The Princess Race

Everything Goes To Shit

    "Did you have any friends when you were a kid?" I asked.

    He shook his head slowly, "Nobody really talked to me, and they still don't. To this day, I'm not sure if they knew that I was royalty or not. I suppose they feared that they might give away the secret when my parents didn't want them to."

    "Why didn't they tell you you were royalty?"

    "Because they wanted my brother to be the Prince, not me. But when I became fifteen, on my birthday, they told me we were royalty. Tradition calls for a duel between siblings to see who will gain the throne. My brother had years worth of training, and I had none. I was never interested in becoming a Prince, but I won the duel on accident..." He paused for a long moment and then sighed, "After I had rightfully gained the throne, my parents disowned me. I was perfectly fine with that, even if I was a fifteen year old with no home or family. I left for the castle, and after about three months of traveling through the Winter Territory, I made it. I was greeted nicely and all of the Fey there treated me well. One of the Fey servants told me, after a year of being there, that we had to travel to the Summer Territory for a festival called Teraso."

    "Is it an annual thing?" I asked with curiosity.

    He nodded, "Every year that festival takes place, and the Territory it takes place in changes every year. This year it takes place in Winter Territory."

    "And I would assume that you met Lynx there?"

    "Yes, that's where I met the Summer Prince." Dexis replied with no emotion. "It was much less formal than I had expected, even when the Fey servants told me it was for signing contracts and such. Lynx followed me around like a lost dog the whole time, he had no idea what to do with himself."

    "Yeah, that sounds like him." I said quietly.

    There was silence between us, a long and awkward pause that made us both uncomfortable.

    "Dexallyn!" A voice similar to Dexis' called out from behind us. The voice wasn't as deep as Dexis', but it was close to sounding exactly the same.

    The Winter Prince stopped in his tracks and turned around. I turned too. What I saw utterly confused me. It was a man who seemed to be in his early twenties with coal-black hair that tumbled down to his shoulders, pale white skin, and icy-blue eyes. He was a lean and tall figure, wearing a light blue heavy jacket, black jeans, and black boots. He looked like an older version of Dexis with a less terrifying vibe.

    "Dexallyn? Is that your name?" I asked completely confused.

    Dexis looked at me, "Doesn't matter." He looked at the man, "It's pronounced 'Dexis'." he growled.

    "Well, you haven't changed." The man replied as he began walking towards us. He studied me, then stared back at Dexis, "I didn't know you found yourself a damsel... I thought you were still with-"

    "No." Dexis snapped.

    "Don't be so rude to your brother, Dexallyn." The man who was apparently Dexis' brother sighed.

    "You're no brother to me, Lerva. Your parents disowned me, don't you remember?"

    Lerva glared at Dexis, then turned and walked away.

    The Winter Prince turned around and continued walking in the direction we were traveling in before. "Good riddens." I heard him mutter as I caught up with him.

    I noticed a house a small bit larger than the others at the end of the cobblestone path. I watched as Line, Lynx, and Pic entered the house. Dexis and I were far behind them because of our little run-in with Lerva. We both hastily walked to the house and quickly slipped inside. I almost ran into Pic when I stepped inside the house.