25 years ago.
Thunder bolted across the sky as rain fell in heavy torrents across the kingdom of Vankresh. Eagles and hawks flew helter skelter, letting out loud cries of anguish and despair. The earth was about to host a mystery.
Inside the royal castle of Vankresh, a cry of pain resounded through the stormy night and this time, it was the cry of a human; a woman.
King Aldus' first wife and queen of Vankresh groaned in pain as she struggled to bring into life her first child and heir to the throne of Vankresh.
"Your highness, please sit down," Milan, King Aldus personal guard adviced as King Aldus paced back and forth the chamber in which his wife was being delivered of their child.
He shouldn't be bothered since his other wives had delivered him male children, but the custom of Vankresh demanded that the heir could only come from the wife he had chosen as his queen.
He looks at the door to the chamber on hearing his wife groan loudly, and soon after that followed the cry of a baby.
King Aldus burst out in a joyful laughter as he heard the announcement of a midwife.
"It's a boy."
Instantly, King Aldus flung open the door of the chamber and dashed inside to see his wife holding a baby in her hands; the heir to the throne of Vankresh.
He slowly moved closer towards the bed on which his wife laid and with a smile, she handed over their son to him before closing her eyes and falling asleep.
Finally, he was holding his son. One who would lead the people of Vankresh. He smiled as his son stared silently at him, but despite everything around him, King Aldus couldn't help but get lost in the flame red eyes of his son that shone with deep mystery.
"Ruxel," King Aldus muttered softly.
Present day
I stood in the throne chamber as I waited for the inevitable. I tried not to panic as I heard the sounds of horses approaching the castle; the Vankree soldiers were on their way here.
We had lost to the kingdom of Vankresh and now they were here to take the royal family captive. My brothers and the King were probably already dead.
I looked at the thick arched doors leading into the throne chamber and knew in my heart that we weren't safe. It would take them some time, but they would eventually get to us.
I looked down as I felt my mother, the queen of Hashonn squeeze my hand.
Just then, heavy thuds began to come from the door and I didn't need to think twice before knowing it was Vankree soldiers trying to break down the door.
"Promise me you'll survive," my mother said softly and I looked up to see a drop of tear fall down her left cheek.
"We'll survive," I said with tears welling up in my eyes.
"I love you Valerie," my mother said as she cupped my cheeks in her palm and before I could stop her, she unsheathed a silver dagger and stabbed herself in the heart.
"Noooo," I screamed as her lifeless body fell to the floor with blood gushing out of her chest and her fingers still curled around the dagger in her heart.
"It's unfair," I cried out and suddenly, the chamber's door came crashing down with armed soldiers walking into the chamber. It was over.
Ruxel sat in the king's court as everyone celebrated the victory against Hashonn. He and his elder half brother, Petrius had co-led the war, but from where he sat, he watched Petrius bragging and taking all the glory. He didn't care though.
His attention got drawn away from Petrius as a soldier called his name.
"Your highness." Ruxel faced the guard.
"The king wants you to pick a Reliever among the women hostages," the guard continued and waited till Ruxel hesitantly stood up.
Judging by the way, Petrius and Ruxel's other half brothers stopped what they were doing and hurriedly left the chamber, Ruxel knew the same news had gotten to them.
Relievers were like maids, except that the only thing they were meant for was to satisfy a royal whenever he felt the urge to f*** a lady.
His half brothers were hurrying to pick the best and most attractive ones.
Valerie looked across the room in which she was kept in. Present in the room were her father and half brothers mistresses and wives.
Everyone here knew what was going to happen in the next couple of minutes. Like every other kingdom, royals would come and claim them as Relievers and if they were lucky, they would be picked as mistresses.
Mistresses had the same duties as Relievers, but they were not slaves and they had some extent of power in the castle.
The door clicked open and a prince entered the chamber; his eyes scanning everyone in the room with lustful eyes.
Shortly after, two other princes stepped into the room, joining the first one in observing the women.
They all slowly came further into the chamber and began grabbing women of their choice with their eyes looking up and down the women bodies with lust.
"You've got good eyes, Petrius," A prince said as he admires the both ladies Petrius had grabbed roughly.
"Your choices aren't bad either," Petrius replied before leaving the room with the women in his hands.
Valerie sighed in relief as the three princes left the room.She didn't know what she'd have done if any of those lustful men had picked her.
She had hardly let out a complete sigh when another prince stepped into the chamber. This particular prince was different from the others, she noticed.
Unlike the other princes, his strange eyes stared coldly into the room and there was no trace of lust in them.
He had a dark and dangerous aura around him and his eyes burned with deep red flames that seemed to hold dark secrets.
Something that she and every other woman into the room didn't fail to notice was his beauty.
His beauty was somewhat heavenly and he had a striking appearance that caused everyone to gawk.
Valerie though, couldn't take her eyes off his flame red eyes. There was something about this man that was dark and mysterious and he had to be the one; the one rumored to be Hades' incarnate.
Valerie was so lost in thought that she didn't notice everyone staring at her. The prince had chosen her and he was pointing right at her.
Ruxel walked into the chamber with a single image replaying on his head. The image of the lady he had picked staring at him with a mix of awe and fear.
He didn't know why she was scared, whether if it had been for the obvious reasons or if she had heard the rumors.
Ever since an incident that had occured when he was ten, people had always rumored of him to be the Devil's incarnate.
His uncle had attempted to overthrow his father and would have been successful if Ruxel hadn't wished his uncle and his men to burn.
To everyone's surprise, his uncle went ablaze right before the throne. He had burnt right to ashes before everyone despite the attempts to douse the fire.
Since then, everyone had feared him, including his mother and father.
Feeling his eyes getting overpowered by sleep, Ruxel shut his eyes tight and fell into sleep.
Waking up in the midnight, Ruxel suddenly felt his room turn cold with wind blowing strongly.
He didn't know why, but he felt a strange and powerful presence in the room.
He could feel that someone else was in the room and when a chilly breeze swept across his neck, he swiftly turns around; slashing the dagger he had taken from under his pillow in the air.
No one was there.
Still not convinced that he was not alone, he turns back around and freezed as he came face to face with a man.
The windows were locked so how had he gotten in? How had he gotten past his guards?
"Hello Samael, it's been a long time," the man said with an icy tone; Ruxel's gaze locked into the man's metallic silver eye.
