Soul of a Human

After the kids had left, Dinothom addressed Sophie.

"Mistress Agaton, would you please gather every servant and guard and escort them outside? I don't think Lord Celestite would accept you as a neutral witness. And please let those fine guard gentlemen help you. I want this house empty immediately."

"Don't give orders to my guards!" Celarn shouted, but the knight moved and suddenly loomed over him, cowing him into silence.

"And before I forget, I want everyone in your family to be here before me. Right now!" Dinothom demanded of the other noble.

"No!" Celestite said defiantly.

"No?" The prince growled, and Sophie scrambled to get everybody out.

Luckily for her, the ruckus had attracted everyone's attention. Therefore, she didn't need to go search for any stragglers. One of the guards even made sure everyone was accounted for.

She left last, just in time to hear a sickening crunch and the breaking of bones, and quickly closed the door. Lord Celestites' pained screams were audible through the closed-off entrance.

"What's happening?" One of the guards demanded to know.

"Your lord broke some laws," Sophie said, and by the expressions of the staff around her, they knew. "Now, his Highness is rectifying the matter."

Lord Celestite fell to the floor screaming, his arm broken. It had happened faster than he could react. The knight had just grabbed it and broke it in his stony fist.

"I was of the opinion that your wife and sons are very good with healing magic. They can surely fix that easily if only they were here." The prince continued conversationally, and then, as no one came, he gave a nod to the knight.

The knight placed a rocky foot on the prone noble's other arm and applied pressure, drawing more screams. Finally, a side door opened, and Cicilia rushed to her husband's side.

From the corner of his eye, Dinothom saw another figure, and with a burst of his power, the second son was thrown into the room.

"Good, now the only one missing is your eldest. Where is he?" Dinothom asked.

"He's not home." Celarn groaned while his wife cured his arm.

"I will make a complaint with the king! You can't treat respected nobles like that!" Cicilia complained.

"Indeed, but only if you are "respected nobles". Because I think otherwise." The prince stated.

"I told you, father, that this was the commoner who had close ties to the prince because of the Ruby thing at school!" The boy whimpered, and the truth hit Celarn like a hammer blow.

"Quiet boy." he hissed, but his mind was already racing.

"If the commoner boy was here in the company of the Ice empress. She might be his mother, meaning it was possible that he almost beat whatever was unleashed, and it would explain the appearance of the crown prince. He is still in contact with the commoner Morokhan after all, a friend he calls him, so if they tattled on him… but how did they do it so fast? The message should have taken weeks, and then he would have had time to prepare. No matter now, this is an opportunity. I need to get through this and tell the Rubys about this."

His musings were then interrupted by the prince.

"I need your attention again before I can tell your wife why you aren't respected by me anymore," Dinothom said and then continued in a sterner voice.

"A respected noble wouldn't be guilty of following crimes. First, trading an adolescent Soul-kin for political purposes. Second, using illusory means to make said Soul-kin complacent. Third, using a forbidden technique to seal said Soul-kins magic. Fourth, disobeying a direct order of a member of the royal family. The order being not in conflict with Article 1 of the Soul-kin rules of orders. For the record, Article 1 is the right to refuse any order made in an attempt to inflict unjust harm. We could scratch the last one because your punishment has already been dealt."

"You don't have any proof. The king will hear of this!" Celarn said.

"Who do you think I am? Do you really think I can't discern if someone was under the effect of magic blockage?" Dinothom growled.

"You saying that is no proof!" Cicilia interjected.

"Yes! That spell is undetectable!" The young noble added, and in the stunned silence, a single sigh was heard from the knight.

"Thank you for your honesty, young Celestite." The prince simply said.

"You imbecile!" Celarn shouted, and the boy flinched back in fear.

"I see." The prince said coldly, shutting up the raging noble. "Your son's reaction tells me everything I need to know about you. You are punishing everything with utmost cruelty...Let your punishment reflect that, then."

The prince raised three fingers.

"For the crime of trading an adolescent Soul-kin for political purposes, you, your wife, and second son will be stripped of your noble titles." He began dropping the first finger and squashed any protest with a stern gaze.

"For the crime of making a Soul-kin complacent with the usage of illusion magic. Your assets will be seized by the crown." He declared by dropping the second finger.

"For the crime of using a complete magic blocking technique. You and your wife will be subjected to trial, where it will be decided if my declaration of the death penalty is justified." He declared, dropping the last finger.

"And for you, young man, you were a willing participant in all of this, but in regards to your age, I will refrain from sentencing you to death. Instead, you will be drafted into the royal army effective immediately." He told the boy.

"Your first son will be questioned. He will take over as your heir if he's found free of guilt." The prince ended his judgment.

"I can't accept that judgment!" Celarn shouted.

"I don't care. You will be transported to Diamond Isle and brought in front of the king and queen to pass final judgment. Should you try to flee, the declared death sentence will be executed immediately by myself." Dinothom said coldly.

"I won't let you do that!" Cicilia protested, drawing the gaze of the prince toward her.

Dinothom sighed and only said. "Knight, brace."

His bodyguard dropped into a more stable position, using his stone pillar arms to stabilize himself. Dinothom grabbed at the air and pulled. The ground began to shake, windows shattered, and walls cracked as his full potential was unleashed. In an instant, everything not nailed down flew towards a spot next to the prince, followed by a hail of glass shards. The walls crumpled, and the roof dropped, all compressing into an ever-growing ball of debris. The whole mansion was gone in a second, and the ground floor was the only evidence left of the building's existence. That and the Ball of debris next to the prince. Dinothom eased his power away, and what was left of the mansion fell into a big pile of little shards and dust. Not a single wooden structure or stone was recognizable.

The knight rose back to his feet, only slightly marred, his frame too big to completely spare from shrapnel, while the Celestites looked around in shock. Every one of them was unhurt, not even scratched, an attest to the prince's mastery of magic.

"Do you want to argue more?" He asked, and stunned in fear, the three of them shook their heads.

Some distance away, more people got back up after fleeing when the mansion shook and cracked. Milling around unsure, the only ones left standing were Sophie and the much farther away kids.

With a sigh, the prince addressed the ex-staff of the Celestites: "Please leave the premises. The new Lord might take a while to arrive. Until then, the crown will give you wages to take care of your living expenses."

This was followed by some murmuring, but in the end, they all left. The prince and his entourage escorted the Celestites to the next guard post in grim silence. Mor wanted to ask, but on his first try, he was shushed by the prince. Clare was almost hiding behind Saphine while the noble girl was giving the Celestite family venomous looks. Orth still had his fist clenched, only waiting for a chance to hurt someone. After the Celestite family was secured and shipped off, Dinothom spoke to the group again.

"Now, to the second one."

"The second one?" Mor asked.

"Yes, Lord Celestine, he is also guilty of trading a Soul-kin for political gain, and I need to uphold fair judgment of all guilty parties," Dinothom said, looking at Clare apologetically.

"I understand, and I'm not mad. He dropped me into that hell, and for that, I want him to face justice." Clare said, with a shaking voice, and got embraced by Saphine.

"I'm glad you see it like that." The prince said as they took off to face Clare's father next.

On the way, Dino remembered something else.

"Mor, how did you reach me?" He asked suddenly.

"Oh! That's not so hard. It's something the human cooked up again. An enhanced telepathic spell. But instead of seeing your target, you imagine it. Then it is a matter of the better your image and the closer they are to the expected place, the easier it is." Mor explained, and Dino nodded, then concentrated.

After a few moments, he smiled.

"Very handy. I informed my father of everything so our "prisoners" won't be able to bluff their way out." He said, smiling.

"How did you grasp it that fast?!" Everyone except Morokhan exclaimed.

"Maybe I'm just that smart!" Dino said with a playful smile while the human laughed.