Her own way

Prologue {Re-Edited}

*A/N - Hello! This is my first story and I would greatly appreciate honest opinions about it!! Let me know what you think and we shall see how it goes :-) Thanks!*

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Peace. A time of tranquillity. Smiles and laughter graced the lives of many in the kingdom of Eardheorte for over sixty years. The time of fear had long passed, the war between Eardheorte and Rynemona ended as the two Kings of the time put aside their differences for the sake of the future.

Prince Thomas stared out of the window, ignoring every word his teacher was speaking. The sun was shining brightly outside, bringing the vast gardens to life with a burst of colour as far as the eyes could see. It was at times like this that he wished he didn't have to have lessons, that he could just be the fourteen year old that he was and play games with his little sister, or that he was old enough to kick the teacher out of the castle to teach those who really wanted to learn... The thought of getting rid of the royal teacher always brought a smile to his face and today was no exception. Lost in his thoughts, Thomas did not see the growing annoyance of his teacher until his loud, obnoxious voice crashed into his awareness.

"Prince Thomas, are you listening to me? No I did not think so. The history of your kingdom is important! Now tell me what it was I was saying." The teacher glared at the boy before him. It was not unusual for the boy to be not listening, but King Simon had demanded that his son understand the importance of history in order to build a better future.

"You said," Thomas began, rolling his eyes. "Once upon a time, there were two Kings. One ruled Eardheorte, the kingdom that will one day be mine, and the other ruled Rynemona. One day there was a big argument and the Kings started fighting. The war between the two kingdoms lasted until great-grandfather Peter and the King of Rynemona ended it sixty years ago. No one really knows why it started, only that it was awful to live through."

Heaving a great sigh at the bored tone of the boys voice, the teacher could only nod before shooing him out of the room and out towards the gardens.

Chuckling to himself, Thomas strolled down the hallway from his classroom towards the gardens. It was starting to seem like a game, pushing his teacher to his limits just seemed to get easier and easier. It wasn't as if Thomas did not want to learn, he thourghly enjoyed some elements but there was no way that he would tell anyone that. History was actually his favourite subject, it was fascinating to dig into the past and there was a lot to dig through about the war between Eardheorte and Rynemona.

Passing the portraits as he walked the long corridors on his way to find his sister, Thomas found himself looking towards a small portrait of his family and the current ruling family of Rynemona which had been painted two years earlier. The adults had a hint of a smile on their faces while the children were the complete opposite. Thomas had his little sister on one side, his face was turned towards her smiling one as she held onto his hand. On the other side was a boy with dark hair, a year or two older than Thomas. Unlike the other two children, he was not happy. His face had been captured with a scowl or on closer inspection it could have been interpreted as a glare, either way it was aimed at Thomas and reflected the relationship between the two boys. This boy was the only child of King Leon and Queen Issabel of Rynemona, Raphael. The two boys had never had a good friendship like their fathers did, Thomas could never understand why.

Walking into his sister's room, the first thing that Thomas noticed was that the girl was definately not in there. Shrugging his shoulders to himself, Thomas began looking for a member of the household staff that may know where his sister was hiding away. After asking a few people, Prince Thomas was informed that Sarah, his sister, had ventured out into the garden several hours earlier while Thomas had been in lessons but had not been seen since. She often did this, playing somewhere in the grand castle and more often than not Thomas had to go searching for her. The gardens were vast with fruit trees lining the pathway down to the lake at the far end. He began descending the stairs towards the winding trails when a frightened voice reached him.