“Help! Edwin help us!” a woman’s voice called out.


    Edwin opened his eyes to a scene of fire spreading all around him. The buildings of his home city crumbled as people ran frantically in the streets.


    “Edwin!” the shrill voice repeated.


    “Mom?” Edwin’s heart raced as he ran down the city streets.


    People were all running in the opposite direction, but the young man pushed through them toward the voice. Suddenly, a building collapsed next to him and he was tossed down into the rubble.


    Edwin struggled to his feet as he shook off the debris. Everyone was gone and his mother''s voice did not call out anymore. He coughed as he cleared the dust from his eyes. Then he gasped at the sight.


    A large, imposing figure stood in the distance he bore a crown of antlers and he stared intently at Edwin. Then, the figure pointed at him, and thousands of crawling beasts came forward toward Edwin.


    ***


    “No!” Edwin shot up in his bed in a cold sweat.


    The young man was all alone in his dower chambers. He laid plain bed with standard white sheets. The only other things in the small room was a stack of books on a worn wooden table.


    Edwin sighed and ran his fingers through his hair as he steading his breath. After be regained his bearings, he put on his tunic and boots and was out the door.


    The chill morning bit him as he stepped out of a hallway and into an open courtyard. There were a few people awake and walking about. He could smell the enticing scents coming from the bakehouse on the other side of the dirt yard.


    He moved, unnoticed through outer gates and walked alone for a while in a field of long grass tipped with the morning dew. He ran his hands over the green stems and took in the brisk and refreshing morning air. At last, he had made it to his destination right on time.


    The young man stood tall as he looked out over a sea of grass. His deep, brown hair swept up in the breeze, and blue eyes pierced the first rays of morning light. He breathed in the crisp air of an early day as a peaceful silence embraced him. It had become his morning ritual since arriving at Arnorad, the royal training academy of his kingdom, Hailgalad. The young man had spent most of his life in the fortress capital city of Hailgrad, but it was time for him to grow. One day, it would be time for him to lead the kingdom.


    The sudden sound of heavy footsteps broke his meditation. Edwin smiled as he immediately recognized them.


    “Good morning, Charles,” he said without looking back to see his childhood friend.


    “Morning, Ed,” Charles yawned. After he paused to take in the morning serenity, he continued, “Hard to believe it has already been six months here. Only eighteen to go.”


    Edwin laughed as he turned away from the tranquil view to face his friend. Charles stood before him, shorter and more broad than Edwin. He had soft, brown eyes and golden, red hair that lay thickly on his head.


    “I would have thought that access to Hailgalad’s premier collection of books on history and politics would be enough to captivate you for a lifetime, let alone two years.”


    “The books and lectures are one thing, it is all this business with battle and war that I find tiresome,” Charles countered as he stretched and rubbed his right arm.


    Edwin gave a smile as he remembered the archery training from the night before. Their friend, Johanna, showed them both up, and Charles struggled to hit the target even once. A deep, metallic clang from the academy bell tower shook him from the memory.


    “Time to get going, I suppose,” Edwin said as he started for the weathered stone walls of Arnorad.


    As the two walked together in the field, Charles asked his friend, “Why do you come here every morning? The meditation chambers of the academy would be far better suited for you to clear your mind.” Charles paused to shoo off a large fly that buzzed around his head. “Regardless, you would be away from all of these pesky and annoying creatures.”


    “Such as yourself?” Edwin said with a laugh.


    His smile quickly faded as he became more serious. “Being in a family of the royal court, you understand a bit of what it is like to be revered wherever you go. Well, as the son of the king and queen, it is all the more overwhelming. I never felt it as a child, but when I came of age and was preparing to come here, it all piled onto me. I was no longer little Edwin who ran about the castle. I had become Edwin, the future twelfth monarch of Hailgalad. I needed to come here and master the great matters of war, culture, and lore. I needed to be the best of everyone because one day I would lead everyone.”


    Edwin explained as he felt the anxiety overwhelm him with every word he spoke. “The more I am here, the more I realize that I am not exceptional at anything. I am completely and utterly average.”


    “A good leader must be well-rounded to serve their people,” Charles countered.


    Edwin shrugged. He knew in his heart that Charles was not wrong and many good leaders in history were not masters of any particular skill, but the uncertainty remained like a weight around his neck.


    “I come out here to have a few moments alone and to stare across the great, grassy plains of Aeros. They run east to the sea, west past the capital city to the borders of the kingdom, and south to the foothills of the Iron Mountain. Something about the vastness of this world brings me a bit of comfort. It is as if my problems were not so large and daunting,” Edwin said as he gave one final look at the landscape.


    After a short walk over the grassy hillside, Edwin and Charles arrived at the academy gates. The robust stone walls parted here to make way for two wooden doors that towered over the ground. They had the wear of many years, but they were cared for with vigilant hands.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    "Morning, Edwin, Charles," said Galnar.


    The two young men looked over to the academy teacher, who taught all about plants and things that grew in the ground. Galnar was an old man. He was bald and had a long white beard with large, bushy eyebrows.


    "Good morning, Galnar," Edwin and Charles said in unison as they nodded in return.


    Normally, Edwin would be addressed as my lord, but all rank of those who came here to learn was stripped upon enrollment. With the stress that weighed on him to become king one day, it was something of which he took advantage while he still could.


    As the young prince and his friend moved through the wide courtyard, they could see a familiar face dancing back and forth as she struck a training dummy with various combinations from her training sword.


    “I see Johanna is getting in another pre-class lesson,” Charles said as they saw their friend with Bjorn, the weapons master of the academy.


    “Hey there, champions of archery,” she called over to her friends as they caught her eye. “Care for a quick sparing lesson? Our future king needs to become a better swordsman if he is going to protect his lands.”


    Without hesitation, Edwin ran over as Charles shouted after him, “You will be late!”


    “Charles, you need to learn to relax and live in the moment,” Johanna said with a chuckle as she twirled her sword.


    Charles snorted and turned around towards the classrooms as Edwin approached Johanna and Bjorn.


    “One round,” Edwin said with a smile as Bjorn handed him a training sword.


    Johanna playfully punched Edwin in the shoulder just as Bjorn stepped between them.


    “Nothing like a morning session to get the mind moving,” the large man said in his deep, bellowing voice. “Take your marks.”


    The two students stood ten paces from one another. Each gripped their swords tightly and ground their feet into the dirt. Bjorn held his fists high in the air as he gave them both a glance. Then, he dropped his hands to commence the round.


    Johanna came after Edwin with relentless ferocity. She tried landing a flurry of swift blows that Edwin narrowly blocked. He followed up with a shoulder to Johanna’s chest that sent her back.


    “Confident and fierce as ever,” Edwin said with a smile.


    “Still reserved and cautious,” Johanna shot back with a laugh as she sent another combination of strikes.


    Within moments, they two were breathing heavily. Johanna tried her best to land a hit while Edwin focused on staying with each attack. Then, Johanna gave a high strike, followed by a spin to her knees. The move proved to be too quick, and Edwin was open for a shot to his back.


    “Point!” Johanna shouted as she gave an exaggerated bow to her opponent.


    Edwin grunted. The blade was blunt, but the iron still gave a sting as it struck him.


    He shook his head with a smile as he said, “If you spent half as much effort on your studies as you did on your swordsmanship, you could be a great master of lore one day.”


    “Where is the fun in that?” she retorted. “My future is on the field of battle. I will leave the studies to Charles.”


    “For now, you both must be off to class,” Bjorn said as he took their weapons.


    With this, Edwin was off to his classroom, with Johanna reluctantly following to her own.


    ***


    The first class of the day for Edwin was on Kingdom Growth and Administration. When the young prince pushed open the worn doors to the classroom, Charles was already seated and busy with his head buried in the class text.


    “Great of you to join us, Edwin,” Haelor''s tired, old voice called out. “Please, take a seat.”


    Without a word, Edwin sat in the chair next to Charles. He leaned back and wiped the sweat from his brow as he scanned the room. This space was much like the rest of the academy; muted, dark wood colors enveloped the class in a comfortable atmosphere. Ancient maps and other relics of a time forgotten to most hung on the walls. As he steadied his breath, Edwin could hear a commotion in the courtyard. There was some shouting and clopping of hooves, then it ceased.


    Haelor coughed to clear his voice, “To continue, the importance of education for a kingdom. Take this academy, for example. Our first king, Eardred I’s, subjects, were largely farmers and herdsmen. When he formed a confederacy to challenge the high powers of the world, and we won our place in it, our king knew his people needed proper education and training if Hailgalad was to thrive and make its mark. He brought in many scholars who were experts in culture, warfare, and lore and began sending families favored by the crown here for education. In this way, he revolutionized the potential of our kingdom."


    Edwin thumbed through his book as the door to the classroom burst open. Edwin snapped his head back to find Galnar moving hastily towards him.


    It was clear that the teacher had some news that weighed heavily on his mind as he said, “Edwin, please come with me.”


    He then turned to the front of the room. “I am sorry, Haelor, I must borrow your pupil for urgent business.”


    “Fine, fine,” the old man responded and continued droning on with his lecture.


    Edwin looked over to Charles, whose face was stricken with concern about what this could be about. Edwin gave him a nod of reassurance and followed Galnar out of the room.


    Once they were in the cramped hallway, Edwin realized that Galnar was shaking.


    “What is wrong?” the prince asked.


    “Three days ago, there was an outbreak of sickness in Hailgrad. It has spread with a speed that no healer has ever seen before. Many people have already fallen ill and passed on,” Galnar said with a frantic voice.


    Edwin’s knees buckled, and he fell back into the wall. “What about my parents? Are they still healthy?”


    The old man shook his head, “They fell ill last night, and word was sent to the academy at once.”


    Edwin lost his breath, and his stomach tied up in knots as he thought about them. Fear circled in his mind as he said, “The healers are working on them. The most skilled of their kind are in the capital. Surely they will be fine.”


    Galnar steadied himself and put his hand on Edwin’s shoulder. “The messenger told us that, in this short time, no one who has fallen ill has survived. It is still early, but this is why word was sent for you to return home. It also summoned a few teachers of the academy to help solve this disaster.”


    Anxiety washed over him as the prince became dizzy and staggered. Galnar caught Edwin as he tried to regain his bearings. The young man wanted so desperately to be home right now and be by their side. Then, he thought of his friends.


    “What about the royal court? Johanna and Charles’ families?”


    “The report was brief, but they did say that Charles’ family has died from the plague,” Galnar said with his head bowed. “They did not have news for Johanna.”


    Edwin took deep breaths to center himself. A fire glowed within him. Whether it was anger, he did not know, but it pushed him to focus his mind.


    “Have the stable ready our horses and gather Charles and Johanna. In a time such as this, I need them by my side,” Edwin ordered.


    Galnar gave a slight bow and was off. Edwin swayed once more, then drew himself up as he shook off the creeping thoughts. With a large breath in and out, he went off to his quarters to pack his belongings.