The bells of the palace ring throughout in its deep subtle tone as always. Arriving upon the 9th hour of the evening, when all is quiet.
Zachariah stood at the edge of the training grounds, hand tightly wrapped around his wooden sword. Dampened with sweat, he breathes in with a deep sigh. Worn down by the years of training in an art he could never understand. An art that was never meant for him. Knights and servants alike pass by, refusing to even let out a greeting, just sly eyes with disgust that brushed past as if he were an eye sore, the mud beneath their shoes, what they know him to be.
A bastard.
They never spoke the word aloud, but their gazes spoke loud enough. These are the same looks and stares he's been accustomed to his whole life, even as a child, whom he was never viewed as.
He was the king's son, a prince. Yes he is of royal blood, Yet he is denied by law. Outcast by the people who were to love him. Born of a woman that should be long forgotten.
His Half-Siblings trained on a platform next to his. Prince Leon laughs as he watches his brother's pathetic display of skill. He is a prodigy when it comes to the sword exceeding his older half brother's reputation of weakness in the skill.
"Why is it that you still can't perform the basic techniques of our family, brother." Leon says laced with contempt in every word. "It's a pathetic display of skill if you can even call it that" he laughs, "Let me show you". He performs 3 basic skills, yet he executes them so perfectly it would look advanced. Truly worthy of a future Swordmaster Prospect.
"That's enough Leon, it's distasteful", is heard from a distance. It's Xion, they call him the eldest prince even though Zach was born prior by a few (months?).
"If you hold your head up too high you'll suffocate on your own pollution, Don't let your head grow too big and weigh you down", says Xion. He kept appearances up pretty well. On the surface, seeming to be the supportive, protective brother. As if he and Zach's relationship wasn't strained and mangled, but it's just a petty scheme for public appearances. He's just like the others if not worse, a true corrupt, calculative, manipulative person. He's more of a politician than a swordsman.
Their mother stood near the far wall behind them, observing, allowing this treatment.
Queen Veronica
Her gaze meets with Zach, just long enough to be seen. Zach felt the pure disgust, fear and hatred in her eyes. The hate that started due to the king's hidden love and affection for his son. She knew the king loved him, valued him, and the fact she hated most why he pretended not to outwardly show this.
Later that night, a royal summons arrived.
Not delivered by a servant but by one of the king's old guards.
"His Majesty wishes to see you." The knight leans in toward his ear, lowering his voice. "Alone."
Zach felt chills go down his spine, as he realised the king hadn't summoned him since his mothers passing. As he walks down the halls towards his father's ward, he thinks about the possible outcomes of this private conversation.
His Majesty's chambers smelled of medicine and burning ash. King Elbrum sits up as best he can with his fragile state due to illness. His crown lying next to him untouched. For the first time in Zach's life did his father look… powerless.
"You came."
Zach dropped to one knee,"Of course, who am I to refuse the summons of the King."
The King winced, he noticed the distance between him and his son."Stand, and come closer, we're alone, no one here to twist truths into lies".
Zach obeys.
The King stares at him mesmerized, afraid that it might be his last moments seeing his son. The last time he gazes at what he values most in the world, the memories that come along with these stares. Memories of greater times alongside the love of his life. Whom he sees in his son at each passing day.
Elbrum breaks the silence, " Zachariah, my son, I am dying. My condition has worsened and continues to decline as I lie in this bed."
Zach's chest tightens but he maintains a poker face so as to not show emotions in front of the king. To conceal the fragility of his heart, knowing one of the very few people that truly cared for him was fading away. Be strong, he tells himself.
"You can relax", Elbrum says. " We are here as Father and Son, not as King and Prince. The Physicians gave me weeks at most, If the Gods are gracious maybe months.''
The room grew quiet again, the silence almost unbearable.
"Why am I here?" Zach asked.
The King whispered, "because I can no longer protect you. You think my cruelty towards you stems from hatred, that my indifference to your treatment was me abandoning you??"
"It was all a lie, a front."
"The day your brother came to know I loved you, would be the day they laid you to rest. I would never allow such a thing."
"Your mother and I understood this risk, she knew the price of bearing my child. She knew my parents would kill her, that the queen would stop at no end until your passing, there was no other choi- "
Zach disrupts, raising his voice, " THEN WHY DID YOU ALLOW ME TO LIVE? Why? There's always a choice, that being one. When all of this hatred, and animosity, this deception could not have been my life, all my transgressions could have been avoided."
"Because she, your mother, made me swear, and I could not bear the loss of my first child and my beloved all together. Do you understand? I could not lose another reason to live."
The king reached into his drawer, He pulled out a locket and a seal. " Here Zachariah, this locket is the last relic of your mother, keep it with you at all times, and this is my seal, bearing my name and mark."
"The methods we teach here aren't suitable for you, go beyond the walls and learn what it takes for the throne, become the person you were meant to be and don't return with my seal until you are powerful enough to handle what lies in wait."
Zach steps back from his father, shaking his head in disbelief. "You're sending me away."
"NO, I'm sending you to live. When I die the queen will no longer keep up with appearances; they will come after you."
"You will leave before dawn, take nothing with you, no escort , no help, no name. And when you return it won't be as the boy they cast aside but as the king they will follow." The king says with a warm fatherly smile.
As Zach turned to leave, Elbrum whispered "Forgive me, my Son."
And with that, Zach reaches the door and takes one last look at the man who loved him and feels a pang in his chest as he walks out.