Chapter 1

"Everything in this world had to start somewhere. Everything that there was had to have a beginning. What could be seen as one man's evil may be seen as another man's salvation. The greatest "threat" to every Battlemage over the centuries had to start somewhere and this is where that threat first had its start..." — History of their world.

4030 seasons previously before current times

"I can't believe I never considered him as a real threat. I always thought him a fool, not smart enough to slip on his hose before his boots, but now my being caught unprepared and having no plans for stopping his ambition for the crown is coming back to bite me in the ass!" thought Christian angrily, as he raced down the hallway headed for the Queen's bed chambers.

As he turned a corner going from one window to the next he realized that he could still hear the fighting below and two men appeared to be searching for something or someone. More than likely they were looking for him, but they could be looking for any left of the King's guards as well.

Moving behind a suit of armor he slipped into one of the mini cubbyholes he had prepared for just such an occasion by having all the armor in the castle moved forward several inches and having pendants hung from the ceiling behind them.

He thought when he had this done in secret it could be used to sneak around behind a foreign attacking army who had managed to enter into the castle and opened the main gates.

Christian never thought he would be using it to escape from the King's brother's men after he had his brother King Tomas killed to assume the throne.

He had to get to Melina at all cost to save her and the crown prince. There wasn't anything he could do for Tomas any longer.

As Christian raced along he realized that Tomas had always trusted him since they were young boys, and Tomas was the one to convince him to take the position of spy for the kingdom after his father the former King proposed it to him.

He had also made him responsible for gathering all the intelligence that came through the castle that might be of importance to the King.

Their home kingdom was on a large island named Pastial. It was unique in that it was a very large island that rivaled the size of most kingdoms on the mainland, taking several days to walk across, but it only sat about 600 yards off the coast of the closest mainland.

Scholars often surmised that it used to be part of the mainland that over many seasons had broken free and shifted further out into the ocean.

Many Kings from the mainland of Weshden had tried to annex them, but the steep cliffs of the shoreline combined with the fact that they could literally see them coming from the preverbal "mile away" insured that over countless seasons all had failed to conquer them.

They were also very prosperous in exporting wines, fruits and vegetables as their primary source of income.

To utilize Christian's skills, as a cover he was hidden in plain sight by the King's own father as the court jester. A position that very few even respected, let alone liked or wanted as a job in the castle, but it served its purpose as well.

Only the current King, King Tomas, and later the Queen, were truly aware of what his role was to be once the then crown Prince became the next King.

He was free to come and go as he pleased and often the King and sometimes the King and Queen together, would request a private audience in which he would update them on various things around the kingdom or with-in their very court.

To fill his role he trained outside the court in various forms of combat, poisons and their use, reading, writing, ciphering, tactics, and army management. He also was a master of various martial weapons, both common and uncommon ones.

Christian also realized it was a suitable cover for a spy, as his normally quick wit and sense of humor often served him well in this position.

Many times he would be requested by visiting dignitaries to visit their kingdom for a stay and to entertain them. The information gathered during those visits was invaluable in maintaining diplomatic relations.

Tonight the King's brother had made his move and Christian was watching as his friend paid for his mistaken assessment of the Prince with his life.

Christian was returning from his latest trip to the mainland to visit and gather information when something seemed off when he stepped back in the castle.

Several people whom he had never seen and didn't recognize seemed to be working the night of his return. Moreover he noticed that most of the regulars were given the night off.

In addition, he saw the royal Princes guards were out more in force than ever before. Usually they kept a low profile, but tonight they were everywhere he looked.

Something continued to feel wrong to him as he went to his room to put his things away and head to the kitchen for a late bite. It was only when he reached the kitchen that he truly learned what the Prince's plans for tonight it were, and by then it was far too late.

As it was very late, and well after the midnight hour, he was going to report to the King in the morning, but when one of the kitchen staff cleaning the dishes smacked his hand as he tried to ladle out some soup for a late dinner.

He was told it was special for the king only and the Prince said no one else was to eat any. The servant was supposed to pour it out after serving the King, but the King was always a big eater and he might want seconds, so he saved the pot just for him until morning.

When asked by Christian if the Prince had any, or even the Queen, the dishwasher scoffed and said that only the King was to eat any and that the Prince brought in a special cook to prepare this meal for him.

Having his hackles raised by the Prince's insistence that no one eat the dish but the King, Christian then decided to check out the pot.

Casually knocking over some dishes it distracted the man who severely swore at him as he lunged for the dishes trying to save some of them from either being split as they hit the floor or needing re-washed. He really did not want to be forced to re-wash the wooden utensils

While the man was distracted Christian quickly brought the ladle to his nose and could just barely, but clearly, smell the distinct smell of bitter "almonds" intermixed with the heavy spices and peppers used for the dish.

Dropping the ladle to the floor and racing out the door, leaving the heavily swearing man behind him, Christian sprinted for the Kings room, but he realized it was probably already too late.

Once he reached the second floor in the hallway fighting had already broken out at this late hour. It wouldn't be long before it spread to the first floor where most of the late night staff was.

He ventured on down the hallway and came across several bodies of the Kings guard in various grotesque poses. Several men's throats were cut from behind, some had been attacked and stabbed and left where they fell.

As he peered around the corner he could see that the few guards that had survived the surprise attack were surrounded by more than twice their number of the Prince's guards. He knew they would not last long and there wasn't anything he could do to help them by getting himself killed as well by drawing attention to himself. Right now his first priority was the King's safety.

Climbing out a window to get around the battle, he used the trellis that was only allowed to be placed between the second to fifth floors for decoration and climbed up to the fourth floor where the King's room was. As he passed the third floor and peered around the corner of the window he could see fighting there as well.

Thankfully, the fighting had not reached the King's room yet but the guards, on hearing the fighting on the lower floors, had gone to investigate. There would be little climbing by them out the windows with their heavy armor anyway, and few expected anyone to use it to travel between floors.

As Christian entered the window to the King's wing of the castle, he quietly went across the hallway towards the double doors. He noticed the food tray still outside the large double doors waiting for the servant to return it to the kitchen.

Quickly Christian lifted it and smelled the dish. As the dish had cooled, the smell of bitter almonds was unmistakable.

Seeing as more than half of it was eaten, and already fearing what he would find, Christian opened the door and crossed the floor to the bed where the King lay.

Christian found that his worst fears were realized as he saw the King lying on his back with his eyes wide open. His skin was a bright "pink" color, but it was rapidly changing to the blue that he could see in his fingertips. Before long, the whole body would turn that color.

Grief wracked him as he cursed himself for letting his closest friend, the one he was charged with protecting had die. Swearing at Elliston, Christian stopped long enough to close the eyes of his friend, say a quick prayer, and race across the hall to climb out the window where once again he was climbing for the trellis.

He had just made it as he heard the Princes guards coming up the hall. Obviously, the Kings former guards were all dead, as the Princes guards didn't appear hurried, they must be coming to inspect their work on the King.

"See that wasn't too hard. We just did like they said and laced their food with a light dose as well. They were too weak to stop us. Com'on, let's see if that fool is dead yet," Christian heard a voice say.

Hearing the door open, he heard a light cheer from the room, before he heard the men as they exited.

"Well on to the Queen's room to join the other men. Her guard didn't eat anything prepared by us from the kitchen, but it doesn't matter. We just have to secure her and kill the brat before M'lord joins us. Once the brat is gone M'lord will be the King as the only royal left," said the same voice as before, sounding almost mocking, as they then hurried up the hall.

On hearing that Christian started climbing again, he had to get to Melina first!

Being outside the castle as he was had it advantages and disadvantages. One being he had to climb in and out of windows or go across wide-open hallways to reach his destination, each time taking a chance on being discovered as he worked his way around the castle.

But each time he did this he was able to reach different parts of the castle more quickly than the Prince's guards, who had to go through the entire castle to reach the same destination, as he quickly tried to head for Melina's room.

He had his usually guilty thoughts as he thought of her.

Christian thought back to the first moment that his friend, King Tomas, had met her when she came to visit when their betrothal was first announced. The King's father insisted that Christian be there for the meeting as well.

As always, when he remembered that time, he wished that he had never laid eyes on her.

Melina was the oldest daughter of the Duke of the mainland kingdom of Weshden. The Duke had decided to form an alliance with Tomas's father's kingdom since they could never conquer it.

From the moment he first saw her, Melina had taken his breath away. She was almost a head shorter than himself and the then Crown Prince, but her most striking quality was her hair.

Her black hair was so dark that it looked as if it just absorbed any passing light it also was somehow able to be brushed until it had a glossy darkness about it.

Melina's eyes were a deep brown and yet managed to convey a warmth about them. Just by looking into those eyes you knew you could trust her with your very life and she would never betray that trust.

She had a small heart shaped mouth and high cheekbones. Her skin was very pale and light, in contrast to the ruddy appearance of both the Crown Prince and Christian.

Melina was a very beautiful girl and all were struck in wonder by her appearance.

At the time of her first visit to their kingdom, they were all fourteen, and she had appeared before them as one who was quiet, demure, and painfully shy.

That was until the introduction ceremony was over and she was invited by the Crown Prince to take a walk in the garden. Once there her smile lit up the area and she laughed and joked with the Prince about everything under the sun, and it seemed nothing was off limits to her humor.

The Prince did not seem to fault her for it, as he appeared to be very taken with her. And as they grew to know each other it was apparent to all that she returned his feelings as well

On the Princes Eighteenth birthday, the King fell ill and passed away inside a week. After the set mourning period was over the Crown Prince was crowned King and his and Melina's wedding was planned for the week after.

Through the seasons together, they both appeared to love each other. Even though they had been married for almost ten seasons, it was only recently that the Queen conceived and gave birth to a son. They were so happy it was unbelievable.

There were of course rumors that the King was stepping out on the Queen and she was somehow preventing herself from getting pregnant, or she had a lover who was able to give her a child because the King just was not getting the job done, and so she took it upon herself to find someone to insure the crown continuation.

If that were true Christian would have gladly volunteered to be the one for her if that was what the Queen was actually doing, but he knew they loved each other too much for that to happen. Moreover, he honestly loved them both to much to hurt either one of them.

He was, after all, in a position to know that neither one of them had ever stepped out on the other, and that they were both very concerned by their lack of conception for a child as the seasons went on.

The child was born and he clearly had his mothers jet black hair and dark, but warm, brown eyes. One could clearly see his father's features in his face. It was obvious to all who looked, that they could see both parents in him

His mother named him "Charles" after her maternal grandfather whom she loved so much. Therefore, he was a welcomed addition to the d'Portan household as the new crown prince Charles Phillip d'Portan.

"That bastard Elliston must have made his move because I was away and the Crown Princes conformation is coming up. He doesn't want him acknowledge publically before then. How could I have missed this and been so stupid. That lack of preparation just cost my friend his life. I just hope I'm in time to save Melina and young Charles," thought Christian as he climbed as if his life depended on it.

As he reached the far side of the fourth floor he again could hear the fierce fighting going on in the hallways.

Ignoring that noise he climbed in the window and quickly started across the hallway. Just as he reached the door, a cry rang out for him to stop. Looking back over his shoulder he saw one of the Elliston's guards trying to get to him but being stopped by one of Melina's guards.

He quickly opened the door without knocking realizing that it was only a matter of time before the guard was over run. If he had been a step slower it would have cost him his life.