Chapter one

The sun was shining bringing light to the room in the far end of the palace. The east wing of the palace was quiet except for the footsteps going up the stairs. The footsteps were hurrying up as though they were being chased by something.

The end of the stairs led down the corridor that had two doors. One to the left and the other to the right. The man walking through the corridor stopped on the door to the left, he knocked at the door for it to be opened. He knocked repeatedly but there was no reply.

"The second prince it is time to wake up, the king and the others are waiting for you to have breakfast," he reported from the door but there was still no reply. He got the spare keys from his pocket, he placed the key in the keyhole. Before he could turn the key, the door was opened and the prince came out. He was already dressed and ready for the day.

"You are late," he said to his butler and walked past him.

"That is my mistake and I apologize for it," the butler said following behind him. He walked to the dinner table in the dining hall, his butler drew his chair for him and he took a seat. He didn't bother to greet the king and queen and dug into his food.

"Don't you have any manners? One would expect that you would learn something from all the tutors that I have hired for you since your childhood," the king said to him. He ignored the king and continued to eat his food without a care in the world.

"Leave him, father, brother doesn't care about anything at all. He is only concerned about being lazy or having fun," the crown prince said.

"The king from the neighboring kingdom is coming to see us. He has sent up two riddles that he wishes for us to solve for him. The riddle is a bit tricky so it might take a lot of thinking to figure it out," he said.

Everyone at the table became attentive to the king and listened to him. They wanted to hear the riddle. "It is above God, the poor have it. The rich don't need it and if we eat then it is poisonous," he said while eating his food.

Everyone thought about the riddle for a while. They paused on their food to figure out what the riddle meant. The second prince enjoyed his breakfast ignoring the people troubling their minds with baseless things.

He finished his food and got up to leave. "Nothing is above God, the poor have nothing. The rich need nothing and if we eat nothing then we will die," he said to them and yawned lazily. "The answer is nothing. Such an easy question and the crown prince couldn't get it," he said walking out of the room.

"That was rude of you," the butler said walking behind him.

"Not as rude as having an idiotic crown prince who will soon take over the throne and rule as King," he said.

"True but he is still the crown prince so show him some respect," he said and they walked out.

"Respect is earned, I can't just magically hand it over."

"Yes, but with that attitude, you are losing more and more respect every day."

"I stopped caring about respect a very long time ago. Now stop speaking about such useless things as respect. Tell me ideas of what I can do today," he told.

"Horse riding on the beach."

"Too boring and I tried it the other day," he said displeased.

"Archery?"

"Too tiring," he replied.

"Practising with your sword?"

"Can you suggest something that doesn't involve work?"

"Taking a nap?"

"Sounds like fun," he said and rushed to the garden. He laid on the swing in the garden and closed his eyes to take a nap. He enjoyed the way the sun was beating down on his skin and smiled pleased.

The butler got the servants to bring him food and drinks in the garden. Everything that he would need for the rest of the door was brought to him, the butler had grown accustomed to the new prince. Once he chose a spot to relax he wouldn't move until evening.

He at times missed his old master. The one who was quick on his feet was the best fighter in the kingdom. No one could beat him in a game of chess and mostly he was the most outstanding warrior the kingdom had ever seen after his father. The only problem was that he was born the second son of the king and hence is not entitled to the throne no matter how hard he worked and deserved it.

Over time he got tired of trying to be perfect and just gave himself up to a life of laziness. He was reduced to such a state that he found walking to be a lot of work when he would run up and down the tallest mountain in the shortest time.

"How long do you plan to stay here. There is a guest in the kingdom and the king would wish for you to keep him company," the butler informed him.

"That sounds like a lot of work and I hate work," he said and went back to sleep. He slept for hours under the tree, he had his eyes closed at all times.

A shadow of a person stood in front of him. He kept the sun from reaching the second prince. She reached out her hand to touch him and within a blink of an eye, the prince was standing behind her with a knife to her neck.

"Nevin, it's me, Cassin," she said quickly.

"How many times must I tell you not to do that. You are lucky that I have self-control or this would be the hundredth time that you have died," he said and threw her aside. He says back down in the swing and glared at her.

"Why are you so angry at me. I just came to play with you," she said in a cute voice.

"You annoy me so leave," he said annoyed.

"But I am only trying to be good to you. Don't chase me away," she said pouting.

"You made me move today and that in itself is a reason for me to hate you. Now leave before I decide that it is a good enough reason to kill you," he warned and used his fire ability to warm the food. He ate his food with the girl still staring at him and watching his every move.

"You can't kill me. I have the king's protection," she said taking a seat next to him. She held his hand in hers and gently brushed on his hair.

"Get your hands off me if you don't want me to cut them," he threatened and she let him go.

"Why are always so mean can't you ever be nice to me. For all you know we might get married in the future," she said, and Nevine choked on his drink. He took deep breaths to calm down before he turned to her. He placed his hand at the back of his head and leaned in. She thought that he was going to kiss her and closed her eyes. He brushed past her lips to her ears. He whispered into her ears, she had her eyes wide open from shock.

He finished with what he was saying to her and let her go. Cassin got up from the swing, she tried to walk away but tripped and fell. Her whole body was shaking from head to toe. She got up and tried again but fell and the process continued until the butler watching from the distance called for the servants to help her to the royal physician.

He was accustomed to this and knew that the girls normally need to be treated or they can go mad. He was not aware of what the prince whispered to them but they were never the same when he was done. He shook his head and went back to sipping his tea as he watched over the prince.

"How troubling," the prince complained and returned to his sleeping state and closed his eyes.

While he slept the earth began to move around him, the butler saw this and ran to him. He tried to call to the prince to move but in vain. He got to the swing to move the prince from danger. He took the prince in his hands and turned around and jumped.

"Owch," the prince screamed in pain on hitting the hard flow. The butler looked around him confused, they were no more in the garden but in an odd-looking room. "Have you lost your mind?" the prince asked getting up from the ground. He took a look at the white ground he was standing on. He noticed the change in environment and looked around.

The room was strange with a large black mirror and more wide things they had never seen before.

"Where are we?" they both asked in unison.

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