The Sultans Heirs

{The Betrayal}

Adam

I groggily woke up right before sunrise, feeling tired and frustrated. I barely got any shut-eye, with last night's events replaying in my head repeatedly.

I felt conflicted about what had happened last night. Perhaps it could have been avoided if we had invited them to that dinner.

What if they acted like that because they felt disrespected by us when we didn't care to invite them?

Even so. They went too far.

I need to speak to them about what happened. They are still my uncles, so I'm willing to apologize for how we spoke to them, but only if they admit to their disrespectful actions yesterday and apologize in return. I also know my father would not like how we spoke to his brothers even if they had started the conflict. In his eyes, we respect them just as we respect him because they are his brothers. Yes, they behaved disrespectfully last night, and I know my father would be disappointed with them, but he also would be angry with us for the harsh way we reacted.

I could practically hear him lecturing us about how we could have handled them without disrespecting or threatening them.

As I finished washing up and dressing myself, the idea of convincing my siblings to apologize to our uncles crossed my mind. Just from the thought alone, I already felt a headache emerge.

There is no way they would listen. Maybe Jallal would agree, but the other four are hard-headed and stubborn. I'll think of a way later; for now, I want to take my horse on a ride.

I dressed in light, plain gear instead of my usual royal attire. I dressed normally whenever I left the castle grounds with my horse and no guards, so I didn't attract much attention.

I grabbed my sword and headed out to the stables, servants and guards bowing to me as I exited the palace.

Once I entered the stables, I smiled once I saw my horse. He was the only white horse in the royal stables.

My father gifted my siblings and me our horses when we each turned fourteen, so I have cherished him since the day he was gifted to me.

I walked over to him and softly caressed his mane. "Hey boy, you ready to go for a run?"

He let out a loud neigh before leaning into my touch in response.

Just when I started to place my saddle on his back, I noticed my Uncle Jafar and a few knights standing at the entrance of the stables.

Why was he up so early?

Uncle Jafar approached me first and smiled. "Adam, I was looking for you."

I pulled away from my horse and turned to give my uncle my attention. "You were?"

"Yes." He nodded. "I went to your room, but you weren't there, so I figured you'd be here."

Different thoughts started roaming my head. Why was he looking for me?

Is it about what happened last night?

"Did you need something?"

He shook his head and threw his arm around my shoulders. "I just wanted to apologize about what happened yesterday. It was not called for."

I smiled at his apology, feeling relieved that he apologized first. I may not like him or my other Uncles, but that doesn't mean I want to be on bad terms with them.

"In that case, I apologize as well. We spoke too harshly."

He grinned and started walking, basically dragging me along with him. "So I was thinking about going hunting with you. What do you say?"