《Revenge, Purpose and Other Miscellaneous Things》


 Prologue Part 1: The Prince who Doesn’t Belong

    ¡°Ughhh how long will this go on for?¡± A young boy¡¯s voice full of irritation rang out in the room.


    The teacher he was facing answered matter-of-factly ¡°We are about halfway through this lesson.¡±


    The prince of about 10 years grew even more irritated. He had short bright blonde hair, which was common in the royal family, was about average height for his age, was slender but fit (thanks to the physical training that his family had him do in addition to his education) and had beautiful features that were currently showing an open frown.


    ¡°Why do I have to learn all this stuff anyway? What does it matter how the kingdom came to be 1000 years ago?¡±


    He was currently getting a class on the known history of the Manier Kingdom, the kingdom he is the youngest prince of. It was a lengthy monologue starting all the way back, before the kingdom was founded. The young prince had no desire to learn however. He didn¡¯t really think it was important at all and even if it somehow held some importance, he didn¡¯t care much either way.


    ¡°As a prince of the Manier kingdom it is important you know of your heritage. Whenever you interact with anyone in your official post as prince you have to act in accordance with the proud history of your family. To do that you must first learn your history.¡±


    ¡°What does that even mean? ¡®Act in accordance with the history of my family¡¯? It makes no sense. What my ancient ancestors did has nothing to do with me. More importantly my brothers are way more talented and fit to become king. In the first place I have no intention of even trying, so what kind of official role will I play where this stuff matters?¡±


    ¡°As a prince your role isn¡¯t merely potentially taking over the kingdom as king. You will have to appear at official occasions in the court, help your sibling, whoever might become the next king, rule, sometimes you will have to act as an envoy or maybe even take part in a political marriage. In all of those scenarios it will become important that you are properly educated, so can I go on with the lesson already?¡±


    To be honest the prince wasn¡¯t convinced at all. He didn¡¯t care much about court life. He didn¡¯t want to attend any balls or parties, take part in ruling the kingdom, be an envoy to other kingdoms and most of all he didn¡¯t want to be forced into a political marriage. Those were things his siblings did. They seemed suited to this life, while he only ever ran into hiccups and trouble trying to act royal. Further, if he married, he wanted it to be out of love. He dreamed of meeting a girl somewhere, slowly getting to know each other, falling for each other, not having someone he didn¡¯t know, didn¡¯t like, who likely didn¡¯t like him either, forced onto him. He knew arguing this


    with his teacher would be all sorts of meaningless, she was set in her old ways and wouldn¡¯t budge. In the first place she isn¡¯t the one who decided on political marriages, so even if he did convince her it wouldn¡¯t change anything. It would only tire him out if anything.


    ¡°Yes. I am sorry for interrupting, please continue.¡± He said, barely suppressing his sigh.


    ¡°Thanks, now where was I ¡­.¡±


    The Manier kingdom has existed for a thousand years now and many things happened throughout its history, changing it bit by bit. Going over every single thing that happened and its impact on the Kingdom would be impossible, as well as not the point of this lesson. Instead we will jump forward in time, by about 800 years, when the biggest change to this kingdom - no, the world - happened that still massively dictates what is expected of the Royal family today.


    As I am sure you are aware, in this world there are gifted ones. Able to control fire with their mind, fly in the sky, freeze entire lakes, there are many abilities these people possess from birth. By now, rare as they are, it is common knowledge. However these gifted ones haven¡¯t existed throughout all of history. In fact for the largest part of history no such records were made at all, though many speculate the first king to be one such gifted person, no reliable source was ever able to verify any supernatural feat in this world before a mere 200 years ago.


    On a day like every other, with no warning whatsoever the world started shaking. Shaking so violently that one might fear the world was going to end. But not just the earth was shaking, like usual, even the air itself and the heavens were shaking. Like a violent force daring to rip apart the very world, everything shook.


    It didn¡¯t last very long, just a few moments, but in those few moments much destruction rained down on the world. Cliffs and mountains formed where none stood before, waves washed over shores, buildings collapsed, entire forests got uprooted and many people died.


    To this very day, no one knows what had happened or why it had happened, all we know is that the world had forever changed on that day.


    In the following weeks and months reconstruction was under way. Many towns had collapsed to varying degrees, almost nothing was unharmed. And this confusion and fear spread through the people. For long times, the nation and I am sure the rest of the world as well, was in an almost lawless state. People who¡¯s entire livelihood got destroyed had no other choice but to steal from those who got luckier. And in this chaos something emerged:


    [The gifted ones]


    All of a sudden there were people who could freely wield fire, or ice. Who could fly or breathe underwater, who could run like the wind or lift like a bull. The reaction of the people was varied. Some feared them, some revered them, seeing them as a sign of the gods to help rebuild what was lost and others again hated them, seeing them as demonic beings, no longer human in nature.


    Of course, just like the people around them reacted in all sorts of ways, the gifted ones themselves reacted in all sorts of ways. Between using their powers to help and protect, to using their powers to suppress and steal from their fellow people or simply hiding that they had them in the first place, everything happened.


    With the malicious actions of gifted ones and the newfound uncertainty coming hand in hand with the changes our nation, like many others, was on the brink of complete destruction. In fact many nations, like the one that once stood to the west of the Manier KIngdom did collapse. I believe the royal family in that country had died in the disaster and in the following chaos many malicious gifted ones simply took control by force, forming mercenary-like groups who vied for control of the lands using violence and fear.


    The clashes that followed threw society into long lasting disarray, citizens having to worry for their life, land and loved ones at the hands of supernatural ability wielding madmen at all times. It only concluded in a sense of stability when one particular group gained enough force to fight or intimidate all the others into submission, forming an uneasy, almost nation-like scenario where the strongest gifted one governed the land as its ruler.


    Of course many others didn¡¯t agree with this forceful assumption of power. Gifted ones and unsatisfied, brave common people, who proclaimed this rule had no justification, sprung up many times and challenged the warlord for his position.


    Like that to this very day the western nation remains uneasy, a tradition has formed of the strongest gifted one earning the right to rule by sheer violence, killing the former ruler and attaining his position. To this very day, 200 years later, this is still the case and more often than not the nation is ruled by power hungry madmen. Of course the worse they are, the faster they usually abdicate at the hands of a challenger or sometimes even at the hand of someone they believed to be an ally. All attempts at forming permanent governing bodies have failed.


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    So then why was our Manier Kingdom spared such a grim fate? Why do we enjoy stability, a kind king and peace? It could have easily become even worse then in the west and the common people could be forced into perpetual war just to survive. Why has none of this happened here?


    Wake up!


    The sudden scream brought the prince back to the matter at hand. He had long since stopped paying proper attention. Dreaming of going out to explore the lands and meeting many different people, instead of listening to this dreadful history lesson.


    ¡°I have asked you a question, young prince.¡± The middle aged, female teacher talked with a stern voice.


    "Ah, yes. Uhm¡­¡± The prince acted like he was thinking about the question, while in reality he was trying to recall just what the teacher had said. Finally he gave up and just answered:


    ¡±I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Pay proper attention. I was talking about the day the world shook and the consequent mayhem. More specifically why our nation remained stable, while others didn¡¯t. Do you know why that is?¡±


    The prince thought about it, for real this time. He had heard the question and tried to think about what his family had told him before. Surprisingly however he arrived at an answer that came not from his family, but from a local townsman. It was a story about the ¡°gifted king¡± who led the nation through the chaos 200 years ago.


    ¡°Was it because of the efforts of the king at the time?¡± The prince half asked, half answered.


    "Precisely. It is no exaggeration to say that the gifted King single handedly saved the kingdom from total ruin. When all was in ruin and the gifted ones emerged many people felt lost and hopeless. No one knew who to turn to, who would protect them and help them rebuild what they couldn¡¯t alone.¡±


    The woman took a breath and shook her head before continuing.


    ¡°However, that is no different from all over the world. What was different in the Manier Kingdom is that not a random peasant with newfound powers and delusions of grandeur stepped up to protect the people, but instead the oldest son of the king, who had died in the shaking, emerged as a gifted. He was still young, but had charisma and abilities like an experienced leader. He foresaw that just like him many people would have gained many unexplainable powers and quickly took action.¡±


    The young prince was actually paying attention for once. He was intrigued with this gifted king who even the common people 200 years later still talk about as a great man. What kind of person would he have to be to bring together a destroyed kingdom, full of super powered peasants with all manner of aspirations and common folk who just had their entire livelihood taken from them. He just couldn¡¯t imagine the stories he had heard to be accurate. The many stories made him out to be some sort of unbelievable superhuman. Like how he would personally step in to protect every endangered peasant he met, never losing a single battle, how he formed a platoon full of gifted ones in less than one month and took them around, suppressing any and all threats that arose, be it inside or outside threats, how he would learn and excel at every subject he came across, freely sharing his knowledge with all who asked or how he would personally help with reconstruction once the social turmoil has settled down. Many called him the reincarnation of the first king, who managed to establish the Manier kingdom with nothing but a tribe so small by modern standards it wouldn¡¯t even be a town.


    It all sounded too unbelievable. Especially considering how all the royals the young prince knew were arrogant and stuck up. He couldn¡¯t imagine any of them tilling a field or personally helping a peasant if he tried. The only thing that really stuck it seemed was their strength. Because all his family members were powerful gifted ones, with him being the sole exception, a gifted one who had absolutely no talent for battle.


    The teacher''s speech continued and took him out of his thoughts.


    ¡°He quickly took control of the gifted ones of the kingdom, making use of his charismatic nature to enlist them in his quest for reconstruction, leading and ordering them around the kingdom to soothe the scared population. Once he took control of the social turmoil he began reconstruction, focusing on essentials like living spaces and food for the common people, often sleeping in the fields or even going sleepless to ensure that everything would proceed as quickly as possible. Despite his eccentric nature there is not a single text to be found from that time painting him in a negative light.¡±


    ¡°¡®Eccentric nature?¡¯¡± The prince repeated, showing interest in what the teacher had told him for the first time.


    ¡°Ah well, there are many reports of the king''s behavior from that time that could only be called eccentric. He would frequently try to learn the abilities of different gifted ones, get so lost in thought or training that he would nearly drop from exhaustion, randomly elevate commoners into nobility if he liked them, disregard tradition and proper procedure, appear on royal duty in filthy, unwashed clothes or forget to wash himself. Many such anecdotes are left over, yet despite his at times very clearly not regal conduct no one complained. No one could possibly complain. They were well aware of the fate many other countries and regions had suffered and that he was the only reason they didn¡¯t suffer the same. He lived freely and unpredictably. The last thing that he did as king was similarly bizarre. He crowned his daughter, not his son, at the young age of 20 years old, turning her into the first and so far only queen this kingdom has seen and left the court and royal capital at the young age of 40 years old. That is the last time his name, Renholt Usyl Manier, was heard. No one knows what he did or what happened to him afterwards. Remember his name well.¡±


    Renault Usyl Manier, huh. Somehow I can¡¯t help but doubt the stories about him. With how all the other royalty and nobility are.


    The young prince''s ability was a form of mind reading. A very weak one at that. He could mostly only roughly understand what people were feeling and if he concentrated on it intensely he could get a rough understanding of what someone was thinking about in the form of a concept or picture shooting through his mind.


    Weak as it may be, it was enough for him to understand someone''s nature. For example if someone talked about their children, but he couldn¡¯t feel affection or love from them it was easy to tell they were merely faking it and didn¡¯t actually care about their children all that much. And just like that he had more sombering experiences in the palace than he could care to count, even at his young age.


    Nobility that spoke of helping the common folk, their feelings betraying nothing but twisted ambition, ministers thinking of their greed while talking about funds they need for ¡®reforms¡¯, or knights who spoke of their ¡®duty¡¯ to defend the common people while feeling disgust. No one actually felt what they spoke. Granted not all were equally as bad, but even his siblings and parents, who seemed to genuinely want to help common people, did so out of a sense of arrogance. It took the prince a while to understand that dissonance he felt from them, but when he was 9 it clicked. His family didn¡¯t think of common people as people in the same sense they would their own family. They viewed them as some sort of helpless animal that needed protecting, incapable of making its own decisions.


    That sense of dissonance he felt from all around him disgusted him. It was the reason he quickly started avoiding those around him and those around him started avoiding him in return, not wanting their true feelings read. Only his direct family didn¡¯t avoid him, but it wasn¡¯t like he was particularly close with them either.


    Similarly the teacher standing in front of him in this spacious, almost empty room, radiated a sense of disgust to the young prince. If he cared to look deeper he would probably see that she is comparing him to his more talented siblings, that she thinks he is unworthy of the lineage she so faithfully serves, etc.


    For that very reason the young prince frequently ventured out of the palace, visiting friends he made among the common people. Like the children from the blacksmith in the shopping district. They were honest. At least compared to the people he was usually around. If they said they cared about someone, they usually did. If they said they revered the royals, he actually found respect in them. He couldn¡¯t really reciprocate most of the feelings, but he enjoyed the honesty, and so it happened that he got used to wandering around the town instead of spending time amongst his family and equals.


    Today as well, he was merely waiting for the class to end so he could get out of here and go have fun in the town.


    It seemed like his teacher would still go on for a bit, but nonetheless the young prince, his name Alexander Manier, thought to himself, full of anticipation.


    Where should I go today? Maybe I could visit Mabel from the clothes store? Or I could go play ball with the knight¡¯s children. Either way, I can hardly wait for the lecture to be over!

 Prologue Part 2: The Wandering Sage

    He was a proud old man. With slightly long gray hair, styled back and a full gray beard he was the very picture of an old, wise man. His stern, confident expression coupled with the worn out robe he was wearing over his body would give anyone the impression this man has been through more in his lifetime than a young man could even imagine. Yet he wasn¡¯t relying on a stick to walk. Despite his obvious age the Sage still carried himself like a young, but well trained man; he was strong, fast and precise with every movement.


    This dichotomy between his old appearance and his seemingly healthy body, leaves all who meet him with a weird sense of unnaturalness, that for the people of this world can have only one explanation: He is a gifted one. A person with supernatural powers from birth, someone you shouldn¡¯t annoy, else he might just decide to kill you for no good reason.


    As such all who meet this wandering sage look upon him with respect, fear and curiosity¡­.


    Or perhaps they would if right now he wasn¡¯t slumped over his table, observing the waitress while she is going from table to table, giggling like a young lady in love when her sweetheart is around.


    To explain what happened: The wandering sage had entered this tavern just a small while ago, looking for a place to get a drink. When he entered the tavern those who knew he was in town tensed up, but the majority of people were drunk so they didn¡¯t notice the abnormal old man that just walked in, just continuing their merry conversation amongst themselves.


    The sage himself was focused not on the drink he was originally here to get however, but instead he tried to find the source of a peculiar smell that wafted through the room. It was the first time he smelled this, it was no drink or food he knew, so he got curious what it was.


    He found the source of the smell from the corner of the room. Next to a window there were sitting a few men, who looked to be around 30, wearing casual, but slightly more expensive clothes than most other people. Maybe they are merchants or successful craftspeople? They don¡¯t look like nobility to me. The old man thought to himself.


    More importantly however, he looked around the men to identify the source of the smell. They had drinks and food on the table, but neither smelled like the curious scent the sage had noticed when he entered. He looked to the men themselves and finally found it. One of the three men held a small wooden pipe in hand that was still slightly smoking.


    Whatever was in there was making the weird smell, he was sure of it. Spurred on by his curiosity he trotted over to the three men.


    ¡°Good evening, gentlemen. When I entered I couldn¡¯t help but catch that curious scent from you fellas. Would you be so kind as to tell me what is making that smell?¡±


    The sage spoke to the three men in a polite, yet slightly casual tone. He figured this would probably be best since they didn¡¯t seem like the type to be very high up in the social hierarchy and care about rank or standing, yet he was the one asking for a favor, so he felt it only right to be polite.


    Despite thinking so he only got a wary look back form the three. The one with the pipe answered him.


    ¡°You are not from around here old man, are you?¡±


    ¡°Mhhh? No, I am not. But why did you ask that?¡± The sage was somewhat perplexed.


    ¡°Oh well I didn¡¯t mean to pry, it¡¯s just that this plant I am smoking here is somewhat of a local speciality. Most people around here would know what it is from just one whiff, especially if they lived here for long, so I was just wondering where you are from.¡±


    ¡°Ahhh. No worries, I don¡¯t mind telling you fellas. I am originally from the Manier Kingdom, but it has been a long, long time since I last went there. I left my home to explore the world and traveled all around. Today my journey found me in this town for the first time. I was looking for a place to find some drink and food when I entered here and got intrigued by the smell.¡±


    ¡°The Manier Kingdom? You are quite a way west then. Say, are you traveling alone, old man?¡± Another man spoke up, eyeing him with suspicion, clearly trying to say he doesn¡¯t believe this old man is traveling all alone.


    ¡°Yes, I am. No worries though, I am quite healthy for my advanced age. Before I forget it, my name is Renius. What may I call you three?¡±


    The three looked around at each other for a second, not quite sure if they should trust this random old man. Something seemed off about him, he was too energetic for how old he looked. Nevertheless they nodded to each other and began giving him their names, starting with the one who held the pipe, then the one who spoke up after and lastly the quiet one.


    ¡°My name¡¯s Fred.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Hirt."


    ¡°Greg.¡±


    ¡°Pleasure making your acquaintances, gentlemen. Now Fred, what is it you are smoking there, if you don¡¯t mind?¡±


    No longer having any questions to ask the overly energetic old man, Fred answered.


    ¡°It¡¯s called Wind Plain Grass. It¡¯s a sort of plant that grows around here. When you dry and smoke it, it causes euphoric feelings, so since long ago people in this region liked to use it.¡±


    ¡° ¡®Wind Plain¡¯? Wasn¡¯t that the name of this region?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah. That¡¯s where it got its name from, after all. It only grows around here as far as I know.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense¡­¡± The old man answered with a pondering visage.


    ¡°What you thinking about, old man?¡± Hirt, the second man, interjected from the sides while he was thinking.


    ¡°Oh well, I was just wondering if I should get some of that grass. I¡¯d like to try out that ¡®euphoric¡¯ feeling.¡± The old man spoke curiously.


    The men looked at each other once more and then slightly laughed.


    ¡°Is something the matter?¡± The old man asked politely.


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    This time Fred answered again. ¡°No, no, nothing. It¡¯s just odd to see an old man like you so innocently wonder about this. Like a young boy curious to try his first drink. Quite the mismatch.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I get that a lot. No matter how old I get, I don¡¯t seem to lose that sense of wonder I felt as a young lad. Not that I mind that, it keeps life interesting as far as I am concerned. There is so much to explore in this world after all. ¡°


    ¡°Can¡¯t say I relate, old man, I¡¯ve been living my whole life here on the Plains, but you know what, I like you. You can have my Wind Plain grass. Here."


    Fred offered the old man his wooden pipe. The grass had since stopped smoking, but there was still quite some green matter in the head. The old man looked slightly taken aback at the sudden offer, but nonetheless accepted it.


    "Thank you, young man.¡± Renius said after a slight pause, shocked at the stranger''s kindness. ¡°How much would this cost me?¡±


    ¡°Ah, don¡¯t worry about paying me back. I grew that stuff myself anyhow.¡±


    Renius eyed his newly obtained item with great interest. He put it close to his nose to smell it, observed it from close up and even spun the pipe around a few times, maybe looking for patterns on the wood.


    Before bringing it to his lips however, he once again asked the three men something.


    ¡°I know you were just smoking it openly, but just in case I want to ask. I am not going to get myself into trouble by smoking this here, am I? I had enough run-ins with guards in my time.¡±


    Fred, amused by the Sages'' exhausted tone when speaking about his past, answered laughingly.


    ¡°No. This whole region, from as far west as the Wind Plains to as far east as the Manier Kingdom is ruled by a Gifted One that goes by ¡®Venom¡¯. This ¡°kingdom¡±, if you can call it that, has long since been led by whoever kills the former ruler and as you might imagine a Gifted One that rules by force doesn¡¯t exactly care about narcotics and the like. If anything, that guy imports them himself¡­.¡±


    Fred looked like he had something more to say, but held his tongue. It wasn¡¯t a smart idea to so openly criticize their flippant lord.


    After stopping himself, he started again, this time on a different topic.


    ¡°Anyway, around here no one would look at you weird for it to begin with. It¡¯s been part of our culture for who knows how many hundreds of years here on the Wind Plains. So go ahead and try it out, but be careful. It might not look it since I am used to it, but that stuff is quite strong.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the warning, young man, I¡¯ll be sure to enjoy it in moderation.¡± Renius thanked the young man. After which he didn¡¯t waste much time in putting the pipe to his mouth.


    ¡°Ah I don¡¯t think it¡¯s burning anymore, old ma-¡± Fred interjected, but suddenly went quiet.


    Before their very eyes Renius hadn¡¯t wasted a single second to bring his index finger on his left hand up to the head of the pipe and produce a small light from his finger. He wasn¡¯t carrying any tool to light a fire on him, neither was this a trick. The young men all saw it. A fire appeared from the old man¡¯s finger, lighting the grass on fire, smoke being sucked into the pipe by the old man¡¯s mouth.


    All three stopped. Eyes wide, they all stopped moving, sitting still as can be. The shock on their faces was visible and their minds went blank. Fred was the first to regain his composure and he recalled. The unease he felt from the man when he first walked in. Now it all made sense to him, this old man was a Gifted One. A person who could probably kill everyone in this tavern without batting an eye if he felt like it. A person who, if you believed the stories about Gifted Ones, was turned insane by his powers and would lash out at anything that annoyed him. An existence that meant nothing but fear and uncertainty for common men like Fred and his friends.


    Fred spoke weakly, his voice audibly shaky: ¡°Ol- Sir Renius, I didn¡¯t know you were a Gifted One. I hope we haven¡¯t offended you in any way.¡±


    Renius only sighed. He seemed to have been through this sort of interaction many, many times.


    ¡°I guess I am, yeah. No need to be on edge though, friends. I am just an old man asking you for a favor. I was not planning on harming anyone, even if you refused me.¡±


    ¡°Is- is that so?¡± Fred gulped. It was so loud and obvious that Renius couldn¡¯t help but sigh once more. ¡°Then may I ask what you came here for, sir Renius?¡±


    ¡°Like I said, I am just traveling through. I will not hurt anyone and I won¡¯t destroy anything, you really don¡¯t have to be so on edge around me, young man.¡±


    Renius tried his best to assure the three that he would not be a danger to anyone, to little avail. Fred was visibly shocked and cold sweat was forming on his forehead, but he was at least still talking. The other two looked a lot worse than him.


    Sighing one last sigh, Renius spoke up: ¡°Alright then, I¡¯ll give this back and leave you fellas alone. Just please don¡¯t make a scene about me, I am not in the mood to deal with that and I am planning to leave soon anyhow.¡±


    Renius tried to offer back the smoking pipe, but Fred merely shook his head.


    ¡°No, no you can keep that. We wouldn¡¯t wanna ruin your mood, now would we? Boys, let¡¯s go home, I bet our families are waiting for us to come home, r-right?¡±


    ¡°Hmm.


    ¡°Y-yeah.¡±


    Before Renius had the chance to interject, the other two, Hilt and Greg, gave answers. All three stood up, left the pay on the counter and immediately left the building, leaving Renius alone with their pipe and Wind Plain grass.


    I have dealt with this more times than I can count now, but it still gets me down somewhat. I wonder what kind of experiences the people here have made with Gifted Ones for them to react like that¡­


    Renius thought to himself.


    Well, no need to fret over it. As long as they don''t tell the guards it should be fine. And now for this here


    Renius brought his attention back to the pipe in his hand. He sat down at an empty table and started smoking the grass, anxious when it would finally show its effect.


    But Renius had completely forgotten the young man¡¯s warning over the sudden turn in mood and smoked the whole rest of it in quick succession, thus bringing us back to the present.


    Renius had majorly underestimated the effects of this grass and was now slumped over the table, barely able to follow the waitress¡¯s movements with his eyes, giggling like a little girl.


    He couldn¡¯t really hold a conscious thought for too long and felt nothing but that euphoric feeling that was promised to him. Quite frankly it was pretty pleasant, but he realized he had overdone it. Every time he realized he was hungry he internally swore to order food and drink from the waitress when she walked by him, yet every time it actually came to that he merely giggled and forgot to speak up.


    By now he was getting weird stares from the people in the tavern, but he was way too out of his mind to realize that. And so another hour had passed.


    Renius¡¯ mind was starting to clear up a bit and he finally managed to actually place his order, roasted cow and a salad. For his drink he got a weak ale, he didn¡¯t feel like getting drunk on top of the high he was already experiencing.


    He eagerly ate his meal and drank his ale, to finish barely in time for a bunch of armored men to walk in. They looked like guards and were all carrying a spear. Renius, even in his befuddled state, immediately understood what was going on. Fred and his friends had told the guard and they decided to confront this stray Gifted One. It happened to him all too many times in the past. Recently his experiences with being a Gifted One had become somewhat more pleasant overall as more and more places started accepting them, but this place still seemed awfully afraid of them.


    He quietly and quickly activated an ability that erased him from other people¡¯s perception and made his way to the back exit, as the guards were searching the room and making a ruckus, screaming about ¡®where the Gifted One¡¯ went.


    Man, what a way to kill my mood. Guess this place is a no-go for me, huh? I wonder what happened to the people here to make them so afraid of us. Guess I¡¯ll try to figure that out next. In which case I should probably head to the capital, right? After that I could continue east and visit my home again. How much has the Manier kingdom changed since I last lived there? I am getting excited! Oh, but before I forget it, I have to get myself some of that Wind Plain grass before I leave this place, that stuff was great!


    Renius thought to himself as he made his way outside, once again resuming his travels.

 Prologue Part 3: The Siblings’ Life

    ¡°brother, brother, I am done here.¡± A small girl cheerfully called out to a young man, running across the brown and yellow field with a sickle in hand.


    When she approached the young man, he stood up and looked in the direction of the young girl, contrary to the cheerful young girl he seemed exhausted and was sweating lightly, when the girl came within a few steps of him however, his tired expression vanished, replaced by a smile of his own.


    ¡°Don¡¯t run like that with the sickle. You could end up hurting yourself or me if you trip.¡± He reprimanded her in a light tone, no anger whatsoever showing in his face.


    The girl didn¡¯t react much at first, but when she heard him say she might hurt her brother, she looked apologetic and dropped the sickle next to her in the dirt.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, brother, I don¡¯t want to hurt you.¡± She looked to the ground while speaking. Suddenly jerking her head up when she felt a touch on her head. It was her brother''s hand, patting her on the head. She could see him look down at her with a gentle expression.


    ¡°I¡¯m not mad. I know you don¡¯t want to hurt me, that¡¯s exactly why you need to be careful when holding sharp things, remember that.¡± The boy stopped for a second, looking to the place where she was just working with the sickle, the ground covered in bundles of wheat, before looking back to her. ¡°You¡¯re already done, huh? Good job. But is this not too much for you? You¡¯re still so young after all.¡± He praised her and worried for her in the same breath, while still patting her head.


    Perhaps happy at his praise, or perhaps happy that he worried for her, or perhaps both, the girl giggled and spoke enthusiastically:¡± Not at all! I know that brother is always worrying about whether we will make it through the winter or not, even eating less to make sure I get enough food. I want to help you too. I am old enough!¡± She ended on a somewhat forceful note, her honest desire to help clear to anyone who would hear her.


    Somewhat perplexed at the forceful declaration, her brother looked back and forth between the large amount of wheat on the ground and his little sister. ¡°Well, it¡¯s true that you did a good job and you don¡¯t seem all too exhausted either, but you are barely 8 years old, it definitely isn¡¯t normal for you to be doing such demanding work already, plus you are a girl, you should leave the heavy work to me. Although I can definitely use your help if I am being honest¡­¡± His voice trailed off at the end and she couldn¡¯t clearly make out what he said, but she could hear him sigh lightly.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how young I am or that I am a girl! I want to help you with your work.¡± The girl said, not giving up despite her big brother''s concerns.


    "Fine" The boy said with resignation in his tone. ¡°It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t appreciate it, so thank you. BUT you have to promise me to be careful with the sickle and to tell me when it gets too hard for you, okay? You shouldn¡¯t have to worry about work yet at your age.¡± He took a serious tone, scolding her.


    The girl however only happily nodded as if she only heard the first sentence of her brother¡¯s speech.


    ¡°I love you brother, I promise I will be careful!¡±


    Somehow I get the distinct feeling she didn¡¯t actually listen to a word I said¡­ But she¡¯s happy, so it¡¯s fine I guess. The brother thought to himself.


    ¡°I love you too. Now thankfully it doesn¡¯t look like it¡¯ll rain any time soon and it¡¯s pretty warm and dry, so let¡¯s leave it to dry for a night. Tomorrow we will have to start threshing it, that could take a while, so we will need to get plenty of sleep today.`` The young man said as he looked at the sun that had slowly started setting while they were working.


    ¡°But I am not tired yet! I can still work some more.¡± The girl protested.


    ¡°Sleep is important to grow up healthy. Even if you aren¡¯t exhausted you should always try to get a good night''s sleep. Besides, even if you don¡¯t need it, I do. I am through for the day. So let¡¯s go home. I will make us some dinner.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡±


    The two picked up their tools and made their way from the fields to a wooden house standing some few paces away from the field. Their field wasn¡¯t particularly big as there were only the two of them to take care of it. Even if they somehow prepared more ground, which was close to impossible for the two of them since they had no horse or other animals to help with the work, they wouldn¡¯t be able to tend to much larger fields anyhow and it would all go to waste, so they contended themselves with what they had. Producing just enough to survive, occasionally getting help from their fellow villagers when their own supplies ran out. In exchange they would help the other families when they had time to spare. It was a peaceful, uneventful life. The worst thing that happened around them were wild animals eating their produce or someone falling ill. And by a stroke of luck their field had never had any major damages and the big brother could not even recall ever seeing his little sister sick. So in some way they could count themselves lucky, he thought.


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    They arrived at their house and entered without saying any word and neither did they hear any words from inside the house. The two siblings, Brother 18 years old, his little sister only 8 were living in this house alone.


    Their parents had died maybe 6 winters ago, before the little girl could remember, from an illness. The, at the time still baby was perfectly healthy, but everyone else was sick. The young boy had an easier time of it than his two parents, perhaps because he was still young, he thought. But ultimately he didn¡¯t know why. The only thing he knew was that he and his little sister had survived, while their parents both died. Before his mother passed away she tasked him with taking care of his infant sister, as he was the oldest and only son of the family. His father was already too weak to speak by then, barely clinging onto life. A few days later both died. They died in their sleep so they likely didn¡¯t suffer much in the end, but that was a small comfort for the boy suddenly all alone with a baby.


    He cried many tears the following days and his little sister, distraught by the lack of parents and the instability of her brother, followed suit. Seeing her cry, unable to do anything except wail, he remembered his mothers words, he had to take care of her. Of course he would have tried to do so anyhow, after all she was his only family left, but he did consider asking other families to raise her, since he felt overwhelmed with the whole situation. But remembering that it was not only his wish, but also his mothers last wish that he take care of her, he steeled himself.


    He stopped crying, instead moving his parents out of the house, after comforting his little sister. He couldn¡¯t keep the bodies in the house, lest they all get sick. Noticing the situation of their neighbors, some villagers offered to help. A few more people in their village had caught the disease and died, so they made one big bonfire and burned the bodies of all the dead in it. After that  they buried the bones. This was the last time he would cry in front of his sister, he told himself. He would have to be strong from now on, for both their sakes, until his sister could lead her own life.


    And so they survived, just the two of them in the house their parents had left them. Of course they got plenty of help from their neighbors and friends, some having lost their children recently, treating them as a sort of substitute, others simply helping out of goodwill and others again helping with the intention of making the boy work for them once he grew up a bit more. But no matter what anyone said, he wouldn¡¯t give away his sister. He stayed with her, raising her, vowing to give her all the love and affection or at times, if necessary, discipline that her parents would have given her. So they lived their lives, close as can be as each other''s only family until now.


    We¡¯ve come a long way, huh. I still remember when she was too young to even stand and now she is helping me with the field work.  He reminisced about the past while cooking a simple soup.


    ¡°How long will dinner take?¡±


    His sister''s impatient question took him out of his thoughts and back into the present moment.


    That¡¯s right, she may be able to help me out now, but she is still far from independent, I still got a long way to go. No time to look to the past.


    ¡°It won¡¯t take long. I am almost done. Could you get the dishes out already?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± The little girl walked to the kitchen where her brother was cooking and opened the wooden cabinet. It was low enough that even she could open it, so she could at the very least bring out the dishes. She took the wooden bowls and spoons and placed them on their dinner table. Then she sat back down and waited again.


    ¡°Is it ready now?¡±


    "I''m about ready. Did you wash your hands before coming in?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡±


    His sister''s reaction told him all he needed to know.


    ¡°Go outside and wash your hands, when you come back the food will be ready.¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t wanna. Why do I even need to to begin with?¡± She pouted.


    ¡°It¡¯s important to wash your hands before eating, or else you will get sick.¡± Her brother scolded her.


    ¡°But I never got sick before!¡±


    ¡°Well then we should keep it that way, wouldn¡¯t you agree?¡± He laughed lightly.


    His little sister was smart for her age, so even if she pouted because she didn¡¯t want to, she would understand why he said what he said and ultimately go along with it. And just like he expected, she stood up with a ¡°fine¡± and went to the well to wash her hands. In the meantime he finished the meal. It wasn¡¯t a rich or delicious meal, but it would keep them fed.


    The two ate their dinner, cleaned up and got ready for bed. Tomorrow would be another hard day, full of sweat and worry for their future, even worse soon tax season would arrive and they had to give a good chunk of their already small produce away. Even so, the two were happy. They had each other to care for. As far as they were concerned that was all they needed to be content, all they needed to brave their anxiety-filled days.


    And so, another fulfilling day ended for the siblings who had no one else left: Mira and her big brother Caleb.

 Chapter 1: A normal, happy day for the two.

    I opened my eyes. I was still laying in my bed, even though the sun had already come up by now; I must have overslept. Today my brother and I will finish threshing the wheat we harvested a few days ago, so I got out of bed and went to look for him.


    "Brother? Brother?¡± I called out to him, but I didn¡¯t get a response. I went and looked all around the house, but he wasn¡¯t anywhere to be found. I guess he must¡¯ve already gone outside then.


    I got dressed and went outside and sure enough there he was, threshing the wheat. He was tall and slender - we didn''t eat enough to get fat after all - and had the same gray hair as me, only that his was short, while mine was a bit longer than shoulder length. His eyes were brown and he had a gentle looking face.


    By comparison I was short and the other children in the village always said I had a mean look on my face, completely opposite to my brother. But my hair and eye color were the same and no one else in the village had gray hair, so we clearly belong together.


    ¡°Ah good morning Mira.¡± My brother called out to me when he noticed me.


    ¡°Good morning big brother. I see you are already working without me.¡± I said with a pouty face.


    ¡°Forgive me. I didn¡¯t want to wake you up early since you¡¯ve been working hard recently.¡±


    This harvest season was the first I started helping my brother out on the field. I was still only 8 years old and never worked before, but I wanted to help my brother who took care of me all this time instead of our parents. So I decided I would help him with farm work. I already helped him harvest and thresh the wheat over the last week and was eager to help him today as well, but I overslept.


    And my brother seemed to think it¡¯s still too early for me to work, so he didn¡¯t wake me up to help, even though I kept telling him I was fine. He¡¯s so overprotective, sometimes it annoys me. I wanna take care of him too!


    ¡°You should¡¯ve woken me up to help! I am gonna join you now, if we keep the pace from yesterday we will be done today.¡±


    ¡°Did you already eat breakfast, Mira?¡± My brother asked.


    ¡°We can do that later, for now I wanna help you.¡±


    ¡°A growing girl needs to eat, Mira. Else you won¡¯t grow taller. How about this? I will let you help out after you eat breakfast and don¡¯t forget to wash your hands and face.¡±


    ¡°Okay, deal!¡± I smiled at my brother and took off.


    I went to wash my hands and face first as quickly as I could and then scarfed down the meal my brother had prepared. I barely even chewed and choked on my food once or twice, but I was eagerly trying to get it done, so there was no time to waste on things like chewing!


    Once I was down I put the dishes away and sprinted outside. Threshing the wheat wasn¡¯t easy, as my brother said, but helping him out and having him praise me for it was the greatest way to spend my days I could imagine, so no way I would get tired of it.


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    I arrived outside and my brother gave me an exhausted look, clearly not expecting me back so quickly.


    ¡°Did you eat that all in one bite? Are you a human or a bear? Sometimes I can¡¯t believe you.¡± My brother sighed a bit, but his eyes didn¡¯t look annoyed at all.


    ¡°I hurried so I could join you.¡± I answered


    ¡°I could tell, just make sure you properly chew your food, okay? I wouldn¡¯t want you choking and passing out, especially not when I¡¯m not around.¡±


    Remembering that I did choke on my food and barely got it down while eating, I couldn¡¯t exactly refute him, so I just nodded my head. But what shall I do when he¡¯s out working without me and doesn¡¯t even wake me up. If you think about it this is actually his fault. Yeah, that¡¯s right.


    Or so I convinced myself to not feel guilty about his bullseye worry.


    ¡°Alright then, come and join me. There is still plenty of work to be done here.¡± My brother changed gears and invited me to help.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I followed suit and enthusiastically answered him, before I got down to work and spent a big part of the ensuing day threshing the wheat with my brother.


    ____________________________________________________________________________


    We worked through the day, taking small breaks occasionally and finished threshing our wheat in the evening when the sun started setting.


    ¡°Whew, we¡¯re finally done. "Good job, Mira.¡± My brother patted my head while speaking.


    He sounded really exhausted, but glad at the same time. I wasn¡¯t really as exhausted as he was, but I was also glad to be done with the work, well, glad to be of help to my big brother.


    ¡°What do we do with the weed now?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°We? Nothing. Our job here is done. The wheat berries will now be ground into flour that can be used to bake bread and other things, but we don¡¯t have to do that by hand. That¡¯s what happens in the mill down the river.¡±


    My brother was referring to a water mill that stood at the edge of our village. It was next to a small river that this village was apparently built around, or so my brother told me.


    ¡°So what do we do next?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°For one, we have to carry the weed to the watermill, after that I guess I will chop some firewood for the winter, but I don¡¯t think you can help me with that. Chopping wood is a bit too difficult for you.¡±


    I could feel my pouty face come back when he said I couldn¡¯t help him with his work.


    ¡°Why not? It can¡¯t be that much harder than the wheat harvest.¡± I complained.


    ¡°I am afraid it is. The ax alone is probably too heavy for you to handle, let alone actually chopping the wood. But that might change once you grow up. So for now your job will be: eating properly, resting properly and playing, so that you grow up quickly and healthily, then we can talk about it again. Think you can do that, Mira?¡±


    ¡°Fine¡­¡± I wasn¡¯t really convinced but could tell he wouldn¡¯t give up on this, so I dropped it. I will simply have to wait another year and then ask him again!


    ¡°Good girl. Now, let¡¯s get inside. I will make dinner. Oh and before I forget it, the tax collector from the capital should arrive soon, so we have to separate out our tax from the wheat. I guess it¡¯s gonna be one tenth of our harvest as before, but we can do that tomorrow. For now let¡¯s just relax.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± I smiled at him as I followed him inside. That evening we celebrated being done with the work and my brother made a bit more food than normally. It was all delicious!


    I went to bed feeling good that day, falling asleep quickly. The next morning; or maybe it was already midday? Anyway, the next day I woke up to a commotion outside. It sounded like a bunch of people arguing and I could also hear my brother in the mix, though he wasn¡¯t as agitated as the rest of the voices.


    I guess I will go out and investigate what¡¯s going on.

 Chapter 2: A Normal, Unhappy Day For the Prince

    I am Alexander Manier, third prince of the Manier kingdom and third in line for the throne. Or so my teacher has instructed me to introduce myself when meeting someone, but quite frankly it¡¯s a hassle.


    I¡¯m just Alex. Sure, I happened to be born into the royal family, but I don¡¯t want any part of that life. Me being a royal is nothing more than dumb luck, it¡¯s not some obligation I have to fill or a purpose to pursue. At least that¡¯s what I decided.


    I don¡¯t fit into that life anyway. Royals in Manier are expected to be powerful gifted, who can lead the country from the top down, regardless of what the commoners think. I don¡¯t fulfill either of those expectations, I am not powerful and I can¡¯t bring myself to lord over people just because of my birth, something that my siblings and other nobles I meet seem to have no problem with, given that I can feel their true feelings.


    Right, that¡¯s my ability. I can read people¡¯s feelings, if I dig deeper I can also kind of understand what they are thinking, but that takes a conscious, strained effort. It¡¯s not a strong ability; it won¡¯t let me protect people or fight for my country like my siblings could, but it does let me see people¡¯s true character. Something that I¡¯ve grown all too sick of.


    Because of this ability I am not only unfit for what¡¯s expected of a royal here in Manier, but I also constantly get bombarded with their greed, their disgust, their arrogance and all those dishonest feelings they don¡¯t admit to openly. As a result I¡¯m spending less and less time in the castle, sneaking out whenever I can to go play around with children in the capital. The commoners are, while not all of them, in general much more honest and warmhearted. They care about one another and don¡¯t think themselves superior by birthright or something absurd like that.


    So today like many other days I am currently on my way to play around. My goal is a local blacksmith shop. That''s where the siblings Sam and Tim live, who I recently made friends with.


    I arrived at the door. From inside I can hear the clang of metal hitting metal so I guess their father is in at least.


    I walked up and loudly knocked on the door a few times. I could hear the clanging from inside stop and a person walk up to the door. The man who opened the door was tall and muscular. He had a rough look about him, but smiled at me.


    ¡°Ahh Alexander. I take it you¡¯re here to meet Tim and Sam?¡± He asked me.


    ¡°Yes I am. Can they come out to play?¡± I asked him. I might be a prince but this man doesn¡¯t know that and I am the one knocking on his door, so I am trying my best to stay polite.


    ¡°Of course. As a matter of fact they are already outside. Just walk around the smithy.¡± He said softly.


    ¡°Okay, thank you.¡± I smiled and thanked him.


    He waved and closed the door. Soon I could hear the sound of smithing resume from inside the workshop. I didn¡¯t wait around long though, instead making my way around the house.


    There in the backyard I found Tim and Sam sitting around next to a tree. When they saw me they both jumped up.


    "Alexander! You came around today!¡± Tim replied. He was more outgoing than his brother, though that doesn¡¯t mean Sam was shy by any means. Both were fairly social only that Tim was a lot more energetic about it.


    ¡°Of course I would. I promised that we would go explore today, didn¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s just that we waited so long we thought you wouldn¡¯t show up.¡± Sam replied this time.


    ¡°Ahh yeah sorry. It took some time to finish up with my family stuff.¡± I apologized.


    ¡°Must be rough to be the heir to a company like that.¡±


    ¡°Haha, yeah it is.¡±


    I told them that I was the heir to a merchant company and that my family was educating me in the ways of trade. I don¡¯t feel good about it, but I didn¡¯t want them to know that I am a royal and start treating me differently. Knowing that they fully believe me and actually feel bad about my made up story makes it even worse, but I fear losing them as friends once they find out, so here we are.


    ¡°Anyway, let¡¯s go!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go!¡±


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    ¡°Sure!¡±


    Last time we all played we promised we would go exploring the city today. So now our plan is to reach the east gate, since we are on the east side of the city, and come back here! I¡¯m really excited to see the city for myself, since my family never lets me set foot outside on my own. I wonder what we¡¯ll see.


    ______________________________________________________________________________


    We made our way through the city, observing the many sights on the way. We met a lot of animals, like cats, dogs and rats, saw a lot of different stores selling all sorts of things, from clothes to food and met a lot of people.


    On our way I tried my best however to stay out of sight. If the soldiers patrolling saw me they¡¯d probably recognize me and take me back by force. Worst case scenario they¡¯d hurt Tim and Sam, so I did my best to stay hidden. Tim and Sam, though I am not sure they knew why I was hiding, followed suit and it kinda turned into a game of staying hidden all the way to the gate.


    By the time we finally made it to the huge city gate the sun was already past it¡¯s peak. All three of us looked up at the huge gate in awe.


    ¡°Woah! It''s so big.¡± Tim said.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s easily 3 times as big as our house.¡± Sam echoed his brother''s amazement.


    I on the other hand had seen even bigger buildings up close before. Namely, the castle that I was living in, so it didn¡¯t feel all that special, but coming here on my own, with friends that genuinely cared about me felt special.


    Every time in the past I came here to leave the city it was on some official business with my family. Being surrounded by people who speak the opposite of what they think. It wasn¡¯t very pleasant, but this time I could feel nothing but amazement and wonder from the people I was here with, it¡¯s refreshing.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong Alex?¡± Tim looked over to me.


    ¡°Oh nothing, I was just lost in thought at the sight.¡±


    ¡°I get it.¡± Sam said.


    Suddenly while looking at the gate I had an idea. We already made it all this way, how about we sneak our way out of the city, is what I thought, after all the guards weren¡¯t always paying attention, half the time they were just dozing off anyway.


    ¡°Hey, I got an idea. What about going outside the city? Seeing the wilderness beyond it by ourselves?¡±


    They both looked a bit uncomfortable at this suggestion and I could feel unease coming from them.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know Alex. Our father wants us to be back before it¡¯s dark and it¡¯s already well past noon.¡±


    ¡°Yeah and what if something happens while we are outside?¡±


    Both protested. I could feel that both didn¡¯t like the idea of disobeying what their father told them, as well as a bit of fear at what might happen outside of city walls.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to follow me, but I will go outside.¡±


    I made up my mind to go outside by myself, without my family telling me what to do, telling me how to act, all the while actually looking down on me. I will get away from it all, if only for a day. Of course my friends didn¡¯t feel the same way. They liked their life, liked their father and like their home. They had no reason to want to join me aside from curiosity I guess, but I could clearly feel that being overshadowed by the anxiety, so I won¡¯t force them into it.


    ¡°That sounds dangerous Alex. What will your family think if you aren¡¯t back by evening?¡± Tim worried.


    ¡°Screw what my family thinks. And besides, what do you think will happen? Do you think I will get eaten by a wolf just cause I am outside for a hour or two?¡±


    ¡°No¡­. but still¡­¡± Tim still wasn¡¯t convinced.


    ¡°Look, I am not asking you to join me if you don¡¯t want to. You can just go back home and tell your father that I went home as well, okay?¡± I interrupted him.


    ¡°Alright then, Alex.¡± This time Sam answered. I could tell he wasn¡¯t fully on board, but didn¡¯t want us to argue. Sam is a good guy. ¡°We¡¯ll go home, but please be careful.¡±


    Silenced by his brother¡¯s sudden declaration Tim didn¡¯t say anything more. They waved me goodbye and told me to be careful on my way back. Their father had told them that some bad people were apparently walking around their neighborhood at night. I took their genuine worry and made my way to the gate.


    The huge stone gate had two soldiers stationed at each side who kept watch of who entered and left the city. They would no doubt recognize me if I just walked out like that and I don¡¯t want that. Maybe they¡¯d let me through if I told them to, but then my family would no doubt catch wind of this, so instead I waited around for a carriage I could hide in.


    A lot of merchants with various goods came in and out of the city all day long - it¡¯s the capital after all - and some of them have carriages with roofs that I can hide in. I waited around until I found one of those carriages with a driver who wasn¡¯t paying attention and hopped on in.


    There were mostly clothes in here. I suppose the merchant is one of those that sells special produce from around the country in the capital and then buys things like clothes and accessories from the capital to sell them as ¡®the latest fashion¡¯ from the capital. Can¡¯t say I ever had an interest in fashion, since my family always tells me what to wear though.


    The merchant himself was an older man. He probably has been doing this for many years now and sure enough when my ride made it to the gate the soldiers gave him one quick look and then waved him through with a ¡°Be careful on your way¡±, so my now bumpy ride continued outside the capital wall. After a handful of minutes I carefully looked over the edge of the carriage to make sure that I was far enough from the capital that the guards wouldn¡¯t just spot me immediately and jump out.


    I don¡¯t know if someone saw me when jumping out or if the merchant noticed, but I quickly made my way to a nearby hill to get a good look over my surroundings, before the sun set.


    __________________

 Chapter 3: The Last Normal Day for the Siblings.

    Growing increasingly curious as to what was going on outside, I hurriedly got clothed and went outside to confront the source of the noise. Outside I saw my brother standing around with a bunch of the village adults. To the right side of my brother there was Bert, a middle aged man with a full black beard in his face. He was a farmer just like us and had his own fields not too far from ours. Next to him was his wife Maria, their child, who was two years older than me, didn¡¯t seem to be here though.


    To his left I could see another village couple. A relatively small, but muscular, man named Thomas and his wife Kira. They were a bit older and had three children, the oldest being roughly my brother''s age, the youngest being a year younger than me. I could only see their oldest son around though. The man they were all currently facing was the village chief.


    The village chief, his name Dennis, was a bit on the older side, but not old enough to be completely bald yet. He was kind, but strict when he had to be and knew a lot about life here, so the village decided to install him as our chief, or so my brother told me.


    When I got closer to them I could hear Thomas speaking.


    ¡°I am not in favor of sending my Luke. This is all too suspicious. What the hell do they want from us, anyway?¡±


    The old village chief answered him.


    ¡°I am also getting nothing but a bad feeling from this, but we can¡¯t deny the knights. Especially not those on order of the king.¡±


    ¡°Those savages can hardly be called ¡®knights¡¯ and this ¡®king¡¯ is anything but that.¡± Maria, the housewife, spat out.


    Her husband, though he clearly echoed the sentiment in secret, reprimanded her.


    ¡°Not so loud dear, those knights are still in the village and by the gods we know they aren¡¯t exactly the friendly kind.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± I walked up behind my brother and asked loudly.


    All the people gathered, some I didn¡¯t properly identify at first, turned to look at me, including my brother.


    ¡°Did we wake you up Mira? I am sorry, but we are discussing something important here, you can go back to bed for now.¡±  My brother said.


    He seemed a little tense.


    ¡°What are you talking about? I wanna know.¡± I was curious why everyone looked so serious and what that bit about knights was.


    ¡°It¡¯s not important. The tax collectors just had a bit of a weird demand, but you don¡¯t have to concern yourself with it.¡±


    ¡°But now I wanna know.¡±


    ¡°Listen, Caleb, this isn¡¯t helping, could you maybe just take her away real quick, so we can finish this discussion?¡± The village chief said.


    ¡°Alright.¡± My brother turned from the village chief to me.


    ¡°Mira, come along now let¡¯s go back inside real quick.¡± He gestured for me to follow and I did quickly. I am not good at talking to the other villagers at all.


    Inside he squatted down to my eye level before talking.


    ¡°Listen, Mira the tax collectors just want someone to go with them to the king and no one really wants to do that. So we are discussing who will do it. It¡¯s nothing serious, but we need to come to a conclusion, we can¡¯t keep the knights waiting forever after all. So please just wait a bit for me.¡±


    ¡°Mhh okay!¡± I could tell my brother wasn¡¯t gonna let me join in on the conversation regardless, so there was little point in arguing it further.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good girl.¡± He said with a smile and a pat on my head, before turning back around to the door of our house. As he went outside he told me to wait for him again and then went back outside to talk with the villagers. Now I was sitting here alone in the house while everyone outside was talking. I could still hear them somewhat muffled through the door, but I couldn¡¯t make out what they were saying at all.


    I strained my ears really hard, trying my hardest to make out what they were saying and slowly their words became understandable to me.


    ¡°What do we do? We don¡¯t have that many young folk in the village that can just go on a trip like that.¡± Thomas said. ¡°And besides I just don¡¯t trust them.¡±


    ¡°Neither do I, truthfully.¡± The village chief replied. Everyone gave a noise of agreement and the conversation seemed to come to a standstill.


    ¡°We¡¯re getting nowhere like this.¡± My brother suddenly spoke in an uncharacteristically forceful voice. ¡°I know that you all don¡¯t trust them, but it¡¯s not like we have any reason to believe something bad will happen. I¡¯m gonna do it.¡±


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    All was silent for a bit. I had sneaked the door open to see their faces, but since most of them were standing with their backs to me I couldn¡¯t make out much, just that a lot of the tension seemed to be gone.


    Finally after an uncomfortable few seconds of silence, the village chief spoke up.¡°Alright then, can we ask this of you Caleb? Of course, we will take care of Mira during your absence.¡± He spoke to him almost like my brother did to me a few minutes ago.


    ¡°Of course. It wouldn¡¯t feel right to not at least do this after you all helped me and my sister survive after our parents died. Don¡¯t worry about me, just take good care of my sister while I¡¯m gone please.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Bert, Maria, could we entrust you two with Mira? You have a son around her age, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah it won¡¯t be a problem, right dear?¡± Bert said as he turned to his wife.


    ¡°I guess it can¡¯t be helped.¡± She wasn¡¯t as motivated but still agreed in the end.


    ¡°Now that that is cleared up, I¡¯ll go tell Mira and get ready.¡±


    With those words my brother turned from the group and started walking towards our house again and I quickly shut the door before he would notice me.


    But what were they talking about? A trip? My brother is going away and they are leaving me with Bert and Maria? I don¡¯t want that¡­. I don¡¯t want him to leave me alone. Why is he even leaving in the first place?


    As I was going crazy thinking about what was going on, I could hear a somewhat muffled voice from the group, my honed ears picking it up despite my brother who was closer to them still, seemingly not hearing anything.


    ¡°I am glad he said it himself. I didn¡¯t wanna be the one to say it, but we all thought about making him go, right?¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s the reason we came to discuss it with him after all¡­Seems there was some reason to keep those two alive yet.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say it like that.¡±


    ¡°What? We were all thinking it.¡±


    After that I couldn¡¯t hear anything anymore as my brother came up to the door and I quickly ran away to pretend I wasn¡¯t listening in on their conversation. I turned around and hurriedly looked left and right while my brother was opening the door.


    ¡°Mira¡­¡± He shot me a suspicious glance. ¡°Were you trying to listen in on the conversation?¡±


    ¡°...No.¡± I hesitated at the idea of lying to my brother, but he¡¯d get mad at me if he knew.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like you¡¯d hear much anyway from this distance, so it¡¯s fine.¡± He said exhausted.


    ¡°Anyway, listen Mira, I will have to go on a small trip with the knights who came to collect the taxes. I don¡¯t know exactly how long it will take, but I should be back in at most a few weeks. During that time you¡¯ll have to stay with Bert and his wife. I heard they have a son your age, maybe you can make some friends.¡±


    My brother spoke assuredly, no hint of tension or worry from before, when he was talking to the other adults, in his voice, but I heard how tense everyone was and I heard them whisper. I don¡¯t like the idea of him going alone.


    ¡°No! Don¡¯t just suddenly go away. Stay here.¡± I demanded.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really wanna go either, but someone has to, Mira. It¡¯s not the end of the world, I¡¯ll come back in due time and everything will go back to normal. So just be a good girl and wait for me.¡±


    I was growing increasingly anxious that something bad would happen, but I couldn¡¯t tell my brother that I listened in on their conversation either. At a loss as to what to do I just kept refusing, shaking my head and shouting. My brother looked troubled by my behavior, but he wasn¡¯t relenting on going either.


    ¡°Mira, I feel I have to do at least this much to pay back the village for all the help we received when our parents died. It¡¯s the right thing to do.¡±


    ¡°I don''t care, why do you have to go in the first place?¡± I was not giving up on keeping him home.


    ¡°The knights asked for a young and healthy person to accompany them on their travels. They didn¡¯t specify why, but apparently it¡¯s the king''s order. We can¡¯t refuse him.¡±


    ¡°Even so, I absolutely don¡¯t want you to go.¡± I couldn¡¯t accept it.


    He sighed.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have time for this. The knights are already waiting and they were planning to take off today.¡± My brother spoke more to himself than to me. Then he looked me in the eye and spoke again. ¡°Alright, then how about this: we both go. Would that be better?¡±


    I thought about it. I still didn¡¯t like the idea of my brother going on this trip - something about the way the adults were talking gave me a bad feeling - but if I was with him, I wouldn''t have to worry so much.


    ¡°Mhm, okay. I will come with you.¡±


    ¡°Good, but no complaining on the journey, you got that?¡± My brother asked sternly.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I nodded my head lightly. Usually I would be more energetic, but I just couldn¡¯t help but feel worried.


    ¡°Seriously, what is it with you today Mira. It¡¯s just a short trip, no reason to make such a scene.¡± My brother shook his head slowly.


    ¡°... I just don¡¯t want to be separated for that long.¡± I lied.


    ¡°Well, a few weeks probably do feel a lot longer to you than to me.¡± He smiled.


    After we were done with our argument my brother made his way to the door again.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just quickly go inform the others that you¡¯ll join me, then I¡¯ll come back and we prepare for the journey and leave immediately. Is that okay for you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Alright then, wait for me here, it shouldn¡¯t take that long.¡±


    With those words my brother left the house and left me alone in it. Now I forced him to take me with him, but I am still worried. I don¡¯t know what the adults meant, why they were so worried about going, but I don¡¯t like this. On the other hand though, my brother did reassure me that it would be fine, so for now let¡¯s believe him and stop thinking about it. It¡¯ll just be a short, fun trip and we¡¯ll go back to our normal lifes like nothing happened afterwards.


    My brother was already back while I was still trying to keep my thoughts in order and we began packing our things. We would leave to meet the king in two hours.

 Chapter 4: The Last Unhappy Day for The Prince

    Standing on the hill I could see all the merchants coming in and out of the city to my left, like ants they all moved in one line, steadily making their way out or into the city, even as the sun was starting to set. To my right there was nothing but an open field for ages on end. In the distance I could see some forests start where the fields end.


    In front of me was the city. I couldn¡¯t quite look over the city wall into the city, but I got a good grasp of how big the city was and I saw the castle, my home - whether I liked it or not - peak far over the city walls. Almost all my life happened in those walls. To be more specific in that castle, yet looking at it from the outside like this I got a conflicting feeling. I hardly felt like I belonged there, like it¡¯s not really my home, even though I knew it so well that I could sneak by the guards like it¡¯s natural.


    Behind me was an endless road, leading to all the places in this world. I could see forests, a river, mountains in the far off distance and roads leading to all of those places. I didn¡¯t feel like I belonged in the world in front of me, but I didn¡¯t feel like I belonged in those mountains either. This place seemed perfect. I could view all the places from here, go back or forward, follow the road to unforeseen places or make my way back to the castle. Standing here, alone on the hill, felt oddly liberating.


    If only I could stay like this forever¡­. I thought to myself as I sat down in the grass to watch the late afternoon sun begin to set. If I stayed here and got lost in thought it would be night in no time and I¡¯d get scolded when I get back to the castle. Perhaps they¡¯d even throw me into house arrest?  I wondered, yet I couldn¡¯t get myself to move. Lost in thought I stayed on this hill for what felt like a small lifetime.


    ____________________________________________________________________________


    When I finally moved it was dark.The moon wasn¡¯t at its peak yet, but it was dark enough that I would get into trouble if someone in the castle noticed, which they probably had by then.


    Panicked, I started hurrying back to the city walls. It was a lot easier to get by the merchants unnoticed this time around, but the guards were still up. I did however feel that they got sleepy and weren¡¯t really all that focused anymore, their minds dominated by the desire to go home - it was probably close to a shift change for them. That made it a whole lot easier to get by them unnoticed and so I found myself in the square beyond the gate. Most of the lights were out, the only illumination coming from the cracks and windows of houses, the moonlight barely illuminating enough to see where I step. I could hear slight shuffling from all sides, but didn¡¯t see a thing. The sound of drunken adults came from a nearby alley and I flinched. I was afraid of them seeing me. Suddenly something behind me moved and I jumped around, heart pounding in my chest. When I turned around there was no one, no human at least, but a quiet meow came from a few feet away. So it was just a cat? Calm down.


    I tried telling myself to calm down, but the noises startled me every time and I paid close attention to my surroundings, sharpening my senses to their limit. Suddenly the feelings of people washed over me as I concentrated, some tired, some irritated, others angry, one was concerned over someone else, another was about ready to start a fight. The flash of feelings made me flinch once more, unable to process all the emotions I was feeling.


    Calm down Alex, these people aren¡¯t angry at you. They don¡¯t even know you are here, you have nothing to do with them. I tried to calm myself down, filtering out the many different impressions I got from concentrating my power. I didn¡¯t know being alone at night would be so scary.


    ¡°Alex?¡± Suddenly I heard someone shout my name in the dark. It was a masculine voice. I flinched, thinking someone would attack me. I was after all a prince and enough people would have reason to target me. But to my surprise, the person that came into view was someone I knew, someone I met today as a matter of fact, Sam and Tim¡¯s father, the blacksmith. I believe his name was Gert?


    Why is he here? Why is he searching for me? Or is he even searching for me, surely there is another Alex. Do I run away? Do I talk to him?


    While my mind was racing from thought to thought he approached me. The time I could¡¯ve ran away was over, so I braced for what could¡¯ve happened, but instead I only felt relief, from him, not me.


    ¡°Alex. Here you are. I was worried about you staying out so late. You are still a child, you shouldn¡¯t be out alone in the big city at night.¡± He scolded me.


    I was so surprised I didn¡¯t even know what to say. All my worry and anxiety was blown away and all I felt was his relief, while my mind drew a blank.


    ¡°Uhh, um yeah.¡± I managed to get out.


    He looked down at me with his lantern illuminating our surroundings lightly and seemed to get something from my expression.


    ¡°No need to worry Alex, I won¡¯t do anything bad. I won¡¯t tell your family either, just promise you won¡¯t do it again. A wealthy kid like you is quick to become a target for abduction.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I am sorry, I won¡¯t do it again.¡± I said while looking down.


    ¡°Alright, now then let¡¯s get you home.¡± He spoke with a soft tone and started walking down the street. I followed suit and simply walked behind, saying nothing. I didn¡¯t know what to say. I was thankful, truthfully. But I was also confused why he would go out of his way to get me, I was just some rich kid that hung out with his sons. Someone who probably looked down on him at home, someone who¡¯s family would no doubt not approve of my friendship with his family. As we walked through the night the many fear inducing impressions from before got replaced by thoughts about Gert. I could tell that he was genuinely relieved to see me safe, with some small hint of worry still mixed in upon deeper inspection. It was something I barely ever experienced at home; honesty, care for one another, genuineness. And the one who directed these emotions at me wasn¡¯t my own father, nor my siblings. It was someone I barely even knew. My curiosity finally won over my anxiety.


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    ¡°Why did you go out of your way to get me?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Why you ask? Well, my sons were worried about you and told me that you were still out. I know how dangerous this city can be at night, so I couldn¡¯t sleep well, knowing you are still out there. I guess I was just worried. Nothing more.¡±


    ¡°But why would you care about me? I am not your son. To you I must be looking like an arrogant brat.¡±


    ¡°I never once got that impression from you, Alex. To me you are just my sons¡¯ friend. A good hearted, albeit confused child. And as a father, no even more simple than that, as an adult, I see myself responsible for making sure nothing bad happens and you all grow up healthy. Even more so if you are my children¡¯s friend.¡±  He wasn¡¯t lying. It was hard to believe, but he was genuinely just concerned. I probed his head a bit more, trying to see if there was some sort of ulterior motive, but all I could find were pictures of his family. I felll silent. For a short while all that I heard was the flickering of the lantern light and the steps we took through the night. Then Gert looked over to me.


    ¡°May I ask you a question now?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    ¡°Why did you want to leave the city so bad? Was there anything specific you wanted to see?¡±


    Mhhh, Why did I want to leave so bad? I hadn¡¯t really fully understood it myself, but something about this city just felt suffocating. Like I didn¡¯t belong here, like I had to get away from here. Was it the city itself? No, that wasn¡¯t it. It was about something more intangible. I felt like I had no place here. I didn¡¯t fit into my family, I wasn¡¯t made for the life I was born into; Wasn¡¯t made for the family I was born into. If only I could¡¯ve been born as Gert¡¯s son. I wonder how life would have been different. I opened my mouth, talking slowly.


    ¡°I¡­ I just wanted to get away.¡±


    ¡°Away from what? From this city?¡±


    ¡°No. Away from my family. Away from the expectations they placed on me, away from that life. I just don¡¯t belong there. This life is just not what I am.¡±


    ¡°And what are you?¡±


    ¡°I am¡­¡± I didn¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t know what I was. All I ever wanted was to get away from my family, away from their expectations. But that wasn¡¯t who I was. All that told me was that I wasn¡¯t fit for royalty. Then what was I fit for? I didn¡¯t know. It was like a lump stuck in my throat. A discomfort I just couldn¡¯t seem to shake off. What am I? Who am I?


    Gert must have noticed that I was at a loss, as he interrupted my thoughts.


    ¡°Listen, Alex." He said. ¡°Here is what I believe: I don¡¯t think you are defined by what your family expects of you, or by your birthplace or even aptitudes. I believe a person is defined by their actions and by their beliefs. By what they want to achieve, how they go about doing that and whether they have the tenacity to pull through with that. Of course, that could be the same as your families¡¯ expectations or could be the complete opposite. What matters isn¡¯t what others think of you, or even whether others agree with you. I wanted to become a blacksmith and a good father just like my dad was, while my brother became a soldier to protect people. We both went our separate ways and our dad wasn¡¯t exactly happy about my brother¡¯s decision, but in the end we both became who we want to be, we both are happy, not because of the praise we receive from others, but because of the things we built for ourselves. Or so I believe.¡± He paused. ¡° The last question I will impart you with: What is it you want to build for yourself, Alex?¡±


    He took a deep breath.


    ¡°With that I have to bid you a good night, as I am not allowed any further than this.¡± He finished his speech.


    I was so captivated by what he said I hadn¡¯t even noticed, but we weren¡¯t walking back to his house. What stood in front of me was the castle gate, two sleepy soldiers emerging to get a good look at the situation. My head snapped to Gert.


    ¡°You knew? Knew that I was a prince? All this time?¡± I was shocked.


    ¡°Of course I do. Maybe not everyone knows all the faces of every royal, but I saw your face in public often enough to make the connection.¡± He laughed. ¡°Now go on home, before your family assumes I kidnapped you and has me executed.¡±


    ¡°How?! How can you treat me like that knowing I am a royal. Without ulterior motives, without trying to get anything, without fear? Don¡¯t you know how arrogant the royals are? Some would have you executed for speaking to me like that!¡± I was surprised to say the least. How could he have that honest, caring attitude towards me knowing I am a royal? I never would have guessed it from his emotions.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t do that, you are a good hearted kid. And remember what I said, you aren¡¯t defined by your family, Alex. So why should I treat you any differently? To me you are simply my sons¡¯ friend for the time being. Should you ever decide what you want to become that might change and then my attitude towards you might change as well. Now then, good night Alex.¡± He waved at me and turned around, walking back into the dark city as the knights approached my side. Leaving me standing here, stupefied. The Knights asked me this and that question, where I was, who that man was, whether they should apprehend him and so on. I answered their questions half-heartedly while they led me back to the castle, mind occupied by the conversation I just had.


    What do I want to build for myself? That last question kept echoing in my head as the guards gave me over to a butler, who led me to a bath. Tomorrow I would for sure be chewed out by my teacher, maybe even be placed into house arrest by my family. But somehow I couldn¡¯t find it in me to be worried about tomorrow. When I finally went to bed that night I found it hard to sleep, my thoughts restless with that one question.


    What did I want to do?

 Chapter 5: Her journey begins.

    Things were getting hectic as we prepared to travel to the capital to meet the king. I couldn¡¯t shake off my worries about what the grown-ups meant; why they were so against the idea of going to meet the king. In the first place, thinking about it, I didn¡¯t know much of anything about the country. I never had much of an interest in the world at large, after all all that mattered to me was close at hand. As a result I have no idea what kind of person the king is or why everyone hated him. All I knew was that he was the most important person in the country.


    ¡°Brother,¡± I started while packing clothes in a simple traveling backpack. ¡°What kind of person is the king?¡±


    ¡°I am not so sure I can answer that. I don¡¯t know more than the rumors that arrive at this village. Did you pack your underwear?¡±


    ¡°Yes, brother. What kind of rumors?¡±


    ¡°Well, for one, our country has a custom of kingship being won through a duel to the death, which means if you can kill the current king and be recognized by the ministers and running government, pretty much anyone could theoretically become king, no matter where they¡¯re from or who they are and our current king did just that 10 years ago, he¡¯s been reigning ever since. Did you think about your brush?¡±


    ¡°Yes, brother. Does that mean even a girl could become king?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°I suppose so, but it hasn¡¯t happened so far. Since anyone who defeats the king can become king, it¡¯s more or less only strong people, almost exclusively gifted warriors at that. And women normally don¡¯t really fight. I bet you also realized that all the knights and soldiers you ever saw were men. Also, it would be a queen, not a king.¡± He stopped for a second and looked up from his backpack. ¡°Where are my socks?¡±


    ¡°Here, brother.¡± I handed him the socks he was searching for. ¡°What¡¯s a ¡®gifted warrior¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Thanks. ¡®Gifted¡¯ is what we call people who have supernatural abilities, such as being able to fly or make fire appear out of nowhere. Did you ¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, brother. I got everything. Is the king also gifted?¡±


    ¡°Yes, though I have no idea whatsoever what his abilities are.¡± My brother answered me while looking over my backpack one final time. He finished packing his own while talking. Finally, he picked up his backpack and stood up.


    ¡°Alright, the knights will have food and water for us, so we should be good to go now.¡± He put his backpack on his back. ¡°Come on Mira, we can¡¯t keep the knights waiting forever.¡± He opened the door. I picked up my own backpack and made my way outside in front of him. My brother closed the door behind me and put away his key.


    ¡°The knights are waiting at the entrance to the village, so this way.¡± He pointed to the entrance.


    ¡°Okay.¡± I nodded my head and started walking in front of him. On my way I noticed a bunch of villagers looking at us from their houses. Some hid behind windows and doors, others who were outside were watching us with perplexed expressions, I had no idea what to make of their faces though.


    Making our way through the village we found our ride after a short walk. Two knights, both wearing the same uniform with the same emblems on it. The emblem looked like a broken castle, cracks appearing on the walls and towers, I, once again, had no idea what it meant. The knights themselves were wearing tired expressions. They noticed us approaching before we spoke up and their expressions changed. They didn¡¯t look happy. Were they not okay with me coming along?


    My brother called out to them. ¡°I¡¯m sorry it took us so long. We couldn¡¯t decide on who would take the journey, after all there aren¡¯t that many young people in this village.¡±


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    ¡°It¡¯s no problem, but say friend, who¡¯s that girl? Your¡­ sister?¡± One of the knights responded with a smile. His face was kind, but he had a bit of an edge around him, unlike my brother.


    ¡°Yes. She insisted on coming along and simply wouldn¡¯t leave the matter alone. I hope it doesn¡¯t pose a problem to bring her along.¡±


    ¡°To be honest, I would much prefer it if she didn¡¯t tag along, is there no way to convince her to stay.¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± I shouted. ¡°If my brother has to go, then so do I! In the first place, why does he have to go with you guys?¡±


    ¡°Now now Mira, don¡¯t be rude to the knights.¡± My brother scolded me.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, friend.¡± He turned to me. ¡° It¡¯s just that this will be a rather difficult journey. The king insisted we make haste, so we will not be stopping much and to make it easier for the horses you will have to walk almost all the way.¡±


    ¡°But why does my brother have to go with you in the first place?¡±  I pouted.


    ¡°It¡¯s the king¡¯s order. He didn¡¯t tell us why, I assume it¡¯s to give a report of life and harvest in this region, but either way we have to simply follow his orders and I would hate to anger him by having you slow us down. I am sorry, but please be a good girl and stay here.¡±  The young knight smiled at me. I didn¡¯t know why, but I didn¡¯t like it. I turned my face away from him.


    ¡°No, I am coming with. I swear I won¡¯t slow you down.¡± I didn¡¯t relent.


    By this point I could see cracks forming in the smile of the knight talking to us, while the other knight, a middle aged man, was just openly annoyed at me, but it didn¡¯t matter. Not to me right now at least.


    ¡°Listen girl, I am saying this for your own good. Stay here.¡± The knight said with an icy tone that nearly made me flinch.


    I hesitated, scared of how the soldier would react, but held my ground and answered. ¡°N-NO! I am coming with.¡±


    The soldier''s smile broke completely, but instead of getting angry at me he simply sighed.


    ¡°Fine. Suit yourself.¡± He said dismissively. ¡°But if you slow us down we are leaving you behind.¡±


    ¡°If she slows us down, I will carry her. It¡¯s the least I can do.¡± My brother stepped in and protected me from the two knights glare.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, now let''s get going.¡± The knight turned around and started walking to the carriage. I could hear him mumble under his breath. ¡°..try to be nice for once and this is what I get. Just don¡¯t come crying to me.¡±, as he approached the horses.


    He gave the horses a slap on the butt and with that the carriage carrying our taxes started rolling. The knights walked along and my brother nudged me on to move.


    With that, our journey to the capital started without many more words being spoken.


    _____________________________________________________________________________________


    During the trip, true to their words, we barely ever stopped. Of course we slept during the night, but we were woken up early and walked almost the whole day, drinking and eating while walking. It was harsh, but I could manage; not like I had any other choice, since my brother wasn¡¯t in a shape good enough to carry me, even though he said he would. He was keeping pace, but I could tell that it was more draining for him than it was for me.


    The knights hardly spoke at all. I could occasionally see them speaking to each other, but they pretty much only spoke to us to tell us what to do, like when to rest or where to walk. The old, grumpy looking knight didn¡¯t seem to like us very much, he openly wore a frown all the time, or perhaps that was just how his face looked?


    Either way, he didn¡¯t strike me as the friendly type. The younger knight on the other hand wore a smile every time he addressed us, but something about it unsettled me. It wasn¡¯t an honest smile like my brother¡¯s. Regardless he tried to be friendly when he spoke to us, at one point he even complimented me for my stamina.


    The road itself was unremarkable to be honest. Most of the land around us was either open field or forests, it wasn¡¯t hilly either, so most of what we saw were fields, trees or the occasional village, which we didn¡¯t stop at however. I wondered if they had already collected the taxes from those places, but the atmosphere wasn¡¯t one where I wanted to ask the soldiers about it, so I let it go. If I had to say something, I guess I liked seeing a bunch of different animals I didn¡¯t often see in the village, but that was about it for interesting happenings on this journey.


    Since we were walking most of the time there wasn¡¯t much free time to begin with, but what little time we did have we spent talking to each other, wondering what the king would be like. Of course we were careful not to say anything negative, since the knights might overhear us.


    As such the anticlimactic journey ended on the fourth day when the massive capital city came into view.

 Chapter 6: Prince

    I woke up, or should I say was awoken, early in the day. I hadn¡¯t slept enough at all considering how long I stayed awake last day, but that didn¡¯t seem to bother the maid that barged into my room in the slightest. Not like she had any choice in the matter though, probably ordered to do so by my parents or siblings. Like everyone in the castle she simply went about following her orders, not talking back or questioning. Of course, not everyone was cruel enough to punish a maid simply for making a snide remark here or there, but from getting fired to getting capital punishment all was in store if you offended the royal family enough, so almost no one would risk it.


    As if to confirm my thoughts I dispelled the fog still hanging over my head by drinking the water the maid had brought me and started feeling her emotions, mostly boredom with a tinge of pity; I guess whoever ordered her to wake me was angry with me.


    I finished my drink and handed the glass back to her. Before she could speak up however I interrupted her.


    ¡°Good morning, I take it my father expects me in his study?¡± I asked her, guessing at what was going on from the context and her emotions. When I went outside I hid the fact that I was a royal, just as I hid the fact that I had special abilities, but in the castle information about me has already made its rounds to the point that trying to hide it would be pointless. For that reason most of the servants don¡¯t like me and avoid contact with me if possible, fearing that thoughts or feelings they would rather keep hidden would get dragged out into the open. Of course, unless I had reason to act, like in the case of an assassination attempt, I wouldn¡¯t do something like that, after all I wouldn¡¯t want people to just openly discuss things I kept hidden either. But regardless, most servants didn¡¯t like me. This one elderly maid, her name was Grace, didn¡¯t seem to dislike me or at least I never got that feeling from her, as such she is often asked to perform duties pertaining to me.


    ¡°I take it you know what¡¯s going on then. Yes, his majesty has ordered me to wake you and tell you to come to his study as quickly as possible.¡± Grace said.


    ¡°Can I at least use the toilet before I go or does he want me to pee my pants as a punishment too?¡± I joked.


    ¡°While it would be funny to see, I am sure that much will be permitted, but he was quite clear in telling me that you are to report first thing in the morning, so I wouldn¡¯t take too much time, your highness.¡±


    ¡°I get it, but Grace, you know I don¡¯t like being called ¡°your highness¡±, can¡¯t you just call me Alex?¡±


    ¡°You said that much before. I can only repeat myself again, while you might not mind I certainly don¡¯t think it would be appropriate to refer to you by your given name. And I am sure the royal family would agree.¡± Grace said with a tone not even hiding that she was tired of having this discussion, no need for me to read her feelings. I liked this about Grace. She was open. Not to the point of being disrespectful, as evident in our discussion, but she was one of the few people who wouldn¡¯t constantly pay attention to let none of their true feelings slip through, frequently showing even us, the royal family, her annoyed expressions. She was a maid in the royal palace even before my father took over the throne 30 years ago, so she has a certain amount of respect and leeway, but has enough self awareness to know when to step down, or at least, I never heard of someone complaining about Grace overstepping her bounds in earnest, though my siblings, unsurprisingly, didn¡¯t particularly like her.


    ¡°You never seem to change, do you?¡± I said with equal annoyance to what Grace directed at me just before.


    ¡°On this matter, I am afraid not, no matter how many times you ask me, your highness. Now, as I still have other duties in the castle, I am afraid I must take my leave. Please do not tardy on your way to His Majesty.¡±


    Just like that, she left the room, without even asking what this was about. Maybe she had already heard as much from my father, maybe she just truly didn¡¯t care. Ironically enough, honest Grace left me puzzled more often than those who tried to hide their true feelings.


    Anyway, I went to do my business, got dressed in casual, though in my opinion still flashy and expensive looking clothes and made my way to my father¡¯s study. Where he would surely be waiting for me with a mountain of documents, letters and other papers.


    I made my way through the castle quickly, knowing it the way I do and found myself standing in front of my father¡¯s study in no time at all, despite the ridiculous size of my home.


    I knocked on his door and waited for a response.


    ¡°Come in.¡± I heard my father¡¯s commanding, yet lifeless voice from behind the door and opened it.


    There my father sat at his desk. He was tall and muscular, but not overly so, his body giving off the impression of a well trained soldier. His hair was, same as mine, blonde. He wore a full, but well trimmed beard on his stern face. More often than not he could be seen with a serious face, making ever so slight frown lines appear on the otherwise too-youthful-for-his-age looking face. Apparently my family ages slower than the normal person, or so I have been told. Now whether that is the truth or just another piece of glorified lore I did not know.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    He looked up from whatever he was reading and made a face I can¡¯t quite describe upon seeing me enter the room.


    ¡°Sit down, son.¡± He commanded me, in his usual curt way and I followed suit, sitting down in front of him. I looked at his face from across the table, but found it hard to read. My father¡¯s emotions, or for that matter those of all gifted ones, were harder for me to get a read on, to a small or large degree depending on the person. It wasn¡¯t like I had trouble understanding what I felt from them, but like there was a higher wall to climb, like I had to concentrate more to understand them properly, meaning I wasn¡¯t constantly aware of what they felt with as much detail or ease as most people.


    Finally, he took a deep breath and spoke.


    ¡°I am disappointed in you, son.¡±


    Here we go again, I thought to myself. The same old story about how I am not acting as my royal status demands of me, how I shouldn¡¯t be seen in public like that, how I need to follow the rules my family sets to not disgrace the royal name, etc. etc.


    ¡°Not only did you disregard the rules to go out fooling around in town, once more, you also stayed out so late that once you returned it was the middle of the night. Are you confident that you can fend for yourself in that situation? That you wouldn¡¯t ever end up disgracing the royal family in any way? Not to speak of the disgrace that seeing the young prince wandering around, acting like any other boy from the town brings in and of itself.¡±


    Yup, there we go, same old story.


    I didn¡¯t answer him. Instead just silently taking it all in, like I always have, dreaming of this and that while doing my best at pretending to listen.


    ¡°And what¡¯s more, I hear that a commoner escorted you to the castle. Of all the things to be happening, for you to rely on the help of a commoner when you are the prince of the Manier Kingdom, destined to lead the people with strength unlike their own, is shameful. Perhaps we should punish that man, if only to teach you a lesson.¡±


    What? I snapped back into reality from my dreams of distant lands at that.


    ¡°What? Why would he be punished? He didn¡¯t even know I was a prince, I never told them.¡± I was panicking at the thought of Gert suffering because he helped me out.


    ¡°You expect me to believe that when he saw you to the castle?¡± My father snorted.


    ¡°I¡­ Yes he figured it out, but it is true I never told him.¡±


    ¡°So what? Are you that stupid? Of course some of the townsfolk would realize who you are by face, that is precisely the reason why we can¡¯t have you playing around like that. It reflects poorly on us."


    ¡°Still, he doesn¡¯t deserve to get punished, he was only helping me out.¡±


    ¡°You are right. He is a good man, helping you out without wanting anything in return, many would have left you out of worry for misunderstanding or tried to use you for their own gain. He does not deserve to be punished, but you don¡¯t seem to learn your lesson about what you are doing any other way. Maybe the consequences need to befall those around you before you understand, after all you have always been empathetic, if nothing else.¡±


    I could hear the scorn in my father¡¯s voice. He was never happy with me or my powers. He always expects his children to be strong, dignified, independent and regal. By comparison to my siblings, I was always weak, insecure of my place and unhappy with the regal life. As annoying as the tone and its implications were, as much as I wanted to argue what was wrong with being empathetic to the people, I knew that it would only make father even more displeased with me. And I couldn¡¯t imagine how I could ever face my friends, how I could ever face myself, again if because of me Gert ended up suffering or at worst even dying.


    Feeling like I had no choice but to appease my father I spoke out in a panicked voice.


    ¡°I-I will stop sneaking out from now on. I will stay in the castle and study what you want me to. I¡¯ll even try my hardest at combat training, so please don¡¯t hurt him, father.¡±


    My father let out a long, dreary sigh at that.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that before.¡±


    ¡°... I promise, I won¡¯t.¡± I had nothing else to say.


    ¡°Listen son, seeing as I can clearly not trust you to follow my orders without extreme external pressure and quite frankly at this point I am sick and tired of dealing with you and your antics, we will do as follows: You are free to go out and play around. Do whatever you want, but whenever you are caught fraternizing with common people, they and their family will be imprisoned on grounds of conspiracy against the crown. If that¡¯s what you want, feel free. Now leave, I have work to finish.¡±


    I always knew my father didn¡¯t expect much of me and I thought I had come to terms with it, but hearing so clearly that he didn¡¯t even have it in him anymore to try and correct my behavior; that he cares so little, he doesn¡¯t even bother to ask about me or my behaviors, still hurt.


    I tried my hardest to not cry, but couldn¡¯t stop myself from sniffling regardless as I stood up and left, only getting out a mumbled ¡°I understand¡±.


    At that point I realized that my father truly does not care about me and what little connection I had left with him, with my family, save for a single brother of mine who never treated me like the others, broke.


    As such, it marked the beginning of my life among strangers that call themselves my family.

 Chapter 7: The Girl and The Knight

    As we approached the city wall I spotted people trying to enter and exit the city. Many were on foot, but some on horses or on wagon, all of them got stopped by the person in armor at the gate though, I suppose it was his job to check the people coming into the city?


    My brother, me and the knights however didn¡¯t line up behind the people, the knights simply led us past the waiting people without saying a word and we followed. When they noticed we were skipping the line some people started getting mad at us, but apologized and stopped speaking as soon as they saw the knights with us. I wonder if people are afraid of them?


    The same happened when we approached the massive stone gate, the gatekeeper person, as my brother informed me he was called, took one short look at the two knights leading us and simply waved us in.


    We strolled through the gate without break and a whole world opened up in front of me. The city was full of all types of people, short to tall, skinny to fat, young to old, male or female, no matter where I looked there were people. On the left side of the road people were walking around, on the right side of the road people were walking around, while wagons pulled by horses traveled next to each other in the middle. I didn¡¯t even know where to look first, this was like a different world to my village. I felt like I could live my lifetime here and still not know all the people.


    ¡°Oi, get a move on.¡± The older knight pushed my back slightly.


    I must have gotten so overwhelmed I stopped walking. Truthfully, I did want to stop and take in the sights, go around and talk to people or buy food from the stalls that were selling various foods, but the knights weren¡¯t stopping, so I guess I had no choice.


    ¡°Hey brother, can we go around a bit after we are done at the castle?¡± I said, while walking up to him.


    My brother looked exhausted. Far more exhausted than I was, I guess he didn¡¯t take too kindly to our travel pace. Nevertheless he forced a smile when he looked down at me.


    ¡°Sure, since we are here already. But we don¡¯t have the money to spend on souvenirs, so no buying, only looking, you understand, Mira?¡±


    ¡°Thank youuuuuu.¡± I hugged my brother.


    The younger knight turned to us talking amongst ourselves. When he looked at my brother''s face his face turned into another one of those eerie smiles he had been showing from time to time.


    ¡°I feel bad for you, having to make this trip out of nowhere, but it¡¯s not long now. We are almost done, so just hold out a bit more.¡± He spoke in a soothing voice. I guess he was trying to comfort us, well mostly my brother I think; maybe he was actually just a good person?


    ¡°Haha, I am glad to hear that. And here we were worried about Mira making the trip. I hope I didn¡¯t slow you down, sir.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all good, we are well within our schedule, enough so that we don¡¯t have to sprint to the castle, but the king doesn¡¯t like being kept waiting, so we should probably not dawdle too long either.¡±


    "Understood." My brother answered. The knight nodded, turned his back to us once more and started leading the way, walking up next to the grumpy older looking man, who was leading the horses and we once again made our way to the castle, this time through the bustling main street of the capital I later learned the name of: City of Ruin.


    ______________________________________________________________________________


    Our pace was considerably slower than outside the city, on account of the many people around us, giving me some time to look around. The variety of people I saw was so great I didn¡¯t even know where to begin describing them all. I saw an old man with a gray beard buying something at a stall, I saw a bunch of people carrying wooden crates from here to there, a bit further down the road I even saw a girl, who looked to be slightly older than me, steal a loaf of bread. The man at the counter tried chasing her down while shouting something or other, but the girl ran into an alley I couldn¡¯t see into and after the man followed her in, he walked out with a confused look on his face not long after. As we walked up to the height of the alley I understood why the man was confused, the alley was a dead end.


    How did she do that? I wondered at the sight of the disappearing girl. Of course the knights paid no attention to that and certainly didn¡¯t bother stopping to investigate, so the alley quickly left my sight and new things occupied my attention.


    There were a lot of scary looking people in this city and although none of them approached us, probably because of the knights, I could see a lot of glares coming our way. They seemed to be looking at the grain we were transporting. I decided to ask my brother about it and he said: ¡°They are probably poor and struggle to afford food. You don¡¯t have to worry about it though, once we drop off the tax at the castle the stares will probably lessen.¡±


    I was a bit sad at the idea that these people all struggled to afford food, but then again we weren¡¯t exactly rich either, so it wasn¡¯t like I could help them.


    As we made our way through the city and closer to the castle, the scenery started changing. The houses were bigger and more colorful, and the people stopped looking at us strangely. The people we saw were wearing more intricately designed clothes too. I once again turned to my brother to satiate my curiosity and he told me that the richer people probably live closer to the castle, meaning that the areas closer to the gate were probably poorer by comparison, but he wasn¡¯t sure either.


    The roads were a lot better maintained and the closer we got to the castle the less people there were, so our pace naturally picked up somewhat and there were less things for me to observe too, so the time passed by quickly and soon we stood in front of the gate of the castle.


    ______________________________________________________________________________


    The castle was surrounded by a circular wall with spikes at the top and towers at regular distances. I could see men with crossbows standing in these watchtowers, looking down in front of the wall. The gate itself was a big metal grate, flanked by two soldiers, one left and one right, once again. The whole castle exterior was gray and looked uninviting and cold. I couldn¡¯t quite make out what the castle itself looked like yet, since I couldn''t see over the wall, but I was expecting it to be just as gray and imposing.


    The older knight with us went to talk to the guard for a bit and soon I could hear the guard shout ¡°Open the gate!¡±, followed by metallic clicking and soon, the gate slowly opened itself. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Once inside one of the knights turned to the other and spoke in a voice loud enough for us to hear as well.


    ¡°Well, I am gonna go stash this in the storage. You take these two to the king.¡± The older knight told the younger one. I wonder if he is his superior?


    ¡°Oh great. No chance we can swap jobs?¡± The younger knight didn¡¯t seem to like the idea.


    ¡°Just get going.¡±


    The younger knight shrugged his shoulders at that and sighed. Giving a quick ¡°Alright¡± and with that as the signal the older man took the horse drawn carriage and left us.


    ¡°Well then, you two come with me.¡± He gestured for us to follow him and started walking in the direction of the castle.


    It was large, imposing and gray, just as I expected it to be. It gave me the impression it was built to be sturdy and nothing else. The gardens were nothing but grass and some wild flowers, barely any color found its way into my line of sight as we walked the straight, paved way to the castle.


    I always thought that the castle would have been more exciting, but I guess not. I was thinking as such while walking along the knight.


    Soon after we made our way to a door. It wasn¡¯t quite big enough that I would call it a gate, but it was big and looked sturdy. It was heavy, heavy enough that the knight seemed to put some actual weight behind his hand on the door. It had some basic golden lining on it, but it wasn¡¯t extravagant, like the rest of the castle. He beckoned us inside and shut the door behind him.


    ¡°Follow me and don¡¯t stray, got it?¡± A smile that would have seemed friendly and inviting on another person somehow gave me the complete opposite impression.


    "Right. Stay close to me Mira.¡±


    I nodded.


    My brother began walking down the castle hallway, me in tow. Soon, after walking through the sparsely decorated hallway, we arrived at a door. The knight opened it without waiting. Inside of it were a few pieces of furniture, including a sofa and table.


    ¡°Wait in here, I will inform the king of our arrival. I will call for you once he is ready to meet you. Absolutely do not leave the room until then. Otherwise you are free to do what you want.¡±


    The young knight didn¡¯t even give us room to agree or answer and walked off. Me and my brother on the other hand went inside and sat down. On the table were two cups and a large mug of water and I was quite thirsty by now, so I immediately went to drink some, after of course pouring one for my brother too.


    ¡°This castle isn¡¯t very exciting.¡± I said after having finished my drink.


    ¡°What did you expect, Mira? It wasn¡¯t built to be exciting I am sure.¡±


    ¡°I mean yeah, but it¡¯s so¡­ dull. It¡¯s big and sturdy, but not pretty at all.¡± I frowned.


    ¡°I suppose you are right, it does not look very inviting. I guess it was built with little else besides defense in mind.¡±


    ¡°Defense?¡± I didn¡¯t know what he was talking about.


    ¡°You remember the wall and the watchtowers, right? It seems like this castle was built in a way to give the people inside the ability to fight off people who would attack it.¡± He mused.


    ¡°But who would attack this castle in the middle of the city?¡± I couldn¡¯t imagine why all this was necessary.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know. Perhaps it¡¯s for in case other countries try to invade or perhaps to prevent those with special abilities from easily accessing the castle, but it didn¡¯t really look like there were any recent damages to the wall or castle, so I guess it must not actually happen either way.¡±


    ¡°But then they don¡¯t need those ugly walls after all!¡± I complained.


    ¡°Haha, perhaps you are right, but the castle was built ages ago, long before I was born and changing it in any big way would be a massive undertaking. I guess everyone just leaves it the way they found it, save for repairs I imagine.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t quite satisfied, but my brother was right, you couldn¡¯t just rebuild the castle all the time because you found it ugly, so I accepted it and instead voiced another thought that had been swirling around in my mind for a bit.


    ¡°What do you think the king of this castle will be like?¡± I was excited at the thought of it. Surely even if the castle wasn¡¯t very exciting a meeting with the king would be, right? Would he be an old man with long hair and a long beard? Or will he be young and handsome?


    My brother gave me a reassuring smile. ¡°I am not sure, accurate information is hard to come by where we live, all I hear are some rumors, but I wouldn¡¯t get my hopes up either way Mira, he is probably just going to ask us a few questions about the land and the farms. After all, the king won¡¯t have time to waste with us.¡±


    ¡°What kind of rumors?¡± I was intent on finding out more about the king.


    My brother however brushed me off. ¡°They¡¯re not nice rumors, but that doesn¡¯t matter, they are just rumors after all. We will meet him soon.¡±


    I guess he didn¡¯t want to talk about it. I bided my time looking around the room, observing what I could, little as it was, until we heard a knock at the door, accompanied by the knight¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Follow me.¡± He said.


    Now it was time to meet the king.


    ______________________________________________________________________________


    The knight - whose name I still didn¡¯t know, I realized - led us through the castle, not speaking a single word. I couldn¡¯t see his expression from behind him, so I didn¡¯t know if he was annoyed, but I decided to ask him regardless.


    ¡°Hey Mr. Knight?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°What is your name?¡±


    He stopped. He stopped so abruptly I almost ran into him.


    ¡°My name doesn¡¯t matter. I am but a humble knight in the king¡¯s service.¡± He spoke with his usual reference to the king. However, he still hadn¡¯t turned around.


    ¡°It matters to me! I want to know.¡± Now I was curious. Did he have a girl¡¯s name and was embarrassed about it? Or was he really famous and didn¡¯t want others to know? Okay, it probably wasn¡¯t that, but I wanted to know.


    He sighed and turned around, looking me straight in the eyes.


    ¡°My name¡¯s Jeremiah, kid.¡±


    ¡° ¡®Jeremiah¡¯? I have never heard that name before, I¡¯ll remember it!¡± That name sounded cool! I didn¡¯t understand why he didn¡¯t want to tell me.


    His usual kindly yet somehow unnerving smile vanished and his face took a solemn, almost concerned look as he looked straight at me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t. You¡¯re better off forgetting that name and me along with it¡­. We¡¯re both better off that way.¡±


    He mumbled the last part under his breath, but I could still make it out. What did he mean forget him? Why? Why would that be better?


    Just as I was about to ask him what that cryptic answer meant he turned around again and announced.


    ¡°This next door leads to the king¡¯s audience chamber. The king is waiting for you. He is not as particular about manners as you¡¯d expect from someone calling himself king, but please do try your best to be courteous.¡±  He gave us a little moment of realization and my brother nodded at him, then looked at me.


    ¡°We¡¯re about to meet the king now, Mira. Remember to be polite and don¡¯t randomly speak over him or me.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I understand.¡± I nodded to him, and then to the young knight I now know is called Jeremiah.


    He didn¡¯t speak anymore, simply turned to the door, held it open for us both and waited for us to walk in. Once we walked through the door he followed and closed it behind us.


    The, at the time exciting sounding, fateful meeting with the King of the Land of Ruin that I would end up never being able to forget, for the rest of my life, began.