Chance

•Prologue•

"It's been almost twelve years sire"

King Devon folded his rough hands over his tired face, leaning his elbows against his legs in a slow motion. His age lines had deepened vastly over nearly twelve years. The weight of the kingdom combined with the loss of his eldest daughter laid heavily on his conscience throughout his days. Everything about the current court meeting he was attending added to his already troubled thoughts.

"Yes, I understand how long it's been Phillip, not a day goes by when I don't think about it." The king said rubbing his aching eyes.

The current discussion of his lost daughter, Princess Elodie, resurfaced his grief. The topic of stopping the search for her was a challenging consultation to argue against. At first a vast majority of his troops were sent to find the taken child, but over the years little knowledge had been connected to her. As more years begun to past, the king was required to provide his troops elsewhere in the kingdom where they were needed. Soon only a small fraction of his guard was used to search for the princess at all.

Rumors, such as the princess being dead or sold to a neighboring kingdom, spread throughout the realm, breaking the little hope the royal family had left of the lost princess. Some of the rumors even went as far to say she ran away herself, but for anyone who had know the princess would concur that the child was too happy and pure to leave her family. Also, the evidence of the princess's last night had shown a struggle in the garden where she was taken. While the ground was rubbed and tattered, blood was also All that was left of the princess was her latest birthday present given to her by her mother, a dainty, simple bracelet. Nothing else was discovered, not even a ransom note.

Even though the search still lingered, little hope was left. However, every year on the princess's birthday, the very day she was also taken, the entire Kingdom of Orlane visits the Lake of Stars, which connects to the River of Terence. The tradition of laying down candles, in hope one day the lost princess will find her way back to the broken kingdom is based upon a religious custom of lighting a single lantern to guide the souls of the deceased to the holy lands where the ancients remain. Having a similar guidance from the gods is done to not only find what is lost, but bring hope to the downhearted. Yet, even as the years past of executing this tradition, some nobles of the court had tired of the search, and wished to proclaim the princess dead once and for all.

Glancing up from his lap, the king studied his court. His four children all looked up to him with longing in their eyes, willing him to continue the search for their lost sibling. The loss of their sister took a great toll on them as well. Even the youngest child, Princess Adlye, who was only four when the incident happened, wished to know her eldest sister.

Looking away from his broken family, the king took notice of the nobles in the room who were found of the princess. Her optimism and kindness was not unknown to the few nobles who had met her. Even as a young child, Princess Elodie was able to make light of a problematic situation, but for those who knew not of the young child, never experienced her bright personality. Never meeting the princess had made most of the nobles in the court unenthusiastic to find her, unlike the ones who had.

Finally, the king looked besides him at his beautiful queen. The life in her eyes never seemed to fully return to her once vibrant personality. Although, she loved all her children dearly, the loss of even one child brought her to a dark place, casting a shadow over life. Queen Trinity caught the gaze of the king, looking directly into the his eyes without breaking contact once. Although, regale and fair she always had a small power over him. She knew her judgement would have an effect on the king's decision.

The sudden tension in the room could pierce through the strongest of minds. One wrong word could set the calmest of voices into a frenzy.

However, not wanting to wait any longer, Duke Phillip chose to speak first. Standing directly in front of the king, he loudly voiced his opinion, "Sire, I propose we immediately stop the search for Princess Elodie and pronounce her dead."

A loud bang could immediately be heard echoing throughout the throne room. Prince Arden, the eldest of sibling and surprising the most refined as well, could be seen with his first hard against the wall he had just punched. Leaving the back of the room, he quickly made his way to the center of the chambers, stopping aside from the duke.

"Absolutely not! Father don't let this pompous duke convince you that Elodie is dead!" The anger was evident in the prince's outburst, his already lowering composure surly would not stand for much longer.

Tsking, the duke turned to Arden, his head held high against the prince. "Children should learn to keep their opinions to themselves. Your highness this child should wait outside, along with the rest of them," the duke said gesturing to the rest of the king's children.

"Obviously an outburst like this should not be permitted in your highness's court during this minor discussion. The trivial voice of this little prince is unattractive is it not sire?" The duke's smirk and snide comment seemed to had effected Arden, who stood shaking slightly as his fist clenched in rage.

"Mind you swine, I am your future king who thinks you should learn to respect his superior." The prince growled, taking an intimidating step towards the duke. Now the two were only several inches apart from one another, one could even say a battle was raging in their eyes.

The duke suddenly gave a boisterous laugh, "You a king? The only thing I see standing in front of me is a whiny brat, throwing a tantrum over a simple matter."

Suddenly, all that could be seen was the prince lunging at the duke, roughly tumbling to the floor in a childish manner. Shouts could also be heard all around, some yelling to stop, others yelling as if it were a game. The king's twins, Monty and Carson, quickly did their best to separate the two quarreling men. Arden's attire was twisted and wrinkled, yet the duke was in a far worse state. Drops of blood could be seen trickling through his hand, which he held against his mouth. More yelling and chaos could continued to be herd, for the argument grew rapidly, aggravating the king to his breaking point. Then the king suddenly banged his fist against his throne, immediately standing in the process.

The room quickly became so silent a pin could drop and be herd. All the subjects stood in fear of their angered king, knowing one wrong move could punish them.

The prince and duke rabidly stood in front of the king, bowing their heads down in submission. The prince was first to speak, "Father I am terribly sorry for my immature behavior, but I cannot except this imperious duke's proposal to stop the search."

The king waved his hand, dismissing the two. They obediently returned to there sections, the duke with the other nobles who also wished to cease the search, and the prince who stood beside his betrothed and siblings. Taking one last glance towards the queen for reassurance, the king could see her broken heart clearly on her face, along with a single tear which dropped into her tightly folded hands.

Sighing, the king stepped down from his throne to address his decision. The court all waited eagerly for his words.

"I, King Devon, here by decide to continue the search for the princess," a chorus of sighs could be herd throughout the room, along with a handful of huffs of disapproval, most likely from the duke and his acquaintances.

"However," the king continued on, eyeing the court, "The princess's eighteenth birthday is growing near in six months time, and only then will we conclude the search. That is my final decision." And with that the broken king left the daunting room throne room, only to be met with an empty hall with no princess.