Marked Ones: Advent of the Demon Prince

"Really?" Lucius grumbled. "Must I really do this?"

The affirmative nods and giggles from his entourage indicated his fate. At the moment, Lucius sat in a chair at shop he had never been to before. Hair stylists were simply not necessary. If his hair got too long or too messy for battle, he simply took a dagger to it. Unfortunately for him, his wives decided that was enough. It did not escape him that this may have been Kalliope's true intentions on forcing him to grow out his hair.

"I could have done this for him." Natali's quiet voice broke through the other women's amusement. She twirled a dagger in her hand.

"Exactly. Thank you, Natali. I fail to see how this woman's scissors and razors are sharper than Natali's own weapons. I've seen the meticulous maintenance she puts into those."

Rena groaned. "Please. Natali lacks the skill to properly style and shape hair my love. From now on, no more rough chopping with a weapon. Stylists only. You are a noble, so it is time to act like it."

The stylist chuckled in the corner while she sharpened her equipment on a strange band. Giving up his opposition, Lucius leaned back in the chair to allow the stylist to do their work unhindered. It was odd allowing someone with a sharp implement to be so close to his vitals. Every subtle movement caused his body to tense. Jade stepped forward and placed a hand on his forearm for comfort, while Natali stood with her hands subtly brushing against her dagger.

He was not afraid, per se, however his typical response was to kill anyone who would get this close to him. Fortunately, after several agonizing minutes, the woman stepped back to admire her handiwork. She spun the chair around and presented him the opportunity to gaze in the mirror. To him, it was simply a haircut, though he had to admit it looked much more professional than before.

"Gods above…" Rena whispered.

"If I wasn't already pregnant, I'd ask you to put another baby in me." Kalliope whistled. The other girls looked at her with judgement for saying something so crass in public. "What? I've had to abstain from him for some time because I cannot do things in moderation. Gimme a break."

Jade's face turned as red as a tomato while Natali nervously fidgeted in place. For her part, Lyrah was stifling laughs during the entire experience. She clapped her hands together. "We must go eat at my favorite café next! Oh, I do love the sweets there, brother dearest."

"I don't really like sugar."

"Then drink black coffee for all I care, I want some sweets. Surely sweet sister Rena would like something to pick up her day?"

Of course, his trouble-making sister moved on without waiting for an answer from anyone. Lucius sighed and flipped a gold coin to the shop owner. It was at least ten times more than the actual cost of a haircut, but with his assets measuring more than most of Arcadios's minor nobles combined, a nice tip was less than pocket change at this point.

***

After a day of shopping and eating out, everyone felt exhausted by the time they returned to the castle. In order to appease the king and the high court of prominent nobility, they used a side entrance to the castle used exclusively by Lefae. Jade had yet to understand why the royal family gave so much to a daughter they removed from the line of succession. It was likely due to her prominent position in the public eye as the next most likely candidate for breaking into the King-Rank of warriors.

Jade had asked Natali and Rena a few times for explanations, but they did not really know either. They also did not know why the princess was so infatuated with Lucius. Apparently, she showed up and ingratiated herself with them at Rena's cousin's wedding. She simply stated she was curious about Lucius without any other context than wanting to fight him. That fight has yet to happen even though there have been several opportunities.

Lyrah said the Princess was waiting for a more opportune moment, but declined to say anything more. There was a devious grin on her face, but that was far from abnormal for the mischievous sister-in-law.

Once inside their own parlor, Rena sat elegantly on a sofa. Lyrah had stolen Penelope away and held onto the giggling infant. Lucius appeared the most drained of them all and flopped onto the couch with his head laying in Rena's lap. His feet hung over the arm of the furniture like a slob and he kicked off his boots without a care.

"My love…" Rena began. She was about to complain about his lack of decorum, but stopped herself with a smile. Instead, she ran her fingers through his hair. They were so engrossed in one another that neither even spared a moment to look at Lady Adellia, her maid, or Miss Rubellia as they too entered the room.

As was proper, the grandmothers immediately moved to pay attention to their spoiled grandchild. Though Rubellia stopped to witness Lucius in a rare state of relaxation.

"My, it has been many years since I've seen a look like that on my boy's face." She spoke.

"It truly has." Rena answered. "Though I feel as though I've never quite seen him this relaxed."

Kalliope shifted in her seat with a slight groan. Her hand trying to support her large stomach to ease the transitional movement. "I have to agree. Never once have I seen him relax. Of course, most of our time together was spent doing espionage, assassinations, and committing war crimes."

"Is it truly a crime if no one attempts to convict you?" Lyrah called out.

"Oh, they tried. But remember the assassination piece? Voices were often silenced before they became too loud. Such is the life of a King's Shadow."

Jade was about to interrupt the conversation to request they discuss a separate topic. Instead, a strange sound broke her line of thinking. A rumbling sound came from the sofa across from her. Rena stopped stroking Lucius's hair and her eyes widened. Everyone's conversations stopped in an instant.

Rubellia laughed. "Well, well. It seems he can still do that."

"Is that what I think it is?" Jade squeaked. The steady rumble continued from the sleeping man and made her heart do flips in her chest. It only made sense. If he could growl, then why not this too.

Rena returned to stroking Lucius's hair gently. The man's feline purrs continued to fill the room. Adellia smiled from the corner and looked upon the scene with a fond expression. She turned to Lyrah, "It's been a while since I heard this one do the same. Though it seems your brother inherited a stronger concentration of your father's beastman blood, you still had enough of it to remain adorable."

Lyrah winced. "Let's not talk about my purring and focus instead on the killing machine playing the part of a pet… wait a minute. Isn't that just a normal cat? Anyone have a collar; I think with this we would be remiss if we did not try to make sure people know where to return him if he gets lost."

"If you think you can, you are more than welcome to try. Though, he does better at the collaring." Rena laughed as she moved her dainty hands to the choker on her neck.