The Fallen Prince: A Prince's Mistake

House or Home?

I had lost everything, everyone I loved. I ran and ran, my tears falling behind in the wind. Tied to a post, I saw Ace. I leapt onto a building's roof and almost tripped up in sadness. The thought of running across rooftops only reminded me of that time me and Archie were in Juyl. Happy. I carried on. My only choice was to escape. The three stallions neighed and brushed their noses against me once I reached them. Managing a cracked smile, I patted Biscuit and Pearl before looking at Ace. I hugged the beautiful horse before mounting it. Biscuit and Pearl looked at me with their angelic eyes, but I knew I had to leave them behind; I couldn't take them with me. Anything that got near me died, and I didn't want them to lose their lives too. But their owners had to be dead. Acceptance is a form of grief, and I had already reached it. 'You'll be okay,' I whispered, my voice barely audible because a single movement of the face may have ended up in a flood of tears.

I wiped my eyes and patted Ace's side. Next, I took off the other two horses' bridles and they slowly walked away. Taking a deep breath, we rode out of Lyatar, past the thousands of bloodied corpses, and into the unknown.

*

I don't know when, but I had fallen asleep on Ace's back in the middle of the journey. He brayed loudly to wake me up. Rubbing my eyes, I dismounted Ace and set up camp. 'Lay the mat first,' I muttered.

My tent was built and usable within ten minutes. I looked at it proudly and sat against its wall. Worried Ace would get drenched by the upcoming rain, I somehow got him inside. He lay down and instantly fell asleep. On the other hand, I stared at the tent flap, raindrops racing down it. I didn't get a single minute of sleep and only realised it was day when the wolves stopped howling, and the sun radiated through the tent. I didn't know much about horses, but Ace only slept for about three hours. This cycle repeated itself for a month. With each passing day, more guilt and regret of Archie and Leo's deaths built inside of me.

*

By the end of August, I had created a comfortable home. The land I had chosen had turned into a farm bearing fruit and vegetables. The former tent had been replaced by a small house. It was made out of oak using a makeshift axe and was a two-metre cube. Next to it was a roof to act as shelter for Ace. I had placed a small chair next to Ace's pole so that we could watch the sun rise and set together. Every other day, me and Ace would go on a twenty-minute walk. Then we'd eat dinner: a salad that consisted of carrots, cucumber, salad (kind of a given) and sweetcorn. To be honest with you, other than losing the two people I cared most about in the world, my life wasn't too bad. It was relaxing and calm, and I think Ace enjoyed not being overworked and chased by people trying to kill us – which would happen frequently. Sometimes I'd wonder how Biscuit, and Pearl were doing; if they were together or had split up and if they had found a home with new owners or were living in the wild. It was around 6 P.M. one evening and I was harvesting tomorrow's breakfast when an odd thing happened. A rustle in a bush caused me to instinctively draw my sword. When I turned around and poked at the bush, I thought I was imagining things. I yawned and continued with my work. Then the cycle continued, this time with a bump in the road. Once every three days, the same mysterious sound of someone or something in the bush could be heard when I was farming. Either I was paranoid, or someone was spying on me. I devised a plan to catch this weird stalker. But it left my head when I saw something coming toward me over the mountains: two horses. Being pulled by the horses was a carriage. It was one of those super posh ones with a roof and everything. Holding tight on my hilt, I mounted Ace and went to meet with the travellers. As I rode towards them, the horses stopped and two people who weren't much smaller than me hopped off the small seating area. There was a girl with brown hair and camel eyes. Her hair was in a ponytail. Meanwhile, the boy had messy hair the colour of paper. His eyes were similar to the girls, but they were a bit darker. I reached them and the girl pulled out a scroll. Unlike the movies, the scroll didn't drop to the floor. If she told me, it was an art project, I would've believed her considering it was no bigger than an A5 piece of paper. She cleared her throat. 'Dear Fallen Prince, I am the king of a nearby kingdom, and I wish to offer you hospitality. We are enemies of Kajle and therefore want no more than to embarrass the king. My two trusted officers will safely escort you to my palace and then we can discuss deals.'