𝔯𝔢𝔴𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔱𝔞𝔯𝔰 𝔞𝔟𝔬𝔳𝔢

3

𝔄𝔫𝔤𝔢𝔩'𝔰 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔩𝔪

"Lia, stop running around and help your brother!" The large castle hall filled with screams and whines, echoing through the corridors despite this happening behind closed doors. 

"Muuummm, she took my toys!"

"Lia! Return Joseph his toy!"

"Muummm, Uncle Richard gave it to me!" Lia whined while stomping her tiny feet on the floor, clutching the teddy bear tightly to her chest.

"Ughh, Justin gimme a hand, would ya? Stop doing your prince duties!"

"No can do mum. Dad gave these documents to me and asked me to fill it out by today specifically." He shouted from the end of the hall. Queen Viktoria groaned. Just then, King Damien appeared in the living hall.

"What's going o-" Lia ran over and hugged his leg.

"Joseph took my toy that Uncle Richard gave it to me!"

"No I didn't!"

"Ah...I see what this noise was all about." Damien walked over to Joseph and picked his small and precious boy up.

 "I'll buy a big pair of wings for you, okay son?"

"Really?! Does that mean my wings can finally come out?!"

"Not yet but soon."

"Yay!" Joseph dropped from his arms and ran back to his mother and told her all about it. She had no choice but to smile at her adorable little 6-year old kid and nod at whatever he said.

"Dad, can you look at this and see if I'm mistaken anywhere?" He walked over to his son and peaked over his shoulder to go through his assigned documents.

"Mmm. It's mostly correct. Well done, you completed your duties by two days. Impressive."

"Thanks dad. By the way, when can I become a king? I know there's the rules and all but it's been so long since I started my prince duties like...about 5 years ago!"

"Yes I know, but you know the council. You can only be crowned king once you have a queen and both of you have to prove yourselves worthy of the royal title."

"Don't I need to find my soulmate like you did dad?"

"That's right. The council won't allow anyone to be your queen unless they're one's soulmate. If  one's soulmate rejected them, then that's another case. After you have met your soulmate, you guys of course need to prove yourselves worthy to them."

"All right. A lot information to take in but I'm sure I can keep up with it." Justin flicked his finger and a book came flying towards him. He flicked his finger again and the pages flipped open until it landed on a page specifically. The page had words that Justin couldn't identify. He scrunched up his face in confusion.

"Dad, what's thi-" An angel came stumbling into the room. His breathing was uneven as he tried to pass the message which he was ordered to in a dire situation.

"Deep breaths. In, out. In, out. In, out." The angel followed his orders and slowly calmed down but Justin could still notice the light tremor.

"W-We have found a-a demon near the borders. It seems harmless but we just wanted to make sure."

"Nonsense! A demon is never harmless! Gather the other Warriors and ask them to be there." The King commanded the angel. He nodded and flew out quickly.

"Dad, what if the angel is right? Maybe it just lost its way through the forbidden forest."

"I don't care how the demon get here. We must kill it before it harms our people." Justin sighed and flew out with his father to the borders. It was a mess, the realm was a mess. People were flying everywhere, banging into each other and quarreling. Shouts and screams could be heard from every direction. Doors and windows slammed tight against their frames. In a few minutes, the realm was a total graveyard. It was dead silent. You could hear the flapping of the birds' wings against the wind but that was it. They stood at the barrier of the angel's realm and the forbidden forest. Everyone was on guard. The warriors would glance left and right constantly to make sure there wasn't anything suspicious going on. They were so focused that they could probably mistook the wind as footsteps.

Thud thud thud

Everyone got into fighting stance and ready to pounce at the demon or capture it whichever came first. Suddenly, there was no more footsteps. The warriors were confused when all of a sudden, heads started to snap and screams came and went. It was a horrendous scene for anyone who witness it. There was no demon, nothing out there who was doing this. Yet, heads continue to snap and bodies began to fall on the ground.

"Fall back!" The king commanded in a loud voice to let everybody hear him. As like they have already been expecting it, they flew quicker than lighting back to their houses and shut their doors. Justin and his father rushed back to the castle, still unsure what had just happened.

"See son? Demons are never harmless! Those cold-blooded monsters kill angels! Oh what have we done to them to deserve this!" Justin rolled his eyes mentally at his last sentence but the gears in his brain were still shifting. We didn't see a demon. It could've been anything out there.

"Don't go outside there son. And I mean DON'T. I'm calling extra Warriors to be on shift and follow you wherever you go and the whole family of course. Don't go out without any Warriors, understood?" His father said sternly.

"Yes father..." He lowered his head. The king flew out the door in a rage and Justin retreated into his chambers.

Knock knock.  Justin's mother softly pushed the door open and her gown slightly sparkled from the reflection of the stars, coming through the window.  

"Hey sweetie." Justin's mother walked in slowly and gently, almost as if afraid that if she made any sudden movements, her son would shatter into a million pieces.

"Hey mum. You heard about it too, huh?"

"Hard to not to. The whole realm is freaking out about it."

"Uhh... I don't know what to do to fix it. We can't even confirm if it's a demon or not. I'm going to be a king soon and I can't protect my people."

"I can't say it's alright son but at least your father gave orders to fall back before anybody else was killed. For those who had families, I feel immensely sorry for them. I'll write them a letter and will try my best to ensure a better future for them. Hopefully, the realm won't be freaking out for too long but this is a serious attack and invasion, so I can only hope."

"Have you experienced it before mum?"

"No, this has been the first time in history. But I'm sure you can handle it. Besides, my son is the soon-to-be king. He's so strong, powerful and smart. He can do anything!" His mum gave him a wink and he smiled forcefully.

"Thanks mum. Night... I don't have anything that I need to do or go through tomorrow, right?"

"Yea, so just rest from your prince duties for tomorrow and if your father allows it, you could maybe help him in the meeting tomorrow."

"Alright, I shall try my best tomorrow, I guess." 

"Mm, good luck. Night Justin." She kissed his forehead and walked out of the chambers. Stay safe sweetheart. You've got a big day tomorrow.