1 Seeds of Hate
In the Capital city of the Venied Empire Kingsfall,
King Emeric enters the royal palace's balcony with his family, ready to give a speech to the citizens of his country as his family and his royal advisors stand ready to listen.
"Today we celebrate the 75th anniversary of The Venied empire. We have struggled extremely hard to be in the position we are today.", said King Emeric.
"But we must not stop for the day we do will be the downfall of our glorious nation. We must strive to make ourselves better and give our country 100 percent of our efforts so that we can grow into a more powerful nation. We will not let the neighboring nations deter us from our goal and we will prosper and thrive for years to come."
The crowd cheers in between as King Emeric pauses during his speech. "We must set a path for our youth so when we pass on we will know that the kingdom will be left in good hands, but before that can happen we must ensure the country is in a good condition so there is less to do for the future generations to come to do. So, my citizens we will rise to glory long live the King, and long live the Empire."
The crowd repeats the Kings words as he heads back into the palace.
The king then enters the throne room with his family. "My children one of you will rule this country one day, it will be up to you to make all the decisions and protect this nation."
They all say "yes father" then leave to their wing of the palace.
"Fathers going to pick you to be the next king, Enzo. He always asks you to help with his King duties or whatever. "said Aeron, The Third son of King Emeric.
"He only asks me to help because I'm the oldest out of all of us. It would be silly if he chose you or Cemil." Enzo said while going to sit down in a chair.
Another person enters the room walking hastily and loudly enough that you can hear his footsteps echoing down the hall, each step was filled with envy as he got closer to sit down next to his brother.
"Why does dad always give Enzo special treatment, I mean I work just as hard or even harder and he doesn't ask me to help him or praise me for my hard work." Endre jealously said.
Endre feels that he has proven himself to be the next heir because unlike his brothers he works extra hard even taking extra responsibilities around the house. He also helps the guards and soldiers with strategies and training and has a close relationship with a lot of people in the nation. His reputation among the military far exceeds that of a normal teenager and they say he has promise as a general in the future.
"At lease dad notices you, sometimes he acts like I'm never there," Aeron said as he looks at the ground.
"Your over reacting Aeron, He's just always busy and you don't help with things around the palace." Said Enzo trying to give his brother an excuse for his father.
"Whatever I don't care I'm going to show him, and one day I'll be king". Aeron said as he left the room.
"He's always like this he'll get over it in a few hours." Endre said while getting up and leaving the room.
Aeron headed to the upper city where the nobility lived. The King allowed his children to wonder around this area as it was much safer than the lower city. Aeron was going to visit his friend a famous mage, Alvis Harpis, that would teach him how to control magic power.
Aeron knocks on the door and Alvis answers.
"Is that the 3rd son of King Emeric at my door." Alvis said while smoking his pipe.
"Hi there Mr. Alvis, can I practice my magic with you today, I have to blow off some steam." Aeron said as he kicks a rock across the yard.
Alvis shrugged "Sure, follow me to the back and we'll see if you got the hang of that fireball spell that I showed you last time", said Alvis.
Aeron followed Alvis through the house to the backyard. The yard had logs set standing up with targets hanging on them.
"let's see if you've been practicing like you said you have." Alvis said challengingly.
Aeron holds his hand out and starts visualizing a flame then focusing his magic power to his hand. The flame then appears, "See I told you I've been practicing", Aeron says showing pride in his flame.
"Good, now see if you can hit one of those targets over there." Alvis responded
Aeron looks at the target than closes his eyes and tries to fire the ball of flames at the log. The flame changed color to a green for a split second, right after he shot it and missed the log. Alvis was shocked that the flame changed to that color. He was unsure what it meant because this had never happened before, so he decided it was worth investigating later.
"Well, Aeron it looks like you're going to need more practice with this spell, but that's enough for now. Let's go get you some food, to help restore some of your energy." Alvis said waving him back inside.
The two of them walk back into the living room area. The room was big and full of fancy and rare furniture made from famous craftsman in the country, but none of this surprised Aeron since he was royalty. Mostly everything in the room was common to him.
A maid placed some sandwiches on the coffee table in front of them and they began to eat.
"What is troubling you Aeron?" Alvis asked out of curiosity.
"My father is what's bothering me." Aeron said as he took another bite out of the sandwich.
"Your father has protected these lands for a long time, he's a good man he'll come around eventually."
"Whatever, I hope he stays busy. I don't need him anyway. One day I will show him and everyone else why they should acknowledge me". After Aeron said that he then let out a long sigh.
"Well, I think it's about time I headed back I'll come and visit again soon Mr. Alvis." Aeron said as he walked out the door.
"That boy… has something… dark inside of him. I hope I can get to him before it does." Alvin thought to himself as Aeron left.
After leaving Alvis's house, Aeron decided to go to the lower part of the city where commoners lived. This part of the city is where most of the cities middle and lower class lived. Some citizens living in this area love the king, while some of them despised his rules and policies he had in place. They would do anything to get at the king. Aeron ran into some shady looking people that were staring at him while he was walking. They followed him into an alley with a dead end.
"Aren't you one of the king's children." one of the men said with a devilish smirk on his face as he cracked his knuckles.
"I think that's the 3rd one." Said another person. "I bet he keeps a lot of money on him, its only right that he gives us some of it as payment because of the King's stupid rules. Our families are all struggling and starving because of him."
"Well that's not my fault" said Aeron backing up into a wall.
"You know what boys let's get him" said the leader of the thugs.
Aeron tries to run away, but two of the men grab him so he couldn't move, and the leader starts punching him in the stomach.
"This is what happens to brats that don't follow directions." Said the leader. He then takes a pouch of money from Aeron's waist, "This looks like an adequate donation, pleasure doing business with you." The leader than punches Aeron one more time and then the other thugs drop him, and they all run away with the money.
A bystander ran to get the guards while this happened. Aeron's brother Endre was with a group of guards when he heard what was happing and rushed down to help his brother.
"Aeron are you alright?," he asked while helping his brother up.
Groaning in pain Aeron responds, "Does it look like I'm okay…." Then he passes out.
Aeron wakes up in his room. He can still feel pain from the bruises that are all over his body. Alana, his twin sister, is ringing out a cloth of water about to put a towel over his head. She was worried that he had been severely injured.
"Aeron your awake, how are you feeling? Does anything hurt?" She asked in concern.
"Ahhh, my side hurts" Aeron said groaning in pain.
"Lift your shirt up and let me see", commanded Alana. "Wow that's the biggest bruise I've ever seen. Let me use my magic on it."
Alana was gifted with her magic ability. She was naturally talented with all magic, but healing magic was her best. Her control was so precise she was on par with high level medical mages in the kingdom. She is also being trained by some of the highest mages in the kingdom, but she still has a lot to learn.
A glow of light appears as she holds her hands over the bruise. The light shined very brightly and then the pain from the bruises lessened but didn't go completely away.
"That feels a lot better. Thank you Alana-ahhh", He groans as he feels the pain still there.
"Take it easy Aeron. It will probably take a few days before the pain completely goes away." Alana says, "Here drink this", whilst handing him a glass of water.
"Aeron why are you always getting into fights? You never listen to our father and now you're getting beat up. You have to stop."
"This time wasn't my fault. It was dads if he were a better king none of this would have ever happened." He said sulkily.
"No, you say that, but if you would have listened and did what you were supposed to do then today would have never happened. Promise me you'll never do something like this again." She said seriously
Aeron knew he had no way out of this, so he sighed, "Okay I promise, I won't do anything like this again."
She smiled, "Good now go lay back down and get some rest, I will be back with some food for us. Everyone else is coming in here too", she said as she left.
Aeron then drifts off to sleep. When he opens his eyes, he is in a place he's never been before. The room was dark and had an ominous feeling to it like he was in a place where creatures of a strong malice lived. His vision was limited by the absence of light and his mind started to make up different figures. He could not tell the difference from delusion or from reality. He then heard a deep voice that echoed throughout the room shaking him to his bones.
"You are the one… you have been chosen," said the strange voice.
"Chosen for what?" Aeron asked into the dark void hoping for an answer.
"Your time will come… you will be the one," The voice responded then shortly after that, the voice vanished.
Aeron closed his eyes and when he opened them, he was back in the room in the palace staring at the ceiling. He had been dreaming, but the dream felt much realer than any other dream he's ever had. Aeron's brothers and sisters where sitting at a table talking when they realize he woke up again.
"Look everyone Aeron is finally awake", Said Enzo. "Are you feeling better?"
Aeron tries to stand up but Alana rushes over to help him, "Stop trying to push yourself too hard." She then said "I told you it would take a while before your injuries heal, so take it easy for now."
After hearing that Aeron decided to sit down and talk with his family, "I'm okay guys. Don't worry, I'm much better than I was before anyway, thanks to Alana."
While they were talking to each other, a young maid entered the room. Her name was Rose Milner she was daughter of the head maid of the palace. She is the same age as Aeron and Alana and is actually very close to them as a friend. They treat her as if she is part of the family.
"Master Aeron, your father has requested to see you." Said Rose. The look on her faced was concerning to Aeron, so with the help of his sister they headed to go see King Emeric.
When they enter the throne room, the King and Queen were staring at them as they walked in. The tension in the room felt very sharp like a knife being held to your throat. Aeron is staring hard back at the king and for a second there was nothing but silence.
"Aeron, you have to start training more. You are much weaker than your brothers and you don't do anything to help around here. Its time you learn to be responsible and start pulling your weight around here." Said the King. He had a look of disappointment in his eye while looking down on Aeron making him feel as if he were nothing.
"I think your being a little hard on him Emeric," Said Queen Amelia
"No son of mine is going to be lazy for the rest of his life. He needs to act more like a man and take responsibility for himself." Said the king in response to the queen.
After hearing this Aeron was bubbling with anger. His father scolding him even though he works hard and trains almost every day. He tries to help but then his dad doesn't let him and now he is getting treated like this.
"I do try to help, but you never let me, and sometimes you act like I don't even exist." Aeron exclaimed angrily "And now you say I don't do anything around the palace, I don't care what you have to say."
"SILENCE!!!" yelled king Emeric "I will not tolerate disrespect in my own throne room by my own son. Get out of here before I have the guards take you away."
"You don't even care that I was beat up and hurt in the lower city today some father you are." Aeron said to one up his father.
"If you were strong things like that would be easy to deal with but you're incapable of that. Also, that could have been avoided if you would listen to me and not of gone down there," said King Emeric. "Anyway, I don't have time to worry about trivial matters like this one."
Aeron started balling his hands up into fists. Tightly clenching, Aeron then charges towards the King as if he were going to throw punch at him, but the King did a hand signal to the guards and they rush in and grabbed Aeron before he got to the king.
"Let me go, let me go," yelled Aeron while he was being restrained
"This would be an act of treason, but since you're my child I will just confine you to your room for a month. Take this sorry excuse for a son away." Said King Emeric. The guards dragged Aeron out of the throne room while he was yelling and screaming. Aeron muttered under his breath, "You regret doing this one day."
