The Fallen Prince: A Prince's Mistake

Dancing and Fighting

I'd be lying if I didn't feel super powerful and cool after saying that incredible speech. So would the king if he said he didn't look petrified. He slowly – and I mean slowly – got up and I saw him shivering. You understood that right?' I whispered. He nodded as the guards came and arrested me. 'Oh. One more condition: you let me and my friends be free. Otherwise, I will do so much more.'

'L-le-let them be free of all charges against Vuns and its king,' he announced. The guards and people in the windows erupted into a chaos of sounds yelling that it was a stupid order. 'ENOUGH!'

I'm pretty sure the ground shook, to be honest. The noise instantly disappeared as the guards untied the rope around my wrist. I went over to Leo and Archie. 'What kind of threat did you say to him?' Archie whispered.

'One I imagine will keep him up at night.'

The commander put his hand up. 'By order of King Alexander III, Castor Kajle, Archie Hearne, and Leo Huxf are hereby relieved of all offences against our kingdom and ruler. Any who object may now speak.'

Silence. It was like everyone had frozen. 'Well, that's our cue to leave.'

I winked at the commander, and he straightened up as if he wanted to show his full height. Followed by Archie and Leo, I walked in front of the king and toward his castle. Yes, I was planning on sleeping in his palace. Threats can get you places (I'm not encouraging you to threaten people, please don't) and one of those places was an awfully imposing building with comfortable beds. Archers' bows followed my direction before I reached the gates of the castle. As always, a guard was waiting for us. 'ID?'

'Oh, for the love of God,' I muttered.

He looked me up and down. 'Go to a funeral in the forest or something?'

I looked down. I had normal, black trainers and jeans on. That was the good part. The bad part was that my upper body was a physical antonym of clean. My buttoned shirt was untucked and dirty while my tie was loosened. My jacket had no marks or dirt on them, but it was unbuttoned so it blew in the wind. I ran a hand through my hair.

Archie laughed under his breath. 'We're friends of Alexander's. If you do not believe us, feel free to interrupt his drinking session.'

In sync, all four of us turned to look at the king... he hadn't moved an inch since I threatened him. It was awkward, to say the least. We all just kind of stared at him. I turned to the guard. 'Do you want me to get the king and tell him you are refusing for his guest to enter his home?'

'No, no, your Majesty. Please, come in.'

As we walked in, I looked at the others. Archie had a white shirt on, blood stains here and there. His quiver was magically filled up, sharp, coal arrows inside. His bow was the same colour. He had blue jeans on, dirt staining them. His dark hair was back to normal, small strands poking out. Leo had the red shirt I had given him, but it was filthy. His pearly joggers were grubby, and his hair's curls had remained neatly intact. We reached the enormous doors and they opened by themselves – that's what I thought until I saw two servants on each side of them inside. A servant walked up to us and pointed her hand toward the stairs. We began walking, but she stayed still. Archie abruptly stopped. 'Do we... find it ourselves, or...?'

She lightly nodded. 'We literally have no idea where to go,' I said.

'Explore!' she enthusiastically replied.

'I- But—'

I rolled my eyes before the three of us walked up the spiral staircase. At the top, a vast corridor stretched. The door right in front of us said: For Kajle. 'Did they know we were coming?' asked Leo.