Through Hell and Back {Final Rewrite}

Goodbye at Sunrise

It was well into the night, a storm was rolling in over the palace. And though he should be asleep, the bags under his eyes were a weight his lids had held up for ages, now.

Later, he would tell himself, I will sleep later.

There is too much work to get done first.

And how could he rest? Almost a year ago, he'd received the report that his father had died; just a few mere months ago, his mother had gone as well. With the king and queen gone, he, as the heir apparent, had to step up immediately. Even with the help of his siblings, he knew he had an entire kingdom looking to him for aid, so how could he possibly rest?

So much work get to done...

Aries stared down at the scrolls of paper scattered over his desk - letters, maps, pages torn from books and journals. He was looking for something, anything, that would aid him in the path to victory. At the top of the mountain of papers was the most recent letter he'd received from the princess, Aquarius, along with a map.

'The most accurate map that my aids could design,'

It read,

'using old books of the kingdom before the war.

We suspect that the princess, Jupiter, resides in a palace, in the north-eastern area.Father and Uncle had plans to build one somewhere around there.'

The thunder began to rumble right above, and he heard the whispering of that thing's voice, distant and meek. It pulled at his mind oh, so gently, but he hadn't the time nor the energy to deal with it right now. He read on;

'There is no news on the fog, the people here have named it the 'Demon's Mist'.

Have you made progress in the Vasiliki project?I have identified my select few, but have yet to determine their preparedness to join.'

Aries finished reading the entirety of the letter, but his eyes set to scrutinize two words; Father and Uncle. Oh, how his blood boiled. They might as well have been written in brightly coloured ink and bold writing.

Even during a crisis like this... He scowled, No. Now is not the time for petty sibling squabbles.

He had to think. Think, think, think. What move should he make next? What should he do for his part in the project? He needed to think. Thunder sounded again, and along with the noise of the storm, its voice intervaled from quiet to loud, then quiet again. But it did not cease. Think, think, think. But his mind had become clouded and hazy, wanting to slip away into sleep. He shook his head, staring back at the letter. Nothing. That's thing's voice rang through the whole damn palace. His brow twitched.

That damn feathered witch and her incessant singing, how many times have I told her not to do that?

The doors to his study burst open, disrupting the flames of the candles. Deep honey-blonde locks, darkened and dripping from the rain, clung the to his freckled forehead and cheeks, framing his distressed hazel eyes. His chest heaved, his arms shook. A tone of urgency followed him as he held up a letter, grasped so firmly that it had been crumpled under his grip.

For a moment, Aries' mind came to focus again.

"Leo." He acknowledged.
"This just arrived, it is from the captain of the Northern ship." He said, "It says that they had ventured into the fog."

If the sudden intrude hadn't caught his attention, this certainly did.

"What have they found?" Aries asked.
"They believe they've sighted movement in the fog, but they are not sure if it was an enemy ship. But, they were sure that it was not one of ours." Leo informed, "They sent a messenger-boy immediately."