Prologue: Fate's Parting Ways

"Dad, dad! Look! Look!" The young boy jumped up emphatically. "I finished it! It's done!" A small, delicate, wooden boat was cradled in the boy's hands as his big violet eyes gazed at his father.

"Now, now, Atem, can't you see I'm busy? Go play with your new toy somewhere else" Lord Harold of Glorywood said as he looked down to his son, his successor.

"Mmm… Alright Dad." He said and walked off from his father's study. Harold stared after his son and felt a relief wash through him as he watched his boy run off to play with his own creation. At fourteen, Atem already exhibited everything a duke could need. Good judgment, good character, loyalty, and of course; his acquired good looks. Harold didn't doubt that his estate would be safe in his son's hands and that took some load off of his shoulders.

As the only child, Atem held the privilege of becoming the next duke of Glorywood. But also, the boy was responsible for carving his own reputation. Foolishly marrying Cassandra, Harold had not only lost respect from his fellow Englishmen but his heart as well. Cassandra had been French which was unheard of in the ton. So he had given up a bit of social status to be with the woman he had foolishly thought loved him back. Instead Cassandra only saw him twice a week, if lucky enough, and fed of his estate like a giant parasite. But it was too late to regret things now. Harold firmly believed that Atem being a half breed would be overlooked once he entered society. And his son would not make the same mistake that he had.

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The sky was painted a sickly grey hue the moment he stepped out of his house. But the boy was excited; he would finally get to play with the toy that he himself constructed. The prospect of trying out his fragile boat erected from his own carving of oak wood, and a sail made of the finest Egyptian cotton made him shiver.

In a moment or so, the clouds opened up and surely cool rain began to fall upon the bleak deserted road near his home. It poured in waves of fury, as if attempting to wash out the sins that clouded the Glorywood estate. The scent of different flowers mingling began to travel with the passing wind and surround the young boy.

"Okay…and here we go…" Atem furrowed his brow in concentration as he attached a crisp and white string to his boat which he had names 'Adore.' The boat stood steady on the stream of rain water, lolling from side to side. An idea from his father, and the name from a glimpse of his mother's book, it stood together quite unlike his parents ever were. But the young child seemed to forget his distraught over his parents' relationship as he steadied the boat quite skillfully with his hand and in the little French that he knew he whispered, "Allons-y m'adore."

The home-made sailboat skated on the crystal blue water with an ease and calm that reflected Atem's current state of mind as his eyes stayed glued to the boat. He didn't even notice when the boat began a less steady motion as the current increased, the water filling the entire road. Atem wadded in as his boat took him further into the center of the road.

The rain had gained speed as it thickened the already wet sheet on the road. The sailboat gained speed as it lead the little boy further down the road.

……………………………

"Are you sure we're allowed to be here?" Kiya asked Selene as they traveled under the trees of a mild forest on someone's private property.

"I don't know, but it's raining so hard that these trees can't even provide the shelter that we need. But it's the best we have." Her sister Selene responded.

…………………………..

The future duke of Glorywood paid no heed to the sounds of the two intruders as he watched his sailboat go round the bend and follow it, string in hand. The current was only beginning to get strong and he felt the light tug on his fingers and just smiled.

The wind was picking up and adding to the brisk nature of the storm that had been manifested. The little boy heeded no warning from the dark clouds and continuing on, his hair sticking to him as he became drenched. His boat paused at the bend of the road as if succumbing to fate and another gust of wind ripped the rope straight from his hands.

The next few moments might as well have been the fastest that Atem had every experienced. He heard a horrible screeching sound and before he could turn around to see the carriage only millimeters from where he stood, a girl jumped up and knocked him from the way.

A gasp was heard that Atem can only identify as his own. He looked to the crushed sailboat lying near the girl that had jumped up and knocked him from harms way. The boat had the largest blow delivered to it and lay there tattered with no remains of being a boat at all. The carriage door opened and the successor of Lord Ashville stepped out, his son Derrick.

"My lord! What happened here?" He asked as he stepped into the stormy atmosphere.

"You broke them." Atem said in an almost questioning voice. And at that moment Selene bounded to the street, wondering what on earth had made her sister turn so suddenly and run onto the open road. What she saw before her made her halt in mid-step.

"Is she going to be okay?" Atem mused as he leaned down near his savior. She was a rather petite girl and by the looks of things, she wasn't that much younger than Atem. Her hair was loose and hung to her shoulders which in this time was found to be barbaric, but he found it nothing short of gorgeous. The color shone of red and chestnut fused together like a sunset deep in the woods. He laughed at love at first site when mentioned, but here it was. He gulped slightly and put a strong hold on himself, figuring that the weak gene of love had been passed on to him by his father. Emotionally sated he shook the girl a little.

"Hello?" he asked and shook her a bit hastily now. Kiya groaned in response and opened her eyes to meet those of Atem. She jumped as she remembered how she was trespassing and then how the carriage had almost hit him.

Even as a street rat, which was the term most often used, she knew who this was. The son of the duke of Glorywood, his successor.

"Are you alright my lord?"

Atem couldn't suppress the smile that befell his features when she asked that after being the one that was hit by the cart.

"Well I don't know. A man needs much time to recover from that."

"What?"

"I was just saved…that was supposed to be your job."

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-"Allons-y m'adore" – 'come on my liking', translated literally. But since Atem is half French and living in England with a rather conservative father, his French is very poor so the grammar of this statement may be wrong.