It must've been about 4 years since I was first found in that old shabby canoe.
Currently It was the anniversary in which I was first found
And I'll still remember the knight who saved me his name, Sir Laith The knight,
I would've expected the king to surprise his own "son" for his birthday, if you could even call today my birthday, or atleast the day I was found. But I was awoken by the chattering of the maids that my father hired to look after me and care for me. But even I knew at such a young age that they were rather useless.The only person that I looked forward to seeing each day was Sir Laith.
Sir Laith would always entertain me after he finished training the new recruits, he was a captain and right hand man to my father. He would always tell me tales about his journeys that my father and him would go on when they were 20 years young. Excursions to the middle isles, frequent trips to the Middle Isles Capital City, and the great ash attack that resulted in the right hand of Sir Laith being ripped off attempting to save a family from a burning home during the great ash attack.
Both Sir Laith and my father barely spoke about the great ash attack, but when they did I noticed they would try to avoid or work around the questions I had. I was a child, but I wasn't ignorant.
Another tale Sir Laith spoke about was of my father, King Dracconis II, who was said to have Killed over 6 men at once with only the slightest move of his Spatha during the great ash attack. At first I was amazed by this tale, but with how frequent it was told it started to get as stale as 2 week old bread.
All I could really guess about the great ash attack from the stories told me from a second hand account was that.
It all started in Cal Rheon, the great merchant city north of the Middle isles. It is a large land mass separated by 12 distinct districts . Each vast in their own cultures and practices.
Cal' Rheon was formed after it had its own civil war. This civil war resulted in the working merchants taking control of the city and turning it into a safe haven for anyone that seeks residence. Their laws favor the ordinary citizens and their freedom. But one day, 28 years before I was born, and before my Father was even a king, he was 17 and known as Prince Vorax Dracconis II. Cal' Rheon's 12th district was struck by a brutal attack by insurrection groups known as the order.
Prince Vorax and Laith the Knight were on a trip to Cal' Rheon's 12th district at the same time as the insurrection group when they were both at the merchant hub for the Prince's 17th birthday along with the former king and his father King Dracconis Sr. But the building in which they were all in was blown up and the surrounding buildings taken over by the order.
King Dracconis I didn't survive the explosion, and died attempting to put out a fire that attached itself on his body.
All 3 men split up.
Laith the knight secured the surrounding areas and searched for any survivors and casualties. He saved over 200 people but resulted in the loss of his right arm.
While Prince Vorax entered the same building in which all 6 of the men were in charge of the violent attacks. This is where the legend unfolds and he strikes down all the men in one sweep. and miraculously avenged the fallen citizens.
Prince Vorax was veiled as a hero, and when he returned to Sanguinaria, his rightful claim to the throne ensured his transformation into the next King of sanguinaria.
This was what I got out from the fragmented stories told to me by Sir Laith, and from eavesdropping on the maids whenever they would speak about the great ash war.
The day was uneventful up until the afternoon since it was the time Sir laith would be finished training the soldiers.
I impatiently roamed the halls all day waiting for him.
And when he walked in through the large double front doors, the first thing I saw was a miniature tiger head which was attached to his sword's hilt. The tiger head reflected the beam of lights from the chandelier and would strike my eyes, this is how I knew that Sir Laith had returned.
"How was training today Mister Laith!" a 7 year old Lucian yelled while running into his arms to hug him.
"Easy Tiger!- my back is killing me!"Sir Laith chimed in out of breath as Lucian held onto him. " It was harder today buddy, My bosses wanted me to put the boys into a more intense training routine. He didn't even tell me why he just demanded me to.. I don't even know what's going on but this training is putting too much pressure on my body."
I let go of him, "It doesn't sound like fun." I retorted.
"It's not. But don't worry about it kid, today is your day buddy and I wanted to give you a gift, but that's for after dinner."
"Why can't I have it now? Pleaseeeeee?" I asked Sir Laith.
Sir Laith answered back, " Because if you open it now, then the other noble boys and girls will be jealous of your gift? And you don't want that now do you?".
"No sir!" I told him.
"Good, now go get ready for dinner, the other guests should be arriving in a couple hours, go wash up."
"Yes sir!" I said with my head low and my movement matching that of an ant's march.
As I finished getting ready for the dinner party, The maids dried my hair with a fan, they dressed me in red and black silk robes, though I walked alone to the Royal Sanguinarian Banquet Hall. I wasn't greeted by any guards or the early guests, but instead, I walked alone to where two long tables shone underneath the chandelier which faced the front door. I saw the vast array of guests who were just arriving, and they were all from noble families from across the nation. Each brought their children, most of them I've never spoken to before.
The table felt too long, the room had a strange atmosphere. It was silent but loud. Above the table was a portrait of the queen, Whom I never met, Thalia Dracconis. She was painted young, serene, and perfect-although she's not here. She hasn't been seen in the public for years. I was seated halfway down the table. My father is yet to arrive, but everybody has already started feasting anyway. Each table already half a bottle or more into their wine bottles and champagne. Despite the fact that they were all Nobles & executives from around Sanguinaria, this didn't stop a majority of them from being overconsumed by gluttony itself. And the worst of it all, they were gossiping about everything the world could offer. From their neighbors, to their own friends and partners, and to the nation and world, and about even poor little Lucian himself, on my own special day.
Sir Laith entered the building, I met his gaze, he gestured a nod at me.
He was the only person to recognize me on my day.
Laith's arms were folded and his eyes wandered off mine, it was unreadable to me.
When I turned my eyes back onto the table and down to my plate, I noticed that the portion size was rather odd, it was something you fed a toddler, or even a canned meal you would feed to a mutt.
I had no other choice but to eat. It was the only source of nutrients I had, the maids and chefs never cook for me when I'm hungry, only once a day when my father is home. Or on the special days my father is home I get breakfast. Never lunch because my father always leaves in the afternoon to go on his trips to the middle isles capital.
I kept my eyes down, and despite the rather unpleasant look of the meal, I ate the food with grace and manners. I perfected the correct posture, the fork was in my left hand, and the knight I wielded on my right. But despite my attempt at this noble facade, the children began murmuring around me, their voices were quiet, but still loud enough for me to hear their cruelty. A girl whom I once knew in daycare began looking at me and that's when she told the person on the left of her,
" He eats like a ghost". While they responded back," he doesn't even speak anymore, nobody has heard his voice since he was in diapers."
"They say the queen used to hold the real prince while she sang and he would attempt to follow along with her angelic melodies."
"Too bad he can't sing anymore!"
"You think he even remembers her? When was the last time anyone has even seen the queen."
"Did she ever even love him? Maybe he's faulty."
I tried my best not to react, but my body reacted for me. I felt the pulse in my finger tips, my heart was pounding, as if it was a balloon full to the bursting. My eyes started to twitch and it started to burn. The noble boy to the right of me looked at me, he leaned closer as if he somehow knew how I was feeling. His voice was low, and it was cold.
"You know you aren't even the real prince right? You're not a prince, you're nothing."
The balloon popped. I looked up and while I was attempting to part my lips to defend myself, I let out a stammer. The noble boy grinned and hissed at me, and while laughing he chimed
"He even stutters like a Bastard's fish! How fitting." Everyone burst out laughing, but this time it was meaner, it was crueler, it was teeth-baring. One even mimicked drowning noises, gurgling on her wine glass. My eyes were burning and drowned in my own misery at this point, when I felt a grape strike and hit me on the back of my head which also landed onto my water cup. The water spun like it had nowhere else to go, something both me and the grape had in common.
The people around me didn't stop, their laughter roared across the room, some trying to hide it behind gilded hands, and others howling in the open like it was some grand performance by a jester. I wasn't a person to them, I was some sort of joke. A stuttering mistake who was playing make-believe in royal robes. I didn't blink and I stopped crying. I just stared at my plate, at the devilish dog food they had served me. And my vision began to blur, but my hands were still.
And that's when I looked up. And I saw him. Sir Laith, still standing at the far end of the hall, his arms folded, but now he was staring right at me. But this time it didn't feel like he was only doing his job because he was tasked with it. But it was like a man watching something break that he once tried to save. His jaw looked tense as if it was locked. His one good arm was tense, as it took everything in him not to move, not to act.
I lowered my gaze, that was the moment I decided I didn't belong at the table. I slipped away before the chefs delivered the desserts. Down the corridor and past the kitchen doors. No one noticed I was gone. But no one cared. And I could still hear the laughter echoing from the hall behind me, ringing louder in my head and lingering longer than it should've. I knew where to go-the spot was quieter, and the stone was cool no matter what season it was. A corridor beyond the training halls, and just passed the old weapon gallery and locker rooms, and where the torches burned lower and where their voices can't follow me. I sat in the alcove beneath the broken statue of the first king, the founder and uniter of sanguinaria. I don't know why I always went here but maybe it was because the statue looked like he'd lost more than just his throne. The stone was cold behind my back. I didn't notice the footsteps until they stopped in front of me.
"Easy, Tiger."
I looked up.
Sir laith stood in the dark corridor, out of uniform, his eyes heavy with something I've never seen at such a young age before, regret.