“I don’t care if you’re the Regent, that child cannot be controlled!” I smirked as I watched the encounter between my father and my governess, “I can’t handle him anymore, and I don’t know how anyone ever will.”

That would be the fourth one in as many weeks. My dad always had people come and talk to me, to figure out why I was this way. They always said that I was busy trying to attract his attention, but they were wrong. I didn’t care if my father neglected me or not, I understood his position in Nifaria, I just enjoyed acting out. I was good at it, it was fun.

“What did he do this time?” the regent asked exasperatedly as he shuffled through the mountain of papers on his desk. This was pointless, there was no need to waste his time, she should just quit and then I’d move on to the next one.

“He set my room on fire,” my governess replied and I had to suppress a laugh. The ideas were getting better and better. I’d never relieved a nanny in exactly the same way. It was how I passed time, I would think of elaborate ways to get rid of them.

“He did what?” my father raised an eyebrow at my former tutor and caretaker, that got his attention. If I actually wanted him to talk to me I would have pulled a stunt like this a long time ago.

“He set my room on fire,” she was adamant about the point but in all actuality she set her own room on fire, “I’m telling you, he is a monster.”

“How do you know it was him?” the regent asked as he turned all of his attention to the young woman in front of him. I couldn’t tell if he was angry or impressed.

“Well…,” she began and then waited. She was deciding whether telling the truth was a good idea or not, “I don’t, but I never would have left my candle lit like that.”

“So you just knocked over a candle?” the regent was no longer interested, there was no conspiracy at foot, my governess was only clumsy.

“Yes, I knocked over a candle on the opposite side of the room,” the regent didn’t like the sarcasm of her voice, “I don’t know how he did it, but when I opened my door the candle fell off the mantle. I tried to stop the fire but it spread unnaturally fast.”

“I think it must have been a ghost,” the regent replied, obviously not impressed with the excuses, “I understand that you are young and this job can be very stressful. If it is too much for you, just tell me. You don’t need to blame my son.”

“Urrrgh,” she growled at my father in anger. Again I forced down a chuckle. She was digging herself a grave acting like this in front of the regent, “You are both impossible!”

“I think you should leave,” my father went back to his work and my governess stepped out. As soon as she closed the door my father called out, “Alright Darren.”

“How did you know?” I climbed out from under his couch and sat down in front of him.

“I was warned,” the regent set his papers down and settled his eyes on me. He didn’t look at me like I was his son, he never did, just another of his subjects, “Why did you do it?”

“Do what sir?” I blinked my eyes and shrugged my shoulders innocently.

“I know that you did it. I don’t know how you did it but I know that you are devious enough to pull it off. Why did you do it?”

“I’m a pyromaniac,” I shrugged, deciding that telling him the truth may ease my sentence. Or at least something close to the truth, “I don’t like her. I want your love and attention. Take your pick, it’s what those ‘specialists’ always tell you.”

“What do you want from me Darren?” His voice was tired and so was his stature. He was regent in a very difficult time. We were at war and he had better things to do than to worry about me, “What can I do that would make you stop?”

“Nothing, I don’t want to stop. I’m not doing this for you or for anyone but myself,” I responded staring straight into my father’s unfeeling eyes. There was no hint of emotion behind them, I was a stranger to him, “I like it.”

“I’m sending you west,” my father finally said and he leaned forward on his hands. He acted like the decision was a difficult one, but I knew better. He always wanted to pawn me off but he never had a willing participant, “To stay with Lord Verus in Rynne Nifaria. I think spending some time with people your own age could be good for you.”

“Good,” I gave my father a convincing fake smile, “I was tired of the capital anyway, now I’ll have a new city to terrorize.”


Rynne Nifaria was nothing like the capital. The capital was huge; it ran up along the side of a mountain opening up into a giant bay. The capital was the largest port and largest city in Nifaria and it was magnificent. Rynne Nifaria was boring, just looking at the houses and the stone walls I knew that this wouldn’t be nearly as much fun as I had hoped.

When we arrived at the Verus’ manor my spirits lifted a little bit. It was only a three story building, not like the castle I was used to living in, but it would do. The front wall glittered with windows and I wondered how quickly I could shatter each one. Maybe this city had a little potential.

“This must be Darren,” Lord Verus greeted us at the doors. My father hadn’t made the trip, it wasn’t that surprising. Verus wrapped an arm around me, “You’re going to love it here, come in.”

The escort bade his leave. He was expected back as soon as possible. I didn’t have my hopes high but I would give Verus a shot.

“Darren,” Verus led me into the main hall, which was an enormous room. The ceiling was three stories up. There were red tapestries hanging between stained glass windows and a long red carpet ran down from the raised thrones. Sitting in her throne was Lady Verus and beside her were their two children, “I would like you to meet my family.”

“This is my wife Matharia,” I shook her hand politely, it was dainty and correct. She was the expected wife of royalty, she was so fake. She was pretty and the smile was bright and inviting but everything about her was false.

“My son Edrinstin,” I could tell just by looking at the first two that his family was the model family. The idea of living here was looking better all the time. Edrinstin stood with perfect posture, his hair was neatly trimmed and combed, his eyes glittered with ambition, and he also had the pseudo-inviting air.

“And my daughter Ilia,” Ilia was nothing like the rest of them, except for maybe her father. She didn’t have to pretend like Edrinstin or Matharia. Of all that I had met so far she was by far the most interesting. She didn’t stray from the perfect family persona but I could see something behind those eyes. She was excited to see me, I was something new. Ilia was tired of living the perfect little girl role, she wanted an adventure.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” I lied blatantly. The fake smiles disappeared from Matharia’s and Edrinstin’s faces for a split second; I thought I saw Ilia smirk. I didn’t care if they were my friends, the faster I could get out of here the better.

“Would one of you like to show Darren around?” Verus asked the three, the Lady and heir turned their heads toward Ilia.

“I’ll do it!” she said hurriedly and excitedly, like she wanted to make sure no one else would jump on the opportunity before her. She was going to be so easy to manipulate.

Ilia led me through the halls and I followed her with little interest. She rattled off facts about the mansion like an experienced tour guide but I wasn’t really paying attention. It was a nice place to live, if not a little underwhelming.

“So what do you do for fun around here?” I asked as I estimated how quickly I could burn down the building. It was a hobby of mine to find structural weaknesses in buildings.

“Well I go horseback riding…,” I cut her off mid-sentence.

“Scratch that, what do I do for fun around here?” I sat in the window sill and watched her curiously. She didn’t seem like the rebellious type to me, maybe I had misjudged her.

“I don’t know,” Ilia sat down next to me, uncomfortably close, I slowly shifted away, “What do you do for fun anywhere?”

“I like to plan stuff,” I shrugged my shoulders. I wasn’t sure what to call my idea of fun, “Heists, fire traps, that sort of stuff.”

“You mean stealing?” she asked, appalled that I had even suggested the notion.

“We have to loosen you up a bit,” I looked down at her seriously. She was a few years younger than me, there was still time, “Tell you what, next time I plan to steal something I’ll let you tag along, you’ll see how fun it can be.”

“I don’t know,” Ilia was unsure, that was expected, but I could see from the way she looked at me that she would follow me if I planned a murder, “Stealing’s wrong.”

“Yeah, but my dad does it all the time,” I winked at her and she smiled more confidently, “Who cares about right or wrong, let’s just have a little fun.”

Over the next few months Ilia and I caused havoc in Rynne Nifaria. She was a nefarious little girl when she set her mind to it. She knew the city so well I came to know her as more of a partner and less of a pupil. Merchants would come into town and we would steal their most valuable items, we never kept them, they always mysteriously returned to their owners.

Verus could never prove that it was us but I could tell that he knew. The guards were at a loss and we were having fun. In the end what did it matter, if they got their goods back anyway?

“Come on,” Ilia called to me with a loud whisper and I eyed her curiously. She seemed really excited to show me something and that meant she had devised something devious. I leapt from my seat and ran up the stairs after her. I found her in the royal advisor’s room; it smelled suggestively of animal fat, “I recreated your governess trap.”

I looked and saw that it was true. There was a candle sitting on the mantle and a string attached to the candle and also to the doorknob. I closed the door and then opened it again. The candle fell from the table and against the string for a split second. The string was coated in an accelerant made from animal fat so that when the candle fell against it, the string would burn to ash almost instantly. Much of the room was coated with the same accelerant. It wasn’t very sophisticated but it did the job without much difficulty.

“Shall we watch then?” I smiled as I lit the candle and Ilia curtseyed to me. We closed the door and started toward the balcony.

“What are you two doing in here?!” The door swung open and then the candle fell while we were still in the room. I spun toward Ilia but the room was already mostly in flames. Part of her dress went up in flames. She must have got some of the animal fat on it.

“Ilia!” I shouted, as I tried to fight back through the fire toward her. She screamed in fear and pain as the fire began to engulf her. The advisor grabbed both of us and carried us out of the room. He quickly put out Ilia and ran down the stairs with her in his arms. I stared after them wide-eyed. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen, I’d done this prank before and it hadn’t happened then. I started to feel a pain on my arm and I looked down to see that I was mildly burned, and then I fainted.

I awoke in a room of the mansion that I didn’t recognize. It looked like a medical ward; I looked around to see that I was alone. Where was Ilia? I wasn’t in much pain so I climbed out of bed.

I found my way down to the main hall, but there was no one there. I turned around to go to a different floor of the medical hall and Edrinstin was waiting for me.

“I hope you’re happy,” he shoved me against the wall and I watched him, terrified. I had never seen him other than the perfect son, now he was the big brother, “Your stupid antics, you knew this was going to happen at some point.”

“Is she okay?” I tried to get around him but he pulled me back.

“No thanks to you.”

“Can I see her?”

He punched me in the face and I fell heavily to the floor. “Don’t ever go near her again,” he kicked me in the gut and then walked away.

I found Ilia eventually; she was on the second floor of the medical wing. The burns thankfully weren’t severe but she would be scarred for the rest of her life. I held her hand in mine, “You doing alright?”

“Never better,” She smiled at me sadly and I couldn’t help but look away. I had done this to her, I should have known my stupidity would eventually catch up to me, “How are you feeling?”

“I’m sorry,” my eyes began to tear up and I wasn’t sure why, I hadn’t cried since my mother had died. Maybe I wasn’t doing this just for the fun of it, “I almost got you killed. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“I know,” Ilia replied softly. I knew she wasn’t going to die but to see her in this room on that bed, I couldn’t help but think she could, “Don’t worry about me, but Darren?”

“Yeah?” I looked up into her striking blue eyes.

“How about we stop pulling those pranks?” she grinned at me and I laughed and the tears fell.

“Yeah, good idea,” I decided finally, I was going to miss making those plans but it wasn’t worth it, “So now what are we going to do for fun?” We looked at each other and laughed.