Arron was Mad.

He was mad at Elli. Because she wasn't stepping up to her capability.

He was mad at himself for not having the capability to take on his responsibilities and for trying to shove them to his sister.

He was mad at the ministry for making him wear a crown even if he didn't want to.

He was mad at Russell for making him work as an assistant all day.

He was mad at Vivi....well, he wasn't mad at Vivi.

He was mad at his sword because he couldn't find any reason to be mad at it!

And he was mad at the tree in front of him because it was standing right in front of him!

He kicked the tree with the shin of his leg and immediately regretted it.

Bright hot pain coursed through his bones, temporarily paralyzing his leg. Muttering a few words he wasn't proud of, he sat down, holding his shin.

He let his head touch his knee. He was breathing heavily and his heart was beating like it was trying to kill him. He was wearing a goddamn unicorn fur coat. He had worn his best clothes for his father to comeback.

The last time either Arron or Elli had seen him had been two years ago. Arron had grown a lot over two years. He had gotten taller. He learned how to sword fight. He knew three languages; English, elvish and dwarf tongue. He can even summon fire in his weapon without making it explode.

He had so many things planned. How he'd show him how tall he was now. How he'd show him how good he had gotten with the sword. How he'd convince him to take him to the warfront next time he went away.

They had been in the castle when the troops came marching through the door. It took less than five minutes for him to get dressed, his best black coat and crown and sword and everything.

Elli, however, was taking her sweet sweet time. As Arron stomped outside her room, he could even hear her humming some tuneless song.

"Faster, Elli! Your taking forever!" He yelled as he pounded on the door.

"You try putting on a dress faster! Go play in the garden or something." Elli yelled and went back to humming that was starting to sound more like muttering now.

Great, father is coming home and my sister decides to go crazy.

From outside the castle gates a sound of commotion came up. Maybe they've already reached the castle.

Suddenly, the sound of boots falling echoed through the hallway. A soldier showed up at the end of the corridor. He had his sword unsheathed. It was uncommon for soldiers to have their swords unsheathed inside the palace. Arron wasn't even sure if it's allowed. He decided he'd demand an explanation later.

The soldier ran to him. Arron stood at his place as their distance closed. Something about the way he marched did strike to Arron as odd.

The soldier reached him in five long steps and suddenly swung his sword.

Arron limboed back, but not before he got a little kiss on his cheek from the tip of the blade.

His training kicked in and he stepped back, unsheathed his sword and plunged it into his opponent's hip in the blink of an eye. The soldier cried out in pain, but Arron just grabbed his head by the hair and brought it down for a knee in the face. The man fell down. Kicking away the soldier's blade, he pulled out his own. Arron took no chance and...

And he couldn't.

When it came down to it, he couldn't even kill a fallen foe.

So Arron struck both of the soldier's knees instead. The soldier uttered not a single cry.

The cut on his cheek was hurting like crazy. His left lip felt wet and warm. But he didn't care.

He slashed at his sister's door and barged him. Thankfully his sister was decent. Although, she screamed and put a nice old punch on his face anyway, right on the cut.

"Arron, why are you..." then she saw the cut, and the soldier slumped down near the door. More boots and screamed issued from all over the palace.

For a moment she was too stunned to speak. Then her jaw tightened and her usual calm spark returned in her eyes.

Then she grabbed her cape from the ground and swung it around her body.

"I have a plan. Follow me," As she thrust a bright red ball of fire at the window of her room. The window burst open, revealing the royal garden.

She leaped out on the window and on a dragonhead fountain. The Boarstone sculpture took the fall rigidly.

Then she jumped down to the ground. Dried leaves crunched loudly under her feet. Arron followed her steps.

Elli crouched down near a dragon fountain and remove the seal on the drain. She stuck her hand in, lit it up and looked inside.

"Okay, it's clear." She said. Then she looked at the vent again.

"You go first" She pointed at the drain, "run if you hear something behind you."

No time to waste on arguments, Arron jumped in feet first. He landed on water. It was drainage, and, well, it smelled like drainage.

His sister's legs were inside the drain when the sound of boots reached the garden.

Elli tried to scramble in faster, but there was a yell, and a pair of hands seem to grab for her torso. Arron grabbed Elli's feet and pulled. He could momentarily see someone yanking on her hair and hoodie. He could also see the flashes of a blade.

Elli panicked.

Scarlet flames shot out of her palm like a dust cloud. The men who were holding her scrambled back. The fire reached the trees, and pulled the leaves with it. Heat spread through the garden's glass dome like a wave. And suddenly the hole room combusted into one large fireball, fueled by all the wood and dried leaves, that were being sucked upward like a fire storm.

Both Elli and Arron ducked as fire bellowed above them. Elli put out a wisp of fire on her hair. Arron could hear shouts above them. But no coherent messages, only shrieks of pain.

Theg started to move towards the right as silently as one can on water. A few yards further, the drainage dropped a into a slop. They both sat at the edge of it. If Arron knew correctly this would take them directly outside the city walls, into the forest. There is usually a pair of guards at the exit, but given the current situation, it's unlikely they've held their posts.

Elli turned to him, "Arron, outside, I mean, outside the castle, we have to keep who we are a secret. We have no way telling what they want with us. Or why they are attacking our people. That means once we're outside, minimize using firepower most you can."

Arron later found it ironic that Elli was the first one to defy her own advice.

"Mother, father..." Arron said, careful not to breath to rashly, lest it should break his thin facade of calm.

Elli reached into her dress and brought out a pendent. It had a yellow Stone embeded in silver and it was glowing white. Elli drew a ragged breath. Arron wasn't sure if the crackling and popping sound of fire came from above his head, or down, from wherever pain and grief crawls out of. Elli and Moon forthfire, their mother, had shared a soulstone. It was a stone with a slight glow, that could be broken in two parts. If the owner of one part dies, than the other parts looses it's former glow. If they are killed, it takes on the glow of the murderer.

It was a family gift.

It was also a way to keep tag of who-killed-who in the royal family.

White was their father's color, the stone had given him so.

Their mother was dead.

And their father was the murderer.

Elli suddenly jumped and hugged Arron. Arron couldn't do anything other than hug her back, a few tears admittedly traveled down his cheek.

After a few moments of only the sound the crackling water under them and the fire raging above. They let go of each other. They took a long look into each other's eyes and at last, turned and pushed themselves into the slop.

It took them straight outside, just like it was supposed to. There were no guards, just as planned.

They had walked for maybe two hours along the wall, too overwhelmed with emotions to think about what to do.

They had just been getting their wits together when Russell and Vivi suddenly came crashing into them.

Now Arron would've loved to just sit under a tree in agonizing pain, contemplating the events of the last few days that rocked his world. But there were other pressing matters.

Arron hadn't gone to take a leak for the last two days. And right now his bladder was screaming bloody murder.

Reluctantly, Arron rose to his feet and looked around. Often times, when the soldiers bought juicy stories, he'd hear that they would head to do their business in the woods. Well, he was standing in the edge of one.

Arron sighed and stepped forward towards his greatest feat of bravery yet.

T/n: this is probably my worst cliffhanger yet.