Frederick Kaiser: Chapter Forty-Nine

"We are so lost..." I complain. I am so hungry, tired, I stuck with boring company. I have lost everything! We have been running non-stop since we managed to escape Demir. We were hopefully going to me the other group at Burrdin. But the reds have taken over it...

"Is there a way to get through Blue's border?" William asks. "We're going in circles continuously. And I feel like I am getting sick... I have the sniffles and I am beginning to get headaches."

I look at Gunter as he seems forever exhausted. He is unwell... I can see why. The man is a living pig. And obviously we haven't been eating bountiful meals since we left Demir. He has remained quiet throughout much of this journey. Welt is worried that he is going to perish. He has been looking after him as they share a dragon.

"Don't worry! We are taking the long route around!" Hamlin trying to keep everyone's spirits up. Even though we know we are in trouble… We are struggling to get food… And we can't live in the wilderness forever… I need proper food, bed, girls and a bath.

As we walked on the flatlands. The mountain chain seeming far away. I begin to see grass! We must be close to the Blue border! We walk closer and hid behind rocks. Hamlin and Xavier trying to see if there are any outposts. And too our shock... There is a long row of both red and blue soldiers. With a massive crowd trying to get through. And with closer inspection it looks like a camp. The blue nation is defended with a large fence that stretches across the horizon... This is not good.

"What are we going to do?" Erdmuthe asks. We all remain silent.

Ingrid then makes us all face her. "Look! We cannot be in this country any longer. This is our best chance! We will pretend to be refugees. We make up new names, backstories and occupations. DO NOT CHOOSE SOLDIER or ANY NOBLE! They will get arrested!"

I look up at Ingrid. REALLY? Fake our lives!? I scoff at her. "I am not going to pretend to be someone I'm not! I AM A PRINCE! NOT A PEASANT!"

Everyone in the group laughs. What's so funny!? I shout out.

Xavier then mocks me trying to imitate me. "I am a prince! Not a peasant! I am better than everyone else here!"

As everyone continues to laugh. They're not taking me seriously! I am a PRINCE! A Prince should never have to hide who they are! I fold arms and sit down facing away from everyone.

William then taps my head. "May I remind you Fred... That we are basically peasants now..."

"What!" I shout out.

Xavier then gestures his arms out looking like he is going to hug the whole group. "Look at us Fred! We are peasants now. We have no money and we have no home, with very little belongings! Not only that... We are royal fugitives! You're so stupid! You're in denial!"

"I AM NOT IN DENIAL!" I shout. I know we have lost everything! I don't want to lose my status! It's all I have!

"Just be quiet Fred... Let us begin making up our fake lives." William says softly. I decide to remain quiet.

Everyone including the dragons are all discussing new identities.

Erdmuthe walks over to me. "What is your name?" She asks seriously. I did not answer.

"What is your name!?" Erdmuthe asks again with more intensity. I didn't answer.

"For fucks sake..." As Erdmuthe refrains from punching me. I can see her balling her fists and staring me down. I don't want a new identity. I turn away from her. And with a huge hit she punches me on the face. I fall down holding my left cheek. Everyone is staring at us.

"ARE YOU SERIOUSLY GOING TO LET HER GET AWAY WITH THAT!" I shout as I get up to hit her in return. Hamlin grabbing my waist and pulling me back. "Let go!" I scream. Everyone shouting my name as they all try to pin me down.

Duryss with his mag abilities to help pin me down. He is with everyone else... What a great dragon... Mag pushing me to the ground.

Hamlin pinning me down, holding my legs. He is using his whole weight against me I thought I would be strong to move him. But he is just to large! I wrestle them until I was too exhausted. "Stop this Fred!" Hamlin says in desperation. "If you keep acting like this. You're going to get us all killed!" And when I finally reached exhaustion, he lets me go. I breathe in and out slowly, my arms and legs hurt with them putting so much pressure on me. Getting up is hard...

William looks at me with disdain. "You know what Fred! I am sick of your shit!"

I stumble backwards in surprise. William never swears! And since when does he speak to me in that tone?

William points at me. "You are an ASSHOLE! You bully Xavier and I with no end ever since you could know who we are!"

"Oh, please I was joking!" I really was! Not my fault they are soft skinned! Or burned... They are weak!

Xavier looks at me shyly. "You ruined many of my books Fred... Saying reading is weak..." Xavier mentions quietly. Just like what father used to say. He hated reading. He would rather train and drink.

William scoffing after Xavier. Everyone else remaining silent. "Oh yes! I remember the good old hello ugly! Have you peeled off some more of your skin today!? The sun being to much for me?! And you never stopped! Do you remember I am like this because I saved Rayna!? You know our little sister? Who is lost and alone like us right now? With us having no idea where she is?! We are trying to survive this! And you are being a difficult ass! Admit it we are no longer royals! That life we had IT'S OVER! IT'S DONE! GET IT IN YOUR THICK SKULL!"

I look up at his burnt face. He looks so sad... Too bad he just insulted me... But I had nothing to say only except. "Are you done?" I say in a snarky fashion.

"You are so lucky that you are family Fred... But it will take years for us to like you." Williams answers back and walks away. Xavier follows him. Probably to talk about me behind my back. Would not surprise me if they did that often...

Erdmuthe walks over to Hamlin and Ingrid as they are making plans. What to do next if we make it pass the Blue border. Welt continues to look after Gunter. Who seems to be asleep.

"Your family should plead to the Empress Ju-Long Zhen. What's the worst that can happen?" Ingrid suggests.

Hamlin laughs. "Zhen can easily sell us out to the Shadow folk or to the Reds. We have no idea where she stands amongst all this... But she is our only hope. The Shadow Folk will follow us and try to find us forever... Like how they treated golden ones."

"Well... We have to try Hamlin." Ingrid looks at me and sees Xavier and William comforting each other.

Erdmuthe then approaches me again after I sit down for a while. This is so embarrassing! Fine time up make up a false life.

"Who are you!?" She asks.

"I am Frederick... I am son of a clock maker..." I sarcastically remark.

Xavier and William sit next to me. William stays silent to me as Xavier speaks to me. "Um... Try and choose a profession that doesn't require much skill. Because if you choose carpenter or clock. You will be shocked that they will find use for you to do a job in that field. And I know you for a fact Fred you can barely read a clock. Let alone make one."

"Excuse me! I can!" I respond that is offensive! Xavier laughs and I actually chuckle with him.

Xavier nudges my shoulder with his shoulder. "Also change your name! Just pretend that you are a merchant. Your new name is Alfred!" Xavier says in a funny fashion. It's nice to laugh. It's been a while… Of course nothing in past few weeks is a laughing matter.

Everyone laughs as they see my reaction. Alfred is an awful name! I hate it! I am not going to change my name!

I then rehearsed my new life story in my head. We are all are a family of travelling merchants. We used to sell boar fur, hydrag and Zimadu skins. So, some of us can fight. Our family was killed during the red invasion. With no choice we are here. There that's our story! And I am not changing my name! They gave in to let me keep it.

We all then make the trek to the Blue border. I feel so nervous… We all remained silent. No jeering from Hamlin. No complaining from me. The dragons walked in silence. The gates of the border are crowded of people and dragons. The only comfort we have is that we look just as horrible as they do… Tattered and torn clothes, smelling of filth and body odor. With disgusting dragon farts and shit adding to the mix… And a horrid smell that I smelt back home at the bottom of the mountain. Death…

I Hear people and dragons crying for help.

"Please let us in! The shadowfolk have taken over our country! They killed my husband!" A woman shouts. As her baby screams in her arms. There must be at least two-hundred people and dragons.

The blue soldiers do nothing at the gate. The group gathers in the center of the campsite. If… you can call it that. There are barely any tents. And the few that are around they have huge holes and barely offer protection. It looks like people and dragons here sleep on the floor with nothing.

We stand around wondering what to do next… As Ingrid and Erdmuthe question the other refugees. In the meantime Gunter tells the days of his youth. It was almost sunset when they come back.

"Anything Ingrid?" Hamlin asks desperately.

She softly smiles at us. "Good news Grand Prince Arman is still alive."

And we all sigh of relief. I even did… I get annoyed at Arman… But he is still my brother. I am relieved to hear that he lives. This must mean we can go back home! I mention it to them and they all look at me in disappointment.

Xavier looks at me with pity. "We can never go home Fred… Arman is alive for political reasons. Or he'd be dead otherwise… The people love him."

Erdmuthe looks at me. "Xavier is right. Because the other news I have…" She pauses and breathes in and out. "The Emperor is officially dead… The Empress is imprisoned. And I heard that your brothers who couldn't escape and all of their dragons have been murdered."

"Garrick and Bertrand..." Welt murmurs. He walks away from the group. While Gunter cries hysterically like a baby.

Everyone's heart sinks. Except for Erdmuthe and Ingrid. I can guarantee they don't love my father... I have learned recently that Ingrid was married to Elrick. My father despised her... And I can see why. Not the kind of woman that lights up the room with personality. While Erdmuthe is my half-sister an unrecognized bastard.

After the news we stood around in silence. We are lost... I wanted to scream and to find my father. But he is dead... Grief has started to take a hold of me once again. Worse than Elrick... I didn't know Elrick that much. But I LOVE my father. He was my hero! The man I want to be!

I punch the floor in frustration as I needed to release my emotions. My punch hit the ground with such force it cracked and left a small crater. Such strength I never knew I had. We all didn't ask Erdmuthe what they could have done with his body... And I didn't want to think of it.

My stomach grumbles in anticipation for food. As the wonderful women they are. Ingrid and Erdmuthe hunted for food. Harder for them since many people are hunting. We stay at camp trying create a spot to sleep.

It's chaotic as fights are happening over the simplest of things… one was a rat… A rat… Disgusting.

We had to be discreet with the rabbits we are eating. Apparently they are a luxury food.

After dinner we sleep with my brothers taking turns being guard.

Morning breaks and we all wake up to a chaotic camp. More dragons and people have arrived. We have to fight through a immensely large crowd.

Duryss using his wonderful ramming skills making this easier. He is huge compared to a simple human. They automatically back off.

A Blue Empire guard wearing oriental lamellar armour. Stares down at us. He is eyeing every single person here… They are not letting anyone in.

Xavier manages to get his attention. "Please guard! May you hear my groups plea!"

No response.

"How about a letter?" Hamlin says. He also mentions we might have no choice but to reveal ourselves.

We manage to steal parchment and ink from other refugees and made Gunter write a letter. He explains who he is and that he is has very important people alongside him. He passes the letter over to one of the guards and we wait...

Anxious of how this is going turn to turn out. I notice welt is pacing back and forth. Hamlin trying to crack jokes to Xavier but is failing to make him laugh. Gunter shaking as he fears he is going to get killed. Ingrid and Erdmuthe are calm. Duryss has been unusually quiet throughout this whole ordeal. I did see him insult a couple of dragons earlier and he didn't get any enjoyment of it. So, he remains quiet.

After waiting in anticipation, the gates open with everyone trying their hardest to squeeze through the doors. The guards though were not having it and mag pushed all the people and dragons away. This made me feel surprised as these were common guards... And they know how to use mag techniques. Nothing like our soldiers... Hell I'm a royal and don't even know how to use them. Only the priests did...

A large squad of guards exit from the gate being a lead by a woman! Seriously? But I see her as she creates a blue draconium magic mag armour surrounding her body. Her body glowing with a bright blue hue. I have never seen anything like it. As she walks closer to Gunter, she is wearing unique armour with a mask that covers her entire face except for her mouth. The guard that Gunter gave the letter to is following close behind.

"A priestess." Xavier says in surprise.

Wait there are women priests? I think to myself. Priests are only men? Why am I all sudden seeing women with all this power? And seeing women with all this power the world is falling apart...

She walks over to Gunter as the guards try to stabilize the large crowd.

"You're Gunter yes?" She asks with a mature yet stern voice.

Gunter gets up and looks at her. She is short. It's kind of cute! Not as short as a mouse person. But petite...

"Yes, my lady." As Gunter tries to sound brave. It's clearly failing... "May we please talk in private. Without all of the ruckus of the crowd."

Without showing any emotion she is staring all of us down. I can't even see her expression yet it's intimidating. Our lives are in her hands at this point. With a deep sigh she agrees. As group we had to defend ourselves from the anger of the refugees! Holding my hammer tight as dragons and people are still trying to get through the open gates!

The guards I quickly notice are calm in demeanor... They're not panicking or anything! With ease they managed to get us through the gates unharmed. However, the screaming outside is deplorable... The crying and the hysterics... But through this I realised. For the first time in my life. I am in a different nation.

After getting over the screaming and desperation. Duryss and I walked forward, and we stood aghast... An alive forest in the distance! I have never seen it in person before! It's beautiful! But before that I see a makeshift army camp... The people protecting the Blue border.

The blue guards surround us making sure we do not split. Following the priestess, I got to have a look at their weird blue dragons. Nothing like Duryss who is bony, bulky and fat. They have long bouncy legs and strange protrusions on their shoulders and hips. Are they wings? I don't know... Duryss quietly remarks of how easy it is crush them. But they look like they can run! I've been out of my country for a minute and everything is already strange to me...

Eventually we reach the large tent where the priestess must be staying. "Have a seat." As she gestures all of us to sit in the tent. Even the dragons. Which is weird... Dragons are usually kept out of talks like this. The dragons sit behind us as the guards remove the map table to help make everyone fit.

"So... Gunter. You are part of the Arman Kaiser's council?" Asking with her deep stern voice.

"Yes... My lady..." He replies even more shyly than before. He bows to her in respect. Why doesn't he just shake her hand? We were not bowing people unless it's to my father.

"Do you have any information to give?" She sounds so intense and serious that she makes my oldest brother look fun and charming...

"Well... Yes, my lady... You see Our grand leader has been murdered by the Shadow. People and dragons getting murdered everywhere. Our group here managed to escape the palace." He is trying his hardest to not cry in hysterics again.

"I have heard that. But what does that have to do with us?" As a guard brings her a drink in a unique cup. Even their cups and glasses are different...

"We only ask to be protected my lady. For you see..." As Gunter looks at all of us. He is thinking hard if he should tell about us. I can see his face change in expression as his mind is thinking. Possibly every scenario that can possibly happen. "These are our Grand Emperor's sons."

I can Xavier clasping onto Williams arm. Our lives are everything right at this very moment.

The priestess didn't even change in expression. But she is giving us another stern look that can kill anyone. I wish I can be that intimidating. She stares at us for a good while. Probably thinking of ways to kill us. She then places her cup onto her small table next to her. And walks over to William.

"How did you burn yourself?" She asks. Nobody asks this... Everyone knows it was him saving Rayna. But how it occurred is a mystery.

He breathes in. "A few years before the war started. Rayna and I were playing together in the courtyard. When I saw father practicing red draconium magic... Rayna thought it was beautiful and she ran towards it."

We all look at him in shock. "WHAT!?" I shout out. This did not distract him as he continued.

"He... Lost control. He burned and killed the person training him and, in the process, almost killed Rayna. She would have died if I hadn't... I had to jump in and save her. She was only little."

FATHER USED RED DRACONIUM MAGIC!? HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE!? Or better question Why?! Why did he try to learn it?

The priestess then smiles a little. "William..." She whispers. As she gently strokes his burned face.

She then turns around and sits back in her seat. "I had to ask something that is not of common knowledge."

William looks at her in shock. "How do you know?" He asks earnestly.

"It was one of my priests who helped to heal you. Your priesthood is... Inadequate putting it lightly. Since Carolus left, he was the only to take his duty seriously... They struggled keeping you alive or barely knew anything of what to do. We were close by when your mother asked for our assistance. There was no war at the time. So, my Empress allowed it. And that was that..."

"Great job you all did..." As William strokes his scarred face. "It still burns. I have gotten used to it though when it flares."

"It will always flare up in pain. It cannot be fixed. Because not only flame burned you. Red draconium also burned on you. So not only were you at risk of dying from a normal infection. You also had draconium poisoning."

William is surprised at this knowledge. He must not have remembered it. Or he doesn't want to remember it.

"Give me your names." She asks all of us. And we all say in turn.

"Hamlin."

"Welt."

"Frederick."

"Ingrid."

"Erdmuthe."

"And the dragons." She continues.

"Duryss." and he translates the other dragons' names that cannot be pronounced easy.

She then takes another sip from her drink. She is going to make her final decision. "I am going to write to the Empress. I will put your fate into her hands."

We all nod in agreement. This is the best scenario we can ask for. I just hope she accepts us. Or we are all dead.

She then then raises her arm with her index finger pointing in the air.

"I am going to make this very clear! Empress Ju-Long Zhen is my leader as she will be yours. You will not disrespect her as that will garner punishment. You will not laze about, and you will be useful. Remember you are safe for now and that you are no longer princes. The people here will not treat you as such. So, don't expect a royal treatment."

We all nod in approval in unison. We can only hope that everything can start happening to get our home back.