The Prince of Thius

Chapter 1

25 years later

Prince Alexander strode through the great walls of the palace haughtily with his head held high determined to speak with his father on the matter of why his prize horse had been sold. He walked by or rather pushed anyone in his path. Anger emanated off of him, and rightly so since he had won that horse fair and square. Soon he arrived at his destination and instead of waiting permission to enter he pushed the doors to the great throne room open himself. Even though he was clearly interrupting a meeting he still stomped his way to his father's throne and stood in front of the man from whose loins he came.

Anyone looking on would tell those who asked that Prince Alexander Richard III was a spoiled brat that didn't know the meaning of responsibility or etiquette. He was tall for his age of seventeen, had long blonde hair that stopped to his shoulders, naturally his ears were pierced often as is common for one of his status and along with his athletic body he was, in looks, everything people looked for in a prince.

After glaring at his father in a somewhat childish manner, Alexander straightened to his full height of 6'4 and raised his voice loudly over the murmurs of the council members his father was meeting with.

"Father I demand to know why my prize horse was sold?" Though the question was worded for a ten year old, Alexander made it very clear that it was not a trivial matter to him. Not bothering to answer the king stood to his feet, standing only one inch taller than his only son and motioned for all to exit. At once, everyone within the room save, the soldiers guarding the door and Alex and his father left. The king approached his son slowly until they were inches from each other.

"Alexander Xavier Richard the Third," the king stated coldly. "What is the meaning of this intrusion? Pray, do not tell me that you interrupted my meeting because of some damned horse," he said his voice rising louder with every word. Not being able to help himself, Alexander flinched and turned a shade of red. Though he would not admit it, there was only one person that scared Alexander and it was the man standing before him. Though in general the citizens of Thius were known for their calm demeanor, the rulers were definitely not.

"But father, it was my horse and you had no right to see it sold," the prince said, still standing firm and not willing to let his father see that he was terrified.

"It was a fucking horse! You won it when you were twelve and it was already old then, prized or not! It was sold off for meat, I refuse to have a horse in my stable, under my care that didn't pay for itself," shouted the king. He took a minute and looked his boy over, thoroughly disgusted by his spoiled and stuck up personality. "Get out of my sight."

Alexander, stood there rigid not sure what to do. His father had always spoken to him this way, even as a young child. This time he really wanted his horse back but he wasn't too keen on taking on his father to get it. Bowing slightly, he slowly made his way back to the throne doors but stopped just before them too look at the cold hearted man that did nothing more but ridicule him. He fought tears that threatened to spill. A prince never cried in the sight of others, and although he was still a boy by others standards he had to fend for himself as a man against his father. He pushed the doors open and walked through then, letting them shut on their own.

"Alex how long have I been telling you to go easier on the boy," said a soft voice in the shadows. The king sighed heavily and slumped on his throne.

"How can I be easy on him when, now at the brim of manhood, all he is, is a mere boy," he argued. At this statement a small slender woman dressed in hunter gear stepped forward. She wore green breeches and blouse, tan riding boots, a sword hung on the left side of her waist while a bow and quiver was strapped onto her back. Most people did not even know her name much less who she really was.