The cursed prince

Chapter 9 Duty

Just for everyone's information I have officially been diagnosed with chronic migraines. I have been struggling with it for a year. My doctor has been trying different stuff and such. Unfortunately, it does most days I can't handle writing. Or thinking, it's going out over quite a big part of my life. I am lucky to have an understanding workplace. but the struggle is real. Right now, I  am not allowed to take any pain relief, to make sure my migraine isn't a habitual headache. I started in November. which is why I have been extra slow to write this chapter. I have to go for a minimum of two months. 

Basin P.O.V

Being Captain comes with a lot of new expectations, duties and authority. Of all my new responsibilities, the one I fear the most is my highest authority. I am to meet with the king weekly to discuss the state of the school and the guards. Having the duty to converse with the king, make him aware of potential danger. Even give him recommendations on improvements. If anything comes up that I think is significant enough, I can demand to speak with the king immediately. This right to speak with the king scares me. Especially today. Each step I take through the castle makes me more anxious. How can I explain the girl I raised, broke in last night?

A young maid lets me know The King is in The great chamber. An elegant room, there have decorated wooden walls, covered in Tapestry. A stone fireplace stands by the west wall. This fireplace is the grandest in the kingdom. Standing at the door, raising my hand to knock. What if he is in the middle of an important meeting, it be wrong to disturb him. Take hold of yourself Basin, you are the Captain, you have the right to interrupt a meeting. My stern knock echoes in the hall. The door gets swung open and the king stands there. Guilt swallows up in me as the king sends me an angry glare. That glare is however fast replaced by a smile. "Basin, perfect timing, Teival and I were just discussing the royal guards." Looking past the king into the room there is Duke Teival indeed sitting on one of the chairs. "I am happy to answer any question you may have, your grace."

"I was in the midst of discussing how we teach orphans to become royal guards, as you have been ward for multiple kids, you might give a better insight into the process of picking them," King Alfonso says. "Of course Your Highness, all the kids are from the local orphanage, At the end of each summer around 20 wards each pick a new student for Pupillus. It is up to them to pick someone they think has potential. They have to be at least nine years of age and be moderately healthy, Do you have any specific questions, your grace?" It is no secret that the orphanage kids aren't well cared for. It has improved since I was there, but the place is and will always be a place of pain and sorrow. "Something there wonders me is why girls are being trained alongside boys, aren't they too fragile to be trustworthy?" Teival ask. "That opinion is the reason why we also train girls. Men tend to have a low opinion of women, thereby causing them to let down their guard. There are also occasions when a woman is better suited to protection. As in some spaces, men can not be permitted to be." I explain. "My religion does prefer men and woman to be separated, So I can understand what you mean. But I have been told you don't separate training or even sleeping arrangements between genders." I'm not taken aback by the young duke's question. This is one there have been a lot of detest for through time. "That is correct, the kids stay in the same room as their ward, I understand it is unorthodox to have boys and girls share a room. But these kids grow up together, they are like siblings. And as they grow into adults and finish their five-year schooling, we do separate women and men into the bigger sleeping halls."

"What happens to the kids who don't reach the level of expectations there is to become a royal guard?" Teival ask. "When they finish the five years. There are three placement options, where they go depends on how well they do in classes, the best becomes royal guards. The good ones become city guards, the rest are sent to Daingneach, a fortress near our border, and from there they get spread out across different bivouacs" I explain. "My younger brother is the Marquess, and has residency at Daingneach." King Alfonso adds. "I look forward to meeting him at the wedding, and talking with him about the border expansion," Teival says. Confused I ask what expansion he is talking about. King Alfonso groans "I keep forgetting how uninformed you are. Hellvian died at a very unfortunate time. Basin as you may be aware, the capital of Ledasgele was cursed." Teival comes with a short laugh and says "It has been ten years I think everyone knows about the cursed forest by now," He is right about that. The story of the cursed forest there to this day is still growing, is spread far and wide "Since almost the entire royal family died with the curse. I now stand as the heir to the crown of a kingdom where more than half the land is covered in this cursed forest. My cousin the crown prince of Vouri is second in line after me. Because of this the king of Vouri has been trying to take the remaining land by force, as he believes he is entitled to it. In this seize attempt he is trying to do, he has put the people of Ledadsle into a vulnerable situation, which lawless people and even worse the faes pray on. This is why by this wedding, I am selling my crown and kingdom to marry a princess ensuring my title as a Duke. For the future of my children, and more importantly the safety of the people left in Ledasgele."