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My heart was throbbing in my chest as the man emerged from behind the door, his face masked by what looked to be a scarf of some sort. I couldn't seem to get a good view of him; even as he shook my father's hand and slouched creepily down the hall, it was almost as if he was made of shadow…he was completely obscured within seconds.

I let out my breath, wiping my forehead. Who had that man been? And why had he been speaking with Father about poisoning me? Or had I just assumed incorrectly?

Shaken, I considered turning around and ignoring my father's summons, but just as I was about to leave, my father exited the room, peering over at me with furious, narrowed eyes.

"How long have you been hiding there, child?"

I jumped, my heart flying even faster, but managed to keep my voice cool and calm as I answered, "Not very long, Father," and gave him his required bow. "I arrived seconds before you walked out."

He was evidently suspicious, but let it slide and motioned me into his chamber with a finger. I followed his silent order, with one last hopeful glance down the hall for Mathias before taking a seat across from Father's desk, crossing my legs in my gentlemanly fashion. Attempting to buy time to not have to look into his eyes, I adjusted my hat, slowly pulling it over my forehead. However, such a motion only lasted a short time…soon I was staring into the desolate pools of blue.

My father glared furiously across the desk at me, a vein emerging on his forehead as he studied my defiant posture. "Do you find your role in life a game? Do you truly believe that our monarchy could possibly die with me, Lukas? I never realized how naïve you were, and for that I can only blame myself. However, I will NOT be disgraced by your poor judgment. I will make sure that the reign of our family will continue, whether I have to remove you from the position of Prince or force you to comply with my rules! Do you hear me, boy?"

I gave a small nod, looking away from him and out the massive window that made up much of the east wall of the room. I could see the bare trees swaying gently, straining under the weight of the snow and being buffered by the forceful wind…the clouds were relentless. From here, I could even see my pond.

Distracted, I didn't realize my father had continued speaking until his hand was ripping across my face.

I held my burning cheek tenderly, shocked that I'd been able to ignore him for so long.

"PAY ATTENTION!" he yelled, his face turning a hideous shade of red as he looked down on me. "You useless little-"

Suddenly, he grew silent, his mouth nearly disappearing in his facial hair as he calmed himself. Sucking in a deep breath, he went back to his seat and took a shaky sip of tea, looking up at the ceiling of the room strangely and latching his hands together. "I did not call you here just to scold you for your insolent behavior…in fact, this meeting was planned quite a while before your misconduct. Lukas, your sixteenth birthday was today, correct?"

Crossing my arms, I mumbled, "Yes, Father."

He grunted. "Well then, it must be about that time then…Son, we need to have a talk."

I peered over at him in disgust and confusion. A… talk now that I was sixteen? "Father, I apologize for dinner…it won't happen again. May I be excused now?"

"No, Lukas." He shifted awkwardly, uncomfortable. "I'm quite aware your mistake will not be repeated, but this is no longer about that. Now that you're sixteen, some things are going to start changing…"

I blinked in shock, wondering if he was truly attempting to give me some form of sex talk. "Father, I already hit puberty a few years ago," I told him, feeling my face heat up.

His brow furrowed and he scowled, clearly confused by my thoughts. "No…I was speaking of changes within our home and the monarchy. You see, as a prince, you are finally eligible for an arranged marriage. I have spoken to your mother, and she agrees quite vehemently that it is time to find you a suitable woman. Although I do believe your attitude requires adjustment before then."

Embarrassed that I had misunderstood, my cheeks flamed even further. "F-Father... Mother is dead," I told him, trying to keep my voice even. "How could she possibly agree to such a thing?"

"Unlike you, my child, I'm aware of the presence of angels!" my father spat, his fury ignited. "I prayed to your mother and she spoke with me in a dream!"

I hesitated, unsure what to say. It was entirely possible that the spirit of my mother had come to visit my father in the night; I was often visited by spirits that took on many different forms, mostly trolls. But she had known me much better than my father did. I had never felt any hesitance toward her, so I had ended up telling her nearly everything…and that included when I'd told her about my five-year-old crush on our American chef, Nathan.

Why would she tell my father I should be married after being made aware I had…abnormal thoughts? She'd known how much I despised the thought of being king.

"Yes, Father…" I finally mumbled.

"We will begin introducing you to some princesses of my choice immediately. In the meantime…keep up with your studies. Now you may leave. Jorgen? Please escort your prince back to his chamber," he said, ordering one of his many guards. "And be sure he gets a nice warm cup of tea."

Had I imagined the malicious tone to his voice?

"Yes, sir," Jorgen replied, emotionless and unreadable as ever.

As we left the room, I felt the same pang of terror I had encountered earlier rush through me. I pictured the sinister man with the scarf covering his face, just a shadow as he slipped through the castle…I hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary on my father's desk. But of course he wouldn't leave it out for wandering eyes to see. Following behind Jorgen, I was suddenly incredibly vulnerable. Though such a strong man would easily protect me from any assassin that managed to come along…who would he side with if my own father decided to end my life? Clearly not a bratty teenager.

Just as I was getting ready to excuse myself from Jorgen to use the restroom, a familiar face popped out from behind a random planter by the door to the kitchen. "Luk… I mean, Prince Lukas! Where have you been?!" Mathias gasped, looking dangerously close to wanting to hug me. "I've been standing by this door waiting for you!"

I stared at his idiotic expression. "That isn't the door to my father's study," I informed him.

He blinked once, staring from me to the kitchen and back again. "You…were having the talk in your father's study?! I thought he said the kitchen! I've been standing here for an hour wondering why I couldn't hear you!" He pursed his lips. "Well…I guess that explains it!"

Jorgen crossed his buff arms, looking down at the much shorter Mathias with an aggravated expression and saying something threatening in Danish that made him cringe and laugh at the same time. Then, making sure I was still there, he continued walking until we made it to my room. Wordlessly, he gave the room a once-around check and gave Mathias a forceful arm punch before heading out to get my tea.

"Ow!" Mathias complained, holding his arm.

"You're an idiot," I told him, staring reluctantly over at my unfinished homework. "How could you hide outside the wrong door?"

He sat down on his bed, pulling at the black gloves he wore. "I get punched for screwing up a fake plant and then I end up being by the wrong door…" His eyes fell on my throbbing face, turning gentle. "I'm really sorry, Prince Lukas. Please accept my condolences. I did try…but I failed to please you again. The king will have my head for sure," he grumbled glumly.

"I'm not going to tell my father that you attempted to hide outside his door to protect me," I snorted. "He'd have you killed twice."

The smile flickered back onto Mathias's face. "Your father should've had the meeting in the kitchen, though! They were cooking up something that smelled amazing!"

"That's right, and it's called murder stew," I told him seriously, pulling off my hat and tossing it aside.

"Um…what?"

I turned to him, wondering vaguely why such a failure of a bodyguard was the only person standing between my father's thirst for my blood. "I overheard my father speaking to some strange man. I believe he was selling my father a poison meant to kill me…or 'teach me a lesson' at the very least."

The smile disappeared from Mathias's face as he processed my findings. "The king is planning to harm you? If that's so, then why bother hiring a bodyguard for you at all?"

"Because," I said grimly, "My father is the last person you'd expect to have to protect me from. He isn't a fool, unlike you. He's quite aware that nobody will be expecting him to attack me, and if someone finds out, he'll likely blame the so called "assassins" for whatever happens to me."

I looked away from him, resisting the urge to hug myself out of fear. Clearly, though he was fairly stupid when it came to anything even remotely requiring intelligence, he was good with understanding emotions.

"I'll protect you," Mathias promised, his eyes burning with intensity. "From your dad, from the assassins, from everything. You don't need to be scared."

For awhile, I let tried to allow myself some comfort from his words, tried to believe that there was even a minute possibility that they could be true, but there was no escaping the fear. Finally, frustrated and confused, I simply said, "I'm taking a bath," grabbed some nightclothes and left him standing there.

The warmth of the water released the tension and fear from my body, the steam clearing my mind as I pondered the situation. Clearly, my father expected me to drink my tea tonight…so he had demanded that Jorgen put some poison in it beforehand? It seemed such a simple and ridiculous solution, but maybe he knew the simplicity would confuse me. Should I have Mathias drink the tea for me to test it out?

A whole lot of good that would do; kill my bodyguard and then be poisoned anyway.

Finally, as I drained the tub and pulled on my pajamas, I decided to just leave the tea be. I would dump it down the sink and be done with it forever, the poison would be gone, and I could go back to living my life as usual. Satisfied, I left the bathroom feeling much better, only to find that while I was gone, Mathias had been busy making friends.

Lounging on my bed were Erick and our two cousins, Tino and Berwald.

Tino seemed to be enjoying himself as usual, his happy-go-lucky smile in its place as he spoke in Finnish while Mathias tried to guess what he was saying. Berwald and Erick, however, were not quite as impressed with him. Though Berwald was almost always silent, his facial expressions were more than enough to give away his true emotions. In just one look, I could read that he was annoyed that Mathias so easily entertained Tino when he himself just scared the smaller boy away. And Erick…was just being Erick.

Upon seeing me, Tino sat up and waved, saying, "Hello, Lukas! My mom decided to pay Uncle a visit today! Happy Birthday!"

I sighed, wishing suddenly that I was back in the bath, relaxing and forgetting the world for awhile. Without a word, I grabbed my hat and a jacket, yanked them on, and left the room, headed for someplace less noisy. Yet within seconds, I could hear footsteps and stifled giggles trailing behind me...annoyed, I tried to block it out and ended up plowing face first into Jorgen. Thanks to his large demeanor, he was uninjured, but so was the cup of tea placed precariously on a thin silver tray in his hand.

"Where are you going?" he asked, looking at the group behind me with narrowed eyes. "It is time for bed."

"My cousins came to visit," I told him, unable to hide my aggravation. "My father failed to warn me."

"Prince Lukas!" I heard Mathias come up behind me and shuddered as he absently rest his hand on my shoulder. "Where are you going? Are you angry about your cousins being in your room…? I just thought…well, since it's your birthday that you'd like to hang out with them…so I let them come in and surprise you! Your Finnish cousin even brought you cake and a gift! Oh, don't worry; I already checked to make sure it wasn't a bomb and re-wrapped it for you!"

I took the present he was thrusting at me and stared at it in surprise, before looking over at a gently smiling Tino. He'd never given me a present before…and he came over nearly every year on my birthday.

"It's from me and Berwald," he informed me. "I hope you like it! I was so glad you finally turned sixteen that I ignored my mom and made you something!"

"I m'de the c'ke," Berwald mumbled.

Unsure how to respond, I tore gently into the shiny paper covering the gift, astounded by what I pulled out. "You made this?" I asked, turning it around in my hands.

Tino nodded, putting his hands behind his back. "You've always liked music, so I decided to make you a music box! Berwald put together the mechanical parts and I carved the wood."

Curious, I opened it and watched in fascination as the little dancer in the middle started twirling to the tinkling music of an Old Norwegian lullaby my mother used to sing to me at night. It seemed a little strange for a sixteenth birthday present…especially to a boy…but it was undeniably a beautiful piece of art. I ran my hands across a carving on the front, investigating it closer…In shock, I looked up at Tino. "Is this…?"

"Yup! I carved your pond into it! It took a really, really long time, but I wanted to make it perfect! Now you can escape to your favorite spot even when your father bans you from leaving the house."

It felt awkward to say, but I thanked him anyway, wanting to stare at the perfect recreation of my haven again. Instead, I just let him kiss my cheek like he'd always tried to and said goodnight to him and Berwald when Tino announced it was time for them to get some rest. With one more 'happy birthday', they left to go to their own rooms.

I turned back to the others only to find Erick and Jorgen had already vanished, leaving nothing but a confused Danish teenager holding a silver tray atop his clumsy fingers. "See? Wasn't it nice having people over for your birthday? It wasn't the ball I'd been planning, but it was still pretty sweet, right? Only now I wish I'd gotten you something."

"That would be inappropriate for a subordinate to do," I informed him, glaring at the tea. "They're my cousins. Now throw that away and come back to the room."

He was obviously confused by my sudden order, but he didn't hesitate in dumping the drink, or in following me back into my bedroom. When we were back, he turned out the lamp on my desk and pulled back my covers for me, saying, "I know you aren't done with your work, but it's your birthday, so why don't you go to sleep early? Not to mention I kind of sprung your cousins on you without warning…but Tino was cool! I was glad I got to meet them. And that music box is really awesome!"

Sighing, I crawled into the bed and yanked the covers up, turning away so I didn't have to look at Mathias's smug face. Trying to forget he was there at all, I pulled the music box off the nightstand where I had set it and opened it, listening to the sweet, melodic tinkle and imagining the soft voice of my mother singing perfectly along. It seemed so real…Closing my eyes, I could see her perfectly, her long grayish-blonde hair braided with her crown on top, her face gentle as she stared down at me in my crib…It wasn't hard to picture the angel that my father was sure she had become.

I hadn't realized how much I missed her.

Just as I was about to drift off to sleep, I felt the music box being softly pulled from my grasp. Subconsciously, I knew it was Mathias, but when the music started tinkling yet again and a voice joined in, hitting every note meticulously, I was sure that it was just a dream.

I woke up groggy the next morning to the sounds of Mathias snoring obnoxiously in the bed beside me. Wiping my eyes, I stretched and yawned, turning to see that his jaw was slack, and that he'd created a disgusting pile of drool on his pillow throughout the night. Disturbed, I picked up a slipper and threw it at his unsuspecting face, laughing on the inside when it slammed into his nose.

I continued getting ready, pulling on a new pair of clothes while Mathias panicked and slashed around. By the time he'd figured out what had happened, I was gently brushing my hair, pulling it back with my usual clip and placing my hat on my head.

"What kind of bodyguard sleeps through the night? Aren't you aware that danger is a constant burden?" I asked, not really as upset as I sounded.

He yawned, rubbing at his face wearily. "I wasn't sleeping all night…I got up every few hours to make sure you were okay, Prince Lukas. That and you were so cute when you slept, I just had to see your face!"

I looked over at him, astonished and…somewhat relieved. I could trust this boy with my life. Ignoring the cute face comment, I stood up and stalked over to him. "Just don't get me killed," I ordered, giving his arm a small brush before walking out the door.

Fearlessly I felt his hand wrap around my own, but before I could protest, he'd pulled me back into the room with a, "Wait, you forgot to take your vitamin!" as his excuse.

Yanking away from him, I took the pills and water from a silver tray and swallowed them both quickly.