The Fallen Prince: A Prince's Mistake

Forty Hours

After stuffing the blueprints in my bag, me and Archie raced down the stairs. Before the old man could look away from his newspaper, me and Archie had left the building and were running across the extremely unsafe paths. We reached the three staircases and only just realised that we didn't know where our horses were. Looking around frantically, we found them at the stables. We mounted them and rode out of the kingdom. The yells of astonished guards were briskly drowned out as we did a few turns so that our backs were to Pihk's castle. The horses' manes ruffled in the air as we rode across the massive field. My sword rattled against the sheath as the darkness of the forest came into focus. I took a deep breath as we were swallowed, the sun's calming light replaced by the reflection of puddles and lanterns held by me and Archie. The howl of wolves came into earshot just as a dozen twigs snapped at the same time. The growl of bears and squawking of crows soon followed. A normal day in the Devil's prized possession. Used to the many petrifying sounds and little light, me, and Archie (and even Ace and Biscuit) continued to ride. I pulled out my map. Vuns was forty hours away, but we agreed that it was best if we went straight to the kingdom. 'Forty hours. Forty hours until our lives change. Forty hours until we see your sister and my brother's killer. Forty hours until our adventure ends.'

'Yippee.'

I looked at him and we smiled. Forty hours until our lives changed. Not forty hours until our adventure ended.

'You mean to tell me that you met a beautiful girl in the kitchens and didn't do anything about it?' asked Archie.

Halfway through the ride, I suggested me and Archie shared stories. We went from when Archie shot my dad in the shoulder when he was ten, to when I fell off my balcony, and even to when we had almost burnt down Kajle. All of those are long stories. Although, there was that time when Archie said he wanted to be buried next to water because he loved the ocean so much. And he wanted white flowers, his favourite colour. Anyway, Archie remembered that I had told him about a girl I met after I reminded him of the time, I almost revealed all of the family's secrets. How those two linked, I have no idea. It's Archie Hearne, what do you expect? 'I was too busy escaping my father's grasp! Look, it's too late now. Plus, there's something about her. She gave off bad vibes. But I was focused on the beauty part.'

'Oh-h-h-h, you're one of those people.'

'No! Look, the appearance of a girl doesn't matter. Nor does it for a boy. Personality is hard to change. Looks aren't. That's why the inside is important. But, as much as they'll deny it, people will always hope their soulmate is good-looking.'

'Whatever. Hey, what about that time I stabbed Eric?'

I laughed. 'Out of my four family members, you stabbed or shot three of them.'

'Four, huh?'

'Continue the story, Archie.'

Once an hour away, a grand, frozen mountain stood in front of us. Snow swiftly fell from the grey clouds – which were hiding the moon. No path was visible, so me and Archie worryingly looked at each other. 'We could go around it,' I suggested.

Archie exasperatedly sighed. 'That'll take like ten hours.'

'Any other ideas?'

He did a dramatic exhale. 'No. Let's go.'

I turned Ace to the left. 'Thank you, Archie.'

'For what?'

'For everything. For saving my life multiple times. For sticking with me. You didn't have to do this, but you did because you care about me. I just want you to know, that if you're ever in my situation, I'll be by your side like you are always to mine.'