the prisoner as if they'd been introduced to each other before. The girl was handling her fear as if they've met before.

Well, they have.

Since the day he snuck into the wilds, searching for a clue of the rebel's next step as he normally does as the prince of the kingdom. He disguised himself as a villager, wearing a long-sleeved tunic and a pair of leather boots, with a sword and a knife inconspicuously sheathed beside him. The prince had quite enjoyed sneaking into the rebel's hideout, he'd even made it a hobby to sneak up and attack the disloyal rebels.

Sneaking into the wilds, he met her, an ordinary girl lingering around the bushes with a basket full of cherries. Her gazes brushed the fruits in the bushes as he hid himself behind a big tree.

There was a lovely little cottage in the middle of the forest, cozy and hard to be noticed, assuming that's where the girl lives.

In order to retrieve a clue, he would have to capture a rebel back to the king to elucidate his loyalty and accomplish his duty as the executioner.

This time, he found a graceful young girl, but a rebel to his father's reign. He unsheathed his knife, since the girl seemed too delicate and weak for him to unsheathe a sword. Her delicate limbs look as if they could be broken with a punch.

As his gaze followed her soft hands in the bushes, he noticed the sky turning dark, the sun shifting to cover the girl's pretty face.

He crawled to the back of the tree, then wielded his knife tightly as he stretched his arms and legs. The prince peeked his head out of the tree again to ensure the location of his target.

But all he sees is the peaceful scenery of a garden path filled with serenity.

The girl is gone.

He could beat anyone, he is the best fighter of the world as the tournaments declared him to be, but the sudden disappearance had dragged his heart rate up for the first time in a long while.

If the girl attacks him from an unknown direction, he could still pull the win back and capture her, but he hadn't seen this kind of trick before.

He heard no sound, he saw no prey. He had expected her to be on the tree waiting to stab his neck but there was nothing. He'd expected her to have returned to the cottage, but the cottage was far from where she was, she couldn't have been that quick.

He leaned back against the tree, attempting to concentrate and catch a clue of where the girl went.

Then, the prince heard a voice, a soothing and terrifying voice of a girl.

"Shall I say your majesty?"

He is used to being taunted by his opponents, but he isn't used to it working on him.

He turned his head to the left, and there she is, leaning against the tree beside him frivolously, with no fear upon meeting a stranger holding a weapon in his hand.

Without a second of hesitation, the prince leaped in with his dagger. He'd expected her to stagger back and run for her life since the best fighter had remarked her as his current target.

But she did the opposite, she dashed into him, with no weapons but a pair of opened arms.

The prince smiled, a clueless fool, he thought.

But then, he didn't feel his blade plunging into her shoulder.

He felt his hands empty.

The prince revolved around with his hand unsheathing his sword within a blink of an eye, and plunged it forward impetuously, leaving no time for her to react.

However, the girl never needed time, she'd leaped behind him and had the dagger placed beside his neck, pressing on his skin.

She beat him.

For the first time, someone was able to beat the best fighter of the entire world.