Hello there. I've had this idea for a while, and thought I'd finally start cracking down and do it. I love Keane, despite his very small screen time, which isn't even really a screen, and he is severely unloved in this already underappreciated series. So I thought, make a fanfic about the ginger and all my problems will be solved. (sure they will…)

Anyway, here's the full summary, I really, really hate the whole word limit thing. I mean, I get it's purpose, but couldn't it just be, oh, I don't know, twenty letters longer? Ah well.

Summary: Political turmoil in Sailand leaves the royal family frantically trying to regain it's quickly diminishing power. What was unrest soon spreads into a full scale revolution. Crowned prince Keane, confused and terrified, barely manages to escape with his life. Now searching for the safety he believes to be all the way in Asteria, he has to try to avoid being found out and sold into slavery, or worse.

Prologue - Of Training and Memories

Keane walked down the long rounded hallway to his room. It was one of many, and right now he was so tired he could barely remember which, the unmarked doorways seeming to almost blend into each other. He'd just finished some harsh training and could barely stand up, his feet dragging and eyes drooped. The work he'd been getting was becoming worse and worse the closer to his thirteenths birthday, and was almost an infinitely harder then when Myrrah had been first in line for their father's successor.

Finally reaching the correct entrance, the red head stepped inside, closing the door behind him and collapsing onto the overstuffed bed. It was times like this that the twelve year old wished he wasn't royalty. Normal people must have it so easy, not being overloaded with the constant teaching and lectures and economics and what policies did what and how to deal with the citizens and how to deal with the nobles and sword training and archery training and so many different kinds of trainings and know how that he felt like his brain would explode.

He wasn't sure if he was already asleep or nearly there when he heard the knock on his door. Groaning, he pushed himself onto a sitting position on his bed and halfheartedly attempted to straighten his hair and clothes.

"Come in," He called groggily. Two of his half brothers, Augustus and Emmanuel, which he couldn't help but think in his half dazed state what terrible names those were, walked in. Augustus had short blond hair and was a bit on the chubby side, although not overly so, while Emmanuel was a brunette like his mother and skinny as a stick. He was even skinnier then Prince Myrrah had been, and that was a feet within itself. Keane often wondered if he had some sort of disorder, but didn't ask about it.

"Hey Keane did you hear?" Augustus asked enthusiastically. The ginger just shook his head, not having any idea what they were talking about. "The-" he started, but was cut off by Emmanuel.

"The anima caused a riot down in Davora! That's the third one in the past four months!" The slender kid nearly shouted, both excitement and a bit of worry in his voice. Keane was sitting up straight now, his earlier fatigue momentarily forgotten.

"What do you mean a riot? Did they catch the anima?" He asked quickly, trying to figure out if the two were pulling his leg. Since he'd become first in line, he'd had to deal with the same kind of abuse and what not that he used to be the leader of. It could get really bothersome sometimes, and often wished he could apologize to Myrrah for everything, but that was impossible.

"Like, a riot. You know, the kind where building are broke and people beat up and stuff and I'm not sure, maybe," Emmanuel explained. The red head rolled his eyes though, obviously not getting the kind of answer he'd wanted.

"I know what a riot is, I mean, what was it about? Same as last time?" The two in the doorway nodded, both looking almost angry.

"Yeah, freeing anima and some stuff about taxes and food or whatever. You know more about that stuff then we do," Augustus said, a bit of envy in his voice. Keane just nodded though, it wasn't like he enjoyed the classes.

"And they don't know if they anima started if for sure apparently, but they probably did, you know?" Emmanuel added, although the red head wasn't really paying all that much attention anymore.

"Right, well, tell me if you hear anything else, g'night," he said, quickly covering his head with the blanket before either boy could object. He didn't mean to be rude, but he was exhausted, the weariness coming back after the shock wore off a bit.

The two left, mumbling to each other and leaving Keane to his thoughts. Another riot. It was almost scary. There'd been unrest in the country for a long time now, longer then the red head could really remember caring about, and it was getting worse and worse by the day. He hoped his father would be able to take care of it before he had to take over. They all said he'd be ready once the time came for him to be king, but he wasn't so sure. He wasn't even really meant to be king, if nothing ever happened to Myrrah then he never would have been.

Myrrah. He had been on his mind a lot lately. Lady Marein's stupid, stupid son. The one who used to be first in line to be king. The little prodigy who was so good that the king went out of the traditional order of the eldest son being first in line to succeed him in favor of one much younger. The one who'd killed himself in the pond in the garden because of bullies. Keane didn't like thinking about him, but he always seemed to come up. What would of happened if he was still alive? How would he handle the situation?

"Stupid Husky…" the ginger mumbled into the pillow, using the insulting nickname he thought of himself that just stuck for some reason. It'd been over a year now, but after rough days training wise or hearing of the ever growing unrest, or both in today's condition, it still seemed fresh. The other Princes had gotten over his death after a few months, but their lives didn't change because of it. They hadn't needed to take his place and find out just what might have been going through his head.

Eyes drooping to the brink of closure, he tried to push all thoughts of the younger boy out of his head. He needed sleep, not thinking about that stupid twig of a child, or how he always seemed ready to fight, and they would of never guessed he'd break down like he did, or how he once gave him a broken nose and made Keane talk funny for weeks, or when they were younger before Myrrah'd been named as successor they'd actually been kind of close, or that today would have been his eleventh birthday…

Tadaa. A prologue for all you wonderful people out there. I hope I didn't make his too angstful, but it's kind of hard gripping the personality of someone who appeared for such a small time. Plus, I feel that Husky's death could of really effected him. Well, enough of my ranting, please review.