The Prince and his Scholar

Prologue - Beginning

It was dark, so very dark. Were his eyes even open? Had he gone blind? He didn't know. He could hear something outside his room though...yelling. Yes, that was the correct word, yelling. It was coming from his mother and a man. His father? No, not his father. He was her husband but no matter how hard he tried to pretend, that man was not his father. They were arguing outside where he was. His room? It must be his room. He was always in his room when that man didn't want to see him, it would make sense that he was there now.

"Dimatov, you can't be serious, he's just a child!" his mother screamed as she argued with her husband.

"A deal is a deal, you knew this was coming the day he was born, Evia."

What was coming? Did he do something wrong? The small boy attempted to sit up and quickly fell back down, feeling a burning pain flash across his upper chest along with the back of his hand and wrist that caused him to nearly cry out in pain. He whimpered quietly as two of his guardians continued arguing, not sure what was going on but knowing very well that he should keep quiet. Staying still to ease the pain, he felt a blanket being laid over him as someone knelt down beside his bed.

"Shh, it'll be okay my sweet prince." the man whispered as he reassured the child that everything would be alright, knowing that he would be confused by the darkness and afraid of the pain. The child was finally old enough for his markings, one that was his and one that belonged to his soulmate. "Everything will be okay when morning comes, Malore."

"H-hurts......" the child choked out quietly as he whimpered, his eyes forced shut for the duration of the marking ceremony to keep from going into shock from the pain.

Roderich nodded and let out a quiet sigh as he glanced at the door, resting his hand on his side, over the mark that represented his own soulmate while he listened to the yelling coming from outside of the child's room. "I know my sweet Malore, try to rest." the man whispered as he watched over the young prince.

The boy nodded slightly, staying as still as he could before losing what small grip on consciousness he had with a yawn, his body taking the opportunity to slip into the void of unconsciousness and the blissful release of sleep.

Val laughed as he ran through the castle's courtyard with his left hand covered by a bandage to hide the mark on his hand that had appeared the night before. His father had instructed that until he was old enough for marriage he needed to hide the marking on his hand so that no one attempted to falsify the marking and claim that they were his fated partner. While it would be easy to prove otherwise if the other party removed their shirt, it was still a hassle for everyone in the party. Unlike a few of the neighboring kingdoms, Eizenwald had never once attempted to force anyone within their kingdom - royals or otherwise - to marry someone other than their fated partner. If anyone ever attempted to fake their way into someone else's arms, it was punishable by life imprisonment or even death.

"Valerichall! It's time to come inside my prince!" a young woman called from next to the fountain beside the courtyard entrance. The green eyed child giggled as he ran over to his nanny, knowing that she would give him a treat. He looked up at her, his eyes sparkling with excitement as she handed him a pastry filled with strawberry jam that she had made herself. "Here you are my prince. Come with me, it's time for me to teach you to write a few more words."

"Really? Yay!" Valerichall squealed as he followed his nanny to his study excitedly. Maria was one of his mother's old friends from before she married his father so his parents trusted her with him more than anyone else in the kingdom, especially since they knew now that she wasn't his match. He held onto her hand as they walked upstairs, taking small bites out of his pastry to make it last a little longer. Maria looked down at the young prince and smiled.

"One day you'll use the words I'm teaching you to write beautiful letters to your beloved." she explained as she sat down in her chair.

The young boy looked up at the woman who took care of him in excitement. "Really? I'll be able to do that?"

"One day my prince, one day you will."