Two Kingdoms

Chapter Two : The Other Side

The dark prince was in a deep rest before he felt something, or as a matter of fact, someone shook him. "Hm...?" The prince hummed, doing a small groan as he rubbed his eyes, opening his eyes to only be startled by his one and only mom. "Up, now." She demanded before just leaving the room. The prince was still very groggy as he sat up, using the bottom part of his palm to rub his forehead.

He would get up, looking into a mirror next to his bed, narrowing his eyes a bit at what the mirror displayed. It was him, his hair was messy and a bit tangled, it got like that easily since his curly hair aided in it getting matted. He would use his fingers to try and run them through his hair, only to fail and his fingers to be stopped, "I need to brush my hair more.." He hummed, grabbing a black bristle brush off of his desk and trying his best to run it through his hair.

When that didn't work he let out a sigh of defeat, "I'll just make my mom do it.." He muttered to himself, grabbing his golden crown and putting it on before he went out of his room, walking down to the entrance hall with a yawn. He was greeted by his brown-eyed mother, her staring with her arms crossed, "I woke you up 10 minutes ago, why weren't you down here sooner Blackburn?" She questioned, her lips curled into a stern frown. "Please use my first name mom... And I had just woken up so I was mentally preparing myself for the day..." He rubbed his eyes, staring up at his mom with the one eye he wasn't rubbing.

"It's Mummy to you." She instantly snapped back, "And I am your mother, and, the queen, whatever I want to call you is what I shall call you, you hear me?" She added, Blackburn, having no other choice to oblige and nod. "Good, now Blackburn, can you bring these apples I picked to the kitchen? I want to make an apple pie later." She hummed as she reached over to the side, handing Blackburn the basket filled to the brim with ripe red apples. Blackburn hesitated before taking the basket from the Queen's hands, stumbling back a bit from the weight, "I thought in the past you said that there was no way to grow anything due to where we live? How did you get all these apples..?" Blackburn was leaning back to ensure none of the apples were falling out.

"That's my little secret, now hurry up! And if I see you drop one apple you won't be eating a single slice." The Queen had threatened, Blackburn doing an obedient nod as he stumbled a bit, making sure to be careful while carrying it since he was, in fact, very hungry. As he walked up the stairs, a few of the apples shifted, every time they did his heart skipped a beat. Even though he couldn't turn around to confirm, he had a sneaking suspicion that his mother was drilling holes into the back of his head.

He let out a sigh as he set the basket down on the dark wood table, he had gladly made it without a single apple toppling out of the big woven wooden basket. Him laying his eyes on one of the apples, they were perfectly red, no blemishes, no dents, not even any rot being visible on it. "It's been so long since I tasted an apple... And it looks so.. Perfect....?" Blackburn muttered to himself, looking toward the door to make sure no one was looking before he swiped one of the apples on top.

He hid it underneath his royal mantle and silently yet quickly rushed to his room, carefully shutting the door behind him to ensure he didn't make any unneeded noises. He plopped down onto the bed, pulling the apple from under the mantle and staring at it, feeling nervous yet excited at the same time to taste this conspicuous apple. As he slowly raised it to his mouth he wondered, "How is this apple so perfect... what if it's poisoned...?" Blackburn muttered, putting all his fear aside as he bit into it, instantly being surprised by the taste of the apple, the crunch it made was glorious and the amount of juice it exuded every chew added to this apple.

Once he swallowed, he instantly took bite after bite of the apple, it had only been a few minutes but he had eaten the apple down to the core. "What was with that apple... and where did it come from? When I was just a child I have never had an apple much like this..." He got up, looking out the window and down at the ground, it was all just as hard to see down below as he remembered, no water in sight nor were there any plants. "Maybe the trees these dropped from aren't in view...? But then again as my father told me it was all just a barren wasteland..." Blackburn questioned himself, not able to give himself a stable answer.

Blackburn rushed from the window, not caring about the apple core he had left on the floor as he rushed out the door of his bedroom. As he went to the entrance he slowly wondered, "What if I am killed by the other kingdom's guards...? I've heard all the stories from my father about them, he's right, it is dangerous..." He whispered with a sigh, he was standing in front of the door, the door that he was told would lead to his demise. He trusted his father, he knew his father never would lie to him, would he?

He shook his head, "No... My father would be disappointed in me if I went out and lived... especially since it would mean I didn't trust him..." Blackburn turned, looking in the opposite direction of the front door. "I can't.... But... It's a once in a lifetime occurrence..." He let out a sigh before walking towards the door, slowly yet surely pushing the door open, getting startled by a huge gust of wind. He stared out into the supposed wasteland, it was hardly what his father had told him it was all these years.

There was grass all across the ground, plants galore, there were even some animals running across the field, no blood anywhere in sight. "What the..." Blackburn muttered walking forward as he stared in awe at the beautiful world, there may have still been dark clouds over the horizons, but this was nothing like what his father had told him about. Blackburn collapsed to his knees, reaching down to place his hands on the grass, it was soft and a beautiful shade of green.

"My father... couldn't have lied..!" Blackburn had screamed to himself, gripping the grass and pulling up a few of the blades. As he stared at the ground he looked ahead of him, the second castle looming in front of him, "There was never any battles..!" He huffed before getting up and stumbling forward, "My father... my mother... they both lied to me!" The amount of hurt and pain in his voice was evident, his father always taught him about how lying was an unforgivable thing, and now learning that his father was a liar, the pain in his heart was stronger than any scolding he had ever gotten

Blackburn was heaving, he was about to take another step before a tight grip was established around his wrist, yanking him back into the castle that he had grown up in, listening to each lie they ever told him. The force at which he got pulled caused him to lose his footing and fall backward onto the dark wood floor, him wincing as he collided with it. "Blackburn! What is wrong with you?!" An aged voice had shouted, Blackburn staring up at his now apparent father.

"Have you not been listening to everything I have ever told you?! It's horrible out there! Dangerous!" The King bellowed, a hint in his voice showed genuine worry. Blackburn pulled himself to his feet, "But everything out there! It's nothing of what you buried into my mind!" Screamed the hurt black-haired boy back, he wasn't scared to stand up to his father, he knew his father was good in his heart, and he knew that he wouldn't take everything as a shot to his kingly status. "Listen, son, I just..." The King stopped, finding the right words to say, "I am vastly sorry to you, my son. But you have to understand, this is for the best."

"The best...? How is keeping me pent up in this castle the best for me, I want to explore dad...!" Blackburn protested, The King let out a tired sigh. "The other king, he has motives that are... different than mine, I'm scared he may take you away if he sees you out the castle, that's why I have been lying to you, to keep you from knowing that the other king is the one who we fear." That was all The King said before pointing upstairs. "Please, go upstairs, your mother's making pie and I wouldn't want you to miss it." He said with a low chuckle, trying to raise the mood.

Blackburn didn't say much, still processing everything he heard as he did an exhale. He was having trouble believing this was the real reason because he now found out all the lies his father had fed him. As he tried to find any words to protest, he had nothing. He did a solemn nod and walked up the stairs, his mind was racing as he made it to the kitchen, he smelt the aroma of a newly baked pie.

He walked in and sat down, his mother didn't say one word to him as she set a plate with a dripping apple pie slice laid on top of it. He stared at the food in front of him, he heard his father's footsteps come inside the kitchen yet he refused to look up, the dinner that evening was silent, the only thought that was in Blackburn's mind was that he should never have found out how his mother got that apple, and that he should've just listened to his father about how the outside world is terribly dangerous.