Icebound

Chapter 3

Two years had passed since Minetopia lost the king and queen, but now, Prince Reginald was old enough to become King Reginald. Today was going to be Reginald's coronation, and the whole kingdom was celebrating. As a part of the celebration, the castle gates were going to be open for a whole day, and a party would be hosted at the castle.

Outside, people from other kingdoms arrived to Minetopia by boat or by horse. Guards from the castle were waiting at the docks and at the kingdom's entry points to greet the special guest from out of town. As for the citizens, they were excited to see the gates open. They all decorated the town and had festivities ready to celebrate Reginald's coronation.

Somewhere in Minetopia, Maya, now a young woman, was getting ready to go to work. She lived near Minetopia, but she had to go work gathering ice, so she had no time to celebrate. After finishing buying breakfast, she left a store and checked on Ashlie, who was now a full grown horse.

"Here Ashlie. Breakfast," she told her horse.

Ashlie happily munched on an apple Maya handed her. After she finished eating, Ashlie nuzzled her head happily at Maya. Maya giggled and petted her horse.

While Maya and Ashlie were getting ready to go to work, everyone else was gathering outside the castle. Citizens and guests were excited to see the gates open. However, one person, a duke of some sort, had his own reasons to see the gates open.

"Minetopia... our most mysterious trade partner..." he told his two body guards. "I can't wait for you to open your gates so I can see what I can steal from you... Did I say that out loud?" he said to his guards.

The guards didn't say anything. They knew better than to argue with Torquedawg, who was the duke of another kingdom. He wasn't the nicest, and a bit of a griefer and a thief, so they knew not to question him.

No one nearby heard him. They were all rushing to the castle.

Meanwhile, inside the castle, Aiden was fast asleep. The sun was shining brightly in his room, but he remained asleep.

Suddenly, he heard a knock on his bedroom door, making him wake up.

"Huh? Ah! I'm up! I'm up!" he shouted.

"Prince Aiden, sorry to wake you," he heard a servant say from outside his room.

"No. I'm fine... I've been..." Aiden said, but he let out a yawn. "Up for hours..." he said.

He started to fall back asleep, but the servant knocked on the door again, making him wake up again.

"Who is it?!" he called out. Aiden yawned and rubbed his eyes, completely awake now.

"Still me, sir. The gates will open soon, so you best to get ready," said the servant.

"Get ready? Oh, that's right! Reggie's coronation is today!" said Aiden.

He quickly jumped out of bed and rushed over to the armor stand that had his outfit for the party set up. Aiden quickly changed out of his pajamas and into his suit. Once he was fully dressed, he fixed his hair and looked at the mirror.

"Yeah! I'm ready for Reggie's coronation! I've been so excited for today!" he said happily.

Aiden hadn't felt this happy in a while. Reginald was going to become king of Minetopia at last. And today, the gates would open, and he gets to see his brother at the party. Aiden hoped that today would go well, because he wanted to reconnect with his brother, and even convince him to keep the gates open.