Okay, since for the time being the story will be closely aligned with canon, the chapters will share the titles with the respective episodes.
Not to confuse why I have taken alternate paths with characters and actions, I will list the chapter's differences with the canon version in the end notes.
The rain of the evening pounded upon the roof of the royal chambers. Upon the four post bed, Prince Ezran slept as peacefully as the weather outside. He turned from one side to the other, his arms reaching out for something that wasn't there. Then…
"Bait!" with a startle scream, he sat up, panting and with tears running down his soft cheeks.
"Ezran!" from the connecting room came prince Callum to attend to his half-brother. He leaned on the bed and grabbed him gently by the shoulders. Once soothed Ezran embraced his older brother.
"It's alright, Ez. It was just a dream."
"Bait...I miss Bait." he sobbed and Callum stiffened. The glow toad, Bait, had been Ezran's ever-present companion since the boy could walk. A companionship that was broken the night of Ezran's first accursed transformation. "Ezran, you know Bait ran away..."
The whimpering boy suddenly broke out of the embrace and glared. "Don't lie to me. I know the truth, I...I saw it...in the dream." the young prince restarted crying. Callum could do nothing to comfort him but to hug him again. It was true; Bait hadn't ran away on that night. That was a merciful lie to spare Ezran further trauma.
"I'm so sorry, Ezran." Callum whispered. "It's wasn't your fault."
Ezran sobbed one final time and clumsily wiped his tears with his sleeve. "I know I'm not. Zym says the same."
Callum asked. "Who's Zym?"
Someone knocked on the door. "May I come in?"
"You're the King. You don't need to ask." Ezran called out after hastily wiping any other remains of his crying. A kid he may be, but Ezran never showed what he perceived as weakness to his father. He had to be strong if he was going to rule Katolis, one day.
Callum moved back to his room with a cold expression, without a word.
"Maybe king's don't have to knock, but fathers do." King Harrow entered, giving Ezran a tired smile. He turned to Callum and greeted him just as warmly. Callum's reply was a polite but passionless 'hello'. Harrow sighed in defeat and addressed Ezran again.
The younger prince requested his father sang the lullaby he did every night and the sovereign happily obliged. It was a song his and Callum's mother, whom Ezran barely remembered, used to sing to him. When he was done, the young prince was more appeased. Until he asked:
"Tomorrow is full moon, right dad?" Harrow hesitated then replied with a nod. Ezran grew more apprehensive as he inquired:
"Do I have to go down there, tomorrow? To the Box?"
Harrow's breath escaped him. He looked into his son's pleading eyes. His once baby blue eyes, now getting more yellow with every month that passed since the curse first manifested. It tore the King's heart to look at him like that and knowing there was nothing he could do to appease his boy. Even worse, knowing his boy's plight was Harrow's own fault.
The King's hesitant silence was enough of an answer for Ezran, who sank in his covers. Attempting to change the mood, Harrow noticed dozens of small flasks on a shelf, each filled with a silvery glowing liquid.
"You took your elixir for to night?"
"Yeah." Ezran's face twisted in disgust. "And every other night for the last month. It's still gross."
"Perhaps, but you know what Viren says: an elixir before bed..."
"Makes the curse not so bad." Ezran recited. "Actually, I think Claudia said that."
"Yeah, she did." Callum confirmed, not removing his eyes from his notebook.
Harrow turned to Callum. Since he entered, the boy hadn't left his desk, not even to look at the king. Some would consider that disrespectful; Harrow sadly recognized the boy had every right not to acknowledge him. He stood up.
"I'll let you boys rest, then. Good night, Ezran."
"Good night, dad!"
"And good night, Callum."
"Good night, sir." that came out a bit tense, Harrow felt. Until four months ago, Sara's older child would talk to him with mostly respect and a note of fondness. But that tragically, suddenly changed and it was Harrow's fault.
As he left the room, he caught a glance of Callum's ear. The earlobe wasn't completely round anymore. It had gained a slight tip, nowhere near as pointy as an elf's, though. Harrow recalled such tip wasn't there last week. Just another reminded of his unforgivable sin, just like Ezran's changing eyes and the nightmares he had of Sarai's ghost cursing him for what he had unleashed upon their children.
The next morning, as the sun barely risen above the horizon, King Harrow and Lord Viren stood on the balcony of the royal chambers. Harrow had passed a bad night – granted most nights nowadays were hardly pleasant for him – so, the high mage of Katolis divulged the urgent news gently, not to fill the sovereign with even more stress.
"Assassins. Last night, a scout stumbled upon them. To make matters worse, we believe they are Moonshadow Elves." and there's not more gentle way to deliver bad news than to unload them all at once. It's like ripping off an old band-aid. You do it quickly rather than dragging it out.
Harrow, who had listened morosely up until that point, frowned. "Assassins from Xadia, then." he contemplated the lands and city below the castle.
The capital of the kingdom was also named Katolis, having been first settled by the Orphan Queen and then expanded until it reached its current borders with the other four kingdoms. And with Xadia.
Harrow's frown grew as his gaze turned to northeast where the border with Xadia lied. "So it's not enough that two innocent children pay for my mistake. The dragons finally want me to pay for it." he almost chuckled at the dark twist.
Viren allowed to ruminate for a moment before continuing. "Since tonight's moon will..."
"I know very well that tonight will be a full moon." Harrow snapped. "I have every motive to keep up to date on the moon phases."
Another paused that Viren wisely didn't break. He waited a full minute for the King to restart the discussion.
"If they're coming tonight, we must flush them out to day. In the light of sun while we still have an advantage."
Viren nodded. "I already have a plan in motion. Soren will lead a team to find their hiding place. They will be guided by a special magical creature I have stored that will be drawn to the elves."
Harrow nodded. "That aside, have you had any luck with your other assignments?"
The dark mage sighed. "Not so much, unfortunately. The Wolf's Bane elixir does make Prince Ezran not as savage when he's transformed, but from my knowledge and experiments, not amount of elixir can cure his curse."
Harrow exhaled through his nose, a habit he had to relieve frustration.
"As for Prince Callum, I have not discovered anything usable."
The King turned to the mage with sternness. "It took you less than a month to find a half-decent treatment for my younger son. And you meant to tell me you cannot do the same for my older son, in over four months?"
Viren took it impassively. "Tragically, Prince Callum's curse is far more obscure. Werewolves were scarce but still existed when humanity was banished from Xadia. But vampires went extinct long before humanity even discovered this continent."
Harrow sighed and resumed his silent contemplation. Pip, his pet songbird, chirped and the king petted him gently.
Then, a thought occurred to him. "Viren, I've never been very educated in the lore of magic or Xadia. That's your purpose here." he took a hand to his bearded chin. "But both curses are controlled by the moon. You once theorized they are some form of Moon Primal magic."
Viren confirmed it with a nod.
A spark of hope struck the King. "What if we can capture one of the elves? Perhaps they could tell what you need to know to help Callum. Possibly even to break the curses altogether!" when he was done, the King was almost smiling.
"Alas, Harrow, that's easier said than done. Truth be told, it's possible but very unlikely. Even if Soren finds them, moonshadow assassins are very skilled and especially elusive fighters. It's likely they would scatter and hide than fight a battle they couldn't win. To make matters worse, if we do corner one of them, they would instantly end their own life than risk being captured."
But the king wasn't deterred. He looked like a man who had been present with a fresh water spring after a day of backbreaking work under the sun. "A small chance is better than no chance! Inform Soren to prioritize capture."
Since becoming a Prince, Callum's routine transformed into a series of responsibilities. Most in the form of lessons that occupied nearly his entire day. Lessons in history were a bore, all about battles with long and needlessly complicated names. Politics and War Strategy weren't much better. But the worst of the lot were lessons in swordsmanship. The instructor of the matter was Lord Viren's son, Soren.
"Good morning, Step-Prince Callum. Today I'll be teaching you the skills you lack on swordsmanship. Hopefully won't take me until I die of old age." and that was why this was the most detestable of all disciplines. Soren never wasted an opportunity to remind Callum of his many, many failings.
Armed with a wooden sword, Callum would attack with a dramatic shout and Soren would parry, block and disarm him every time with little effort. To add insult to injury, the teacher also threw criticism that was equal parts constructive and taunting. The only barely good thing these lessons provided him with were a good outlet for anger and frustration. And since the last four months, Callum had carried a good dose of those around. Still, that didn't mean he enjoyed it.
He was just about to give up when someone else walked up and brightened his mood. Claudia walked by, her attention fixated on a book. Claudia was always a welcomed presence to him.
It was subtle but Callum could tell everyone acted more reserved around him since his curse manifested. The guards eyed him more frequently like they would a prisoner that could lash out at them without warning. Soren, despite his attitude, was cool sometimes, but recently he became harsher in his training, his comments a tad meaner. Plus, he attempted to break up Callum and Claudia whenever he found them together.
"Hey, stop daydreaming, Step-prince." Soren slapped him in the back with enough force to nearly send Callum to the ground. "Maybe if you just focused a little, you wouldn't drop your sword every 5 seconds, Step-prince Fangs."
Callum stiffened. Soren realized his mistake too late. Claudia, who overheard it, put her book down and walked over to them with a grave expression. Callum would have given Soren a death glare hadn't someone else addressed him:
"Prince Callum?"
"What is it?" his words came out like a hiss. It was High Councilor Opeli who remained unfazed by his reply:
"King Harrow wishes to see you and Prince Ezran immediately."
The prince exhaled and departed without another word. Claudia slapped her brother in the back of the head and scolded him in a whisper:
"What was that for?! Calling him 'Fangs', really? What were you thinking?"
"I wasn't, okay!" the brother massaged his head where the sister had slapped him. "It just came out, sorry. But it's still kinda true."
If Soren wanted to infuriate his sister more, he chose the perfect combination of words. She raised her voice, not caring who was listening.
"That's his fault and you have no..."
Aggravated, Soren retorted. "I recall when he first went into Fangs-mode, he tried to bite you!"
"That's not..."
"That's enough!" Opeli's voice cut through the siblings' argument. The pair realized they had a small audience in the form of curious bystanders in the courtyard. Awkwardly, Viren's children made themselves scarce. Opeli turned to where Callum had gone and sighed, feeling for the poor boy.
When the King boisterously announced the two of them would be going to the Banther Lodge for a few days, the princes were immediately suspicious. Disregarding the logical fact that they were in the middle of Spring, the King insisted they would leave for the Winter vacation residence that same night.
"But, if we're leaving tonight, does that mean I don't have to go to the Box?" Ezran's innocent question earned him a shoulder tap by Callum who looked nervously between him and the nobles in the room whom watched the exchange impassively. Harrow also recognized Ezran's near slip-up and hastily ordered the Council member to clear the room, save for Lord Viren.
The princes' curses were known only to the people whom had witnessed them when they first manifested: Lord Viren, Lady Opeli, King Harrow, Claudia, Soren and some soldiers whom were sworn to secrecy. No one else in the entire kingdom was aware their next monarch and his brother turned into monsters, once a month.
Once safe from unwanted ears, Harrow confirmed: "Yes, son. Tonight no 'box' for you." Ezran instantly cheered up.
The 'Box' was the strange term Ezran came up for the secret, lockdown room where Ezran spent his nights of full moon. Ezran disliked it because it felt like a dungeon.
The first time Ezran transformed, he was a bloodthirsty mindless monsters that attacked anything that crossed his path. Fortunately, Viren quickly recreated an ancient recipe: the Wolf's Bane Elixir; before the second full moon. As long as Ezran drank a full flask of it every night before sleeping, when the night of full moon came, he would transform into a tame werewolf. A mindless animal, but not a monster. Better to be an animal than a monster.
The king's tone became serious. "Listen, here's what we will do. You will pack your essentials – and plenty of elixir – and leave for the Banther Lodge before sundown. Keep to the main roads and don't deviate. If you hurry up, you can get there before night."
"But..." Ezran began but Harrow silenced him with a look that allowed no argument. He then turned to Callum.
"Callum, keep your brother safe when you get to the lodge. Lock everything up until the morning."
"I understand." so the plan was to have Ezran go to the transformation at the lodge with just the two of them. In his tame state, Ezran would be virtually harmless and Callum could keep him from escaping outside.
After they exited the throne room, Ezran said:
"Something's up and he's not telling us."
Callum knew that and he felt it wasn't good if the king was sending them away. But the last thing he wanted as to worry his brother.
"I'm sure it's nothing too bad. How I go pack our bags while you think of fun stuff to do while we're at the lodge?"
Ezran shrugged. "Okay, but a dirtman or mudsledding are off the list. How about I bring Zym with us?"
Again, Callum felt prompted to ask who this 'Zym' was, but his brother was already running ahead of him. He shrugged it off.
They passed the courtyard. Ezran was pensive over what to do for fun at the lodge. Callum was not so distracted, though. He overheard Soren's voice coming out of the window to Lord Viren office.
"Moonshadow elves will kill the king."
And just like that Callum's fears became much more grounded.
There you have the first chapter. Please tell me; did I gave too much or too little attention to details? Did I gave too much information for a single chapter? Your feedback and criticism is needed.
DIFFERENCES WITH CANON:
Bait is dead. So sorry but I'm mean like that.
Harrow may seem more bitter, but in reality he's self-loathing. He blames himself for the princes being cursed.
Viren is a bit more cautious when addressing Harrow because the King partly blames him for the curses, since he convinced him to kill Thunder.
Ezran's appetite for jelly tarts is greatly diminished, as his curse replaced it with a taste for almost raw meat.
Ezran's eyes are yellow.
Ezran already learnt Azymondias' name eventhough the dragon hasn't hatched, yet.
Callum's relationship with Harrow suffered an irreparable rift, as Callum blames what happened to his little brother and himself on the King.
Callum's ears are slowly becoming pointy.
Soren's view on Callum also took a hit, because the night he first turned into a vampire, Callum almost bite Claudia. But Claudia, on the other hand, doesn't hold any grudge.
Harrow attempts to capture some of the assassins in hopes of learning more about Callum's curse, which is the more obscure one.
