The Crowned Son

“Wake up,” I hear the gruff voice of my knight, Arthur, say. I groan, glaring at him. “It’s not even daylight yet. Can’t we wait?” I pull the covers up over me, hoping he’ll leave me alone, but instead, I hear him walking over and then feel the cold air around me as he pulls the covers off onto the floor. “Hey! I demand you to-” “If you want your father to see you as a prince, you need to act like a prince,” he says before I can even demand my covers back. I sigh, knowing he’s right; I sit up and slide off the bed, still not used to waking up this early. “What is there to do today?” I stretch as I walk to the bathroom. He follows me and then stands outside to continue our conversation. “First, I’ll take you for sword training, then you’ll go...” Arthur continues to list the lessons and meetings for the day until I zone him out to get ready, taking a wrap from my counter and wrapping it around my chest before going to my wardrobe and moving the dresses and skirts around till I find the loose shirts and pants Arthur has snuck in for me. I put on the contraband items, and then I see myself in the mirror, I look as much like a prince as my brothers, but I know I’m still the crowned princess of the kingdom to them. The struggle with my identity is a constant battle, but I push it aside and finish getting ready for training.

Arthur trains me throughout the early morning. I can tell I’m getting much better than I was a month ago when I finally got him to agree to help me, but only if it was at this time while no one was awake since a princess isn’t supposed to learn any sword skills but practicing with a wooden dummy only got me so far. As we spar, I get fewer nicks on my hands and actually keep up with his pace. The sounds of our wooden swords hitting against each other and both of us panting filled the silent room. But just then, I see an opportunity. He had dropped his guard enough that I’m able to hit his sword and quickly went for his open side, striking him. The grimace as the sword connects with his side means I’ve ended the duel for once, getting the better of him, and we both stand there staring at each other like neither could believe it. A smile forms on his lips, and I laugh. It’s a small victory but a huge step for me. “You’re getting better, my prince.” His words echo in my mind as a testament to my first victory.

Arthur escorts me back to my room before my maid comes and sees me gone since she likes to report everything back to the king. He opens the door for me, and I head in, wiping off some of the sweat before freshening. My maid comes in to help me prepare the whole time, grumbling about my short hair and visibly annoyed when the dress she picks goes ignored when I opt for the tunic and pants option like I have every other day. She tries to put the usual jewelry on me. Still, I only take the signet ring, leaving everything, even the tiara, and heading out with my knight to today’s first meeting, leaving her fuming.

The day goes by slowly, meeting after meeting, lesson after lesson, all drawn out, calling me Princess Selena. The only one who ever calls me Prince Kai is my loyal knight, who escorts me from the meeting room to the classroom. And even though everyone knows what I would rather be called Prince Kai, no one attempts to change it, either because they are being threatened by the king or because of their dumb personal preferences.

Dinner time rolls around; it’s the only time when the royal family is together, which has really become only for looks to show how we are a close family that’s ruling over the kingdom. Dinners are usually filled with silence, or on special occasions, fights break out between us all when there’s no one else here to witness. It was always the same type of fight: my brother’s saying they should get the crown since I did not want to be a “crowned princess,” but a prince and how no one would ever take orders from a “half-prince” but my father said it’ll look even worse to break the tradition that the eldest child is to be the next ruler most of the time ending the fights with they’ll keep my “condition” only with the castle residents.

Tonight, like most other nights, nobles are lining the table just to fill the chairs so my father doesn’t have to look or speak with his family. I sit there picking at my food, listening to the snippets of conversations around me, mainly about the rebel group getting more daring. Still, most conversations are about the nobles losing luxury to the rebels since they keep destroying the imports of soaps and perfumes. Halfway through the meal, one of the nobles asks me, “How is our princess doing?” I look up at him but can feel my father’s stare to ensure I don’t mess up their perfect lie. I look back down at my plate, picking at my food. “It could be better.” I’m not in the mood to entertain the nobles or even my family, feeling the exhaustion from walking up early this month. For once, the nobles seem to pay more attention to me than my father when I am about to talk again, wanting to spill the lie the king notices. He clears his throat before I can speak, clapping his hands. “I say I’m hungry for dessert.” his eyes bore into mine, and I clenched my fist around my fork. Even the nobles could feel the tension we set off. I slam my hands on the table and stand up. “I’m done! I’m not going to stay your daughter any longer! I’ve been your son for years; just accept it already!” I storm out. Arthur takes the lead, and I see him glare daggers at my father as he escorts me out.

No one came to visit me in my room, and there was an eerie silence in the hallway. I expected my father to yell at me after the dinner was finished, but the silence made the uncanny dread start to take its grip on me. I send my knight to check things out to see how much trouble I’ll be in. When he gets back, all he can tell me is that a family meeting was called right after the nobles started to leave. I guess they are talking about my outburst, which makes me feel worse. What could they be discussing about me without me even there? He says the nobles didn’t seem as upset as we thought they would be. The ones lingering in the castle are only questions about what I meant. Before going to bed, I stew in this information, hoping I won’t be kicked out of my kingdom tomorrow.

I wake up with Arthur shaking me awake. I shoo him off, thinking it is just time for sparing again. “Prince, come on, we have to leave.” Something in his voice makes me wake up and hurry out of bed. “What is it?” he grabs my arm, taking me out of the room and looking up and down the hallway before rushing me off. “A rebel group has made their way into the castle. It seems bigger than any attack they’ve planned.” I look down the hallway towards where my family would be. I tug out of his arm. “Is my family out?” He tries to grab my arm again, but I move out of the way. “Are they out?” he just sighs, telling me everything I need to know, and starts running back, Arthur hot on my heels. Even though I hate my family most of the time, it doesn’t mean I could leave them. Rushing back into my room, I grab a sword. Having no time for anything else, I leave Arthur leading the way. He knows that no matter what he says, I won’t be going, so he decides to help me.

We get to the meeting room. I see one of my brothers on the ground. I’m not able to see if he is breathing or not. The other brother is fighting with my mother behind him, but I see my father with two men that he is trying to fight off. I run in to help him, telling my knight to check up on my fallen brother. When I get to my father and, one of the attacking men turns to me, surprised to see me. I attack him, and with that short bit of hesitation that he shows, I’m able to strike the man down before I turn to see my father fall, the other man’s sword pulling out of his side before I hurry to quickly dispatch him since he isn’t paying attention to me. I look around to see my brother, who’s on the ground, able to nod at Arthur. My other brother and mother look upset but okay; all the fighting over, and I turn my attention to my father kneeling beside him. I hold his side, trying to keep the wound from bleeding too much, hearing people already calling for a medic, but we both know it’s too late. He looked at me with a smile. I could see in his eyes that he had already accepted what will happen, even if I didn’t want to think about it. His bloodied hand comes up to rest on my cheeks, wiping away the tears I didn’t know were spilling, staring at the man that, as a kid, I looked up to. He had always made time for me no matter what, and only for the past few years did he hate me since he couldn’t bear to see what I grew up to be. “You did great, my daughter..” he pauses and then speaks again, “You did great, my son, lead these people better than I have done. I am sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you,” I hold his hand to my face, nodding. “I will,” but soon, I feel the limpness in his hand as he takes his final breath.