Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the "Prince of Persia" Franchise.
Author's Note: I will try to avoid giving names to people and places that were not given names during "The Sands of Time" including the prince and his home city. I haven't played "Warrior Within" or "Two Thrones" so neither of them will be in my story.
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/I found myself thinking of her again; her dark eyes, her gentle smile, her fierce spirit…the love we shared before…before she died./
A sharp pain lodged itself in his throat at the memory.
/ I CANNOT…will not allow myself to dwell on what never happened. Because it didn't happen! Not in this timeline at least. She is alive and safe, if I have anything to say about it she will remain that way. /
/I will protect her…if it costs me everything I own…my royal title…my very life! Yes, I will protect her even if I have to die to do it…if she would let me near enough that is. /
/I don't know what is more painful…the memory of her death or the fact that she has no knowledge of me, now that the cataclysm that I unleashed is reversed. /
/To her, I am the enemy, and so she would want nothing to do with me. She doesn't remember me…she accused me of lying when I tried to remind her with my story. /
/I will never have her back; there is no way to prove my story. If I begged on my knees she would never give me a chance to gain her love again. And yet I cannot forget her. Farah, the princess of a nation that his father was set on defeating; the only girl that had ever captured his heart. /
Just then, the prince was pulled from his reverie by the sound of his name being called. He glanced around the table at which he was sitting, to the advisers in order to find who was addressing him. It was his father, King Sharaman.
"Sorry father, could you repeat the question?" He said quickly hoping his father wouldn't be too upset about his lack of concentration.
"I asked 'would you be terribly upset if we began making plans to attack India?' Since you've been so against it lately I thought I'd ask." The king stated, sarcasm dripping off of every word.
"Yes, father, I would be upset. Do you think I would change my opinion so quickly after holding it so long? Did I not give you the very same answer yesterday?" This was said without a hint of the infamous family sarcasm. Unlike his father, the prince wanted peace with India; though, like his father, it was personal and selfish reasons that inspired him.
"Son, I try to understand you, but I cannot. You have been so distant since we passed through Azad two years ago. We were so close before that, I wish you would talk to me." Sharaman loved his son very much, more than the wealth of India. For the love of his son, he held off conquering the nation that, in his own words, was 'ripe for the taking'.
"Your Highness, we are finished our business here…and you seem to need time alone with your son. Perhaps we should go, but only if you give us leave to do so." One of the older, wiser advisers said; reminding the two members of the royal family that there was a room of people being held hostage by their conversation.
Sharaman turned to the older man and said "Very well, you may go…" The man got up to leave and the other men followed him slowly, unsure if the leave the king had given was for them as well. "You may all go, even you son…" At this, the prince rose from his seat and began to exit the room. "…We will discuss this later." Sharaman finished as his boy walked by him.
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The prince was glad to be out of the conference hall. The only reason he went to these meetings was to advocate peace, to keep his father from attacking the nation in which Farah lived. If it weren't for his need to protect Farah he would never join his father in these talks of politics and war.
He wasn't sure what he would say when his father decided it was time to finish their discussion.
/ What can I say? 'I'm in love with the princess of India, that's why I don't want you to attack them'…Yes, that would go over well! he thought cynically. My father would never understand how I could fall for an enemy's daughter. Even if he could, he would never approve; and he would want to know how and when it happened. 'Oh, the time in which it happened is no longer remembered by anyone but me and it happened in Azad, a place she's never been to. /
"Your Highness, your son has gone completely and entirely mad" he said in mock seriousness, pretending to be a healer diagnosing the illness. As he finished the scene in his head, his mother came into the room.
"Are you talking to yourself again, son?"
"No mother, I was not" he said hastily, self-conscious that his mother had caught him.
The prince's mother was a petite yet fiery woman with dark blue eyes and chocolate colored hair.
She looked at him with a soft smile "You used to do that when you were a child, I miss when you were young. You were more entertaining then…putting on plays for me" she grinned as she reminisced about the past.
"Mother! I wish you wouldn't talk of such things!" The prince said, mortified, as mother just grinned wider. "Mother, PLEASE!"
"Oh, very well; I'll stop." She said, as her face returned to normal - from the grin that had been bordering on evil. "So how was the meeting?"
"Dull, as always." a wry smile spreading across his face. Then he became serious, "We spent half of the time talking about Azad, about the sudden death of the sultan. His son is no older than I…and now he is ruler of his country." The prince paused, thinking. "Do you think I would be ready to be king…if father died?"
"Let us hope you have no reason to find out…your father will live many years yet, I'm sure. And…you will make a great king of Persia, when the time comes." The queen reassured him.
"I hope you're right…on both accounts." He said. Silence descended as they both pondered what life would be like without their beloved king. "Well, I had better get going…I promised a friend that I would meet him in the market today."
"That's wonderful, son. You need to get out of this stuffy palace" she said "…combat practice doesn't count." She added quickly before he could protest. "I'll see you at dinner, then?"
"Yes, I'll be home in time for dinner." The prince promised as he watched his mother leave the room.
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/ I hate lying to my mother, but I couldn't tell her the truth…no, I wouldn't want her to worry about me. /
The prince was going to the market, but he was not going there to meet a friend. He was going to meet a man that claimed that he knew of a jewel that could restore memories, even ones that were taken by the loss of time.
/ If that jewel truly did exist, and if I could get it, then I can help Farah remember me. I'm sure she would love me again if she could only remember. /
The prince weaved through the booths and kiosks; barely glancing at the wares the merchants had to offer. He wanted to see the man, hear what he had to say and then leave.
/ He's most likely trying to swindle me. There is probably no such thing as an object that could retrieve memory. /
Finally, the prince came upon the corner that he had agreed to meet the man on. Just as he reached it, the man stepped out of the shadows. He was wearing a dark cloak and a hood that was hiding his face.
"Do you have the information that I seek?" The prince asked.
"Must we get to the business of our meeting so soon, prince?" the man said in a heavy foreign accent.
"I promised my mother I would be home in time for dinner. I wish to keep that promise." The prince said, becoming a little impatient with the man.
"I'm sorry that you will not keep your vow to your beautiful mother." The man said with a triumphant smile.
"What?" The prince did not understand. If the man would only tell him what he had come to say, he would have plenty of time to get home before the meal was served.
Suddenly, the prince felt a sharp blow on the back of his head and the world went black.
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Do you have any questions or constructive criticism? Please comment so I can know if I should continue.