'Ahh… Today's a great day… No one's bothered me yet!' I was thinking to myself when there was a knock on my bedroom door. I rolled over onto my left side and pushed aside the curtains surrounding my bed. I was already dressed for the day, and I had already cleaned my quarters to a shine. I looked around quickly and took in the room around me: near the door to my room, there was another door leading to a walk-in wardrobe; a small table holding various important documents sat against the wall to the right of my bed; a longer table that I used for folding my clothes was against the wall next to my wardrobe's door. Next to that table was enough room for another door, however, this was the secret entrance to my laboratory. Besides this small collection of furniture, there was more empty space in my room than anything else.
I came to my senses quickly when there was another knock at the door. "Cryos? Are you in there?" The voice sounded familiar to me. "I have an important message for you!" It sounded like Keia, though I wanted to be sure.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm here… May I ask who is asking for me?"
"You know who… Who else with a female voice would be asking for 'the great prince of Draconia?'" I sat up and pulled myself to my feet. I walked over to the door, unhooked all of the locks, and opened the door enough to show my face.
"Oh, hey Keia! I figured it was you… Tell me, what do you need?"
"I have a message for you… Your parents trusted me to give this to you," she said while pulling out a piece of yellowed parchment. The writing on it was scribbled as though it was written in a hurry. I could barely make out what was written as I read it aloud:
"'Cryos Scanzanea:
You are to report ASAP to the throne room for a private meeting with your parents. Bring Keia with you. Tell no one of this meeting, and tell no one of what you hear at the meeting. Oh, and happy birthday!' It's signed by my parents…"
"Your parents are quite the novelists…" Keia retorted.
"Yeah, I know… Right?" I said sarcastically. "Well, we should get to the throne room as soon as possible then! I'm ready for my birthday surprise!"
"You know, I was thinking the same thing… Let's go, Cryos." Keia walked out of the room and took a few steps down the hallway. She turned around and waited for me to follow. I stepped out into the corridor and shut my door carefully behind me. Still clutching my parents' note, I followed Keia in the direction of the throne room. One of the castle servants stopped us short of our destination, however.
"Good day, Prince Cryos, and Mrs. Keia too. May I ask where you two are running off to in such a hurry?"
"I'm afraid not, Ceae," I said quickly. "It is a private matter between Keia, the King and Queen, and I… We are not to tell anyone."
Ceae tilted his head to the side. "But sir, you can trust me! I won't tell anyone… Please?"
"Ceae, no! I cannot tell you… Get back to your work, please."
"So you order, so shall I do." Ceae went back to his mop and continued to swab the castle corridors. Keia and I continued on our way.
"Cryos, you might want to watch our backs," Keia whispered. "Ceae has been known to spy, so no doubt he'll try to follow us."
"That is the least of my worries right now. This private meeting is my priority."
When we arrived at the throne room, Keia immediately bowed down in front of my parents. I heard her mumble "g'day, m'Lord" before lifting her head up.
I stepped up next to her and a smile played across my lips. "You wanted to see us, Mother, Father?"
"Yes, Cryos, precisely," Father said. "I see Keia did her job well." His gaze shifted quickly to Keia.
Keia finally rose to her feet. "It was nothing!" She gave a friendly smile.
"Yes, I got the message. I brought Keia, and our meeting is still a secret… Ceae asked us where we were headed, but I told him that it was none of his concern."
"Aye, Ceae troubles me… He is quite the information gatherer… Always finds out what's going on. But, that is not the problem here." My father paused. Mother continued where he left off.
"Now Cryos, your father and I know that it is your eighteenth birthday… You are a man today. I know you have been looking forward to this day, what with the parades and the knighting ceremony… However, I'm afraid your 'traditional birthday' will have to wait. There is something more of a priority than your birthday." My smile faded. My mood swung from incredibly happy to a burning upset.
"What do you mean?" I screamed. "Something more important than my eighteenth birthday? Whatever happened to tradition? I have waited years for—"
"Cryos, stop!" Father interrupted. "Tradition is a quickly fading concept in today's world… Listen to me, and listen to me well. Are you familiar with the story of Necril's existence?"
I nodded my head, but it was Keia who spoke. "Yes, the tale of Necril… He was the man exiled for the use of Necromancy, a forbidden magic… Right?"
Father nodded. "Very good, Keia. It seems that as a servant, you have plenty of time to think on Draconia's history… Well, you see, what your mother and I need you to do, Cryos, is…" He stopped abruptly.
Mother sighed and continued. "What we need you to do is, we need you to end this war with Necril. You see, we have grown old and short of resources… We need to put an end to this battle."
"If you could do this for us, your actions will more than prove that you have what it takes to be the King of Draconia," Father continued. "If you are successful, your reign will be successful as well."
"Do I have a choice?" I asked.
"No, we are afraid not," Mother said. "No matter what, we need your help."
"What am I to do?"
"As you know, Necril has been out there for over thirty years, and we believe he has been building an army of Darklings capable of taking us apart at the seams," Father started. "We believe that this Darkling army will be at least one hundred times larger than Rona's army was… Our intelligence reports that Necril has an 'impenetrable' fortress located in the Dark Lands, the unexplored area on our southern borders. People have ventured out to find his Keep… No one has ever returned. What your mother and I need you to do is develop a small task force. You need to gather followers and infiltrate the Keep. Cut the head off of the snake, and the rest will die."
"Eliminate Necril's threat… You could've just said that, Father."
"That's exactly what I… What we want. Find people willing to aid in this effort, preferably people skilled in the art of combat or the use of magic."
Keia had been watching back and forth as we conversed. "Well, what do I have to do with all of this?" she asked.
"You have been studying our history for some time now," Mother said. "I believe Cryos could use some history lessons… Your knowledge of the world around us could prove useful to him." Mother gave me a look. Keia smiled and also turned to give me a look.
"So be it. Is there anything else you wish?" I asked.
"All that I ask is that you and Keia stay safe," Father said quietly. "Bring some weapons you two are skilled with and a map to find your way. Also…" Father pulled out a small pouch and shook it gently. The pouch emitted a tinkling noise, hinting that we were being provided money. "I'm starting you two off with two hundred Krontars apiece. You will need to stock up on supplies before you leave." Father tossed me the bag of Krontars. I caught it and gave Keia half of the contents. "Feel free to take any savings you have as well. The more money you have, the better you can prepare." Keia and I both nodded.
"This mission will prove challenging enough for even your tastes, Cryos," Mother said. "Stay safe, and please bring us peace… May luck be with you both, and Rysta guide you." We were dismissed from the room.
When we reached the door leading to the corridor, we were stopped by the guard. Keia and I both watched as the guard dragged Ceae by his shirt collar up in front of my mother and father. "That can't be good," I told Keia. We both walked back into the throne room.
"M'Lord, this troublemaker was caught eavesdropping on your private meeting," the guard explained. "What shall be his punishment?"
Father looked Ceae up and down. "Bring him to me," he said. The guard shoved Ceae a little closer to my father. "Ceae, what will I ever do with you? This is the third time you have been caught listening in on my private meetings… Tell me boy, how much did you hear?"
"Honestly, I heard nothing! I had only just got to the door when the guard came by! I heard nothing!" Ceae pleaded.
"Something tells me you've been listening for a while, Ceae," I said aloud. He turned around and looked at me with fright. Then, he turned back to Father and continued.
"Okay, okay… Maybe I heard something."
"What did you hear, exactly?" Father asked.
"I heard something about searching for Necril's Keep… That's a suicide attempt in the making!" Ceae swung around and stared at me with his round blue eyes. "You'll never last Cryos! I couldn't stand to see you go…"
"Ceae," Father said. Ceae turned back around. "You have been caught on multiple offenses of eavesdropping… However, to just kick you out of the castle would leave you at the mercy of the town citizens… Tell me, how much do you value your prince?"
"I would guard him with my life, m'Lord."
Keia turned to me and whispered, "Aww… Someone has a fan…" I shot her a look and she began to giggle.
"You would guard him with your life… I think I know what to do with you. You understand the task at hand?"
"Yes, m'Lord."
"Perhaps you could prove useful to your favored prince. Your punishment is accompaniment with Cryos and Keia in this dangerous venture… Cryos could use the extra hand." As if this day could get any worse!
"But Father!" I screamed out. The last thing I needed was to baby-sit while undertaking this task. "Don't you think this mission is a bit dangerous for such a young lad? He's hardly thirteen! Think of his safety…"
"Cryos, come here," Father said. I slowly walked over beside Father. He leaned to me and whispered, "This 'lad' has no family… No one will miss him, and some of us at the castle will be glad of his absence. Use this to your advantage! An extra arm is always better for your safety…" I nodded in agreement and smiled.
"Alright, if that's the case… Ceae, welcome to the team," I said. An eager smile came across Ceae's face and he began to jump for joy.
"I'll go and get ready immediately!" Ceae hurried to the door and flew out into the corridor.
"Wow. Someone's happy," Keia pointed out. "I guess there's nothing better than traveling with your role model, huh?"
"Keia, please don't mention it… C'mon, let's go prepare." I put my share of Krontars into my pockets, waved to my parents, and left the room. Keia joined me shortly.
"Hey, Cryos… I'm going to go get my stuff and say goodbye to Mom. I have a feeling we'll be out for a while." Keia gave me a quick hug and went off ahead.
I froze and then smiled warmly. I whispered, "I cannot believe she just hugged me…" I shook off the feeling for a bit and then went to my quarters to prepare…