Legacy's Prince

Chapter One: The Burning of the Harvest

"Your Royal Highnesses? Prince Cai? Princess Axellia? Now, where have you two gone?" Bebin calls as she checks under my bed, her cap tumbling from her head.

"Oh, for the love of-" she mutters as she squishes it back in place on top of her grey hair. Axellia giggles next to me in the pile of dirty laundry.

"Sh!" I whisper.

She slaps her hand over her mouth to keep herself from laughing.

"Come on out you two," Bebin calls as she huffs, stands, and looks around, scratching at the back of her head. "I know you two are in this nursery somewhere!"

Axellia and I stay as quiet as we can, shushing each other's giggles.

Bebin grunts as she kneels back down to peek under Axellia's bed.

"As if usual four-year-old aren't bad enough. Twins! Hmph!" she grumbles as she sits up, accidentally bumping her head on the table in between mine and Axellia's bed. The set of glass sheep and shepherds clinking together as Bebin rubs her head and uses the bedpost to pull herself to her feet.

"Because the Creator decided that's what I need at my age. Twins! And the queen's expecting another. Ugh!"

She opens up a toy chest and looks inside. "Please, only one this time, Creator! Please!" she slams the toy chest closed and moves to the wardrobe, sticking her head inside.

"Where are you two?"

I turn to Axellia, grinning. She nods, and together we jump out of the laundry pile.

"Boo!"

"Oh! Oh! Oh, no, no, no!" Bebin screams as she falls into the wardrobe, pulling some of Axellia's dresses down with her. Axellia and I laugh, hard.

"Are you two determined to send me to an early grave?" Bebin puffs as she uses the wardrobe to push herself back on her feet.

"We got you!" I cheer.

"Hmph, you certainly did. Now shoo-shoo!" Bebin waves us towards the door. "Outside, now! Both of you. It's too bright a day for you to be cooped up in here!"

I beat Axellia to the door and begin to open it when Bebin stops us.

"Wait, wait," she pulls two white cloaks and scarves out of the wardrobe and waddles to us. "Just because we have a break in the rain doesn't mean it still isn't cool enough for you to catch your death. Axellia, hold still."

"You're messing up my hair," Axellia whines. "You'll make it poofy again!"

"Nonsense. I've been wrestling the Hawley curls since your mother was a babe. Your hair is not going anywhere," she finishes tying our scarves around our heads and opens the door for us. "Now, outside. I think your brother is with Fredricks at the training field."

"Let's go scare him!" I suggest to Axellia, who nods enthusiastically.

"Scare Nicholai, scare Mother, scare Father, scare me!" Bebin wags her finger in our faces. "If you two spent as much time on your lessons as you did on your pranks you'd be headed to Cristabel Academy by now. Well, what are you two still gawking about for? Outside, shoo!"

We take off, racing down the stairs of our palace, passing two or three servants who say "Your highnesses" and bow their heads as we pass by. We manage to catch the washer-lady waving to one of the cattlemen out a window, not watching us.

I glance at Axellia. She grins and nods. We tiptoe up behind her as she blows kisses and shouts:

"Boo!"

She screams, dropping her basket as we race outside, giggling all the way.

"Did you see her drop all those frilly things?" I shout as we step into the courtyard. Several knights and their squires bow their heads to us as they and we stop at the gate that keeps bad people from coming in.

"They're not frilly things, they're petticoats!" Axellia hisses.

"Whatever," I shrug as the guards open the gate. Villagers work in the field, picking potatoes, cabbages, carrots, onions, peas, and radishes. They stop gathering those nasty things to bow as I lead Axellia by the hand and dive into an empty field. We race through our own little path we've made from the number of times we've gone to sneak up on Nicholai. I have to keep wiping water off my face. Even though it isn't raining today the grass is still wet, but that is normal for early in the morning.

Even buried in the tall green and yellow, grass, the "mooing" and "baaing" from cows, sheep, and goats tell us the animals are being brought out to eat and stretch. As we grow closer, the animal noises are covered up by the "clink, clink" of swords. I peek my head over the top of the grass and spot my big brother's sword training, his dark skin and long black hair covered in sweat. They're both busy, which is good because they'll never see me or Axellia coming.

"Let's go," I whisper. Axellia and I crouch on our hands and knees and crawl closer towards them. Axellia giggles.

"Shh!" I whisper. Axellia covers her mouth and we keep crawling.

"There, now again," Fredricks orders as we sneak closer. "And again. Now, up, and to the chest. Perfect! One more time."

Now I begin giggling and Axellia tells me to be quiet.

"Very good," Fredricks nods, patting Nicholai's shoulder. "Take a break, Crown Prince Nicholai."

My big brother takes off his helmet and drops it to the ground. He runs a hand through his hair, which is like mine. Not curly like mother's and Axellia's, but not smooth and wavy like Father's, somewhere in between. Fredricks' manticore walks over, carrying a bucket and dipping-spoon in his mouth to Nicholai.

Nicholai gazes suspiciously into the bucket, then glances up at the manticore. "Should I be scared?"

The manticore huffs angrily at Nicholai. Nicholai laughs and pets his ear, making him purr.

"It's a joke, Stapo, you know that I'd trust you with my life," he takes the dipping spoon and drinks a big gulp out of it.

"I wouldn't," Fredricks snorts as he takes a quick gulp of something in a little bottle he always keeps strapped to his leg. Stapo growls at him.

"What do you have there?" Nicholai asks Fredricks, pointing at the small bottle.

"You can't have any. You're too young," Fredricks says quickly.

"I'm sixteen, Fredricks. Practically grown," Nicholai whines.

"And I'm a kitsune princess," Fredricks sets one hand on his hip and posing the other behind his bald head like he's a lady posing for a painting, making Nicholai laugh.

Axellia and I are close now. We both try hard not to laugh, but some giggles slip out. Nicholai raises, glancing about. We both squeeze our mouths shut, our tummies tingling with excitement.

"Did you hear that Fredricks?" he whispers. Axellia and I grow as quiet as we can.

"Yes, sir, a most mysterious sound indeed," Fredricks answers as he strokes his beard, the only bit of hair he's got left. His eyes look even smaller than normal as he squints. "What do you think it is?"

"It sounded like..." Nicholai slowly begins to turn around to where Axellia and I are hiding. We both creep down deeper into the grass.

"...it sounded like a pair of four-year-old, twin terrors!" the grass above us splits open as Nicholai catches us, a wide grin on his face. "Aha!"

We both squeal and take off running.

"Don't let them escape, Fredricks!" Nicholai calls as he takes after us. I pump my legs faster, trying to take deeper breaths, but that's hard to do when you're laughing.

"Split up!" I yell. Axellia runs off to one side, and I go to the other.

"After her, Fredricks," Nicholai calls. "I have this one!"

I run as fast as I can, so fast my side hurts, but I don't stop. "You can't catch me, Nicholai!" I yell.

"Oh, really?" Nicholai asks. He grabs me and throws me in the air. I laugh as I come falling back down into Nicholai's arms. "Then what do you make of this, Cai?" he blows against my cheek.

"Let me go! Let me go!" I yell as I try to escape his tickling fingers.

"No, time for you to face your punishment!" Nicholai yells, tickling my sides and arms.

"Stop it! Stop it!" I squeal as I try to fight. I hate tickling, but I always laugh when Nicholai tickles me, so I guess I don't hate it that much.

"Think you can sneak up on me, huh?" Nicholai laughs as we both tumble to the ground, and Nicholai pins me down in another tickling attack. "Think you can sneak up on me, eh?"

"Stop, stop! My tummy hurts!" I beg.

"Alright, alright," Nicholai sighs as he lets me up. I crawl into his lap and trace the orange symbol on his chest armor as he picks grass out of my hair and clothes.

"Nicholai, why is there a six-headed dragon on your armor?"

"It's a hydra, Cai," Nicholai corrects.

"Hydra," I repeat.

"Because that's what familiar father had," Nicholai answers.

"But it died," I hang my head in sorrow.

"I'm afraid so."

"When you get your own animal, will it go on your armor?"

"Yes," Nicholai smiles.

"I bet you'll have a dragon!" I cheer.

"Oh, no, I'm no Osias," Nicholai laughs as he ruffles my hair. "Maybe a manticore, like Fredricks."

"Or a sea dragon, like Mother."

"Sea serpent, Cai."

"Sea serpent."

A piece of strange music playing. I turn a turn to notice a group of people walking through the orchard behind the potato, cabbage, and pea fields. Some of the workers climb down from the trees and race over to them. These new people are all dressed in strange, bright clothes. They all have pictures painted on their skin. Most of them have wings. All kinds of wings too: white and brown ones with feathers, green ones with scales, black ones with fur.

"Nicholai, look!"

Nicholai turns over his shoulder. "Oh, looks like the Roamers are in town."

"Roamers?"

"Yes. They came last year around harvest time, I suppose you don't remember."

"Uh-uh."

"Well, they're where we got your finger paints from."

"Oh! Can I get some more?" I ask as I begin running towards them. "Roamers! Roamers! Can I get some fing-"

"Hold on, there, sir," Nicholai grabs the edge of my cloak and pulls me back towards him. "I'm sure you can have more finger paints, but not now. You have to wait until they settle in and the workers finish their purchases."

"Are those the rules?"

"There are not any rules for these sort of things, Cai. Just common decency."

"What's dece-dece-"

"Decency?"

"Yeah, what's that mean."

"Manners."

"Oh. Alright," I settle back into Nicholai's lap and look at the Roamers again. "They got wings. Are they fairies?"

"Yes."

"All of them?"

"No, but most of them are," Nicholai answers.

"Why?" I ask.

"Well, I'll tell you."

"Story?" I squeak, excited. Nicholai always tells the best stories.

"Story," Nicholai confirms with a nod. I climb out of his lap to settle in the grass in front of him, bouncing with excitement. Nicholai raises a hand to start, but something catches his eye. He stands up and cups his hand over his eyes. I stand next to him and try to do the same thing. I stand on my toes to stretch as tall as Nicholai, but I can't reach, or see anything above the grass.

"Let's head back to the training grounds," Nicholai mumbles as he takes my hand and leads me away. Fredricks is coming towards us, his knees poking out above the tall grass, Axellia is riding on his shoulders as they both laugh.

"Aw, but what about the story?" I huff as Nicholai drags me behind him.

"I'll tell you later," Nicholai promises as he glances over his shoulder. He looks scared, but I know that can't be right because Nicholai is never scared. He turns his head back around and gives Fredricks some kind of hand motion, pointing to Axellia and the castle. Fredricks nods, frowning, and begins to walk towards the castle, whistling for Stapo who plods his way towards the two.

"Is something wrong?" I ask as I look behind me. There is only the orchard. Nothing to worry about, right? A group of people steps out from behind the trees, almost as if they are coming out of nowhere. They all have familiars with them, all are tall, and all have long, pointy ears sticking out of the sides of their heads.

"Are those elves?" I ask.

"Don't look at them!" Nicholai hisses, jerking on my arm.

I jump. Nicholai never yells at me. "Nicholai?"

"Let's go back to the castle," Nicholai answers. Stapo catches up to Fredricks who's far ahead of us now. Fredricks sets Axellia on his back, then climbs up behind her. Stapo spreads out his wings and takes off towards the castle, his curled-up tail bouncing in the wind.

Nicholai glances over his shoulder again. I do too, even though he told me not to look. I can't help it, though, I want to see. The men are running toward us, and they look mad.

"Run!" Nicholai yells. He takes off, dragging me along behind him. I run as fast as I can, trying to keep up with Nicholai, trying not to fall over, but Nicholai's fast and I'm not.

"What's wrong?" I ask, my lip trembling as I try to keep up with Nicholai. "Who are they?"

Nicholai doesn't answer but keeps pulling me towards the training grounds. He ducks behind a target and pulls me into his arms. ?Three "twangs," and three arrowheads poke out of the back of the target. I shout, clinging to Nicholai's shirt.

"Why are they shooting at us?"

Nicholai holds me closer and waits until three more arrows hit the target. One comes very close to hitting me in the eye. He stands up, still holding me, and charges towards a storage shed. I bounce in his arms, looking over his shoulder. A giant, brown bird with yellow eyes and a white stripe down its wings dives towards us.

"Ca-Caw!" it shouts.

Lightning hits the ground behind us. Nicholai yells and falls over, dropping me.

"Oof!" I say as I hit the ground. Nicholai hisses as he brings one of his legs to his chest. I crawl to him and smell something burning.

Whiz!

An arrow flies past me. Nicholai grabs me, hits the ground, and rolls, nearly crushing me in the process. Two more arrows fly over us, along with a gush of fire.

Nicholai limps to the shed, opens the door, rushes in. He drops me and slams the door shut. It's dark, but I can watch Nicholai is as he pushes a barrel full of weapons in front of the door. Picking me up once again, he carries me to the back of the shed, knocking down everything behind us-I guess to make it harder for the men to follow us.

Once we reach the back, Nicholai reaches down and opens a trap door, and climbs in, still carrying me. The door leads to a tunnel, a very dark one too. I begin trembling.

"Nicholai, I'm scared," I whisper.

"It's alright, Cai," Nicholai promises as he holds me close and limps through the tunnel, still carrying me on his hip.

"Who are those elves?"

He doesn't answer. He keeps walking, wincing with each step. It's not very long before we make it to the end, and Nicholai slowly climbs up a ladder, hissing every now and then. We reach the top and he pushes open the door to the outside.

"Oh, no," Nicholai whispers. I can't see anything at first, the light is too bright, but it feels a lot hotter now than it did before. As I get used to the light I gasp. The entire training grounds are on fire! And the crop fields! And the orchards! The roamers and the peasants are all running about, screaming. The cattle, sheep, and goats scramble about while screeching loudly, trampling people as they panic.

Three of the elf men and three red birds are blasting fire in every direction. One point of a finger or one flap of a wing and circles of grass burst into flames. Two of the elf men are shooting arrows into the crowd. Some of them scream in pain as the arrows hit them, but keep running. Others fall over and don't stand back up. A red bird sends a blast of fire towards a cow. The cow catches fire and begins kicking, rolling, and yelling in pain.

The last man is standing doing nothing, a lion-beast with a beak and wings standing next to him. I look towards the castle, clutching Nicholai's neck as he holds me. At the top of the wall, I can see some of the guards running to reach the steps down.

Horns are blowing.

Bells are ringing.

Nicholai runs again, but slower and with a limp. I cling to him as the elves and their animals spot us. Two shoot at us. A fast blast of air and a sharp pain race past my ear. I cry and grab it, touching blood. Nicholai runs back towards a field of tall grass, drops down to his knees, and sets me on the ground.

"Nicholai, this isn't a good hiding-"

"Cai, listen to me," Nicholai whispers between breaths, sweat pouring down his face. "I need you to crawl through here back to the castle, like you and Axellia did when you came to sneak up on me, alright?"

"What about you?"

"I'm going a different way. Go back to the castle, and no matter what happens, don't stop."

I'm so scared I feel like crying, but I don't. I only nod.

"Good," Nicholai nods as he ruffles my hair. He grabs my chin and looks right into my eyes.

He looks really scared now.

"No matter what happens, keep crawling." He kisses my forehead, stands, and runs back towards the men, drawing out his sword before he disappears through the grass.

I turn and begin to crawl away back towards the castle, surrounded by shouts and clanging swords, but I keep crawling like Nicholai told me to. Two arrows whiz over me. The ground shakes as the zapping noise of lightning burns my ears and blinds me with its light. My hands tingle. I can't feel them but I keep crawling. Tiny drops of blood follow me as they trickled down my face from my cut ear. But I don't look back.

A loud yell fills the air. Chills pour down my back. I've heard screams of pain, shouts of anger, and other fighting noises, but nothing like that. Forgetting everything, I stand to see what's going on, only to find a giant wall of fire eating up the grass, and headed straight towards me. I scream and try to run, but my feet won't move. The fire grows closer and closer and then...

...it disappears. Two white lines of light twisting around each other appear at the bottom of the flames and then begin moving up the wall of fire. They climb up, up, and up, wiping out the flames as they do so, like an eraser on a chalkboard. Soon there's nothing but the glowing white lines, dancing in the air.

The elf men who were chasing me and Nicholai have stopped. They stare, point, mouths dropped open. Some of the people who were working in the orchard begin wandering closer to the light, mouths agape.

"What is this?" One of the elves gasps.

The line drops, bursting into white flames, catching all those close by on fire. No warning. No slow-burning. One moment they're fine and the next they are nothing but blackened bones. The white flames only last a few seconds, leaving nothing but ash, stone, and bone remain. Screams of terror shake the ground. A woman is missing an arm. Despite being further away from the flames than the elves, only a black stump remains of her arm. A man's entire face melts away. One boy's feet are gone. He doesn't scream like the adults. He just stares.

A shriek comes from behind me. I turn and find a girl, a little younger than Nicholai, standing behind me. She has black hair, silver eyes, and a pair of brown eagle wings growing from her shoulders. She must be a part of the Roamer group Nicholai and I saw earlier. A group of other Roamers are behind her, most with wings, but some without. She stares at the bones, shaking and screaming. I want to scream with her, but I can't.

An older man with the same wings as her rushes forward and grabs her arm. He spreads out his wings and takes off to the sky. The other Roamers follow him, those without wings lifted up by their friends.

I watch them fly off until they disappear, then turn back to where the men's bones are, expecting to find Nicholai standing there, but he's gone.

Where is he? I begin to run towards the bones, gagging at the stench. I feel like I'll be sick, but I keep running.

"Nicholai! Nicholai!" The bones are stacked on top of each other, still hissing as the wind cools them. I try to tiptoe through them, but I trip. The bones crack as I fall, snapping under my weight. I scream and scramble to stand, but my hands and feet are all tangled in ribs and fingers. Every time I stand I trip again. A peasant boy, older than me but younger than Nicholai runs up to me. He pulls a ribcage off me and then reaches out a hand towards me.

"Prince Cai!" a guard runs towards me. He pushes the boy aside and picks me up to my feet. "Are you alright, Sir?"

"Yes," I answer, "But where's Nicholai?"

The guard doesn't answer, he only stares at me. I look behind him and find a growing circle of people gathering around something. I run off to see what it is they are looking at.

"Prince Cai!" the guard calls as I squirm my way between the legs of those in the middle of the circle.

I stop and my whole body goes numb.

Nicholai is lying on his back, his eyes staring blankly at the sky. His armor is bent and twisted so badly that I almost can't tell that there used to be a hydra on it. Holes are stuck through the metal, and a puddle of red is growing underneath him.

"Someone call a healer!" I yell as I run to Nicholai's side, putting my hands over one of the holes in his armor to stop the bleeding, the cracked metal cutting my fingers.

"He's hurt!"

Nobody moves. They all stare at me. My hands begin shaking. My eyes grow blurry. My throat hurts.

"Why isn't anyone getting a healer?" I ask.

The guard from before pushes through the crowd and kneels down next to me. "A healer can't fix this, Sir."

Tears begin to roll down my cheeks. "So, go find someone who can."

He hangs his head. "Nobody can fix this."

I take a step back and look down at Nicholai. I wait for him to look at me, to smile, to tickle me, but he lays there.

"Nicholai?" I ask as I bend down and poke his face.

Nothing.

"He's gone," the guard whispers as he sets his hand on my shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

Gone? He can't be gone. Nicholai wouldn't leave me. I turn and look back at the guard. The guard tries to smile at me and squeezes my hand.

"But he's not gone," I say. "He told me..." tears roll down my face as I turn and look back at Nicholai.

"You told me you were going to tell me a story."

"Prince Cai-"

"You promised, Nicholai!" I scream as I run and grab his shoulders, shaking him. The guard picks me up and walks off, back toward the castle. I fight to be allowed to run back to Nicholai. My hands are bleeding from the cuts left by Nicholai's busted armor, smearing a dark red over the guard's orange tunic.

"You promised! You promised!"

The giant fence-like thing with spikes at the bottom rises up and a sea of guards and soldiers races out. Fredricks is at the front. He comes running from the castle towards us.

"I came as soon as I got the princess safety, what happened?"

"Get him inside," the guard instructs as he hands me to Fredricks. Fredricks takes me into his arms, his face blank.

"Wha-" his face curls into a sad knot.

The guard opens his mouth to say something but he's nearly knocked over as Mother rushes out of the castle doors, pushing past us. Father follows along behind her.

"My king and queen-" the guard tries to stop them, then turns back to Fredricks, pushing him inside. "Get him inside, now!"

Fredricks' face melts into a look of horror. "Not Crown Prince Nicholai-"

"Go, for the sake of the Creator, man, go!" The guard shouts. Fredricks nods and races back into the castle as I kick and punch his arms, squeezing my eyes shut.

The gate door opens.

Mother screams.

Father howls.

The door slams shut.

"Let me go!" I scream as Fredricks carries me up the stairs. I try to fight, but he doesn't let go. Still, I punch, slap, bite, do anything I can to get away until he drops me on a bed. My bed. I'm in the nursery. Bebin is sitting on Axellia's bed, rocking her back and forth.

Bebin sets her down and runs to me. "What happened?" she asks as she touches my ear. I wince in pain. Bebin all but rips my scarf off my neck, it's stained dark red. She holds it to my ear and turns to Fredricks. "What-"

Fredricks sighs shakily, his face covered in his hands.

"Fredricks, what happened?" Bebin shouts.

Fredricks shakes his head.

"Don't stand there like a fool, tell me what happened!"

"Some kind of...some kind of elven assassin attack."

Bebin gasps and turns to me. "Oh, my poor boy!" she cries as she blots my ear.

"Prince Nicholai has..." Fredricks makes some kind of choking noise.

The room goes quiet. Bebin's face goes from a warm, glowing brown to an almost gray color. I ball my hands into fists, my stomach twists and burns as a nasty taste fills my mouth.

"Fredricks...?" Bebin whispers, shaking.

Fredricks turns and looks at us, tears falling down his face. "Prince Nicholai...has fallen."

I growl at Fredricks. Nicholai didn't fall, and he isn't gone. I punch my bed. Jerking out of Bebin's grasp, I let my bloody scarf hit my blanket. I bury my face in my pillow and begin punching it. Again. And again.

Bebin gasps. "No," she whispers.

"Nicholai fell?" Axellia asks.

I look up to find Fredricks and Bebin staring at her, almost afraid.

"How hard? Did it hurt him?"

"No, dear girl," Bebin sits down on Axellia's bed taking her hands into her large and warm ones.

"What Fredricks meant is...is..."

"Nicholai can't fall!" I yell, throwing my pillow at Bebin. "And he isn't gone! He wouldn't leave!"

"He didn't have a choice, Cai," Fredricks groans, covering his face again.

"Where did Nicholai go?" Axellia whispers. She looks scared.

"He didn't go anywhere!" I scream.

Fredricks and Bebin ignore me. Fredricks bends down to Axellia's level and puts a hand on her shoulder.

"Princess Axellia, you're brother is dead."

"What?" Axellia looks like she doesn't understand.

"No, he's not!" I yell, grabbing the lamb from the glass sheep and shepherd set on the table. I throw it across the room, shattering it upon the back wall.

"Cai..." Fredricks stands and walks towards me. I stand on my bed and kick the table, knocking both shepherds into the floor. Fredricks grabs me by the shoulder and turns me towards him. Before he can say anything, the door opens and Mother steps in. She looks like a ghost. Her skin, which is normally dark as night, is paling. She holds a bloody hand over her big belly where the new baby is.

"Cai?" her voice is small, her eyes glossy. "Axellia?"

"They're alright, Your Majesty," Bebin says as she stands and brings Axellia towards mother. She beckons for me to follow. "They're both fine."

I don't move. I can't. Fredricks picks me up and sets me next to Mother. Axellia stares up at her with big sad eyes, her bottom lip trembling. I turn and look at the floor. I don't want to look at either of them, so I look at the glass shepherds on the floor. The boy's head has been cracked. The girl's head is completely gone, lying face down at her feet.

"Is it true, Mother?" Axellia whimpers. "Is Nicholai-"

Mother falls to her knees and sobs. Axellia cries too, throwing her arms around Mother. I stand there. I'm not crying. I can't hug them. I can't look at them. I stare even harder at the two shepherds.

The boy stares back at me, smiling through the crack going down his face. Why does he get to smile and be happy? I grit my teeth and stomp on him, again and again until he's nothing but dust under my boot. Fredricks and Bebin stare at me but don't try to stop me as I throw myself back onto my bed and hide under the blankets.