Traveler

Chapter 2

The castle was never quiet. Hadeon knew that better than anyone. It was 5 am, the sun was barely cresting the horizon, yet he could still hear the kitchen staff as they began to prepare for the day ahead of them. The balcony, of which he sat, towered over the gardener, who had just begun to work. No, the castle was never quiet, even in the early hours of the morning.

Hadeon's only true friend at the castle had been off at her families' summer home these past months, and he missed her dearly. Right before she had left she had given him a list of books to read before she returned. Hadeon had finished that list a month ago. After that, he'd thrown himself into his studies, hoping to quell some of the loneliness that threatened to consume him.

He'd read a lot, studied a lot, and he had been counting down the days, it was almost time. She was almost home.Hearing a servant enter his bedroom, Hadeon hopped off the balcony banister, walking back into his room. The day of a crown prince had just begun.~~~Entering the dining hall was always anxiety-inducing, even for as usual meals like breakfast. There almost always were courtiers or even more important guests sitting there, watching him for any little mistake. Hadeon had only messed up a handful of times, but those times were enough for him to never want it to happen again.

Shaking himself from his stupor he motioned for the servant to open the doors. Entering the magnificent room he took it in for the thousandth time. First and foremost sat his Father, The King, and his Mother, The queen, on a raised dais at the far side of the room. With them on the dais often sat, Hadeon, his younger brother, and whatever important guest was visiting, or selected by his father. The palace had important guests most of the time, but on rare occasions, The King would have a favored adviser sit with them; and on even rarer occasions The Queen would have her own choice of guest.

Below the Royal dais there stretched three long tables. These tables held courtiers in the first two, and castle guards and low-born army generals and commanders in the last one. At these tables, they sat highest-ranking closest to the dais and lowest born farthest away.

Being in a room with such powerful people was intimidating by itself, but add the grandeur of the room with its high ivory walls, rimmed in gold crown molding, and intricate pillars. The roof itself was also decorated with painted boards stolen from an ancient temple in the north of Kailero. The four chandeliers that hung from the ceiling were silver and gold plated, embedded with thousands of diamonds each, not counting the hundreds that hung from silver strands. Altogether the magnificent chandeliers costed more than a quarter of the army got paid in a year.

Taking his seat next to his father, amidst the legendary room, Hadeon had never felt so alone.