《Until Death Do I Impart》 Prologue A pair of dark lavender eyes split open as a young man startles awake with a gasp of frigid air entering his lungs. His body is aching and burning as if he has been running for miles without rest. "Where am I?" the man rasps out in between a huge gulp of air. He looks to his surroundings and sees the shadows cast by the morning light spreading over the many bodies littering the ground around him. "Oh, right," the man exclaims out loud with a dull undertone as his breathing settles. "I''m in a pit. Of rotting corpses. I don''t think I''ll ever get used to waking up here of all places," the man states plainly as if he is, in fact, used to it. -PAUSE- Lets stop here for a second and explain some things. Now, you may think that I should have been more concerned when waking up to death surrounding me. Let''s just say that I have experienced far worse things throughout my life. I was certainly more hysterical the first time this happened to me. My name is Prince Roland Lucious Maxwell, Second Prince of the Drezterran Empire, and I have just been murdered on my 18th birthday by my foolish younger brother Aaran. At least, I would have been murdered if not for the fact that I am an immortal time traveler. Sort of. You see, I have lived for a very, very, VERY long time, and not in the past. As it turns out, a special ability manifested in me at the moment of my death. Shortly after I died my power took root and the first awakening took place. I no longer age. If I happen to die, I wake up exactly to the time when I first obtained my powers, no matter what damage I have wrought upon myself. I have been frozen on the surface of other planets, melted in the cores of stars, vaporized by gamma rays in the void of space. This most recent restart marks my 5,000th anniversary of waking up to this same forsaken cesspool of a pit. It is currently the year 300 of the Drezt Calendar. The current era of the Drezterran Empire can relate in technological advances to that of the late 15th century of your history. With great advances in art, architecture, science, and literature, the Drezterran Empire is going through something of its own Renaissance. Of course, I will help speed that along soon enough into an industrial revolution. Waiting for technology to develop is probably one of the worst things about this power of mine. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Previous to awakening, my life was rather unflattering. I was raised exactly as you would imagine a Prince of an empire would be. Wealth without work. Pleasure without conscience. Commerce without morality. I had access to anything that my depraved, unintelligent mind could think to have. My father, King Charles Edward Maxwell, proclaimed that I was to be next in line to the throne and would succeed him upon my 18th birthday. I was a spoiled and entitled brat. Fortunately my reign as King never had a chance to begin. At the stroke of midnight on the eve of my 18th, an assassin hired by my jealous brother struck me down as I was endulging myself in nightly pleasures with one of our maids. I''ve still never figured out how that man smuggled two adult bodies out of the castle without being caught. Well, no matter. He has paid in flesh many times over for killing me. Even if I probably deserved it. The assassin dumped my body, along with the maid, in a pit of recently executed criminals to the south, outside of the City of Clearwater. The castle lies within the very heart of the city. With Clearwater covering a 400 square mile stretch of land, with a massive river running through it, and with over 200,000 residents, it is quite an impressive feat to stay hidden with such a burden. Unfortunately for him, all of his hard work went to waste the moment that I opened up my eyes the next morning. The first time I woke up, I had no idea that I was supposed to have been dead. I didn''t know what was happening or where I was. When I saw the bodies around me, I screamed loudly enough that I think a few of them even moved. I scrambled over the deceased and up the side of the pit only to be met face to face with a very heavily clad guard. I think the poor guard was as frightened as I was at the would-be zombie lumbering out of the pit of death at him. That was my shortest lived restart as the guard bludgeoned me repeatedly with his cudgel... Lets take a look at a few more of my memories and see if the next few lives turned out any better. The Second Awakening A pair of dark lavender eyes split open as Roland startles awake with a gasp of frigid air entering his lungs. His body is aching and burning as if he has been running for miles without rest. "Where am I?" Roland rasps out in between a huge gulp of air. He looks to his surroundings and sees the shadows cast by the morning light spreading over the many bodies littering the ground around him. His eyes widen in shock as he bolts upright and runs his hands through his short brown hair and over his body to check for the wounds the guard imparted on him. Nothing. No wounds. No cuts. Not even a bruise. Just mud caking his clothes from the filthy pit he was laying in. Roland''s mind began to race as he tried to figure out what was happening. "Was it a dream?," he thought to himself. "No, no that can''t be. I''m still here, where he beat me...," Roland paused as the realization slowly came to him, "to death. He beat me to death." Roland quickly found himself with a cold, murderous anger filling his mind, "That lowly commoner beat me to death?! ME? I''ll have him hung and his entrails torn from his body! I''ll have his eyes scooped out and fed to the pigs! I''ll find his family and have their bodies quartered to the four corners of my empire!". Breathing heavily and shaking out of rage, he looked around and quickly found the place that he clambered out of the muddy pit the first time. Roland climbed out of the pit in a fevered haste and immediately located the cause of his anger. "You there! Guard! Kneel before your Prince!," Roland screamed at the guard. The guard, looking thoroughly befuddeled and taken aback at the Prince''s sudden appearance beset in muddy rags, promptly complied with the request and prostrated himself before the Prince. "Tell me your name!" Roland growled through clenched teeth. "My name is Owyne your highness." The guard replied weakly, "Might I beg what I have done to offend your royal highness?". Roland backhands the guard in the face with a loud crack as he connects to Owynes cheek. "I am the one asking questions you lowly piece of filth!" Roland spat out at Owyne. "I should have you decapitated for merely looking at me!" Owyne quickly averted his gaze to the cobbled pathway beneath him. "Where am I?" Roland asked as several more guards came to see what the commotion was about. "Your royal highness, you are currently at the southern plague pits. This is where we dispose of criminals that have been executed in the city." Owyne replied carefully, his head was swimming with questions as to why the Empires second Prince was here. Unable to help himself, Owyne glanced up at Roland only to be caught staring directly into the Prince''s gaze. An icy chill shot through Owyne''s entire body as he was captivated by the cold lavender eyes of the Prince. "Lavender?" Owyne thought to himself, "All of the royal lineages eyes are supposed to be blue...only a witch would have such an unsual," Owyne abruptly paused in his thoughts as his own eyes widened in horror. "A WITCH!," Owyne yelled out, "A WITCH! A witch is disguised as the second prince!" Owyne scrambled away from the Prince as he hastily tried to stand. "GUARDS! GUARDS! COMMANDER! A WITCH HAS APPEARED IN THE PITS!" Owyne bellowed as he fixed his stance to a more combat ready position. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Roland was taken aback at Owynes sudden actions but then quickly yelled in return, "What are you saying you foul peasant?! I am your Prince! The only witch here is which way you are going to be put to death for slandering my royal name!". "And for killing me!" He added on. "GUARDS! I COMMAND YOU TO ARREST THIS MAN IN THE NAME OF THE SECOND PRINCE OF THE DREZTERRAN EMPIRE!". The other guards that had gathered closer to the scene gave each other confused looks, nobody knowing what to do. Owyne backed up slowly to his brothers in arms, eyes glued to Roland. "It''s a trick! His eyes! Look at his eyes!" Owyne shouted out cautiously to the rest of the guards. "My eyes? What about my eyes you insignificant worm!?" Roland stares down at the increasing number of armed guards. The guards all stare back at Roland until..."Owyne''s right!" shouted one guard suddenly. "His eyes are that of a demon!" shouted another. All the guards present immediately drew their weapons and pointed them at Roland. Roland couldn''t understand what these incompetent inbreds were doing. There was nothing wrong with his eyes. Everbody is going crazy! "What are you fools doing!?" Roland shrieked at the encroaching guards. "I am the Prince! I AM YOUR KING! I command you to halt your actions and drop your arms! Kneel before me at once! The guards start slowly surrounding Roland, ignoring his howling cries for obedience. Roland feels a cold dread creeping up his back as he realizes nobody is listening to him. "WAIT!" Roland cried out. "PLEASE WAIT! LISTEN TO ME! I AM YOUR PRINCE! I''M NOT A WITCH! HAVE YOU ALL GONE INSANE!?" A guard takes a swing at Roland with his blade. Roland puts up his hands in defense but only meets a hot searing pain shooting up his arm. His hand falls to the ground. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhh!" A shrill cry echoes through the morning air. Roland clutches at his bleading stump and stares at it in complete shock. "W-WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! I-I AM THE P-UHG" A blunt object hits the side of Rolands head and knocks him to the ground. Roland vomits on the ground as blood gushes from his arm. "NOoOo P-p-please. D-don''t. P-prince. I-I", he sputters out before being pierced through the stomach. "Ahhg-P-leas-ahh". The guards continue to hack away at Roland until there is nothing but a bloody unrecognizable pulp on the ground. A pair of dark lavender eyes split open as Roland startles awake with a gasp of frigid air entering his lungs. His body is aching and burning as if he has been running for miles without rest. "Where am I?" Roland rasps out in between a huge gulp of air. He looks to his surroundings and sees the shadows cast by the morning light spreading over the many bodies littering the ground around him. Roland vomits and starts shaking uncontrollably. He looks at his trembling hands as tears start to fall from his face. "W-what is h-happening to m-m-me?" He manages to gasp out between sobs.