Once Upon A Mage

Chapter 1

Twenty years have passed since the terrible incident that deprived the king and his kingdom of their queen. Young prince Rohan had grown under the care of servants and the watchful eyes of his stoic father. His father had put him under training since the day he could walk and talk fully. His life constituted of lessons, sword training, hunting,  and diplomatic education. He grew to be a fine man with rippling muscles and a great physique that even their greatest warrior envied, and he had a mind as sharp as a double edge sword.

He was ready. Ready to be crowned the new king of Lucktov. But no king was crowned without a queen by his side, and that's why Rohan was now on the brink of an argument with his father over their shared dinner.

"For the last time, father, I will not marry the Filorian princess, I don't even know her!"

The king grumbled in disapproval " Why not? She is gorgeous, talented, and has a sunny personality; therefore a great match for you. Plus this alliance between Filory and Lucktov will benefit both kingdoms greatly. we'll have even bigger military force against our foes"

Since after the queen's murder by the mage Ruppard, the king and his army marched over the kingdom, capturing and killing anyone suspected of wielding magic or having magical abilities. they captured and slaughtered many, but a great portion had fled beyond the borders of Luctov into the forgotten valley where they continued to grow in numbers. It is said that the woods there are imbued with black magic, and anyone who dares venture there never returns.

Rohan shivered at the thought. He was burning with the desire the march there himself and kill as many of the mages as he could, they were no good, they killed his mother and many more without provocation. They needed to pay.

" She will be arriving from her journey tomorrow to get acquainted with you. I expect you to be on your best behavior around her."

Rohan groaned. How to tell his dad that the princess did not spark his interest in the least, even if she was beautiful. he was just not attracted to women. He figured that after catching himself ogling multiple guards during training. since it was warm most of the time, they would train with bare torso, and he would always feast his eyes and appreciate their bodies. he tried bedding a woman but he just didn't find her features as arousing. He still pleasured her because he felt bad that she wasn't attracting him and did not want to hurt her self-esteem, but he'd never gotten the courage to bed a man before, but he wished to.

it was all too complicated. What would be the people's reaction to him having another man be his beloved on the throne? What would his father think? He knew by duty that he would have to marry Princess Lydia of Filory, but his heart clenched almost painfully as he longed for the right person, preferably man, for him.

" Yes, father" he answered slowly, making the king sigh.

"You know I have the people's best interest at heart, and for that sacrifices must be made."

Ah! the people's interest, but what about his own, Rohan thought. The land in the kingdom is not the same as it was before. It was slowly dying over the years. the crops became less fruitful, the woods had less and less game to hunt, and the people were ever-growing restless. Was it selfish to put his happiness forward? He's trained his entire life to protect the people and barely had time to indulge himself in the simple pleasure of life. All he wanted was to be happy with whoever he chose, not an arranged marriage.

"May I excuse myself? I believe it's time for my final sword training session" Rohan said as he pushed his chair back to stand up. His father waved a dismissive hand and he took it as his cue to leave.