The Last Leaf

Chapter 1: Always a Prince

Zevan's POV

"Zevy..."

"Huh? What? Who's there?"

I looked around to see no one. In fact, I see nothing at all. Everything is... white... am I dead?

"Save her, Zevy"

"Stop playing games with me and show yourself!"

I am getting irritated. Is someone playing games with me? Or am I going mad?

"Close your eyes"

Unconsciously, I followed what the voice said and I closed my eyes. I felt a soft hand touching my face.

"My child, Zevy"

"Zevy WAKE UP!"

Water splashed on my face. I jumped immediately out of my bed as soon as I felt the cold water on my skin.

"DAMN IT! GIL! WHY'D YOU DO THAT FOR?", I complained.

Gil Harsevak. My servant. She is one of the Harsevak family, a noble lineage that serves the dragons from the ancient times. They are also highly trained assassins. Short, brown skinned, dark brown eyes, pointed nose, pixie cut hair and a damn fashion freak. Yes, a servant who dresses more appropriately than me, a prince. She has been appointed to me when I was 5 years old. She was also 5 at that time but quite skilled. And since then, for the last 18 years, we were inseparable.

"Oh sorry, Prince Zevan Heinrich Pendragon. A noble servant like me shouldn't have done that", she sarcastically replied while tossing the soap to me. "Get up Pri---".

"Pssssh!", I stopped her as she was about to call me 'Prince' for the second time. Nobody in town... I mean nobody in the whole kingdom knows that I am a prince. They just know me as the young brilliant strategist that travels from one town to another in the Kingdom of Azuragoon that needs help economically. "It's dangerous. Call me Zevy, woman!"

"Whatever, Ze-vy. If I was not a Harsevak tied to a Pendragon contract, I would have already strangled you to death. Now hurry up and get ready! We need to meet with Azure's village chief at breakfast!"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever", I said as I stood up and went to take a bath.

Contract. The Pendragon contract that cursed the whole Harsevak family. I'm sorry Gil. If it wasn't for that, you wouldn't be serving me and maybe I can freely show everyone how special you are to me.

But my dream. Was I dreaming about mother? For months, I can only hear the voice of a woman telling me to "save her". I don't even know who "she" is.

But today was different. She called me her child. Was it mother, perhaps? Who does she want me to save.

Goodness! Is it...

"I prepared your towel by the sink so please hurry up", Gil shouted from the other side of the door.

"Okay. Thanks!", I replied. Whatever my dream was trying to tell me, Gil certainly interrupted my thoughts.

I got out of the tub and faced the mirror. I frowned when I saw the mark. I really don't know what made mine so different from my brother and my sister. The mark they have is just like father's.

The Pendragon Mark.

The mark that symbolizes our family, the ancient dragons. There's nothing really special about this. It's just a head of a dragon with a point or mole, or whatever that is, in its forehead. We, the Pendragons are born with it. It can also be found anywhere in the body. My father's mark is on his back. My brother's on his shoulder. And for my sister, it's found on her left leg. Almost near the... well, such a pervy dragon tattoo, if you ask me, but whatever.