"My little prince, know that not anyone nor anything in this world can ever make you less of a man than you are," the Queen said, her voice cracking with emotion and fear.
Tears fell freely down her cheeks as she knelt in front of her young son. The poor boy who was merely five summers old, clung to his mother's skirts as tightly as he could and asked what was troubling her. It broke my heart to know that this could be the last time that they ever saw each other.
"It is time, milady. We cannot delay," I urged softly, hearing the distant sound of the castle's high clock tower. I counted ten chimes and then the world fell into an eerie silence once again.
The ship would leave by eleven O' clock. The ship that would carry a forsaken prince and a trusted maid far away from all that they knew.
The Queen's thin and delicate hands shook as she cupped the young prince's face with her long trembling fingers. Her bright silver hair shone in the low light of the flame when suddenly the midsummer night became uncomfortably cold. I rubbed my upper arms and took a hesitant step towards the Queen who was the cause of the sudden drop in temperature.
My breath puffed out in front of me as I took the prince's hand and pulled him gently away from his mother. She stood up slowly, her majestic purple gown made a rustling sound as the silken fabric rolled over itself like waves rippling up shore.
I could not bear to look at the resignation and cold fear in the eyes of a young woman who had always been so full of light. I asked the prince to come with me, but he refused and clung even tighter than before.
The Queen tried to mask her emotions as she handed me the letter for King Avon and told me to take the boy away. I could see in his eyes that he didn't want to come, but he had to do as his mother ordered.
We hurried out of the palace and didn't dare look back. We never stopped; in my mind I had one goal, and I was determined to see it through no matter how dangerous it was.
My last memory of my mistress was her hugging herself tightly with a sad smile on her face as she readied herself to face her husband's wrath.
The cold was soon replaced by the heat and humidity the further we moved away from the queen and the wharf opened up in front of us.
The dark, red-stripped hull of the monstrosity that would help me fulfil my goal moved menacingly on the light waves as it stood anchored. The gangway was lowered, and I felt a small tug on my arm.
The little boy had no idea what was happening and stood there in the dark night, looking up at me with hope in his eyes. "Sasha? When will we go back to the palace?"
I took a deep breath and lowered myself so I was level with the prince. "We are going to a different palace, your majesty. There you must tell no one who you are or where you are from. Do you understand me?"
The child nodded slowly. "Like a game of pretend?"
"Yes, exactly," I gulped down the growing anxiety. "Play pretend and if you tell anyone, we will lose. We don't want that, do we?" The prince nodded, and I prayed it would be enough to keep him alive.
The trusted captain called for me to hurry, and I took the prince's hand again as we boarded the ship. Before the ship could set sail, the thundering of horse hooves had me looking across the palace in fright.
He knew.
I started shaking as I saw the line of dark shapes galloping down the mountainside.
"Lift anchor and unfurl the sail. Get a move on, all of you! That is if you value your life!" The captain seemed to have regained his senses before I did, and his shouted commands roused the crew.
In less time than I thought possible, the ship was moving away from the shores I had known for all of my twenty-five years. But what I was leaving behind was what worried me. The King would not be merciful, not when he found Queen Isabella and realised what she had done.
The palace now seemed like a small cluster of lights in the darkness, but I knew that behind those doors, there would be hell to pay.
I lifted the red-haired child and set him on the railing so he could get one last glimpse of his home. He had the most to lose: his family, his title, and maybe even his life.
But I had sworn to protect him. This little boy was alone in this world now, and it was my duty to take him to his father, his real father, and hope that he accepted the young prince.
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We were immediately taken to King Avon as we got off the ship and showed one of the guards the stamp on the letter by the Queen.
The King barely acknowledged our presence and briskly took the letter from my shaking hands. The palace held its breath as its master paced the throne room, devouring the last words of his beloved.
As soon as he was done reading the letter, he wiped away his tears angrily and shouted, "I want four of the best men in my kingdom to be sent right away to the Kingdom of Frahadry and bring me my queen safe and sound."
I was not sure if the King even noticed the little boy or just chose to ignore him. The young prince clung to my skirts as he took in the menacing figure before him.
The men left immediately, and we were dismissed. One of the knights showed us to a room where my charge promptly fell asleep on the luxurious bed but sleep evaded me.
I took to pacing and constantly glancing out the windows. Thankfully, ours looked out at the sprawling courtyard, so I would be alerted when the knights returned.
It was a short journey from my homeland to Colander, but I feared it would be too late. My anxiety only grew as the night sky showed the first signs of approaching dawn. And as the sun's first rays streaked across the sky, I glimpsed a fast approaching ship with the royal seal of Avon on its sails.
They were back. I stood frozen by the window as I watched the four knights disembark. The water of the Great Sea lapped closely to the walls of the castle spilling its vengeance onto the rocky facade. Thee figures were climbing the main steps, seemingly undisturbed by the wrath of Nature.
I quickly ran out and slipped into the throne room. Darkness shrouded the high vaulted room as I hid behind a pillar and waited for the knights to enter.
The knights entered and bowed to the king. I held back a scream as I had not noticed him sitting on his dark throne at all. I prayed that he had not seen me but the men were speaking so I had bigger priorities.
I held back a sob as I tried to blend into the darkness around me. It wouldn't do for King Avon to know that I was eavesdropping on him and his newly arrived knights.
They had returned empty handed, and my fears became the young prince's reality as the events of the night were relayed.
A loud crash echoed off the high walls of the throne room, and I gathered that the king had thrown something against the walls. I couldn't see very well from my hiding place, but I needed to be patient and see how Avon reacted.
He was nice enough to look at it, but there was something dark about him. I couldn't understand what Isabella saw in him, but young Gideon had definitely inherited his father's bright red hair and sparkling green eyes.
"I gave you one task." The King's low growl brought me back to the present. "Bring back the queen alive. You all failed me!"
I could hear him descending the steps, the long robes that he preferred trailing after him. The room was deathly still as the knights waited for their punishment.
"One simple task, and you can't even do that!" His voice rose in tempo as he continued speaking, "what do you expect me to do now?! Isabella is dead!"
One brave young knight dared to speak, "You have the young prince, sire."
The slight lilt of the Colandrians accented his words, and I couldn't help but hold my breath as I waited for the king's reply.
After a long pause Avon finally spoke, his words cutting through the silence. "The boy? I want nothing to do with him. Kill him if you must. Actually, I would prefer it if you would. Isabella is gone and it's because of him. I want him gone."
The king continued on with his rambling, and with every word, I became more certain he had slipped over the edge and had lost his senses.
"He is the child that killed my love. Yes, kill him, bring him to me first. I want to see him suffer for causing my queen to suffer. It is over. Maxim will pay for this dearly; his entire line will. But first, bring the young, forsaken prince."
I didn't stay to see how the knights would react. Instead I turned and hurried through the servants' passages. We had to leave. We had to escape. I had to keep my promise to my queen.
I burst through the doors of the guest room and closed them behind me. The young prince sat up on his bed when I entered, but his smile faded from his lips when he saw my frenzied state.
I went about the room picking up the bare essentials: some items of clothing, and the fruits from the basket on the bedside. I stuffed them all in an old satchel, moving as quickly as possible.
"Sasha? Sasha, what's wrong?" The boy followed me as I went about making preparations to make a hasty departure. The sun had already peeked above the horizon, and the room was illuminated by a single candle.
I took a deep breath and forced myself to stay calm. Without stopping what I was doing, I told the young prince that we would be moving again.
"But why? We just came here." The boy continued to tug on my dress.
"We can't stay here. We just came here to give the letter now we must leave."
"I don't want to go! Please Sasha, tell me! Where is Mother? Are we going to meet her?"
At the boy's innocent inquiry, I felt tears leak from my eyes. I turned around and looked into the green eyes of a boy who had lost his mother, was forsaken by his own father, and would be hunted all his life for his title.
I prayed he would make it through this, that we both would. "Your mother is gone, Gideon. But we need to leave. I'm sorry for doing this to you again, but please, please trust me. I'm doing this for your safety."
With a light of maturity and understanding far beyond his years, the little prince nodded once and started helping me pack. He didn't complain, not once. Not when we left the castle, not when we boarded another ship and definitely not when we landed in another kingdom, where I hoped that under a new name and identity, we would be safe from all that we had ever known.
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Trailer by the amazing @hareem_atif