CHAPTER 1:The beginning
Born of a royal blood,
A natural king,
To save his people shall he seek the bite.
His equal shall he find among men .
Hunted by his demons,
Stuck inside a coffin,
Only to be unleashed by his Beloved.
**Vladmir**
Every member of our royal household's 10th birthday is celebrated in a grand way. Mine won't be any less,what makes it a tradition is the reading of the golden scroll. My father king Alexander the fourth went through the process so did my four older siblings. Prince Gerald,first of my father's children,next in line to the throne,our very own crown Prince. Prince Logan the second child, the twins; Princess Meridith and prince Maddon . And I, the fifth child, the last son of the royal household, Vladmir Drakkon, also called the unwanted.
The grandeur of the palace is a sharp contrast to the name everyone calls me , but, mother will never let the public know how outcast the royal family has made me in my home. She hates me more than the devil, in fact she calls me "The devil's progeny."
My father only cares about his successor. He wouldn't even bat an eye if I died right in front of him. For I am the mistake, a child he never wanted even before my birth. According to him, my mother tried all concoction to erase my existence but it affected her instead,every magic or charm seems to poison her instead of flushing me out.
Months went by, the possibility of aborting me dwindle, the people noticed her bulging belly and she could no longer hide it but keep a public facade of loving her pregnancy.
My siblings weren't any better. Logan and crown prince Gerald made my life a living hell as a child. They grew to hate and named me "unwanted" . They passed their menace to the twins who took turns to torment me but my parents never believed me, to them I deserved it all. But I still love my family nevertheless.
The royal trumpeter blew his instrument to announce our entrance,the perfect family, dressed in their royal ceremonial regale.
My parents proudly stood in the middle,the crown prince by my father's left hand,the twins by my mother's right hand, while I stood beside the twins as the youngest. The least.
"The royal family,king Alexander IV, Queen Magdalene, the crown prince Gerald ,prince logan,princess Meredith and prince Maddon.
Accompanying them is the youngest prince, Vlad."
Well, there goes the entrance, the least always gets the least exciting entrance. After my reading I shall surely be recognised by everyone and my scroll will tell them how good I am and how wrong they have been of me.
Or so I thought...…
The royal family walked side by side with a smile on their face,displaying togetherness and love,pfft public show.
The king sat on his throne while we all took our respectful place by his side.
"Welcome great people of our kingdom,to my youngest son's 10th birthday celebration." people clapped,some cheered, others whistled. My father lifted his hand and they all went silent. pin is dropped,you would most definitely hear it. "You all know how I treasure him and love him equally with his siblings." He turned to me with eyes of admiration, "my last blood."
Now, that has a double meaning. Last of his children and last he would ever have.the latter more than the former.
"As a Tradition, the seer shall read his future from the golden scroll before the party." To his right hand guard he whispered "bring him in."
"I already let myself in " we heard a smooth voice out of the crowd "Your majesty, my queen" he bowed to my parents, "my prince and princess" he turned to us. "I'm honored to stand yet again before you."
"You are welcome Lyon." mother said gracefully.
"We know how busy you are Lyon." father shrugged "let's get this over with,so we can be out of each other's hair." Father spat out,getting irritated. He just couldn't bear his presence, he insists the seer uses some kind of dark magic to stay young. And, anything the king doesn't have a hand in,is pure evil.
The seer narrowed his eyes on me ."Come prince vlad." I walked to him,unsure of what the future has in store for me. He took out a golden rind,crouched down to my level and handed it over to me. "hold this your highness with your two hands,hold firm." he instructed.
He faced the people "let fate write."
He faced the crowd, "Let Fate write."
light tremors fill me from the golden hind,the vibration quite intense, it seems to increase every second. Trepidation fills my palm making it sweaty.
"Arrrrrrrrrrrrgh!" The pain of the rind increases.
the seer voice resounds in my head "do not let go, no matter what." Everyone is calm as though it is what they're seen this happen before. Definitely, ugh. The golden hind had a form of layer and it morphed into a scroll. I could hear whisperings from the scroll,someone inside it talking and scribbling in hushed voices, I couldn't understand what was being said, a foreign language? Perhaps a dead language. Then everything stopped. The scroll left my hand as though someone called it, but instead stood amid the air.
The seer approached me with a rusty old looking knife, he stood right before me and stretched the knife handle towards me "Place it on your palms prince Vladmir." He instructed.
"Cut him already, Lyon," Father said. "We don't have time for your little drama." He seethes.
"Why don't you cut him, you seem eager for blood," he teased, bowing with his two hands stretching the blade to father. "Your highness." He ended.
"I wasn't cut to be a seer, do your job." Father snapped.
"You are the king," he retorted. " I am the seer, I'll do my job as fate wants it."
" Clearly fate got the wrong druid for the job, be snappy oldling."
Tension was thicker than ice, mother cut in immediately
" lyon we would appreciate it if you could go on," she turned to father " The king can't wait to hold his son." She smiled. When i knew very well why father is that eager .
"If you say so, your majesty." Lyon replied. "We need your blood to open the scroll" he explained, "are you ready?"
" Yes, lyon." I responded ,When deep down I was scared and terrified.
He made a deep cut,red crimson drops of blood ooze out of the wound. Lyon smears the blood on the scroll and it unfolded its layers.
There it was, written in bold letters,my fate.
Born of a royal blood,
A natural king,
To save his people shall he seek the bite.
His equal shall he find among men .
Hunted by his demons,
Stuck inside a coffin,
Only to be unleashed by his Beloved.
"Treachery!" Father boomed. "We already have a crown prince." He spat out angrily. Lines of rage evident on his face.
"By inheritance Draco will become king after his father!" Mom stated. She walked towards me filled with so much rage.
"YOUUUUUUUU," She screamed, her eyes showing how much hatred she has for me, mom is always the meticulous one, reminding everyone we have one big perfect family. I get the words from the scroll are quite alarming but she looks scarier than the devil. "WILL.....NEVER...BE...KING!" She said each word cynically. " I'll nail you to a rotten coffin myself if I have to. And you know what? I'll shove your bloody beloved inside it with you."
We all turned to where we heard someone clapping, Draco laughed like an evil tyrant.
"Welldone !" He shouted. "Nerodit, even your fate doesn't know its place...beneath me." He said hair breathed away from me. " After everything this family has done for you,you decide to be a treacherous vlad. You decide to be.....KING! Your very existence is a mistake, a joke." He roared. "Over my dead body will you be next in line for the throne."
"We need to decide what to do with him." Mother suggested.
"You are all dismissed!". Father announced.
One by one, they all exit the room muttering and whispering incoherently. Everyone left, save my family, Lyon and the royal guards.
"Your services are no longer required of you. You are excused." Father said.
Lyon piqued an eyebrow and replied.
"Whatever the fate the royal family intends to bestow on him,as the kingdom seer, I need to be aware and present."
" You dare defy me?" Father questioned
He looked away and answered " Merely doing my job."
"Let the hag bear witness father," Draco said mindlessly "We don't need his distraction right now. We have a traitor to convict. Right?" He threw an open question.
"Fine." Father agreed. " You owe him for allowing you to linger around here."
Father concluded.
It's one thing to be guilty of a crime and it's another thing to be guilty of a crime you are about to commit in the future. Anyways, it hasn't been set in stone but you are already guilty. Awaiting my family decision of either death in the gallows or beheading or leaving my life in the dungeons or simply driving a dagger to my heart. Anyways I'm not getting out of here unscathed.
"What should we do to him?" Lucius popped the question. " Feed him to the wilds or kill him right where he stands?" He asked.
"Nothing that will make us look bad or stain our family name." Mother advised "So keep your bloody ideas out of your head." She warns Lucian.
" Mother," Draco called out, "we cannot possibly let him live. He is going to destroy everything you and father built. He has never been useful to us or to the kingdom. Why bother sparing a waste of a person." He pointed at me.
"Send him to his private wing. Where he will never set foot outside. Where he will never see the walls of another room,where he will never socialize, where he will no longer be noticed. Yes, the story of his prophecy will be the talk of town but it will die down as rumors as he will no longer be seen in public. This way he won't have anyone to commit treachery with."
Father decided.
The room was thrown into comfortable silence. Everyone looked at each other and then nodded but Draco won't have it, he won't be harboring a felon.
" What if he breaks out?" He asked. " what if he gathers more people to side him?"
"No one except the royal family is to visit him. Once in a year, then I leave the rest to you son, to handle him right." Father ordered.
Draco has been waiting for this opportunity to torture me, now my damned prophecy has handed the ball into his court. He would love nothing but to see me beg and scream in pain. And, I'm positive Rodawon the pain lover will be by his side.
"Your wish is my command Father, I won't let you down." He answered with a half smile in my direction.
" Keeping him from the world won't stop his prophecy." A familiar voice explains. Lyon stood close to me "I'd rather advise to look closely at the prophecy and find out its mystery."
" You are just a seer, you are an ordinary voice of the gods, you are not part of the royal family, so, whatever we decide is our family decision. You just focus on seeing visions and whatever it is you do." Father Uttered.
"And keep your advice to your birds and creepy creatures." Rodawon mocked.
" Very well, I'll take my leave__" he looked across the room and in deep breath "but, do not say I did not warn you. Separating him from the world will do no one any good." He concluded and then walked out of the hall in long strides not waiting for comments.
" Can I say something?" I asked, knowing I might not be seeing them till after a year.
"The dump found his voice." Rodawon grins.
" Go on." Father said, arching a brow,patiently watching me like a predator, like a lion about to pounce on a deer.calculating his stance and stride. A way no father should watch a child.
" I don't want to be locked away," I pleaded. " I don't want the throne, I don't want to be king." I whispered the last words audibly.
"The moment your fate decided to wage war against the crown you became my arch nemesis. Who knows if you have something to do with your reading. Afterall, the seer has been taking your side all day." He reasoned
" I don't have anything to do with it brother, i swear." I defended. The word brother left my lips before i could take it back. I looked at Draco he had this cold aura as he walked up to me.
" Did you just say brother Nedorit?" He questioned
" I'm sorry your highness, I forgot not to say that word." I answered.
" I have no blood relation to a Nerodit" He shouted "And I'll have your tongue next time you don't call me by my title, for I am the crown Prince of Bran Castle." He reached out to me, pulled my chin up and I saw his eyes,filled with anger, power emitting from the rage on his face. " Know your place, slave." He chuckled wickedly.