The prince enjoyed parties. There was an ephemeral feeling in the air, some great power that swayed this way and that. And every person at the party was a part of it. The power belonged to no single person in there, and so every person disappeared in a haze. There was nothing left of a person’s identity, all that remained was the party.

  Sometimes.

  This party was not one of those. The atmosphere felt stuffy and there were too many massive personalities vying for control of the room. Well, there were three personalities vying for control of the room. And they made quite the family.

  King Renoir was chatting with the guests throughout the room. His beard was a burgundy color, and his eyes were a caramel that melted souls. Women and men laid themselves before him in an ineffectual show of their devotion.

  The prince hated his father’s gift. It just made people love him. It didn’t matter how well prepared you were for the mind-control. It didn’t matter the loathing you held deep inside. It all was meaningless in the face of the “love” that his father’s gift forced upon everyone.

  On the other side of the room, the prince’s sister sat with her best friend Julia. Her presence had infected that entire part of the room. Everyone was silent and holding mysterious meetings. Prince David so dearly wished his sister could see the sort of kingdom that she would create if she won this inheritance war. There was no trust and no love on that side of the room.

  But she couldn’t see that. She was blind.

  David’s side of the room was the most eclectic. David had a way of bringing all kinds of people to him. He wasn’t sure what about him accomplished this, but he liked to believe it was his endless charisma.

  This evening, he was dressed in a militaristic black uniform with his hair being the purest white and his eyes shining gold.

  There was power in the way people presented themselves to the world. David had enjoyed some of the philosophical talks between Joy and the slovenly drunk on the arena earlier that day. They touched on something he felt was important about how people can only control the way others perceive them. However, as an employer he did not approve of how low the public opinion of Joy was right now. The match had been plain boring and so people were starting to dislike Joy. And that was unacceptable.

  The prince didn’t care if Joy lost, he just cared about getting the public opinion of Joy, and by proxy the opinion of David, higher.

  The prince was surrounded by some of his most trusted advisors. Rose stood in a beautiful gown that shimmered in all different metallic shades. It was an armor to protect her from other people’s perception. Ian stood wearing a decrepit military uniform, a reminder of his days of glory and how they are far in the past. And finally, there was Clyde, he had dressed nicely for the occasion, but he was far too nervous, and it showed on him.

  The prince knew that he was placing a lot of expectations upon Clyde’s shoulders, he was just a random man that the prince had seen potential in and saved from his own personal prisons. A useful gift attached to an underwhelming man. But the prince needed all the power he could muster, so he would use the poor man like a tool.

  Too bad for him, sometimes that was just your lot in life.

  The prince glided around his side of the room and enjoyed the expanse of his power. There were all sorts in his sphere of influence, and they all wanted to speak to him. It made him feel important and in turn he made them feel important by speaking with each of them for a few moments.

  It was these small things that truly built power. There certainly was power in gifts and artifacts, but the true power of the kingdom was shaking hands and smiling faces. It didn’t matter if someone could throw lightning if none of the farmers would work for them.

  The prince was enjoying himself so much he almost didn’t notice when Joy walked in.

  The man truly had a gift for entrances. The announcer spoke of his semi-final status and other boring titles that Rose had fed to him for this very moment, but Joy walked into the room nearly naked. All he was wearing was underwear, a beautiful pair of knee-high boots, and a few scraps of cloth that contained all the colors of the rainbow.

  The prince had never seen anyone wear such an outfit before, much less to a fancy dancy royal event. This was going to be a scandal. The prince ran a hand casually through his white hair and sighed at the injustice of his life.

  The prince skillfully started making his way across the room to meet with the incessant fool of his court.

  Ian trailed behind him, a shadow through the party. Clyde didn’t move, for some reason he refused to go near Joy at all, and the prince wouldn’t force the issue, today. And Rose stealthily made her way through the crowds, buttering the correct folks up to lubricate her passage through the clusters.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  That sounded dirty, he better not mention it, ever.

  The only part of the prince’s royal retinue that was missing was Sam. However, they were being nefarious and laughing sinisterly in their private snake chamber. Thus, the prince decided that he would pass on the invitation to the party for them.

  Unfortunately, the prince had made his camp on the incorrect side of the room. He had been too worried about people seeing him when they entered the room that he had forgotten to stay close enough to the door to intercept guests.

  David’s father made first contact with Joy. There was handshaking, hugging, and even a kiss on the king’s cheek from Joy. The two laughed boisterously, as if they were the best of friends, and strolled to the dance floor of the party.

  It was surreal watching Joy and King Renoir tango, but prince David had learned that his father attracted fools who blinded themselves to the horrors of life with a mask of laughter. His father’s life had been spent forcing people to like him more, so that his reign with an iron fist seemed more nurturing than violent. But he was violent beyond words; Bloody Ian could attest to that.

  The prince slowly walked over to his sister. If those two idiots were going to be making fools of themselves, there was no reason for him not to go antagonize his sister just a little.

  Dahlia had not moved during Joy’s entrance and stayed conversing with Julia this entire time.

  He sat at the table and smiled at the two women who were staring daggers at him. No one seemed open to conversation, so he decided to take the initiative.

  “How have you all been enjoying the spectacle of the Knight Tournament recently?”

  Dahlia looked at him sharply. She was younger than him, but that did not make her stupider. She chewed on the question and spit out an answer.

  “Being perfectly honest, I wish you and I were not involved in it at all. Having paid the entire guild enough gold to make most men vomit, I now see the truth behind this entire charade. The entire thing is supposed to be scripted. It is the way that the knight’s birth a new legend. And we have ruined their entire plan.”

  Julia nodded along with this assessment of the tournament. The prince even found himself agreeing with her.

  Dahlia continued, “because the scripting has failed them, now there are too many combatants with boring gifts or horrifying gifts left in the tournament; and there is no one left to vanquish them. Except Ramses.”

  David grinned, “but is he really a hero? Or just your horse in this race?”

  Evil smiles were shared between the two members of the royalty. It was like they were in on a joke that no one else knew.

  David looked away first, “but really, dear sister, maybe it is just a sign of the times.”

  “Dear brother, go on.” The implied air quotes around ‘dear brother’ hurt the prince a little, but he pushed that aside mentally.

  “The people are disillusioned with the classical tales of heroic knights saving kingdoms. They don’t want heroes; they want something new.”

  “Something like your new pet? Our father is teaching him to fetch right now.” The members of the table all glanced at Joy and the king on the dance floor, where Joy was twirling in place, the strips of cloth swirling around him in a wonderful rainbow. All the while, the king was throwing shrimp into Joy’s mouth. It was horrifying.

  “I’ll admit he’s not a hero, but he is showing the public something new. There is something we feel as an audience as we watch him.”

  “All I feel is annoyed.” Dahlia sniffed.

  “That’s because you are impossible to please.”

  The grins came back to their faces and for a brief moment it was like they were children again. It was two siblings smiling in a secret corner, playing games no one else could ever understand. Before the gifts, before the intrigue, before all that had gone wrong between the two of them. It was a brief moment of happiness.

  But it left.

  Their small faces of exuberance were replaced with the cold masks of adulthood. They put the burdens of their lifetimes back on, refusing to be as free as children. Because children can only be free at the cost of adults.

  The prince stood up, preparing to leave the table. But as he did, he leaned over, close to his sister, and whispered, “it’s not too late. Please, leave the city Dahlia. Go to some backwater town and live a happy unburdened life. Don’t make me destroy you.”

  There was anguish in his eyes, but Dahlia couldn’t see that. She was blinded by the arrogance of his words; he had written her off as a threat. To him, this war meant nothing. The lives, their plots, it was all just on the path to him killing her and taking the crown.

  In one swift motion she grabbed a knife off the table and tried to stab David in the throat.

  It was a brutal reaction, too fast for anyone to react. Almost anyone.

  The prince had palmed a knife as he leaned over her and had driven the blade through her wrist as she tried to strike at him. Her arm was now nailed to the table. And she muffled her scream into her shoulder.

  David’s eyes still shone with pain and anguish, but it was all hidden beneath a layer of something else. Something no one could quite put into words.

  “Don’t get in my way, Dahlia.” Blood leaked onto the floor, but the commotion hadn’t been large enough for anyone to notice. Julia rushed to Dahlia’s side, staunching the bleeding with the ripped off sleeve of her dress.

  The prince ran his fingers through his bone white hair and wandered back into the party. He had tried, and that was all his conscience could ask of him.

  He loved his sister, but the prince’s ambition surpassed it by leagues. The only way he could stomach the thought of fighting his sister was knowing all the good he would bring to the world once she was out of his way.

  David wandered back to Rose and asked, “how do you rationalize the journey we are about to embark on?”

  “My dear prince. You are a wuss. We decided on this path years ago, now stand up straight and show your strongest face to this world. Soon our plans will come to fruition, and it will all be worth it. Until then, suffer, my love.”

  Now that wasn’t ominous or anything. David figured she must just be in a bad mood because Joy had shown up to the party looking insane and ruined many of her political machinations with the stunt he pulled with the king, after she had expressly asked him to be on his best behavior.

  David watched Joy as he galivanted around the room. He was so full of life, he luxuriated in every moment of being alive. But for every person that could enjoy life the way Joy did there had to be seven others weighed down by duties.

  David enjoyed watching Joy for a moment, but then he picked his duty back up. He shouldered his burden and put a smile back on because his plans weren’t over yet. Alas, they were only just beginning.