The next day, Xavier and Lucas woke up at six for their final practice for the competition. They assembled at the backyard where the royal family's weapon training sessions take place. They both greeted each other with a "good morning".
'Are you ready to lose?' asked Lucas.
'No,' replied Xavier and added, 'I'm pretty confident that I will win.'
'Let's see, brother,' said Lucas, and they both started their practices on their skills such as archery, fencing and stunts.
They practised and did work-outs till lunch, skipping breakfast.
The King came to the dining hall for lunch and saw Xavier and Lucas sitting opposite each other.
'What are you boys doing? You both look very curious about the upcoming competition.' Asked the King.
'Yes, father,' replied Lucas.
'I'm very curious.' Replied Xavier while drinking his regular tomato juice.
Everyone in the royal family came to have Lunch. They greeted Xavier and Lucas. The whole period went by talking about the upcoming competition.
It was quarter to four. Everyone, including the royal family, King and the Queen, sitting on the throne, on the second-floor balcony, and many people from the villages and towns, gathered at the backyard with excitement. The King stood up to start the competition.
'Good evening everyone,' greeted the King, and continued, 'now we are going to commence the competition between Xavier and Lucas, for the throne. Lucas and Xavier approached the ground
'Remember! This is a friendly competition. Not a war!' the King warned.
First, the Archery competition started. Xavier and Lucas, both had three shots. Xavier claimed two hundred points. While Lucas claimed one hundred and ninety points. Lucas felt very disappointed. Everyone who was watching the competition cheered for Xavier.
The next game started. They have to show their skill of doing various stunts. They both did pretty well in it, but Xavier lacked only three points to win, while Lucas had six points more than Xavier. Only a few cheers came from the audience.
And as the final game, fencing was held. Xavier and Lucas were playing their best in it, as they both are well-trained fighters. But unfortunately, Xavier collapsed. So Lucas won all the match leading Xavier with only a few points. The audience was very sad about what happened. But they cheered for Lucas too, but not much as for Xavier.
The guards who were nearby went to help Xavier. Lois who was near the King, ran with his mother to see what had happened to his father. Xavier was put to lie on a bed in a room nearby. Then a guard came to the king.
'His Majesty, the Prince is safe. He is put to lie in a guest room nearby. He is being treated by the royal doctor.' Said the guard.
'Good,' expressed the King, and added, 'I will come there as soon as I finished the conversation with the cabinet ministers.'
'Okay, your majesty,' replied the guard and went to see Prince Xavier.
The King went to have his talk with the Cabinet Ministers at the Cabinet.
'My fellow Cabinet Ministers! What do you think about the competition held today?' asked the King.
'Good, but I worry for Prince Xavier.' Replied Prince Xander, the Duke, who is the only brother of the king.
'We too,' replied the others.
'Are you looking forward to the coronation of the next king, day-after-tomorrow?' asked the king.
'Yes, his majesty,' replied everyone.
'Let all the arrangements start tomorrow morning.' Said the King and continued to talk about politics, while Bessie, Darius and Lucas himself celebrating his victory.
'I'm so proud of you darling.' Expressed Bessie.
'Thanks,' replied Lucas.
'And you should be proud of me too.' Said Bessie.
'Why?' asked Lucas.
'Did you see Xavier was drinking his tomato juice?' asked Bessie.
'Yes,' replied Lucas, so Bessie continued, 'I added a little bit of poison that make people collapse. We call it "Katarkaipeprosorina", in our Kingdom.
'What's that? Kata-pata-kona?' asked Lucas.
'No, it's 'Kata-kai-pe-prosorina' replied Bessie.
'Whatever that is, the competition held was unfair. Why would you do that?' asked Lucas.
'Just to help you become the King.' Replied Bessie.
'I'm going to report this to the King.' Said Lucas.
'No, you don't. If you do it, he will make Xavier the king for sure. Since you always had a dream of being a king, you must keep it a secret.' Advised Bessie.
'Yeah, you are right. But you should not do this kind of stupid things.' Explained Lucas, and asked, 'Did you understand?'
'Yes,' replied Bessie, and asked, 'are you going to see Prince Xavier?'
'He'll be fine right?' asked Lucas.
'Yeah, he'll wake in a few hours.' Replied Bessie.
'Then why should I go? He'll be fine.' Replied Lucas.
On the other hand, Xavier was put to lie on a bed inside the nearest room to the place where the competition was held. The dinner time has nearly arrived. The King, Queen, Serafina, Lois, the royal doctor, nurses and some others from the royal family were waiting till Xavier wake from his temporary collapse. Finally, he woke up at quarter-past eight, with a shock.
'Oh my god! What happened? Where am I?' questioned Xavier.
'You are fine darling, be calm. You are in a guest room.' Replied Serafina.
'What happened to me?' asked Xavier.
'You were just temporarily collapsed.' Replied the doctor, and started to talk with Serafina, 'I'm sure he has been poisoned. But I don't know what kind of poison this is.'
After Xavier's mind was cleared, they all went to have dinner. Lucas, Bessie and Darius were already had arrived at the dining hall.
'Hi, brother!' greeted Lucas, and asked, 'are you fine?'
'Yeah,' replied Xavier.
'Why didn't you come to see Xavier?' asked the King, and added, 'He was poisoned.'
'Oh really? I was going to come, but my back was in a bad condition.' Lied Lucas, but everyone believed it.
'By the way, Congratulations brother!' greeted Xavier. Lucas thanked Xavier.
'What do you feel about the results?' asked the King.
'I'm really happy, father.' Replied Lucas.
'I can't wait to see the coronation of our next King, Lucas.' Replied Xavier. Lucas worried for his brother in his mind.
The dinner time was spent talking about the competition. After having dinner, everyone greeted each other with a "good night" and went to their bed, while Xavier and the King have a chat outside in the garden, privately.
'Why did you call me here, father? Asked Xavier.
'I just wanted to ask you a question regarding Lucas.' replied the King, and asked, 'will Lucas put our kingdom down?'
'No,' replied Xavier, and asked, 'why would you think like that?'
'Because I can see some changes on him due to the influence of his wife, Bessie, who is from the Kingdom Arylon.' Replied the King.
'No father, you are just overthinking.' Said Xavier, and added, 'always think positive.'
'Yeah, you are right. I should think positive.' said the King.
'Lucas has some goodness too.' Said Xavier, and added, 'I promise that he won't let our Kingdom down. He always wanted to be a great King.'
After their small conversation, they went to the bed.