The Beginning of the Beastmasters

A Prince With Naught

I thank KatherineOzawa of Wattpad for helping me.

Rajni's eyes flew open. Dark space surrounded her, to her confusion. All she remembered was using the last of her magic to stop Leona from causing more destruction. Maybe it was the shockwave of the impact that caused her to get knocked out afterwards?..."Where are we?"

"We're about to see Leona's past and what led him to this mess." Niho spoke, appearing from seemingly out of nowhere.

'Oh yeah,' she thought. 'She asked me to hold onto her before she passed out...'

A shadowy figure stood in front of them, the details vaguely blurred until the shape was made out to be Leona, before he had gone insane. But...he seemed forlorn.

"Leona?" Rajni was still confused.

"From the moment I was born, there's been a boulder on top of me that's too heavy to move." Leona spoke gravely as the darkness shifted to what looked like a hallway. With woven tapestries hung onto the pillars, open walls which had shown a vast savanaland. In the distance stood a majestic rock, silhouetted by a bleak sunset. Two servants stood close to one another, whispering with hushed voices.

"Crown prince Falena is such a bright and cheerful young man. I don't understand why his younger brother has to be so moody all the time." the first spoke.

The second nodded, "And he possesses such a terrifying power! Imagine being able to turn anything to sand!"

"Both of you, cease this conversation right now!" another heard them talking and hissed for them to stop. "What if someone overhears you?!" they tensed at that, leaving the conversation to an abrupt end.

"They only hear what they find scarring...they don't even bother seeing him as a true person!" Rajni frowned.

"That's what people like them do: they don't bother getting to know a person and only seeing what they want to see." Niho spat.

It seemed as if Leona heard the two and spoke, agreeing with, "I bet that if I were the crown prince, this is what they would have said: "Crown prince Leona is a judicious young man- look how he controls such powerful magic! I don't understand how Falena can be so carefree." This is all because I was born second. They'd find fault with me no matter what- just so they could use it as a pretext to praise my brother. No matter what I do, I can never be the best."

"Wait, he's Second born?" Niho asked in surprise.

"That he is." Rajni answered. "I've known since I worked close to him and his brother..." Speaking of the devil, a taller demi-human dressed in royal garb was sitting at a chair in an office of sorts. His dark red hair appeared both untamed yet kempt as lion ears peek from atop his head.

"Leona! Why weren't you at today's ceremony?" he asked immediately.

Another version of Leona stood before him, arms crossed with partial anger. "Ceremony? Ah, you mean the self-indulgent party where you show off your son to the people? Yeah, sorry I missed that. I fell asleep."

"Showing the people the face of their future king is an important affair." Falena emphasized as he stood up.

"Yeah, it's a happy day for sure- also known as the day the despised second son loses what little claim he had to the throne forever." Leona soured as he looked out the window, finding better interest in the sky-view than the conversation.

"Do not frame it in such terms!"

"Must be nice to be the firstborn, huh? You can spend everyday singing and napping and still become king." Leona spat, not moving his view from the window. Falena sighed, hand to his forehead in exasperation as he slowly walked up to Leona, trying to persuade him into seeing the brighter side of things.