Where Light Dies

21. The Crown Prince

"Please! Please don't kill me."

"I'm sorry."

-- ???, Surface -- 2007 --

I am a bane to this world. It's been like that for the past thirteen years, and it's one of the facts that I have come to accept.

"How do you do your Majesty."

"I'm fine as always. You look well too Serene," I replied, surprised to see her in the heart of the city. I'd usually avoid people who tend to call me majesty on the streets, but she was a person to whom I owed much, and not to answer her would be a step short of rudeness.

"Why thank you! Did you hear that?" she whispered to her friends who walked beside her. All of them giggled as they passed me by.

"Guess I'm pretty popular after all."

"Well marrying you is like a free pass to royalty isn't it?" A low-pitched voice crept up behind my shoulder. It was Javier, and as always, he didn't fail to startle me. "Your humble servant, reporting for duty."

"Servant my arse Javier," I shot back. Javier was the kind of person who enjoyed sarcasm to its finest, the kind that wouldn't shut his mouth unless compelled to do so. Another thing he was known for was his infamous jump scares. The fool could pop up from literally anywhere, exactly the reason why my father had sent him to retrieve me.

"Those are some fine ladies you've got there. All wrapped around your fingers, aren't they."

"They're just friends Javier," I replied. Their intentions were quiet clear from the beginning, unlike Serene who must've just gone along for bragging rights. It was just as he said, I was a free pass to inheriting a claim on royal blood. It was the main reason I often kept to myself. People were always bound to take advantage of you, be it the commoners or the king himself. "I know why you came here," I whispered, cutting to the chase. I tried to ease into it as much as possible. The fact that he was merely a messenger of the royals, it would be harsh to just throw it at his face.

"The king awaits your presence," he said with a straight face, looking far ahead. This was something he often did when he did something he hated. This was something that happened a lot.

"Why?" I asked, looking straight ahead. I thought I had made it clear to the King. This was the first time in three months that he'd called me to the palace. Most would think that he was a miserable father or a devoted ruler, and I knew for sure that he wasn't the latter.

"I told him I'm not his pawn anymore," I said, my fists clenching up on their own. Then you shall be my knight, his voice rung in my head as my mind reeled back, the image of him driving his blade through a whimpering child's heart stirring up memories that I'd long tried to suppress.

"I don't know. He didn't tell me a word when I asked him. It must be urgent," Javier said, his face coiling up from regret. He definitely was too soft at heart. Every time I end up wounded, he curses himself, for he was the one who brought me word of the job to be done. I'd told him it wasn't his doing many times over, but it was of no use either. Some people prefer to live with it after all.

"But whatever be his words, don't do it if it goes against your will," he said, shocking me almost instantly. Out of pure instinct, I yanked him into an alley, pushing him against the wall.

"You idiot! To speak against the king is a step short of heresy! You'll be put to eternal punishment! Weren't you the one who always warned me about this!" I whispered, shaking him with each word. Even if I were caught, the guards would let me off with a chaste warning for the king was my father himself. However, for a servant of the court to say such a thing! He'd wish he were dead.