SWEAT PELTED DOWN my eyebrows at an alarming rate as the sound of men shouting all around me filled my ears. Every muscle in my body screamed as I expertly moved the javelin in my hands around my body before pulling it to the front with my left hand and throwing it with every last ounce of my energy.

I watched as the javelin shot through the air and plunged into the target's chest with a satisfied smile before walking towards the target to retrieve my weapon of choice. The light spear had been my best pick ever since I had started training with the kingdom's army ten years ago.

Since then, I had spent most of my time and effort on teaching myself to treat the weapon as an extension of my body in order to be able to control it well during an unseen battle. Seeing as the Exscidium war occurred only seventeen years ago, it was best that the kingdom was always prepared for an attack from every direction.

As I reached the target and prepared myself to pull out the javelin that had deeply embedded itself into the wooden surface, I caught sight of a familiar face walking towards me from my peripheral vision. A small smile settled on my lips as I yanked the javelin off the target and turned to face my brother.

"Still a pro at murdering inanimate objects, I see," said Alasdair with nonchalance as a smirk played about his lips, though his eyes gave away his true emotions on how impressed he was at my throwing skills.

"Just inanimate objects? You know there's no one better than me at beheading a target with a javelin in this entire kingdom," I said, my tone laced with pride as my smirk mirrored my brother-like figure that stood in front of me.

From the earliest memories of my life, there isn't a time that I could recall where I wasn't with Alasdair. We had grown up together in the castle; studied together, trained together and occasionally gotten into trouble together. It had helped that his aunt was part of the royal advisors to the King himself, so we were rarely separated.

We were the ultimate destructive duo that the kingdom was yet to know. Alasdair rolled his eyes at me before falling into step beside me as we walked towards the bench that held all my belongings.

"Of course, you haven't actually found a chance to prove that theory true yet but I'm sure your adoring fan base would kindly overlook that due to their blind devotion to a handsome, young prince such as yourself," he said as he eyed some of the female warriors that were looking our way without much discretion.

"I'm sure if you actually dragged your butt down here to train as often as I do, you'd actually have to buy a snowplough just to get through the room in one piece," I said as I turned to look at my 'fan base' as Alasdair called it. They looked away the second my eyes fell upon them with such speed that I was sure at least one of them had a whiplash.

He lightly shook his head before settling onto the bench with a sigh. "You know my sole purpose in life is to ruin Brinda's life by continuously disappointing her. I can't do that if I'm being responsible," he said as he stared distractedly at one of the female warriors who blushed at his attention.

I threw my water bottle at him and grinned when it hit him hard on his head. He yelped as the bottle fell to the ground with a loud thud as he furiously rubbed his head with his right hand. He scowled at me as I watched his source of distraction laugh to herself before returning to polishing the throwing knives that she held in her hands.

"First off, don't distract the initiates, they've just started settling into their new training plan. Secondly, your aunt is like a mother to me, so if you continue to disappoint her by focusing your attention on them," I pointed towards the female warriors, "then be prepared to get hit in the head by a dumbbell next," I said as I cooled off my body with some light stretches.

"If she's like your mother by feeding you all those Indian sweets, I bet I should be your father by now with the amount of food I've snuck into your room for you to eat when you skip dinner," he muttered under his breath as he continued to rub the sore spot on his head, while reaching down for the water bottle by his feet with his unoccupied hand to take a sip.

"You are," I countered jokingly, and he spit his water out all over my heat-geared shirt. I narrowed my eyes at him before grabbing a towel to dry myself off as he shrugged at me before wiping his mouth dry. "Is there a reason that you came down here to see me or was it only to spit water on me and mock me?"

"On the contrary, I actually came down here to tell you that your clothes have arrived and I have placed them in your room. Mission Exploit Secrets is a go, I'm afraid," he said with a sigh as he rubbed off a few stray water droplets from his trousers before crossing his legs, one over the other.

My breath caught in my chest at his words. My regular clothes had arrived and that meant the first part of digging into the past and uncovering the mysteries that laid there was finally falling into place. My first stop was the local hospital that was located a few miles away from the castle.

To be able to crack the enigma that was the unusual death of the Queen, I first needed to get my hands on her hospital documents. It was highly uncommon for anyone from the royal family to visit a hospital, much less a Queen during childbirth as we had our own expert midwives in the field.

I turned to Alasdair with a solemn look on my face and he nodded towards me with sincerity, our former playful air momentarily disappearing from the atmosphere around us. We were ready to open an ancient can of worms no matter what the cost was. Let the truth prevail.

*******

A knock sounded at my door, as I begrudgingly scanned through the clothes that I was supposed to wear to the hospital, and a quick shot of panic ran through my veins as I kicked the clothes under the bed and approached the door with caution. It was a Saturday morning, so that meant that I had over half the day off to execute my plan, but this could all end so quickly if the person at the door was Oliath.

I unlocked the door and pulled it open slowly as I stuck my head out to greet whoever that was outside my door. At the sight of a grinning Alasdair, I sighed before opening the door wider and returning to my position by the bed. "You know, you reminded me of that guy from The Shining poster for a second there. You should have seen yourself," he said with a quiet laugh before perching himself on my bed.

I stared at him emotionlessly before bending down to the grab the clothes that I had kicked under the bed and dusted them off in Alasdair's general direction. I placed the clothes on the bed with a satisfied smirk on my face when he started coughing from the dust.

As I looked over the dark camo joggers and the white long-sleeved hoodie, which I was sure was a size too small for me, a scowl replaced the smirk on my lips. These clothes were absolutely improper and if someone were to catch me in these, I would be a walking corpse in the eyes of the King.

Alasdair laughed before picking up the hoodie and examining it like it was a rare specimen. "This is pretty extreme, even for you, man. Are you sure about this?" He asked as he stuck his hand into the front pocket of the hoodie.

"I haven't slept in months because of this. Either I get caught for poking at things I shouldn't be or die from the lack of sleep," I said with a sigh as I grabbed the hoodie from his hands and placed it by the joggers. Truly an amazing combination of clothes for my funeral.

"Well I came up here to tell you that the car is parked a distance away from the servants' quarters, so watch out for anyone who might spot you while you're leaving. I'll be waiting for you there," said Alasdair as he rose from the bed and made his way to the door with a sigh.

"Hey Alas?" I called out to him and he stopped to turn and look at me with a raised eyebrow. "Thanks for doing this with me, man." He smiled at me and gave me a small nod before turning around and exiting the room wordlessly. Sometimes, he was the only one around here that truly understood my intentions and encouraged me when I was in doubt.

I turned back towards the clothes with a sigh and quickly changed into them silently. Time was ticking. As per my suspicions, the joggers fit me perfectly while the hoodie was ill-fitting, but not obvious enough to draw any attention to it. Part one of completely losing myself was accomplished.

I slipped on the dark grey sneakers that the clothes had come with before turning to fill my pockets with a phone that I hardly used, some emergency money, a throwing knife for protection and my ID. The ID was a last minute resort, in case things didn't turn out the way I had planned them to, but I prayed hard that it wouldn't come to that.

This was an incognito mission. I just needed to slip in and slip out with some information while keeping my true identity concealed, or else it would become my own personal end times with the King and Oliath. They didn't take disobedience very lightly in these castle walls.

I poked my head out of my room to test the waters; scanning the hallway for any signs of life before soundlessly rushing towards the stairway. My breathlessness and the exhilaration from my fast pace reminded me of why I was doing this.

As much as the truth would set me and everyone else free, the sense of a mystery being discovered and the freedom that it would bring me from that nagging voice at the back of my mind fuelled my actions and quickened my pace. My curiosity and stubbornness in wanting to learn was always my strongest suit.

I ducked under shelves and behind pillars as I made my way towards the servants' quarters, which was rather lifeless at this time of the day. People were tending to their daily commitments about the castle, making this time of the day perfect for someone to sneak in or out of the servants' quarters, not that anyone should know that.

I caught sight of a battered old door as I neared the exit which inexplicably caused my steps to falter. It looked like it was made of regular teak wood, but unused based on the rusted hinges and slight dusting of cobwebs at its four corners. Yet, it was the air of eeriness that surrounded the space around the door that had initially affected me. How odd.

Upon reaching the back exit of the quarters, I caught sight of a blue Maserati Quattroporte GranSport parked beside a large tree with Alasdair at the driver's seat. He had offered to drive us to the hospital as I couldn't have managed to get a driver to keep quiet about my whereabouts to the King.

Expensive cars were a rarity in Aldorra as they most often had to be brought in from the mainland and took an impossible amount of paperwork to get through the borders. A lot of time and money goes into getting the cars through the borders, which wasn't possible for people with lower incomes.

Some of the businessmen in the local towns were able to afford them, but that was it. It wasn't exactly a loss to the Aldorrians as we prided ourselves with an efficient public transport system. As much as I detested a lavish lifestyle that actively made people feel bad about themselves, this car was the one thing that my uncle had involved himself in getting me.

He had deliberately taken time away from his duties to work with the designer to produce a car that would fit my taste as well comply with a list of safety measures that had been established for the Royal family in order to keep us safe. The car's heavily tinted, bulletproof glass and automated weapons system was the only reason why we had to take it to the hospital and risk grabbing unwanted attention.

Even though this plan was highly unsafe, some protection was necessary as I was risking both our lives. I pulled my hood over my head before dashing to the car when the coast was clear. I crept through the back of the car before gently knocking on the glass of the front passenger's door, startling Alasdair awake from his daydream. He took his time with unlocking the door for me as I slipped onto the seat with a heavy sigh.

"You took your time," I said, unamused as a smirk played about his lips before pulling the car from behind the tree and travelling down the dirt road that led to the backstreet of the castle.

"And you took your time getting ready, princess," he said with a silent laugh as I narrowed my eyes at him before popping open the glove compartment. I pulled out a black cotton face mask from the compartment before closing it shut loudly to express my annoyance.

"You're a pain in the butt," I said as I pulled on the face mask that concealed half my face.

"Ah, thank you. It means I'm fulfilling my sole purpose in life," he said with a smirk in my direction before devoting his attention back to the road. I closed my eyes and shook my head before turning towards the window to concentrate on the scenery.

In a matter of five minutes, Alas was driving into the compound of the fifty-year old hospital; admittedly one of the largest ones in Aldorra. A few cars were littered across the parking lot of the hospital, but other than that the compound was rather deserted this early in the morning.

Alas pulled the car to a stop towards the back of the parking lot, which was the furthest distance away from the hospital in order to not attract any attention from passers-by, though there weren't any signs of life in the vicinity. It helped eased my breathing by the slightest.

I looked over at Alas as I let out a nervous breath, my fingers drumming lightly on my legs as the pressure built up in my chest. He gave me a small smile before reaching his left hand over my head to ruffle my hair a little. I narrowed my eyes at him as he let out a small laugh. "Sorry, but no one walks into a hospital perfectly groomed."

Deep down, I knew it was for his own personal amusement but I was willing to let it slide at the moment as my nerves seemed to pose a bigger threat to my well-being. I closed my eyes and held my breath before releasing it slowly. I looked towards Alasdair who offered me a reassuring smile before I turned to observe the hospital. The truth shall prevail.

*******

I walked up the old, wooden front steps of the hospital towards the entrance with my heart slowly pulsing in my throat. This was extremely dangerous. Was risking my life worth all this effort? What if there was nothing to be found in the first place?

That would be an obvious lie to everything I stood for. When I usually sensed foul play in a matter, I was rarely proven wrong. There was something evidently wrong in the whole matter and if the King and my grandmother had a hand in it, then caution was to be exercised in whatever that I sought after. If something truly out of the ordinary did happen to the Queen, I could find myself the next in order for an ill-fate.

I pushed open the glass doors at the front entrance before slipping into a long corridor filled with a few cleaners readying the place for visitors of the patients in the wards, none of which paid me any attention. My breathing eased a little as I slipped my clammy palms into my pockets as I approached the reception counter at the end of the corridor.

In reality, the corridor must have only taken five minutes to cross, but it felt like eons in my mind as a series of doubts started to present themselves. I looked around the corridor to study the murals that flowed through the walls in order to ease my mind from the tension that was carefully brewing.

Merely half a metre away, I caught sight of a girl, that couldn't have been much younger than me, rearranging books and tidying up the desk that she occupied, signalling that she was just getting started on her shift. Unbeknown to me, she hummed a little tune to herself as she straightened out random writing instruments on the desk.

An air of cheerfulness hung around her; her auburn hair twisted into a loose braid around her head and her hospital garments sporting mismatched badges from her various interests. My breathing eased a little at the sight of her welcoming character in the hospital. Maybe this would turn out a lot smoother than I had hoped it would be.

"Excuse me, miss?" I called out to her upon reaching the desk, a little too loudly in the empty space, causing her to jump a little before turning around to greet me. At this distance, it was hard to say whether her eyes were blue, green or a mix between the both.

"Oop, my heart just stopped beating for a second there. Anyway, welcome to the Isla University Hospital. My name is Aspen. How may I assist you, sir?" She spoke with a soft lilt in her voice, hinting at an accent of a language that I was not quite familiar with.

"Sorry for bothering you but I wish to ask you for some medical records from around eighteen years ago. Would that be possible?" I spoke as loudly as I could, hoping that my voice would carry across the mask that I wore.

"Only family members who are authorised to view a patient's documents are allowed access to them, but if you truly wish to obtain documents from before the Exscidium war, most of those documents might have already been destroyed or are probably illegible at this time around," she said with an apologetic smile. "Nonetheless, I could still try and take a look at the storage room for you. Who are we looking for and what's your relationship to them?"

I hesitated as I looked up to the skylight roof, the rays of the sun streaming into the hospital in a beautiful pattern. The walls were painted a light turquoise to emanate a comfortable environment that did little to calm my nerves that had returned from her simple question. Surely it couldn't be as simple as just asking for the Queen's reports at the reception area and obtaining it, could it? Still, there was no harm in trying.

"I would like to request for Queen Aryn's reports from when she had visited this hospital eighteen years ago," I said as my hands moved to my mask with a sigh. This was no longer an incognito mission.

The smile dropped from Aspen's face as a hard look crossed it. "Only people from the Royal family are permitted to get a hold of those documents. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you leave—"

"My name is Alpheus Lael Ravenhunt, the Crown Prince of Aldorra. I believe I have a right to my aunt's documents," I interrupted her with a strong voice as I slipped off my mask and turned my eyes back to her with a challenge. Nothing will stop the truth from prevailing.

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A U T H O R ' S N O T E

Now that it's been a year since I updated, what better way to celebrate the occasion than by updating! Quick life update: I've now completed one year of my degree! Two more to go. :')

Hope y'all have been safe during the pandemic. ❤️

Don't forget to comment as you read the story, constructive criticism is welcomed but blatant hate comments will be deleted, and vote if you've enjoyed reading this!

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