The Forgotten Prince (Shifter Rebellion, 3)

The Forgotten
Prince

Shifter Rebellion,
3

by

Kelex

M/M/M/M, M/M/M, M/M, ORAL,
ANAL,

BDSM, BONDAGE, &
SPANKING

Twisted Erotica Publishing,
LLC

www.twistederoticapublishing.com

A TWISTED EROTICA PUBLISHING
BOOK

The Forgotten Prince

Shifter Rebellion, 3

Copyright © 2014 by KELEX

Edited by Marie Medina

First E-book Publication: March 2014,
SMASHWORDS EDITION

Cover design by K Designs

All cover art and logo copyright © 2014,
Twisted Erotica Publishing, LLC.

ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED:
This literary work may not be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part,
without express written permission.

All characters and events in this book
are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is
strictly coincidental.

The Forgotten Prince

Chapter One

“
Your Highness, your sons
have been delivered.”

King Stugaati jumped from his seat and
rushed down the ancient corridors of the Xhythrian palace, ready to
meet his first-born children. How many other princes had been born
within these stone walls, ready to inherit the great power of the
kingdom? Pride filled his chest as he stalked the airy paths to his
Queen’s rooms. Stugaati pushed the double doors of the birthing
arena wide, a large smile on his face. Two sons showed his virility
as a man, as twins were rarely born to shapeshifters. He would
proudly show his sons off to his subjects and glory in the
knowledge he would pass his kingdom down to one of his
own.

Queen Myria cuddled one small bundle,
a frown marring her fragile beauty. Another infant screamed in the
arms of a nurse, his lungs strong and hearty. Stugaati smiled at
the nurse and went to gather the kicking bundle into his
arms.

He looked down at his son and felt a
sense of immortality. Stugaati would live on in his children. “We
shall name them Agarri and Aleth, after our fathers.”

Myria was silent as Stugaati looked
down at his boy. A frown came to his face as he witnessed a
star-shaped blot on the infant’s chest. A flaw? “What is this spot
upon the boy-child’s skin?”

One of the nursemaids moved closer,
wringing her apron in her hands. “Is but a birthmark, Your
Highness.”

“
A birthmark? Or ill
omen?” Stugaati stared a moment more. “I must ask my
clerics.”

Myria smiled wanly and gazed back down
at the other infant. She looked troubled. Stugaati moved closer,
his concern growing as he realized the other child had yet to make
a sound.

“
Is he well?
Healthy?”

Myria looked up at Stugaati, her large
eyes and downturned mouth telling him there was definitely
something wrong.

“
Tell me, wife. What is
amiss with our child?”

Myria swallowed, tears shimmering in
her eyes. “He is healthy enough, my lord. But his … hand
…”

“
Yes? What about his
hand?”

The queen fished into the bundle and
lifted one of the child’s arms out. From the wrist down, the skin
was mottled and deformed, the fingers appearing to have fused
together. Stugaati handed the babe in his arms over to one of the
midwives and neared his wife to look at the hand. He took the
swaddled infant from his queen’s arms and looked down at
it.

“
Bring me the captain of
the guard,” he screamed. The babe in his arms didn’t make one
sound. Perhaps he was deaf and mute as well. Only more reason to do
what needed to be done.

Myria let out a whimper. “What are you
doing, my lord?”

Stugaati gazed at her.
“Taking care of our
unfortunate
problem.”

“
Problem?” she cried.
“He’s your
son
,
not a problem.”

Stugaati looked at his wife. “My seed
would never make something such as this. One is deformed and the
other marked by the gods. I wonder who you’ve lain with my
queen.”

Myria’s mouth dropped open as she
stared at him, shocked. Stugaati would never admit to fathering a
freak such as the one in his arms. The other, well, he would have
to keep the little marked bastard around or his subjects could
think him less virile if no child arrived at all. The whole of the
castle city was abuzz with the thoughts of a new prince.
Celebrations were prepared for the moment his queen gave
birth.

Myria drew to her feet, the midwives
trying to pull her back down, claiming she was too weak after the
birthing.

“
I won’t let him kill my
baby,” she cried as the captain of the guard entered the
room.

Stugaati didn’t need to hear her
wailing cries, so he handed the infant over quickly. The sooner
they sent the thing on its way, the better. “Kill it.”

His captain took the babe and gazed
down at it. “Kill it?”

“
No!” Myria screamed, her
screams and cries filling the room and making the healthy child
scream along with her. Yet, the sickly babe still slumbered. Most
definitely deaf and mute. He was doing the child a favor, ending
its ruined life.

King Stugaati looked to his captain.
“I said kill it. It is a freak and does not belong in our
castle.”

The captain stared at the infant in
his arms, his mouth dropping open.

“
Do you have a problem
with my orders, captain?”

The male looked up at his king. “No,
my lord. Right away.”

Stugaati watched as his captain left
the room, the queen’s screams becoming louder and louder as the
moments wore on. He left, unable to handle the woman’s crying any
longer.

He still had one son. That’s all he
truly needed.

And there was still time to get more
babes on Myria. She would have to return to her male form soon, but
once his body healed, he could shift back into the female. Stugaati
would have as many sons as Myria’s body would allow, ones without
deformities.

And when his good, strong sons
arrived, he could kill the marked one, too.

Chapter Two

Eighteen years
later…

Aleth sprinted through the ancient
alleys as he scrambled along the stone path, hugging the basket of
Alician apples close to his chest. He raced away from a merchant,
who screamed behind him, bellowing as he ran. Aleth had
underestimated the portly vendor. The male had shifted into a lithe
runner and ignored the true bulk hidden under the image he
projected. Sweat trailed down the middle of Aleth’s back as he
moved. The heat of the day was near on unbearable.

“
Thief! Thief! Stop
him!”

The cry only propelled Aleth faster.
He wasn’t sure where he’d found the energy. His stomach was so
empty, he didn’t have the fuel for the flight. But he also knew if
he didn’t find food quickly, he’d starve to death. No one cared for
the little beggar with the deformed hand. Kicked and taunted by
beings in the streets, he rarely had any kindnesses shown him.
Either he stole to survive or he died.

He jumped on a pathway and scuttled
under the rails, putting himself into a new alley. As soon as he
landed, he shifted into an old woman and settled in an alcove,
slumping against the wall. Aleth covered his hand in the woman’s
aprons, and hid the apples there as well.

The merchant finally came a few
moments later and shifted back into the stout fellow he’d been in
reality, huffing and puffing, his hands to his knees. “Which way
did he go, hag?”

Aleth scowled at the male. Without
using his head, he lifted the wrong hand to point. Between his
weakened mind and body and the exertion of the chase, his brain
wasn’t as quick as it normally was. The withered flesh of his hand
never shifted, no matter what form he took, and was always a dead
giveaway. It was a weakness that he usually did a better job of
hiding.

The merchant’s eyes grew large as he
looked at the gnarled hand. “Thief!”

Aleth took off running, shifting back
into his own form. He lost two apples along the way, but still
clutched two he had left as best he could. After he whipped around
another corner, he burrowed into one of his hiding spots around the
city. It was small, a tiny hole in the base of one of the city’s
statues, and he barely had the room to push himself inside.
Luckily, he was slender, thanks to the lack of food and
nurturing.

He calmed his breathing and
waited.

When he heard the screaming vendor
rush past, a smile came to his face. More footfalls were with the
merchant’s. Aleth peeked through the slats in his hideaway and saw
some of the castle guard had joined the search for him, but they
all passed his spot. Luck was on his side. After another couple of
moments, he bit into one of his apples and let the juices flow down
his tongue and chin.