Heir of Golden Storms

I spot Haldol, king of the Court of Mountains and Ailsa’s husband, outside of the castle. Even though Miracle Castle is built on a hill, Haldol has looked for the highest pick of the hill to look at the Slumbering Forest. Ailsa is standing beside him with a pearl dress with no sign of brown that represents the Court of Mountains.

“Tell me the story of the Slumbering Forest again,” he tells her.

“The Slumbering Forest is the home of sprites,” she tells him obediently. “Many years ago, it was believed that sprites were owners of every landscapes. River sprites controlled the flow of rivers and forest sprites blessed the harvest. The sprites then became distant and disappeared to the fairies’ eyes, but one day, the sprites they reappeared. They reveled against faeries. Rivers became stronger, flooding villages. The wind became tempests, blowing the houses. The crops never made it to harvest. We were dying by the minute.

“Then a king came, a king born from miracles. He searched and spoke with every sprite, offering miracles for the sake of our people. The sprites neglected peace, and their punishments grew stronger. Our king, King Nyx, even though it broke him, wage war against the sprites. In the end, faeries were victorious, but those were not the end of conflict.

“Faeries were not happy of what the sprites did. The faeries from the Court of Miracles were almost driven to extinct, and they claimed justice. Instead of our king eliminating the sprites, he restricted their freedom. He gave them the forest for the sprites to slumber with one condition: they could not leave the forest except on special occasions.”

“Why gift them a forest after all our suffering?” Haldol asks.

“King Nyx was not resentful,” Ailsa answers.

I continue walking, acting as if I have not noticed them. My mind only drifts to Haldol’s conversation with Zephyrus. They spoke about taking a crown from someone. Haldol is a king, he does not need a crown, unless there is a king higher than him, and that would be the High King. Are they planning on stealing father’s crown?

I cannot think of a reason for Zephyrus to do that or why would Haldol help him. Zephyrus will be the next king. Faeries are immortal, but a king cannot rule a court forever. Kings always pass their crowns to their sons after every son and daughter have reached to an independent life. With Easton’s and my own wedding coming up, Zephyrus will only have to wait a decade or two before father releases his crown. Two decades are nothing for faeries.

Right after Rowan’s wedding. It will give me enough time to include him.

What do I have to do with it? If they are expecting me to help them steal the crown from my father’s head, then they are utterly wrong. They could offer me the position of advisor to the crown, grand general of the courts, or even courts for me to rule, and I will not betray father.

“Are you all right, my prince?” North asks beside me. “You seem troubled.”

I have not been paying attention to where we are walking. The Slumbering Forest stands on both sides of us and there is no sign of Fairdell, which is the town nearest to the castle, in front nor of the castle behind. I look at both sides, checking if anyone is around us.

“I have a command for you,” I say, “and I need your word that you will not say a word to anyone.”

North looks at the floor for a moment, probably searching for a way out of this. She cannot say no to a prince, and faeries cannot go back on promises. I have left her to choose between following me or going straight to exile.

“I give you my word,” she says. I nod and draw out the Cursebreaker. North’s eyes widen. “Oh, no, no, no, no. Tell me that you are not thinking of going into the Slumbering Forest.”

“Yes, and you are coming with me,” I say.

“Oh, no. Anything but that,” she says as she turns around to continue walking towards the town of Fairdell. I grab her wrist with my left hand and pull her into the forest.

The whispers begin, this time faintly. I start walking with North closely behind me without keeping any distance. Where is that sprite?

The sprite had come to the ball thrown for Easton’s engagement, even when no other sprites came. Ever since that day, he watched me every time I passed the forest. He lured me inside the Slumbering Forest, and when I obliged, he told me to get out. I have questions about him, and I need answers.

“Can you hear them? They are intensifying,” I whisper to North.

“Hear what?” North asks.

“The whispers,” I tell her.

“What –” but before she finishes the sentence, I spot someone hiding behind a tree.

Holding the Cursebreaker with both my hands, I move towards the person, crouching in the process. The figure continues hiding behind the tree, but his elbow is visible. In one swift move, I shift to the back of the tree and put my sword against the figure’s neck.

I try not to show emotions at what I see. A kid is standing at the end of my sword with his eyes closed. His skin is green, indicating that he is a forest sprite. His pointy ears are covered by his long brown hair. He is shivering in fear.

“Threatening a child. That is low even for your race,” someone says at my left and the whispers die out. The forest sprite that I was looking for is standing with his arms crossed. “Let him go.” It is a warning, not an order. I lower my sword from the kid’s neck. “Scatter,” he tells the kid and the kid runs away.

“I was not threatening him,” I say. “Besides, some heartless creatures train kids to be spies. I would not be surprised if that sprite was one.”

“You might be confusing sprites with your specie,” he says. He is trying to irritate me with his seriousness and apathetic attitude. “I thought that I told you to leave this forest.”

“You did, and now I have come back,” I say.

“With a bodyguard,” he adds, eyeing North from top to bottom. She looks at the floor, shying away from the sprite’s glare. “She is quite gifted by her court.” He then turns back at me. “What do you want?”

“Answers,” I say, “and I am not leaving until I get them.”

“And what are you offering for the answers that you are looking for?” the sprite asks.

“Letting you walk out of here alive,” I say. The sprite chuckles. “What?”

Before the sprite could answer, North speaks. “This is his home, Your Highness. No knight or faerie can hear you here. If he does something to you and me, no one will know about it.” She lowers her head. “Let’s keep this civil.”

The sprite nods satisfied with what North said. I feel the urge to argue back, but she is making an excellent point. Instead of telling her that, I turn back to the sprite.

“Fine,” I say. “What do you want?”

“Perhaps that sword,” the sprite says. What does he want with it?

“You are a fool if you think that I am giving it to you,” I laugh. He even looks more serious than before.

“Then a favor,” the sprite says.

“What kind of favor?” I ask.

“Ah, would you like to know, would you not?” he asks. “Those are the terms of my negotiation. Take it or leave it.”

I gaze at North. She only shrugs. I do not know why I brough her if the only thing that she is going to do is stand there. I stare back at the green sprite. “Deal,” I say and do no waste a second to ask my question. “Why were you at Easton’s engagement ball?”

“My partner wanted to go,” the sprite says, not elaborating.

“Your partner. You mean the woman in red that I danced with,” I say, and he nods. “Who is she?”

“Someone important,” he says.

“What is her name?” I ask, pushing for more information.

“She would like her identity to remain hidden,” he tells me. If all of this is going to cost me a favor, I should get something out of this guy.

“Why were you watching me whenever I walked past this forest?”

“She told me to keep an eye on you,” he says.

“She? The woman in red?” He nods. “What does she want with me?”

“I do not know,” he answers. “Those are all the questions that I am going to answer right now. Next time that you see me is when I am going to cash in my favor. Bring this girl with you.” He tilts his head towards North. “She is a reasonable faerie. If you do not bring her, I will not answer any more questions.” He turns to start walking away.

“Wait, what about the whispers?” I call back at him.

“Perhaps I will answer you the next time we meet,” the forest sprite says and disappears between the woods.

***

“Why are you following me?” I ask North.

We are walking back to the castle. Oberon is a few meters in front of us, giving us some space but still escorting us. North is a few feet behind me at my left. She has not spoken on our way back.

Lecture was more boring than last time. I followed the plan that North plotted at the dining room with Thalia. I created an antidote and asked Hesperia if she could attract a live moth. She said that it was too sunny for moths to be out. We ended up using a dead moth found in a jar.

The lecturer was pleased to see that our method worked. No other student found a way to do it. After that, the lecturer mentioned that the easiest way to neutralize the venom for a few hours was by pouring a hint of sugar on the red frog’s tongue. Of course, our method needed more materials but ours neutralized the venom for more than a few hours, if not permanent.

“Your fiancée told me to meet her after lecture,” North says.

“Do not call her my anything,” I say. “As of this moment, she is nothing of mine. I only hope that she will not be mine also.”

“C-can I dare ask why?” North says in a low voice. “Do you not love her?”

“No,” I say, louder than intended. “I met her yesterday and she has not been a smooth person to deal with.” Father could have blessed me with a quiet and peaceful wife. Instead, he engaged me with a fiery one.

“B-But, my prince, why are you marrying her?” she asks.

“Look,” I say, slowing my pace and almost stopping. “Let me see how I can phrase this, so it enters through that closed mind of yours. Life for a prince is not how your life is. We are not naïve like you. We do not marry for love. We do not choose our partners. We marry for power. We marry for title. We marry for wealth.”

North seems taken aback but does not ask any more useless questions. When we get to the castle, I enter and head to my room. I lay on my bed and push the heels of my boots with my foot, trying to take them off. For a minute, I close my eyes. I am tired since I slept last night for a few hours. My body aches, craving for more hours of sleep.

“Hey,” Thalia says, waking me up. “What are you doing tonight?”

“Do you not know about knocking?” I ask, trying to sit up. She is walking towards me and throws herself on the bed, with her back on the mattress. I let myself fall on the bed again.

“What? Afraid that I was going to find you doing something that I should not see?” Thalia asks, looking at the ceiling. She turns to her side to look at me. “What are you doing tonight?”

“Going out to Fairdell, the town closest to the castle, to get flushed on wine,” I say.

Her face is inches away from my face. Her body is lying next to me. I can feel the heat emitting from her. I stare at her pink lips. I cannot believe how my whole body is betraying me. I want her, just for one night, and after that, she can disappear, and I will not care.

“How lucky are you to have a prince laying this close to you,” I say, putting the smile that no woman has been able to resist.

“It is not my first time,” she says. How I hope that she could lie. If she could, I would not have believed her, but she does not, and I do believe her.

“But not as alluring as me,” I tell her. She does not answer. Some things are better unspoken. Instead, I go back to our main conversation. “Why did you want to know my plans for tonight?”

“To accompany you, now that you said that you are going,” Thalia answers.

“I do not want your company,” I tell her. She moves her hand to my chest and starts moving two fingers as if they are walking towards my face.

“You do not want my company now or then?” she asks. She is flirting with me, making me want her. She has experience making someone want her, I can tell.

“Does it matter?” I ask, evading the question. She simply nods, biting her bottom lip and as her fingers reach my chin. “Fine, you can escort me.”

“Perfect,” she says, sitting up. Her fingers were a few centimeters from my bottom lip. She is manipulative. “I will leave you to change. North and I will be waiting at my room for you to escort us.” She stands up to leave.

“What? North is coming?” I ask. “Why don’t you go with her to Fairdell instead of bothering me?”

“Oh, she said that she has never been to Fairdell at night,” Thalia says.

“Thalia, Fairdell at night is too dangerous for people like her,” I warn her, only because I do not want North to come.

“People like her?” Thalia asks. All I want to say is for people without money and title. People that if they go missing, no one will care. Easy prey.

“Take her,” I say, not answering her question, “but if something happens to her, I will not interfere.”

“Whatever,” Thalia says. “I will try to keep an eye on her.” She leaves the room.

I cannot help but think about Thalia while I change into something more less prince. I cannot lie and say that I hate her, I do not, but I also do not like her. She gets on every nerve that I have and it’s only her second day here. She slithers through every word I say until she convinces me of what she wants.

Unfortunately, I cannot get rid of her. I am going to be stuck with her until she at least gives me one male heir. That does not mean that she needs to be beside me most of the time. I cannot wait to get married to send her at a chamber on an opposite wing from mine. It would at least guarantee me that she will not wake me when I am sleeping.

I put some jeans, something to be comfortable in. I need to wear something white and something gold. A prince cannot go out of his castle without his court’s colors. The shirt I pick is white. I do not like it, so I take a navy-blue jacket and put it on, zipping it until I reach my chest for my shirt to be visible.

The worst part about dressing at my court’s color is choosing something gold. I sometimes wonder why our ancestors did not choose a simple color like black, blue, even green would have sufficed. I choose my golden ring with the court’s crest: a winged horse.

Horses cannot fly in Faerim. It was one of the previous kings of the Court of Miracles that granted wings to a horse. Now, the only place where there are winged horses is the Court of Miracles.

I step out of my room, redirecting to Thalia’s room. I knock on the door, ignoring the two knights that are beside it. For a moment, the only thing I hear is giggling and I think that they did not hear me. I knock again and in an instant, the door opens.

“Look, North, it is the prince,” Thalia says, and she screams as if she has seen her idol. She laughs and I hear North laugh too. “Do not come in, we are heading out now.”

North walks out of the room with her light blue jacket with white fur inside the hoodie. Thalia then walks out, closing the door behind her. They start walking away, talking to each other as if they have become great friends. North even looks directly at Thalia’s eyes, thing that she does not do with me.

“Where are you going, my prince?” Oberon asks as we are on our way to the door of the castle.

“To Fairdell,” I say. Before he says that he will accompany me, I add, “You do not need to come. I have the Cursebreaker here and Hesperia and Caspian are joining me there.”

“B-But, my prince, what if something happens to you or Princess Thalia?” Oberon asks.

“I will be fine,” I answer, not specifying that Thalia would be. If she wants to go, she needs to be safe on her own.

Oberon nods and we continue walking. We walk past the Slumbering Forest. There are no eyes watching us this time. Good. I do not want to explain to Thalia about the forest sprite, nor I want North to lose it if she sees him.

Fairdell at night is more beautiful than at day. The lamps with the candles are shining in different colors from red to blue to yellow to green. All the businesses are open, but instead of selling what they sell in the mornings, they sell drinks and foods. The streets are packed with faeries that like to dance, sing or drink.

The music is different than what musicians play at the Miracle Castle or the Moonlight Festival. Less violins are used, comparing to the castle’s balls, and more drums are played. This music is meant to be danced the way that everyone wants to. It is meant for every person to dance it differently.

I wave at Thalia and North as I meld through the crowd. I move through the masses, making my way to the plaza, where everyone dances and where Hesperia and Caspian should be. I stop near a shop when I see Hesperia and Caspian dancing.

I smile. They are both dancing in an awful way. Hesperia is a good dancer, but Caspian is not. Since he is leading the dance, she dances the same way as him. She laughs every time that Caspian does a new and uncoordinated dance move.

I turn towards the shop and throw a gold coin. That should be enough for two and a half cups of wine. I look at the seller as he pours an unopened bottle of wine into a golden goblet. Seller must do three things whenever they serve royalty. First, they must not make the royalty wait in line. Second, if it is wine, they need to serve a new bottle of wine, in order to ensure that it is not poisoned. Third, they should always give everything on a golden cup or dish.

“You made it,” Caspian says, standing beside me. His breathing is heavy and his smile wide.

“I told you I was coming,” I said and take a sip from my wine. “As much as I hope for, faeries cannot break a promise.”

“You do not know how to dance,” Hesperia says, poking one finger at Caspian’s chest. He is bigger than her and me. She is already drunk. “But you sure know how to entertain a lady.”

“How much did she drink?” I ask Caspian.

“A couple more goblets than me,” he says.

“Come,” Hesperia says as she grabs my free hand, “It is your turn to dance with me.” She starts pulling me but stops abruptly. “Is that Common Cold?”

A few crowds away, North is standing. She is alone; she must be waiting for Thalia. I look around, trying to search for Thalia but she is not anywhere to be seen.

“Give me this,” Hesperia says, taking the goblet from my hand. She drinks from it. “I am going to spark some drama.”

Hesperia walks towards North. When she is close to her, she trips with her. Hesperia moves the goblet at the same time as she trips so the wine falls on her clothes. She lets her jaw drop as she stares at her clothes and then at North. She yells something at her, and I see North mouthing the word “Sorry” again and again. Hesperia then slaps her across the face and North falls.

“Guards!” Hesperia shouts.

Two knights rush towards Hesperia. Hesperia says something, pointing at North, who is on the floor. The knights then pull North from the floor and drags her away.

I told Thalia not to leave North alone. I told her that Fairdell at night was dangerous. I told her that if anything happens to North, I will not interfere. A faerie cannot break a promise.