The Heir of Promises

Chapter 2 - Blaise

Prince Lukas, the man everyone strived to be like, dead. Even after four years, his impact on this city still lingers in my mind. He died so young, he had so much left to live for, his new wife for example, I can still remember the widows screams in the night, it haunts us all, even now. I walk through the streets of Halsisters town, puddles splash under me as I walk on the sidewalk towards my house. I have come to like nighttime walks, it is always quieter at night, always has been. I usually escape to the forest during the day, I hunt for deer and rabbits, anything really so my family stay fed. We never grew up wealthy, and my mother tries, she really does, but she is getting older and taking care of me and my sister is becoming too much now, so I go out and hunt for food. Nighttime though? It is nice to know that everybody is sleeping, even the Princes wife, every now and then I hear an owl hoot or a rat scuttering across the ground, but apart from that, it is dead silent. I reach my house after only a few minutes and I walk inside. "where have you been?" my mother says, getting up from her rocking chair, her face lighter then usual, "just on a walk, why?" I frown when she slaps a letter to my chest, I begin to read it, 'By orders from King Herron, a tournament will be held' I try to read on but my mother snatches the letter off me, "isn't this great news?!" my mother asks and I frown and shrug, "no idea, you didn't let me finish reading it." She giggles a bit and apologises, she then gives me a run down of the letter, "the king is holding a tournament for any man, the winner gets to marry the Princess and become the King of Halsister!" I shrug once more at her and she slaps me lightly on the leg, "Blaise, this is good!" "Why?" I frown and she scoffs playfully, "you can sign up!" I walk to the rocking chair she was sitting in before, and sit down, rocking it lightly, "you do want to sign up don't you?" she asks and I look at the floor, "not really." She rushes to me quicker then I have seen her do in a long time, then she tilts my head up so I am looking at her. "Blaise you are signing up, matter of fact, I already did that for you!" she smiles wickedly and my mouth falls open, she did what? "you what? Why would you do that without my consent?!" She steps back and crosses her arms, "because I knew you would say no." she wasn't wrong there. I don't want to be king, let alone be married to the princess, she is probably just really selfish and only thinks about makeup and how her hair looks. "where is the sign up sheet? You are going to scribble my name out right now" I stand up but my mother pushes me back onto the rocking chair forcefully, almost tipping the chair itself over, "no point, the sign up sheet is the poster, and I grabbed two, I signed one and sent it off to the kingdom already" she shrugs and I suddenly feel angry, I never get angry at mum unless it's serious, this is definitely serious. "you didn't even ask me? I don't want to be king, or marry!" "well then you just have to lose, but just know, if you fail purposely, you are not to come back to this house." I scoff, "what, so I won't be allowed to se you or my sister ever again?" she shakes her head, "nope" I cannot believe this. "will I get anything else out of this apart from being king?" she shakes her head but then frowns and nods, "yes, me and your sister will be provided for if you make it past the third round, and we will stay provided for until you either win or lose and get disqualified." I weigh my options, I could purposely fail, and never see my family again, which means I will probably get to travel the world like I have always wanted to do. Or I can go into this competition and get past the first few rounds, and get my family supported, and if I win, they will be fully supplied for until their death. After a minute or two I sigh, "fine." She claps and gives me a big hug, then whispers in my ear, "you won't fail, I believe in you." I wrap one arm around her before walking off to my room, which I share with my sister. My sister is only eight and she does not fully understand the world yet, I hope she never does. "are you going to go away B?" she whispers, she has nicknamed me B because she says my name 'tires her out' and also because it stand for beautiful she says. I join her In the queen sized bed and she lays on my chest, "for a while I will, but you will be taken care of while I'm gone" "by who?" she says and I stare at the ceiling, who will take care of them? Will a guard stop by and drop supplies off frequently? "I do not know Vi, but trust me, you will not go without food." She hugs me and nudges her head into my chest, "Don't leave me." She says and I feel a tear fall onto my chest, I use my free hand to wipe her tears away and I kiss her head, "I will always be with you Vi, all you have to do is think of me and not forget" I feel her nod and I shut my eyes.

Princess Odessa, I haven't thought of that name in a while, the last time I saw the Princess, I was only young. She was walking the streets with her brother and I accidentally knocked into her, causing her to fall over. After I had realised it was her I ran into, I apologised over and over again, The prince had moved in front of her and tried telling me that it was okay but I still feared that I would be arrested, I remember the Princess stepping in front of her brother, even though he told her not to. She stood in front of me, who was on the ground praying, and she ordered me to stand up, I did exactly that. She observed me and her green eyes looked like it was reading my soul, I shivered as she looked at me, and she tilted her head as she frowned, "you look funny" my eyes flew wide, funny? The prince coughed and slapped her on the back, and she looked back at him confused, I was dumbfounded, "may I ask how?" I remember I didn't mean to say that sentence out loud, but I did and my whole body trembled with fear that she would kill me, even though she was only fourteen. "I don't know actually" she tilts her head once more and she steps closer, I don't dare move, everybody around us has now stopped what they were doing, and they were watching the scene unfold. The princess looks me up and down a few times, I was taller then her but that did not stop her from seeming taller then me, "your hair." She says at last, and I remember frowning at her, "what's wrong with my hair?" I was quite offended at her saying that but I of course didn't tell her, "there is nothing wrong with it, it is weird, I have never seen a boy with white hair before" I would usually describe my hair as a very light blonde, but after she had called my hair white, I went home and realised that it was in fact, white. Because I never thought before saying anything, I told her, "you look funny as well" she frowned at me and the Prince shifted, "watch yourself." He said, but the Princess told him not to get angry, she asked for me to explain why she looked funny, I told her it was her eyes, I told her they were special, that I had never seen such vibrant green eyes before, I didn't use the word vibrant though because I did not know the word existed then. I fully expected her to slap me, or punch me, but instead she just laughed. "everyone says that" she said smiling, that was when I realised she had dimples, she shone and made her eyes stand out more, "but I have never heard anyone describe them as that though." She steps back a step and holds her hand out, "what is your name?" she asks, "B-Blaise" I say now stuttering, She flexes her hand telling me to shake it, and I take her hand, it was soft, felt like what a newly polished Granite bench felt like, it was nice. "I'm Odessa" she replies and her dimples flash again. She curtseys once at me, before entwining her arm with her brothers, and walking away proudly. Anybody that I spoke to that day asked me what her hands felt like, and if she was nice, I replied saying that she was nice, and that it was weird that they were asking what her hands felt like, it was weird though. These were middle aged men asking how a young girls hands felt.

I tend to wonder what The Princess was up to nowadays, I haven't seen her walk the streets in years, matter of fact, If that tournament wasn't posted, I would assume the Princess had also died, or ran away, or something. Perhaps after her brothers death, she just chose not to leave the castle, because of the questions, I certainly wouldn't leave for that reason if I were her. It could also be because she has been busy learning how to become future Queen, no. that wasn't it, because the tournament was for the winner to become king and rule the kingdom. Perhaps she has left, she just changed her appearance completely, but even then, anybody would notice those eyes. I actually now have no Idea where she has been, nor do I really care. I am going to have to go do this stupid tournament, and either get far enough into it, so my family are provided for at least a while, or I can win and rule the kingdom, having my family always provided for. I will not have to talk to the Princess, I don't think so at least. What if the Princess has gone mad? What if she is crazy unstable and that is why she hasn't been into the city? It was either that or the alternative, she just hasn't been allowed outside the castle walls, I am severely hoping the second option is correct, imagine being married to a crazy woman, not that I expect to ever interact or socialize with her if I do win. I guess I will just have to wait and find out, I leave in a week, and I hope by then, my mother has changed her mind.