A Broken Vow

Chapter 1: Henry's Return

*Frederick POV*

Frederick sat in his room, reading. It was his favorite pastime even if his father thought it was childish. He looked up from his book after reading for a while and glanced at the sun to measure the time. He knew that he could not afford to miss his sword class for more than half an hour. If he was caught reading when he should have been in training, his father would have all his books burned.

He glanced around his room. His wooden bed was pushed against the window In front of him was a desk with its surface slanting down slightly and on top of it a feather was sticking out of a glass bottle filled with black ink. On either side of the desk, two mahogany shelves held a multitude of books. Having these many books was a blessing as only the rich could afford them, but even then, he knew that not many nobles would have had luck collecting a vast collection like his (as books were so scarce they were hard to come by). Thanks to his brother, he was allowed the luxury of having so many books.

Henry was a champion knight and was three years older than Frederick. He was very handsome and muscular, and wherever he went, women tried to impress him in hopes of a marriage arrangement. Henry, though, was always straightforward and made it clear that he was not interested in marriage—or women, for that matter. He only had a single mindset: to win the championship he came to win. Nothing else.

Henry was able to travel around to jousting tournaments and because of this, he was exposed to many different types of books: historical, cultural, and even fantasy. Everywhere he went, he bought books for Frederick and upon his return, would give the books he collected to Frederick who would always be overjoyed, not only because of the books (though he was very excited about those too), but because he and Henry got to spend more time together.

Frederick enjoyed it when they jousted and sparred with each other, and although Frederick was never good at sword work, he loved it when Henry would encourage him and teach him new fighting techniques.

When Frederick was very young, his instructor despised teaching Frederick and would often give bad reports on him. Once, when Frederick was passing through the hall, he overheard his instructor say, "Frederick is so incompetent. I tell him to lunge right and he drops the sword! I tell you, that boy is useless!" Upon hearing this, Frederick fled. He rushed to his room, slammed the door shut, and dove into a book, shutting out all unwelcomed voices. It was much later that he heard a quiet knock on his door. He heard a gentle clicking of the door and a redhead popped in from the other side.

"May I come in?" Without waiting for an answer, Henry strode in and plopped down on the bed beside Frederick who was staring at the book in his lap.

"I heard what Sir. Bellmont said. It was uncalled for and at any rate, he is not worthy to teach you, my dear brother. Never mind that bigot. He doesn't know what he is talking about and anyway, I think you are doing great! Look," He lifted Frederick's chin so that he could see Frederick's eyes.

"Look at me, Frederick. You are amazing. You are not incompetent. You may be a slow learner, but I believe you." He paused. 

Frederick searched his eyes. 

With seriousness written all over his face, Henry said, "Frederick, you. Can. Do. It."

There was a long moment of silence. Frederick looked away, hiding his tears. Finally, he looked into Henry's eyes and stuttered, "Th–thank you. H– Hen—Henry. I guess all I have to do is to keep trying."

The room settled into quietness again. Suddenly, Henry gave Frederick a good-natured slap on the back while saying cheerfully, "That's the attitude, Frederick! Now, tomorrow, you keep trying your best. Show that bigot that he was wrong."

The next day, he was once again berated and scolded by his instructor. However, it seemed somehow...different. This time, Frederick didn't care if his teacher thought he was incompetent. All that mattered was that Henry believed he could do it. And because Henry said so, Frederick believed it too. He would make Henry proud to be his brother. As Frederick reflected back on that moment, he couldn't help but wonder when he would see Henry again. At the present, Frederick knew Henry was traveling around and probably winning each and every tournament.

Just as Frederick was deep in thought, Garrot suddenly barged into the room, beaming. "Frederick, Frederick! Guess what?!"

Frederick yelled, "Garrot! How many times do I have to tell you to knock before barging in? Why can't you remember that for once?"

Garrot's face suddenly fell and he looked down, ashamed. "I...I'm sorry. I forgot. I promise to do better next time."

Frederick sternly replied, "Take care that you do. After all, you do know what happens to people who break their promises, don't you?"

Garrot stared at the ground in shame. He nodded but didn't move his posture at all.

Frederick sighed, "I forgive you, Garrot."

Garrot's face immediately lit up and he made eye contact with Frederick, crying excitedly, "Guess what?!"

"What?"

"Henry's here!" Garrot yelled.

Upon hearing this, Frederick shouted, "Henry?! Henry's back!" He immediately leaped to his feet and rushed through the hallway lined with portraits of the family and skipping down the steps. In no time, he reached the door where Henry was just coming in.

Without thinking, he slung his arm around Henry's neck and started asking a slew of questions, "Henry! You're back! I missed you so much! Did you win? How was your tournament? Who did you see?"

"Woah there, Frederick. Calm down," Henry laughed. "I am sure I can tell you of all my adventures later. Besides," Henry's voice suddenly dropped, "There are a lot of people around us, you know?"

Frederick looked around and found a crowd of nobles staring at him. His face went red. He unslung his arm hastily as he stuttered, "We-well, g-greetings all."

It would have been more awkward had not Henry saved the day by saying loudly and jovially, "Well, now that all of you met my brother Frederick, let us go to the dining hall where food awaits us." At this, the crowd started to walk towards the dining hall which was located to the left of the door, and down the corridor.

As the crowd started to move away, Frederick and Henry hung back. It was during this time that Frederick saw a boy who was wearing a silver plated armor approach them. The boy had freckles and black hair that was cut to shoulder length. He had a sharp jawline and his skin was a shade darker than either Frederick or Henry. He looked to be about Henry's age and had a haughty look on his face. As he drew near them, Frederick could sense trouble immediately.

"So, this is Henry's little brother," he said with a smirk on his face as he stopped right in front of both boys.