Worlds Apart

Chance

The warm morning light cascaded through the crystal windows and gleamed off the ivory walls, slowly waking the sleeping prince.  Theodore's eyes opened and he rubbed them as they adjusted to the morning. He sat up in his wide canopy bed and took a breath, shaking off his morning grogginess. Theodore threw his legs over the side of the bed and hesitated before standing up, thinking of all the things he had to do today. Then he slowly walked to his bathroom to go about his morning routine. Once he finished he began to get dressed for the day. Even on his off days, he had to look at his best. So he put on formal white pants with a long white overcoat that reached just above his knees. Theodore clasped the coats gold claspings that went down the front of the garment and stood in front of the mirror, admiring the intricate gold embroidery designs. He put on light brown shoes, fixed his hair one more time and headed out. Theodore walked out of his room and down the opulent hallways that he had walked so many times before. Passing ornate vases given to his family by kings and queens, paintings that were done by only the finest artists in the world, and grand, colorful drapes that framed magnificently large windows that looked out over his kingdom. He found his way to the dining hall where his family was sat at one end of a massive, hand carved, mahogany table, with a just as massive crystal chandelier hanging above them. His father, King Alexander, was seated at the head, his mother, Queen Viviana, was to his right. Theodore found his seat next to his sister, Princess Coretta, who was seated to the left of his father.  

"Good morning Theodore," his mother chimed happily, "how did you sleep?"

"Just fine," Theodore said, sleep still laced in his voice. The waiters brought out their breakfast as they chatted.

"So what are your plans for today, son?" his father asked.

Theodore swallowed and said, "After breakfast I am going to meet with my advisers to discuss some things". Then popped another grape in his mouth.

His father exhaled, speaking inquisitively he asked, "the Vragosians?" Theodore just nodded. The Vragosians were a group of people from the neighboring city of Vragos. Where Theodore's kingdom, Kalida, was a finely tuned, well-working, beautifully up-kept kingdom, the people of Vragos lived in squalor. Their buildings were run down and broken, their houses were tiny and cold. No one had working plumbing, and even the "wealthiest" of them couldn't afford electricity. On top of all of this, the people of Vragos were starving. They had managed well on their own in the past, but a plague on their crops decimated their food supply. Theodore's father had told him how in recent years, the Vragosians had started to attack the kingdom, raiding villager's homes and businesses of food and money. And while Theodore hadn't been crowned yet, the day he turned 18 his father's kingdom became his, along with all the responsibilities that go with it. 

He finished his last bite, wiped his mouth with a folded napkin, "I should get to my meeting," he said, quickly kissing his 14 year old sister on the head before she swatted him off. As he mindlessly walked the hallways, automatically knowing where to go, he thought deeply about the problem at hand. All throughout his life, he had grown up being told that the people of Vragos were hoodlums who didn't care for others. But he could never bring himself to feel that harshly about them. There was always something that stopped him, a hunch maybe, from seeing them as the dirty scoundrels they had always been described to him. Theodore took himself out of his thoughts for a moment to open the large double doors in front of him. Inside was a large library room where a handful of Theodore's advisors waited around a large wooden table in the center of the room.

Oliver, Theodore's most trusted advisor and best friend, walked up to him saying, "Welcome your Highness, we were just about to begin." Theodore smiled at Oliver, knowing that he had to address him like that whenever they were in public.