***
The same night at the King's palace...
Cage Spears stepped out of the shadows of the grand foyer of King Scarlet's mansion. Dante stumbled backward to avoid colliding with him. His eyes narrowed. "How did you get here so fast?" Dante barked.
Cage did not reply. His dark eyes were curiously watchful and uncannily alert. He watched the prince as he swayed in place. Dante lifted a hand to point at him. "Hello, Dante."
"You. I know what you are up to. You're working with the Uprising."
Cage lifted an eyebrow. He looked completely unfazed by the accusation. "You're drunk, Dante. That's ridiculous."
"I saw you in that alley. I know you had rebel papers."
"You don't know what you saw. You can barely stand up."
"I am not that drunk. I know you were there. In the alley with that rebel."
"So what? I was gathering information about the Uprising for your father. I do work for your father. You know that."
He didn't look worried, but he should have. Dante narrowed his eyes. He lurched toward Cage and reached out so quickly, the older man barely saw him move. Dante snatched the corner of glossy black paper from his pocket. He held it up to his eyes. His vision was blurry, but he could see the large, blood red letters emblazoned on the black cover: Scarlet's City of Blood. He waved it in Cage's face.
"Then what is this?"
Cage grabbed at the paper, though his face remained as cold and serene as before. "I have to show that to your father."
"Oh. I'm sure that's what you were going to do with it. What do you think my father would say if he knew you were hiding it?"
"I'm not hiding it. I'm just gathering information. We have to know what we are up against. We have to know how the Uprising are recruiting so we can counter it."
Dante scoffed. "You're lying. You're one of them, aren't you?"
Cage frowned. "Dante, you don't know what you're talking about. You're drunk."
"I'm not that drunk."
"You're imagining things. Go to bed. Sleep it off."
"I am the prince! I won't be spoken to like a child." He glared at Cage. "I am the prince. And you will do what I say, not the other way around."
Cage lifted his chin. "I am your father's man, Dante. Not yours."
Dante smirked. "Not anymore. What do you think my father would say? What do you think he would do to you if I told him I caught you conspiring with a rebel at the Edge?"
"I was not conspiring."
"That's not what it looked like to me. I'm sure I saw you planning something. You might have even given him money to fund the rebellion." He was warming up to the idea. He didn't care if Cage was guilty of working with the Uprising or not. He probably wasn't. It didn't mean he couldn't take advantage of the situation. He wanted to see Cage break. He'd never seen the Noble so much as raise his voice. Dante didn't like a man whose buttons he couldn't push. He held up the pamphlet between his fingers. "And then I found this on you."
Cage narrowed his eyes. Dante was enjoying himself. "What do you want, Dante?"
The prince lifted his chin. "I'm not sure. Not yet. But I will think of something. And you will do it." He tucked the pamphlet into his jacket pocket. "Because I still have this."
"Scarlet will never believe you."
"No? Why not? I'm his son. Besides, you know as well as I that it doesn't matter if you're guilty or not. You know what he does to anyone he thinks might turn on him. You know what this will mean for you." He smirked. "You know where you will end up. You'll do what I say. When the time comes, you'll do exactly what I saw. Like my little lapdog. You're mine now, Cage. I own you."
Cage did not reply to this. His expression did not change as he watched Dante stagger up the stairs. Cage could hear the prince's low, cold laughter echoing even as he disappeared up the stairs.