~Chapter 1: The Way To The Crown.~

"Xzander!" Called the boys mother, snapping him out of his trance.

He was thinking about what would happen in a few days. If he would win the crown..

"Ma'am?" He asked, looking up from his plate of food. He had just finished dinner and it was a little past eight.

His mother gave him a polite smile and stood from her own seat at the right of the table, "Can you help me clean up, Dear? Your brother has already went back up to his room. He has a big exam in the morning.." Xzanders mother, Constantinus, was babbling, but he didn't mind. Even though he also had that exam in the morning..

With a nod of his head, he stood from the table, his father handing him his plate as he did so.

"After you help your mother, please, come see me." His father said softly to him, the only other sound besides their voices were the clinking of the dishes, and the sound of rain on the roof. Not to mention the distant sounding fireplace crackling in the living room.

His father pushed in his chair and left the table.

Xzander knew exactly where his father would be. In his office, arranging the plans for the new heir of the throne. Xzanders mother and father both thought it would be Xzander, but that didn't calm his mind. His brother was sneaky, and like a pesky bug that won't stop until it bites you or gets squished.

Xzander put the dishes in the sink and sighed, "Mom, what do you think will happen?" He asked. He needed more peace at mind, and usually his mother would help him with it. Ease it, at least.

"Well,.." She whispered, taking the dishes from her sons hands so he could work on cleaning off the table, "I believe you would make the best King. You are already such a good prince. But, I still love your brother." She said, a frown on her face. She hated giving more of her faith to one of her kids and not the other, it's not right to divide it up unevenly..

"Okay, but what if Nash wins? Then what? You already know he's going to make everything, supposedly, fair between the commoners. He will end up taking away their crops, taking their land! Mom, Nash doesn't know what he's gonna do. He just thinks everything will strode into the sunset on his beautiful white horse." Xzander scoffed to himself, setting dishes in the sink without interrupting his mother's washing.

Yeah, they were the Royal Gentry family, but they still insisted washing and doing their own dishes and making their own food. Just to have a handle down to what it was like for the castle's people. And Constantine may have gotten a little attached to it.

She sighed and wiped her brow, "Well, I have faith that you will win. At least you can have a good influence on your brother if he does somehow beat you." His mother spoke softly, caring, and motherly.

Looking away, Xzander felt slight guilt tug at his heart. He knew his mother was stressed, "Okay, hun." His mother spoke up, "You can go see what your father needs. You also have that exam tomorrow. And I know how much you train at night." She smiled and nudged her sons shoulder playfully.

Xzander was definitely around a foot taller than his mother, Constantine standing at 4'11 and himself at 5'11.

He grinned and nodded, kissing his mother's temple before he left the kitchen, on his way to the main office in the castle. His fathers office.

When he was younger he hated living in such a big castle, but that was because it took forever to get around and he couldn't remember where most the rooms were, but now, he literally has everything mapped out.

Walking down the main hall, ignoring the paintings of the kings and queens, before his parents, on the walls. Opening that unusually large door to his fathers office, Xzander stepped in, his dad looking up at him from the paperwork.

"Oh, am I interrupting?" Xzander asked, seeing his fathers own personal maid, helping his dad with the papers.

"No, go on, now." His father said to the maid, and the girl left. She was the person who cleaned his office, kept his papers organized when his dad didn't, and got the paperwork to the rightful townspeople.

She gave them a bow when walking out the door as Xzander entered, "You needed me?" He asked, softly shutting the door behind him.

His father nodded, "Yes." He stood up and went to the bookshelf one that covered the whole right wall of the room, "Come here." His father spoke, finding a certain book that had gold paint around the edges, and a dark green color as the cover. The words written in a gold italic font on the front read, "Skills Of The Knight." It was a book on sword training, posture, and ranking positions. How to be a knight.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Xzander walked closer to his father, brushing his own waist long, black hair over his shoulder and out of his way. But before his father could give him the book as Xzander thought, he pointed to the door on the opposite wall.

"First, go in there." His father spoke sternly, holding the book in his left hand to bargain with later on.

"But that's...You've never let me or Nash go in there." Xzander said, his eyes blown wide at the door. Curiosity did creep up his spine at the thought, but he never knew he would actually enter before he was crowned king. If he was crowned king.

"Go on." His father, Aloy, said aloud.

Before he could think, he was going to the door, opening it, and revealing a room. The room had five pillars going up the sides, and three swords placed between the three pillars straight ahead of him. Every pillar had a gold lining going from the base to the ceiling. The main thing that stood out to Xzander, though, was the sword lying in the middle. Once he walked into the room to get a better look, he saw the silver plated sword had a pearl like stripe going down the middle of the blade, sharp as a dragons tooth, and as shiny as a mirror. The handle itself was white, black and gold mixing to go up the handle, to make it look as if jewelry embedded, the two colors swirling to the side handles, becoming their own piece of the sword. Definitely a beautiful masterpiece.

"Take it." His father said, standing at the doorway, interrupting Xzanders train of thought, "It's yours, son.."

Xzander took a moment to look back at his father, he hadn't known his parents had anything like this for him, the youngest child. Once he gulped down the bile in the back of his throat, he turned towards the masterpiece. His masterpiece. And took it out of its cloth-like-coffin. He examined every nook and cranny the sword had, but to his surprise, it was unused. It was in perfect condition, and it was quite light but also had a heavy feel to it.

His father grinned to himself and hummed, "Why don't you try it out?" He asked, making Xzanders eyes sparkle with the idea. I should, shouldn't I?

He smiled, and held the sword firmly in his right hand, moving away from anything breakable or anything he might hit. Once he had one foot in front of the other, he swung, the swords blade cutting and whistling through the air as if a scream of an opponent.

Xzanders grey-blue eyes went dark, a clear smirk on his lips. The boy let his imagination take ahold on the situation, acting as if there were other opponents in the room like he usually does with training and using a casual guards sword.

The blade swung left and right, as did his actions, his body moving with the movements almost as if a dancing routine. The way Xzander fought, made his father notice, Xzander wouldn't be needing the book he had prepared for his son.

"Hahahaha!" Xzander said, stopping in a pose with his hand out to signal "come at me", his arm with the sword drew back above his head but bent, pointing the sword out in front of him, his left leg arched slightly and ahead of the right, which was extended behind him.

The stance he held was his own, unique style, much like others he had used in the past. But from the stance he held in that moment, "I'm gonna be unstoppable." Xzander grinned, his eyes going back to their usual light hearted bright blue-grey.

"Don't get too cocky." His father, Aloy, chuckled from the office, he had been putting up the book when Xzander wasn't looking. "Looks like you have a great chance at winning after all." Aloy spoke, turning towards the door of the room Xzander stood in. The boys stance fell, letting him stretch his limbs back out from the small, but fun, blood pumping session. A clear grin still formed on his lips, "Now, go get onto your homework. You aren't eighteen yet, and I need the next King to be smart!" His father yelled, but not trying to hurt Xzanders feelings, the boy knew he was only picking with him.

Xzander grabbed the swords white, black, and gold sheath, and slipped it into its rightful place before doing as told. Leaving his father, and going to study in his room. After his studying session would come a whole new training session with his new pride and joy.

Three days of pure training, studying, training, studying, training, etc. Xzander was ready for the fight to come. Even though he was terrified, he was also prideful. Excited.

Nash was sitting on the sidelines, people were herding into the arena. Commoners. They were all here to watch Nash and Xzander fight. Instead of the crown being handed down to the first born, which would have been Nash, right off the bat, they insisted to make it tradition for the two, or however many, siblings to fight. If one forfeits, the other wins, if one is knocked out, the other wins, if one dies, the other wins. But Nash or Xzander wouldn't kill each other, would they?

Xzander and Nash both had the option of a weapon.

Nash chose a sword (unknown to Xzanders knowledge), and Xzander chose his pride and joy, the sword he named "Crimson Light", the sword in which his father had given him three days before.

Xzander paced the length of the small room he was kept in, Nash sitting on the edge of his seat until a guard walked into the room, luring both their attention to the man.

"Sir, Nash." The guard spoke up, and gave Xzanders brother a nod. Nash spared Xzander a sidelong glance as he stood, his confidence showing in how Nash kept his shoulders pushed back, and head high.

After Nash was out of the room, Xzander unsheathed the sword on his hip, the sound of its sheer blade exiting its original home, made Xzander smile. He never showed Nash his own confidence, for the reasons...

"Don't be too cocky." He thought to himself, drawing a few breaths in before he would swing his sword through the air, the sound of a whistle was heard outside of the room, in the arena. It's time.

He sheathed his sword and went to the opening that was in front of him. Where he would exit with pride and leave with it, or exit with pride and leave with a head hanging low and a limp body. Xzander gulped and sighed, taking his last step to the gate before the gears brung it up, the sounds of crowds cheering blasted in his ears.

"Xzander Gentry, everyone!" The man behind the speaker yelled. Xzander was the only one in the arena, he thought his brother would have been first to be on the dirt covered floors of this death cage. He could see his mother and father, standing above the room Nash would leave out of. He cancelled out all noises but the thumping of his own heartbeat in his ears, the sound of his gold and black clothing as he walked, and the clinking of the sword on his hip. The sound completely stopped when his eyes fixated themselves on the gate opening on the other side of the arena.

Now that we're in here, only one of us will leave..

In the end of the heart wrenching walk up, his brother was now ten feet in front of him, his face showing no emotion. But, Xzanders eyes traveled to the blade on his brothers hip, one almost like his own, but red and black, like Nash's clothing.

The screams were louder for Nash but that didn't faze me. Didn't faze my pride. And didn't faze my faith in myself.

"Okay, the battle will begin in five."

Time seemed to slow.

"Four." The speaker boomed, and Xzander had a drop of sweat glide down his brow.

"Three."

Nash or me..

"Two."

Life or death..

"One!"

Crown or no crown.

"Fight for the throne!" The arena was silent, my eyes stuck on Nash's as was his on mine.

Win or lose. My heart stuttered and a smirk revealed itself on my face.

But the best thing about this event is. The winner will be me.