A Crowned King (Complete)

Chapter 3

Mako stood staring at himself in the mirror. He turned his head first one way and the other, examining himself. He'd managed to find a double who looked exactly like him from among the Royal Order. After speaking with the man -- Dane Ordo -- the Knight had agreed to serve as his double as was per his duty as a member of the Order. He also agreed to listen to the advice of Drianna and follow what she guided him to do when dealing with the people of the Nation.

However one thing had been pointed out to Mako: if the Prince was on the throne dealing out justice and handling disputes, it would cause quite a stir to see him among the populace of Blackreach. Then they would begin to question which was the true Prince and he couldn't allow that to happen. To make sure that didn't happen Mako decided that he would need to change his look.

That was what lead him to standing in the mirror, looking at his cut short brown hair and his beardless face.

The Prince had to admit he looked a lot different with his hair cut short and his beard shaved off. There was no one who had ever seen him without his long hair and beard other than his family since he began growing his beard at thirteen. It wasn't enough though. There would still be those who could possibly recognize him. He would have to change something else about himself.

Looking at his face, the Heir realized what he had to do. He held up a hand, drawing on his own arcane powers. His family truly abhorred magic, but his father realized that his children would need every tool that they could use in the future and had had them all instructed in a rudimentary learning of arcane magic. His hand glowed a bright white and he held the light over his left eye. The spell disappated and his hand fell to his side. Now there was a scar over his left eye, trailing from his hairline all the way down to his jawline.

A smile appeared on his face. Mako knew who he was, but looking at himself, he knew that no one else would be able to tell who he was. That was the point; to not be recognized. With his disguise in place he would be able to leave the palace and began his investigation.

The Prince knew that he couldn't dress like he normally would. He turned and walked over to the wooden armoire in the corner. He opened it and dug to the back of it for his plainest clothing that he owned. Finally finding them he began to don the clothing.

First came a pair of plain brown wool breeches which he pulled up his legs and laced up. Next came a forest green linen tunic that he pulled over his head and tucked the hem into his pants. Then he picked up his ankle high black leather boots, pulling them onto his feet. Last he grabbed a black belt and slid it around his hips, cinching it tight.

Mako walked over to the table next to his bed. He opened the drawer and pulled out a doe-hide coin pouch which was bulging with Griffons. He tied the coin pouch to his right hip. He didn't have a weapon that he could take that wouldn't be noticed, but he could stop in the market and buy one. That was part of what the coin pouch full of silver coins was for in that case.

Now all he had to do was get out of the palace. Easier said than done he knew, but he would manage it. He already had an idea about how he was going to go about doing it. A smile lit up his face.

The Prince went to his window and unlocked it, pushing it up to open it fully. Looking out into the day, he straddled the windowsill before sliding out of the window. He dangled for a moment, his head turning to look at the lattice that made its way up the side of the castle wall. Letting go of the windowsill, he grabbed hold of the wooden lattice and he slowly climbed down. In the middle of the day he knew it would be easy for him to be spotted, but he would deal with that when it happened. Reaching the bottom without a problem he turned and made his way towards the gates that surrounded the castle. As he reached the edge of the gates he saw a guard turn to look at him, suspicion glowing in his eyes.