AN. Hey y'all. Remember that this is in Prince Adrian's POV this time! I hope I didn't keep you guys waiting too long. I actually had most of it on paper when I was at school and done with my homework, but I couldn't find the time to type it on the computer and look over it and finish it. Oops. Heh, anyway, thank you guys SO much for the reviews!! You guys are just so nice. SNIFF. So ENJOY this chappie!!
Prince Adrian of Kardonya, Heir of King Edward, Future Ruler.
How I hate that title. However, every time I enter a room, a herald never hesitates to bellow it in my ear and throw the damn title right back into my face.
It's not like everybody doesn't know it already, so it truly isn't for the outsider's benefit of introducing me. So the only conclusion I can draw to is that the heralds somehow learned of my hate for my title and would keep using it and shouting it to taunt me.
Damn them.
I suppose you think I'm pompous and arrogant for thinking/assuming everybody knows me. But it's a fact, not an assumption.
I'm famous, or rather, my father is.
You see he was betrothed to a princess when he was a young child, and on their wedding day, a rather disconcerting event occurred. The princess's name is Aurora.
They said that she was as beautiful, if not more so than a Fae. She supposedly had silky long tresses of beautiful spun gold. She had deep, sparkling blue eyes that you could drown yourself into ¡V like the ocean. Her pale, ivory skin was flawless, while her figure was slim and perfect. She had the sweetest smile with dimples that were enough to melt a heart of ice.
Personally, I think it's a load of cow dung because they picture they described was perfection, not a human princess. Meanwhile, I have seen a portrait of a Fae, and believe me when I say that their beauty is incomparable.
But back to what I was saying, on the day of the wedding, while Princess Aurora was halfway across to my father, witnesses say that she froze and then was paralyzed by magic. But with a bright flash of light, she disappeared without a trace.
After everyone had recovered their bearings, the whole crowd was in an uproar over the missing princess. Then, my father said that an unnatural fire started where Princess Aurora had gone, and after it burned out by itself, a note was left in its place telling of the princess's kidnapping.
Of course, I had been curious as a child, and when I asked Father what the note said, he just turned an unflattering shade of pink and told me to get back to my studies stiffly.
The note still exists today although it was thrown and locked up in a chest. After many years of snooping around, I only gathered that many insults and disagreeable comments were made in the note. The location of the tower was easy enough to find.
Using a strand of her hair found in her hairbrush, my father and King Phillip (Aurora's father) had sent for a mage to find the location. By retrieving a strand of her hair in her hairbrush, the mage pinpointed the location to Mt. Eternal. According to the mage, the princess was easy to find seeing how her captor didn't make an effort to conceal her.
However, as easy as it was to locate the princess, getting her was the problem. My grandfather and King Phillip had called for a champion to Mt. Eternal to retrieve the princess.
They gave no thought whatsoever when the champion they sent still didn't return a week later since Mt. Eternal was a difficult terrain to pass. Two weeks later, they grew impatient. A month later, they grew angry. Two months later, they grew uneasy and sent another champion.
Champion after champion they sent, but none ever came back. That is, none ever came back until Darkov, nearly two years later. Darkov was a soldier that was a veteran of the Great Battle, and he had very strong self-preservation skills, which was probably the only reason he ever came back at all.
He came back bruised, bloody, and battered. As soon as he woke up from unconsciousness, my grandfather and King Phillip drilled him on the situations up at the mountains.
Apparently, the wild beasts that lurked in Mt. Eternal were much more hostile than usual and would attack for no reason. After Darkov miraculously got through the mountains, he came to a set of stairs that tried to suck him through, not unlike quicksand.
Darkov then had to doge flaming arrows, poisoned darts, poisonous snakes, and rolling boulders. But that is where the standard booby traps stopped. Soon, birds had appeared out of nowhere and started dive-bombing and pecking him. The same birds had also herded him to a particular area that Darkov soon found out why.
He said that a fully-grown male Sowaroc was guarding the tower. After many close calls, he had finally given up and fled. However, it seemed that the seemingly dry ground had turned slippery when he tried to turn back, causing him to fall on his rear many times.
Needless to say, everyone got more than a little discouraged when they heard that a dragon was guarding Princess Aurora's tower, and a Sowaroc no less, so they would only send people up to the mountains for punishment, and none ever came back.
But even though my father and Princess Aurora didn't marry, the alliance between my grandfather's and King Phillip's still existed through the army of soldiers and the chests of treasure King Phillip gave as compensation.
So as time passed, my father got himself another woman: my mother. She died when I was very young, and the only memory I have of her was the day she went missing.
FLASHBACKYoung Prince Adrian was walking around aimlessly as his father was in a meeting, he wasn't allowed to ride horses yet, and no one seemed to have the time to play with him.
His sparkling gray eyes brightened as they landed on his beloved mother. Adrian didn't even notice his mother's terrified eyes and tear-stained cheeks as he bounded happily right into her warm embrace. He was just delighted that his mother is finally going to play with him. But soon, even he noticed her hiccups and her stifled sobs as she ran, still clutching the little prince to her chest like a lifeline.
"Mama? Why are you crying?" he asked, frowning as his small chubby hands clumsily wiped away the wet rails of tears. He was soon distracted, however, when his mother quickly shut the both of them in a wardrobe.
Prince Adrian's eyes lit up when he asked excitedly, "Mama! Are we playing hide and seek?!"
Queen Margaret's weak smile was unseen in the dark when she heard his question. "Yes, Adrian," she whispered, "We're playing hide and seek so you have to be very quiet, do you understand?"
Even though her voice is stronger than before, it still shook. She smiled genuinely for the first time in a long time when she felt Adrian's head nod solemnly.
In a quiet voice, Queen Margaret started to talk to Adrian in a solemn and serious voice. "Adrian, listen to me. Your father may seem like a great man, but everybody, especially royalty have masks on, and his mask is perfected through the years. You have to be wary around him. I'm not asking you to openly oppose him, but just promise me that you won't follow him blindly and believe everything he says. Make your own decisions and deductions. Please. Promise me, Adrian," she pleaded tearfully at the end.
Adrian turned to look at his mother with wide eyes. He didn't like how she was sad. Childish indignity rose inside his chest, and a strong urge to hunt down whoever made his mother sad came over him. But squashing the feeling down since he knew she needed comfort right now, he promised her although he didn't exactly know what she meant. But he made a note to not forget her words no matter what since it obviously meant a lot to his mother.
"I promise, Mama," Adrian whispered.
The mother and son whipped around when the wardrobe was suddenly opened with a bang. Queen Margaret muffled her terrified gasp.
Adrian looked at his father in confusion. Wasn't he supposed to be in a meeting? And why did he look like that? King Edward's hazel eyes were hardened, and his face was in a stony mask, jaws clenched. He reached out and grabbed Queen Margaret's wrist harshly.
"Don't forget your promise, Adrian," the queen whispered desperately to Adrian as she was tugged roughly away.
Adrian looked at the departing couple with wide eyes as he gave a jerky and frightened nod.
He was surprised and distracted for a moment when a tinkling sound followed his movements. In his breast pocket, there was a necklace. Mama must have given him the necklace when he wasn't paying attention.
END FLASHBACK
Now, I am no fool. When I grew older, and when I finally understood what my mother wanted to tell me and what had probably happened, I was horrified, as my idol had fallen down from his golden pedestal. I was distraught although I didn't mope around for long. I had followed my mother's words and was still the model prince.
I am proud to say that I am one of the finest swordsman in my father's and King Phillip's lands. I have deadly accuracy in archery, and I am also one of the best horsemen I know. I know many languages including Latin, French, German, Roman, Greece, and Celtic. I have ample knowledge in all aspects of the world, traditions, arithmetic, history, myths, war strategy, and more. I also am very talented in dancing, etiquette and-
Oh dear me. I'm boasting, aren't I? Well enough of that.
Have I also mentioned that I am very attractive and that the ladies can't get enough of me?
Ahem. That must have just slipped out.
But there is one aspect of my princely duties that have made my father pull out his hair.
An heir.
But to have an heir, I must have a bride. But I don't want a bride.
It is not like I am not interested in women. I am. It's just that-
I have yet to meet a woman that has caught my interest for more than an hour. There are those who have talked my ear off with shrill giggles so that I had yearned to just stuff my cloak in my ears and flee. There are also the shy and timid ladies that would bore me within the second stammered sentence. The last category of the ladies that bore me are those that is too stupid to keep up with my topic of conversation. Actually there is one last type - The wonderful mixture of the shrill giggles and the intelligence of a duck.
Why of all the animals did I say duck?
But anyway, all ducks aside, I forgot yet another type of women - The ones that are after my money, title, and status. I can't believe I had forgotten about those.. creatures. They would throw themselves at me and fling flattery and various parts of their bodies at me.
I despise those women the most.
They are never straightforward and always have a secret agenda. Sadly, most of the ladies of the royal court consists of these.. things, so you can't really blame me for not choosing a bride.
It may seem silly that I would want someone to love, and not just a bride since love seems to not exist in this time period among royalty. But I don't believe I'm asking for something out of the ordinary. I just want someone who I can easily talk to who is honest, sweet, kind, intelligent-
Oh damn. I am asking for perfection.
I think I am beginning to think that my dream woman is not something that will materialize in reality. I just want a wife that I can also easily become friends with as well, and not just an heir-bearing woman. Is that really too much to ask?
AN. How do you guys like Prince Adrian? Oh, and before you start wondering, Prince Edward has a new wife. I'm going to expand on Adrian's "family life" in the next chapter.
But I'm REALLY sorry to all you readers who want Rory and Ken or Asher to be together, but by the time Rory wakes up, Ken and Asher will be old. So Ken and Asher is absolutely out of the question. It seems that all my pointing to Ken, Asher, and Rory's relationship is purely brother and sister-ish is in vain. Blech. Sorry bout those who got the wrong message.
Anyway! Hope you guys like this chapter! I think I liked chapter 5 the best, though. Oh well. Review and tell me what you think!