The Journey of a King

Chapter 1

"Did you hear what I said son?" There was a silence in response as the man became increasingly angered with his son, the woman next to him squeezed his hand tightly, shaking her head and sighing. " Lysander, we were talking to you." Still nothing.

The young prince was too busy staring out of the beautifully stain glassed windows to pay attention to his mother and father. "I know the windows are lovely Lysander but-" "They're horrible, they only serve to glamourise your depictions of war father. No, I have no interest in them." The man was beginning to lose his patience "Then what in God's name is so important that you cannot listen to me for even a second!" He yelled standing up before his wife slowly pulled him back down. The Prince looked at the two of them before looking back out of the window, forehead touching the glass lightly as he sighed "Nothing."
•••••••••••••••••••

Lysander was different. He knew he was different, but he didn't mind that. He had grown up knowing that he would never be King; but for some reason, even at a young age he felt happy about that prospect. Things were different before, he'd always had Silas to protect him, but now...now he was alone, and the sole heir to the throne.

He'd never been interested in fighting or war, that was not to say he couldn't defend himself if attacked, but the Prince just found the whole thing...tiresome 'It is always the stupid and incompetent who go looking for war, whilst the intelligent look for a way to settle a situation whereby everyone is favoured.' In his younger years he would often find himself being forgotten, as his mother and father gushed over the son they'd always wanted and who was seemingly perfect in every way. However, Lysander never held this against his older brother, to him they were just two different people, that was all it was. Silas might have been completely different in some ways, but the fact still remained-they were brothers, brothers that shared the same caring, kind-hearted personality.

Lysander truly loved his brother, he was his best friend; perhaps that was why Silas' sudden death was so soul destroying for him...
He remembered that day always; just a few days after Lysander's 11th Birthday and a few days before Silas' 18th, and they were sitting in Silas' room playing chess. Lysander was pitiful at chess but every time they would play his brother would let him win, the younger of the two would always protest, going on and on about morals and cheating whilst his brother would just sit there and smile at him until Lysander would eventually give up, realising his cause was lost and take his defeat-win. That day was exactly the same.

He remembered the moment when his brother's smile began to fade, a momentary gasp of air from his brother's lips before his eyes began to go half-lidded. He remembered that one second feeling of something not being right before the feeling was fully amplified throughout him as the sound of his brother's lifeless body hitting the floor filled his ears, followed by his deafening screams.

Lysander never got to find out what his brother had died of, the physicians' only explanation being that his heart stopped. At that moment, Lysander's heart stopped too, he'd never experienced such grief and anguish before, he was not prepared for the dark days that lie ahead of him.
••••••••••••••

And today was that day again. The day in which his brother had departed from his world. Lysander was now 19 years old, he felt sick to his stomach, having now passed his brother he often spent time wondering what it would be like if things were the other way around, would his parents mourn, would they even care? His thoughts were disturbed as he thought about Silas; 'Truthfully, I know he would suffer the loss as much as I have, no he would in fact be worse than me' he felt a tear slide down his cheek 'No, I would not wish that fate upon him...maybe it is just better this way, better for me to feel the pain than he....' He wiped his eyes and headed towards the exit of the large throne room, ignoring the calls from the King and Queen. He needed to think.