À Bout de Souffle

I) The Ring

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Today marked the one-year anniversary of Queen Emilie's passing, casting a shadow over the castle that had once been a beacon of brightness and contentment. Unfortunately, the residents of the kingdom were not spared from the spreading darkness that followed her majesty's death.

Gabriel kept to his duties as king, throwing royal banquets and balls and whatever else kings did. Little did he realize that while becoming a more distant ruler, he had also cast away the last living thing his dear Emilie had left; Adrien. Prince Adrien was hardly different from his mother, and word around the kingdom said that was why the king could not bear to spend any time remotely off duty with his only heir. It seemed ages since they had last had a contentful conversation about anything other than the prince's responsibilities as the next monarch of France, and ages since the king had ever let his son out of the castle . . . willingly.

Luckily for the young prince, Adrien found a way out of the dull and gray castle he miserably called home. He enjoyed sitting outside just admiring the beauty of the kingdom that would soon be his till he parted from this life, reading many books on the current Enlightenment movement and they're interesting ideas on freedom. If he ever were caught reading them, he was sure to be reprimanded and punished for reading something so inappropriate for a future king.

One morning, while he was basking in the few hours he had left to take in the crisp autumn air and beautiful scenery with the bright sun shining right below the horizon, his mind wandered to the small town below the hill which the castle was set on. He had never been allowed to explore the kingdom he'd rule over, and decided that it would be best to know the living conditions of his citizens. That's what he told himself as an excuse for his disobedience to his father's orders and blinding curiosity. He pulled himself up from the soft grass and made his way back up to the castle.

To his relief, it was too early for others to have awakened yet, so he quietly crept up the marble stairs and down the lengthy hallways into his bedroom. He sighed and sat down on his canopy bed, glancing around at the tapestries and paintings aligning the stone walls. As much as he loved his personal time alone, he did miss the company his mother had given him. They would spend hours in the library together, finding just the right book to lay him to sleep. Other times, they would ask the cooks to teach them something in the art of baking. It had been just as painful, if not more, for the prince to think of his mother's death like his father. He and his mother were much closer and spent so much more time together.

After she had fallen ill with an unknown disease, the light in his life seemed to have burned out. She would spend most of her days in bed, coughing and sleeping, eating and crying, unable to move for the sickness had paralyzed her from the waist down. It was excruciating watching his mother slowly succumb to the illness before being taken away quickly in her sleep. Ever since, he had vowed to himself he would never allow himself to become close with anyone ever again.

He swiftly stood up and snatched a coat that looked the most unlike something you'd see worn by royalty. He then gently made his way outside and down to the town, making sure he wasn't seen leaving the castle.

He was pleasantly surprised to see that many commoners had woken up and started their day at such an early hour. He was hoping to speak to at least one to get a good idea of life as a low class citizen. As time passed and the sun rose, he began to realize how difficult life was for his subjects. Many were homeless and begging and even stealing, children were dragging heavy carts along the stone road, women were tending to the rowdy chickens and pigs, and men were banging their large hammers on bits of metal. It may not look like difficult work for someone like you and me as most do something like this for a living or chores as they did, but to a boy who had everything done for him for his entire life, this seemed equivalent to hell.