Morass

Chapter 1

As most stories this story starts with a change, a new arrival or two and the beginning of a new era. Before that however it might make it more comfortable to read if you know where you are. A long time ago, in another time where what you might view as something mythical exist. This story takes place in the Kingdom of Magio a luscious country with meadows, farmland, woods and all four seasons. The kingdom got its name from the pretty large percentage of magic-wielding people that lives there. In the capitol, Domo, there's a castle where the royal family live. The queen is a beautiful, fair and kind lady whom is dearly loved by the people, her highness was a former witch but she stopped when she got pregnant with the prince. The king is a handsome man, his heart however is getting darker and colder as wrong lips are whispering in his ears. Last but certainly not least we have the prince, Mitxel, he is well liked by the people as he's kind and determined, he wears his heart on his sleeves quite often. This is the story of Mitxel, a story of love, fright and happiness.

One seemingly ordinary Wednesday morning Mitxel was out on the courtyard with the other knights to practice. A pair of new and curious eyes watched them from the forge. They watched him duel with the knights and smiled when he landed a successful blow. Stepping out into the sun from the shadows of the forge did a young man in his mid twenties, light brown going on blond hair, tall and with apparent muscles. Just as he stepped out the prince misplaced a step and he tripped face first into the ground. Nearby knights helped him up smiling, the smith however could not contain his laughter over the comical and very cute fail of the prince. Angry and flustered eyes met smiling ones and Mitxel marched over to the smith.

"And who might you be?" Mitxel asked not really wanting to play the prince card fully out but still put it as a undertone.

"My name is Aed, who are you?" he introduced himself and stretched out his hand to the slightly shorter boy. Mitxel who still felt insulted glared at the hand until Aed slowly pulled his hand back.

"If you beat me, I might just tell you," Mitxel said and one of the nearby knights threw his practice sword at Aed who caught it graciously, even though it was quite close to hitting him in the face.

"My pleasure," Aed said and accepted the challenge. The two lads looked each other dead in the eyes as they took starting position.

The knights gawked at the smith as he held his sword against the prince's throat, the prince for that matter were lying on the ground with his sword out of reach. The duel had lasted for barely a minute. The prince stared shocked at the handsome smith above him who seemed to have expected the outcome.

"Who are you actually?" The prince asked in awe and the young smith looked mildly confused.

"A smith?" He asked slightly sarcastically, a raised an eyebrow at the younger man on the ground. Mitxel scowled slightly and huffed as he made an effort to get up. Aed removed the practice sword from Mitxel's throat and stretched out a hand to help him up. The prince gripped his hand hesitantly and let himself get pulled up.

"I've never met a smith like you, who can handle a sword that well," the prince's compliment made Aed grin widely.

"It's woeful making a weapon if one can not understand what the wielder needs, don't you think?"

"Are you meaning to tell me you can handle all weapons as well as a sword?" Mitxel exclaimed in a mix of surprise and awe, making Aed chuckle.

"No, but I am trained with most weaponry," he said and let go of the prince's hand, which made an odd sort of missing-feeling grow in both of them. "However I do believe that you have a little something to tell me," the smith said and stepped closer to the prince who gulped nervously, the poor thing didn't even know why he suddenly was so nervous.