roman yawned as he stretched and sat up in his bed. he looked over and saw that it was 6:02. smiling, he got up and changed into his normal clothes. despite his brother's request, he woke him up anyways, too excited to wait. "roman." remy groaned, swatting roman's hands away. "what the hell did i say?"

"i apologise! i am just too excited. i cannot wait to see who father chooses to be king." he exclaims smiling brightly.

"i understand, but it will undoubtedly be you." remy sat up. "now, since you woke me up when i specifically asked you not to wake me up, go make me coffee before i rip your head off." roman laughed but nodded and went to go make remy his coffee. normally, a servant would have already done that but they do not have to get up for another hour.

roman skipped into the kitchen and turned on the light and began brewing his brother's coffee. his father was coming home today around four p.m., leaving roman plenty of time to explore outside of the kingdom. although they were always informed that it was to dangerous to explore outside of the castle walls, that did not stop roman, it only encouraged him more.

"prince remington, your father told you already to wake up the servant if you want something," roman overheard someone say to his brother. "you are royalty, as is your brother! you should not be doing these things."

roman looked over his shoulder and saw his brother and his brother's adviser, johnathan. "johnathan, it is fine. we do not mind doing things on our own!" remy sighed. "and i told you to just call me remy!"

roman finished making his brother's coffee and turned around with the mug in hand. he smiled at johnathan and remy. "johnathan, remy." he smiled and handed remy the cup. "now before you scold me, johnathan, all i wanted to say is we have to learn how to function properly without servants, just in case. also it's no trouble at all making coffee!"

johnathan rolled his eyes and walked away. "i cannot stand him." remy sighed, taking a sip of his coffee. "i wish i had your adviser."

roman shrugged. "i mean, he's okay." roman cleared his throat, not wanting to admit he finds him attractive. "anyways. i plan on going out today-"

"roman. you know what father said-"

"i don't care! it's fun-"

"i will tell your adviser, roman." he said crossing his arms. he doesn't like to be commanding but if it keeps his brother safe he'd do anything.

roman sighed and stomped his foot like a little kid. "but i wanna go!" he whined, pouting.

remy rolled his eyes at roman but didn't reply. roman sighed again and walked off back to his room. he hated when his brother tried to boss him around. he was only five minutes older than him! it wasn't fair, if roman was fully honest. he knew remy would eventually check on him when he was in his room, but he could deal with that later, right now, he was trying to find a way to get out of the house.

looking at the time, he noticed it was 6:37. roman sighed dramatically, flopping down onto his bed. he heard a knock on his door, "roman?" he heard his adviser, terrence ask.

"come in." he groaned, sitting up and looked at terrence. "yes?"

terrence crossed his arms and leaned against the door. "remy told me how you wanted to go out today." roman went to say something but was cut off when terrence rose his hand to silence him. "you can go." terrence eventually said. "but you must be back before four, if you're not, you'll suffer the consequences."

roman smiled widely and stood up to go hug terrence. "thank you so much! what made you let me go?"

"i didn't want to hear you complain all day." he shrugged and backed away from the hug. "now go before i change my mind."

roman smiled and ran off down the hallway. he was stopped by remy on the way to the stables. "did he really let you go?" remy asked, furring his eyebrows. roman nodded excitedly and ran off to the stables leaving remy back in the kitchen face palming.

roman whistled and a white horse came running to him. he mounted the horse quickly, feeding him a carrot for behaving and so he could be energized for today's journey. he grabbed the horses reigns and commanded it to start walking.

they headed towards the woods, luckily the sun began to rise so that gave them light. he wasn't totally sure on where he was going, but he made little reminders in his head if there was something distinct to find his way back to the castle.

exploring the woods was quiet and peaceful. the only sounds that could be heard was the horse trotting, birds chirping, and the breeze rustling through the leaves. he was more than glad that terrence let him out today, it really helped with his anxiety about who would be chosen to be the next king.

he heard suspicious rustling in the bushes and turned to the sound. "hello?" he asked, reaching for the sword that lay in his hoister. "show yourself right now and no harm shall come to you."

he heard a low chuckle and grabed h

the handle of his sword. he dismounted his horse and turned around holding his sword up. whoever was there whispered something and out came a bear, charging at him.

he let out a gasp and held up his sword in defense. the bear roared at him and he felt a hand sligher around his neck. he choked slightly and dropped his sword, his hands shooting up to pry the hands off of him desperately. there was a sharp pain in his lower back as his attacker stabbed into him.

roman screamed out in pain and was dropped to the forest floor. "who are you!" he asked, stuttering on his words. the man said nothing as he heard shouting in the distance.

roman felt as if he was underwater, slipping in and out of consciousness. everything was a blur of color, and roman wondered if this would be his last day alive.