Rise before sunset by firstamazon

“You are no son of mine.” The king looked at me in disgust.

My mother had pleaded with my father and king to keep their only child alive, disabled though I was. I had been born with legs but was doomed to sit in a chair forever. Forever pitied by my condition.

Oh, and how I hated their pity! I wished I could kill the disgust in my father’s eyes, and rip them off its sockets.

One day I was left to warm my frail bones in the sun, and a tall stranger approached me. I had never seen the likes of him before – inhumanely beautiful, like my granny used to say the White Demons were.

But this one looked like a god.

The stranger stood still by my side. He put a long, elegant hand at the back of my chair as we watched the sun sink behind the dunes. A golden ring glimmered in his finger.

“Do you want more of your life, little prince?” He asked with a voice like silk and looked at me without pity.

I frowned. How did this man – or whatever he was – know my deepest yearnings? Of course I wanted more! Before the words left my lips, he continued as though he had heard my thoughts.

“I can make you hale.”

My heart sped with the prospect. “Even to get out of this chair?”

“And more. I can make you walk again.” He stooped down and looked at me with such intensity my breathing stuttered. “I can make you king.”

I inhaled sharply. “What do I have to do?”

The stranger smiled with the corner of his beautifully shaped mouth – and inside those perilous eyes, I saw the things I had ever longed for.

“Follow me and I will give you everything.”

“You are no son of mine.” The king looked at me in disgust.

My mother had pleaded with my father and king to keep their only child alive, disabled though I was. I had been born with legs but was doomed to sit in a chair forever. Forever pitied by my condition.

Oh, and how I hated their pity! I wished I could kill the disgust in my father’s eyes, and rip them off its sockets.

One day I was left to warm my frail bones in the sun, and a tall stranger approached me. I had never seen the likes of him before – inhumanely beautiful, like my granny used to say the White Demons were.

But this one looked like a god.

The stranger stood still by my side. He put a long, elegant hand at the back of my chair as we watched the sun sink behind the dunes. A golden ring glimmered in his finger.

“Do you want more of your life, little prince?” He asked with a voice like silk and looked at me without pity.

I frowned. How did this man – or whatever he was – know my deepest yearnings? Of course I wanted more! Before the words left my lips, he continued as though he had heard my thoughts.

“I can make you hale.”

My heart sped with the prospect. “Even to get out of this chair?”

“And more. I can make you walk again.” He stooped down and looked at me with such intensity my breathing stuttered. “I can make you king.”

I inhaled sharply. “What do I have to do?”

The stranger smiled with the corner of his beautifully shaped mouth – and inside those perilous eyes, I saw the things I had ever longed for.

“Follow me and I will give you everything.”

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