Once upon a time in a small kingdom unknown to the world, lived a King, a Queen and their five children; a prince and four princesses.
"They lived happily," said the people because they never knew what really happened behind those humongous gates and tall white walls. The King and Queen sometimes raised their swords at each other, fighting, but they only did it in their chamber so that no one would know. Albeit, their eldest child, who was just a little boy at the moment, the one and only Prince William was very mischievous.
Prince William would sometimes take a peek at what his father and mother were doing, then keeping whatever he saw to himself. He believed that his sisters and the people would not want to see their King and Queen in a sword fight as the fortune of the kingdom rested in those hands.
Therefore, only when the King himself announced his departure from the kingdom did the people know there was something bad going on behind those walls. Little Prince William watched solemnly as the King rode his black horse to the gates with no plan of turning back and the whole kingdom grieved as they had lost a King, whose reason for his departure was unknown.
Ever since then, the Queen became both King and Queen to the people and both father and mother to her children. Prince William, who could not bear seeing his family grieving, would always try to cheer them up. He would make jokes which he learned from the royal clown and play dolls with his little sisters. Every time one of them was wiping their tears, he would come to the rescue and fill their hearts with joy.
And his? He kept his silent from crying as he did not want to appear weak. He would grow up to be King anyway, right? He vowed to himself that he would be a great King, the greatest one to ever live and to ever rule a kingdom.
Day turned into night and night turned into day. The cycle continued until Prince William grew into a handsome young man with such great talents. He had enhanced his skills in combat battle, being the best sword fighter there ever was, hunting the most vicious beasts and leading the best army.
Aside from these skills, which were adored by many from the old woman at the market to the small boy at the church and even the royals from kingdoms miles away, he had one skill, one talent that he hid behind those walls. It was not because he was embarrassed by it. As a matter of fact, he was way too proud of it that he kept it within the family.
The Queen had taught him to sing since he was little, even before his father's departure. Throughout the years, he became better and better. He would sing his sisters to sleep and sometimes he would sing just for the fun of it. The days would seem brighter and his heart would feel lighter every time he did and it became his hobby when he was alone in his room.
Every evening, Prince William would train the knights, making them the best ones in the whole continent, always pushing them to their best potential but never breaking their limits. One day when the prince was teaching some sword tricks to his men, someone applauded from a distance. Bewildered, the prince stopped mid-action and turned to look at the man who was standing beside his mother. To have the Queen in the training field was already odd and the presence of a mysterious man only added more questions in the prince's head.
Prince William looked at his mother questioningly but she did not notice as her eyes were focused on the man. The prince had seen him in the castle in a few occasions before, and he was sure the man had had dinner with his mother. But what for?
The man walked towards the prince and revealed his sword. "I challenge you into a sword fight," he said calmly.
The knights snickered and whispered amongst themselves. No one had ever defeated Prince William, no one even got close to doing it. Despite his age and his petite body, he was damn good.
