*Casimir's POV*

It didn't seem real.

My mother, dead. My sister, missing. My best friend, bedridden. My citizens, terrified. And the woman I had so hastily, so foolishly, wanted as my queen... a lie.

The weight of it all had yet to sink in.

I was in my father's study, pacing back and forth across the worn wood like I'd seen him do so many times in my childhood, and trying my hardest to think rationally like he would in this situation. Down the hall, maids and servants were working to clear away the shards that remained of ball room's glass roof. The ball had ended abruptly and in chaos. The guests were dismissed without an explanation, as there really was none to give.

How does one explain the night's events, anyway? All of the dragons were gone. My father led the attack himself, because the dragons were plotting with the other Nonies to take our kingdom for themselves. My father was a good king; wiser than I could ever even hope to be. And even though it brought him great sadness, he knew he had no choice but to eliminate our former allies.

And yet, just a few hours ago, a dragon-- very alive-- came crashing into the ballroom and took Lady Jacintha away. I heaved a sigh.

Was Jacintha even her real name?

I paced quicker, my turns sharper, and I ran a hand through my hair. I wished now more than ever that my father was here. He would know what to do.

Was this dragon attack and the murder of my mother an act of war by the Nonies? And where had they taken Rainette? How was I supposed to retaliate, now that everything was on my shoulders?

This was all my father's to figure out, after all, he was king! But he wasn't here, and I highly doubted that even now when I needed his guidance he would return. I wasn't even sure where he'd gone to, but he'd left shortly after winning the war, and he'd said it was for something highly important.

And so we let him go, telling the public that their king was bedridden. Telling myself and my sister that he would be home soon. Blind faith.

I really had a problem when it came to trusting people, didn't I? As prince I should be more reserved. I should have known better than to trust so easily. After all, look at all it's gotten me.

"Your Highness," the royal adviser said quietly. He stood in the doorway, looking torn between entering or bowing, and so he just sort of wobbled in place.

"Yes, Favros?" I used his arrival as an excuse to stop pacing, and stood as calmly as I could.

"A-as you know," he stammered, "with her majesty Queen Amaranth dead, and the king still away on his journey, we look to you as our sovereign."

"I am aware," I nodded carefully, though in my mind the panic returned. Why else did he think I'd been in here pacing? "Any news on Sir Tobias's condition?"

"Yes Your Highness, he's awake and asking for you," Favros replied.

"Thank you," I said hastily before hurrying out the door. I walked quickly down the hall and up the winding staircase that led to the bedrooms— the room that was my parents to the right, and my room across from that. Down the hall a bit further was Rainette's room, and as her bodyguard Tobias's room was next to her's.

I pushed the heavy mahogany door open to find Tobias sitting up in his bed with a bandage wrapped around his head.

He smiled at me when I entered, but then he seemed to remember the events of the night and his face grew grave. "Cas," he said, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I couldn't protect her." His words were rushed, and as he pushed himself up straighter he winced. "It's my job to protect her, but I couldn't stop him! He was too strong, and the way he spoke made me doubt my actions! He—"

"Tobias, relax," I insisted, moving into the room and sitting in the chair at the side of his bed. "You were injured and went unconscious, don't strain yourself." It took a lot for me not to rush the answers out of him. We had to find my sister, but we couldn't if Tobias was stuck here in his bedroom.

Tobias took a deep breath. "A man came to the ball with your Lady Jacintha, and it was he who took the princess. While Jacintha escaped with the dragon and everyone was distracted, the man put her under some sort of sleeping trance and carried her away. It was when I tried to stop him that he spoke to me." Tobias's brow furrowed. "It was so strange, Cas. All he did was speak, and though I knew it was wrong and I wanted to fight it, my body still did as he commanded."

"What do you mean?"

"He said, 'You don't actually want to save her. You want to let me go. After all, you don't have the strength to stop me and you know it.' And though I wanted to argue, I found myself agreeing. The words came all on their own and I agreed with him that I was too weak to fight, that he should go." Tobias shook his head, seeming just as baffled by his words as I was. "And then he told me to step to the left, and I did. And that was when a beam fell from the ceiling and knocked me unconcious."

"Whoever he was, he probably wasn't human. I don't think there was anything you could have done, but you tried. Perhaps when we venture out to rescue Rainette we can see into stuffing our ears with something so we can't hear him?" I suggested.

Tobias nodded fervently. "I'll be ready to go by tomorrow, Cas. We can leave first thing in the morning to try and locate the princess."

I watched the hope light his eyes, and the memory of a conversation with Lady Jacintha returned to me.

"Those two seem close," She'd noted quietly, watching as Rainette and Tobias exited the ballroom.

I had nodded. "He's her body guard, it's his duty to remain at her side always."

"How old is your sister?"

"Fifteen."

"And Tobias?" she'd pressed.

"Sixteen, he's only a few months younger than me."

"And if Raini decided she wanted to marry Tobias instead of her fiancé... That would be frowned upon, correct?" There was a small smile on Jacintha's face as she awaited my answer.

"Rainette knows she can only marry royalty; Tobias is a knight. Besides, she seems to be quite enamored with her betrothed."

I knew that was a lie when I said it. Rainette couldn't stand her fiancé, Lord Terrius, and even before Tobias became her body guard the two of them were always close. I wanted to ask him about it now, but her safty was most important. Afterwards. After we saved her, I would ask them both.

For now, I had a different question. "Jacintha was plotting with them, wasn't she?" It came out more like a statement, my voice bleak.

Tobias nodded, his face falling. "I'm sorry; I know you were fond of her."

Fond. That was an understatement. I tried not to let the disappointment show on my face. "You should probably sleep now, Tobias," I said, both to change the subject and because I realized in that moment how late it actually was. "As should I. If we want to start searching tomorrow we must be well rested."

"Yes, Your Highness," Tobias answered, a twinge of humor in his voice.

As I stood from the chair I smiled, despite the events of the day. "Good night, Sir Rointheta." I stressed his title, playing along.

He smiled back, sliding down in his bed and closing his eyes. I exited my best friend's room, closing the door softly behind me.

"Ah, Casimir, there you are." Lord Terrius sighed as he made his way down the hall. "Is that guard ready to get back to work yet?" He asked, twisting one of his many rings. How a man could wear so much jewlery was beyond me.

"Sir Rointheta may have a concussion. He will rest for as long as he needs to." I answered firmly.

Terrius rolled his eyes. "He's a knight. Shouldn't he be trained to recover from these things quickly?"

I bit the inside of my cheek to refrain from hurling insults at the pompous lord. "No, no such training exists, Terrius."

"Hm. Well, you're king now, correct? You should look into that. Knights who must take time off to recover from injuries are of no use." I watched the ruby ring go round and round his finger, my irritation growing. "And if you will, send a guard or two to stand outside my room. With the events of the evening, I don't feel safe alone." With that, he sauntered down the hall, a noticeable jingling sound following him.

And that was that. No "I'm sorry about the queen," or even "any word on my fiancé?"

As I watched Lord Terrius disappear around the corner, I decided that his engagement to my sister could not stand. He was right, I was king now, and I had the power to dissolve their betrothal. Rainette was a wonderful girl, and she deserved someone better than him. She deserved to choose who she would marry.

I nodded to myself, the decision made. If Rainette desired it, if it would make her happy, I would make it so she could marry Tobias. But first, of course, we would have to save her.

Obviously, the kidnappers were Nonies. Probably that group, the Abandoned Order, though they had never done anything this extreme before. Did that mean Lady Jacintha was a Nonie too? She had seemed human, but my father had always taught me that they could be tricky. Like the dragons who were originally allied with our kingdom.

My father had been good friends with their king, and their prince— who was only a few years older than I— had been my best friend growing up. But then my father learned they were plotting to take our land, plotting to betray us, and that was the end of it. I would sometimes feel sad that the dragons were gone, meaning my friend was gone as well, but then I remember how much worse off we would have been if their plan had succeeded.

Nonies only know deception. And so Jacintha must have been one of them. I wonder, what was she? A mermaid? A nymph of some sort? Perhaps she was a creature that ensnared the feelings of others. At least that way I could feel less ashamed for how quickly I fell for her.

I made my way through the empty hall and down multiple flights of stone steps until I came to the royal crypt. I had been there many times as a child, but it always felt strange and impersonal to me. This was where my grandparents, and their parents and grandparents, and so on going back as far as the first royal family of Lumina were all buried, but I'd never felt any connection to it.

Now as I looked at the freshly sealed grave of my mother, I felt far too connected to this place. It hurt. And as the tears fell, I wished for my sister to be here crying with me, and then I cried harder over the guilt of simply not wanting to be alone in this.

"Mother," I whispered, pressing my hand against the smooth stone that blocked off the door to her tomb. "I don't know if I can do this..." I hoped no one was around to hear my sobs and think of me as weak. "I've been preparing for this my whole life. I knew one day I would have to rule, to make choices, to have the fate of our entire nation resting on my shoulders... but I don't think I'm ready. I still need you, Mother. I need your guidance, because I know that the things to come— whatever they may be— they're going to be difficult, and I... I can barely carry out a conversation without stuttering, or cross a room without tripping. How can I be expected to rule? I..."

I trailed off with a tearful sigh. This was pointless. My mother was gone, and I was alone. My only hope was that my tutoring would pay off and I really would be able to lead.

"Your Majesty," Favros spoke quietly, making me jump.

I turned to face him, wiping my eyes quickly. "Y-yes?"

"It's nearly sunrise." Whether he'd heard me crying or not, he didn't let on.

I nodded, "Thank you, Favros. I'll go to bed now."

"Shall I turn down your blankets and prepare your sleeping robes, my king?" He gestured toward the stairs that led out of the crypt.

The weight of his words hit me harder than my own thoughts had. King. I had already known it to be true, but hearing it from the mouth of another solidified it and made it all the more terrifying. "No, that's all right, I can do that myself."

Favros nodded and started up the steps, but I called out to stop him. "If it isn't any trouble, however, could you prepare my horse for when I wake? Sir Rointheta's as well."

"You plan to leave?" Favros's eyes widened slightly, his voice fearful. I was reminded instantly of the day my father went away; the same question had left my own lips.

"I must find my sister," I answered. "I will return once I have her."

"B-but your Majesty, you can't," Favros said quickly, "tomorrow is your formal coronation, and you must address the people! If you don't speak to them, there could be unrest in the kingdom; rumors, and possibly a call for rebellion. I'm sorry, but you can't search for Princess Rainette. Not personally, at least. We can dispatch a troupe of knights, if you so desire, but that is all we can do for now." And then, seeming to remember who he was speaking to, he bowed low. "I'm truly sorry, King Casimir."

I nodded, pursing my lips. Favros was right, I couldn't leave. If I didn't speak to the public, it would only upset them. Unbalance in the kingdom is all the Nonies would need to spark their war.

The image of my dear little sister trapped and alone in some Nonie dungeon flashed in my mind, her eyes pleading with me as I spoke slowly. "You're right." Tobias would be furious with me when he woke. "Knights then. At least twenty of our strongest. Send them in the direction the Abandoned Order was last spotted. Somewhere in that area they have a base, and I'm nearly positive that's where Rainette has been taken."

"Right away, your Highness!" Favros hurried up the stairs ahead of me.

Slowly, I followed after him, suddenly feeling completely drained. I made my way into my darkened bedroom and crawled immediately into bed, not even bothering to change out of the suit I'd worn to the ball. I wondered where Rainette was sleeping. Had they given her a change of clothes, or was she still in her gown? Would they feed her, or even give her water? Would they torture her?

I gripped my pillow tightly, the thought of any harm coming to my sister nearly bringing on another round of tears. I pinched my eyes shut, forcing the tears back.

I had watched my father all throughout my childhood, and I'd monitored his every action. I hadn't learned much, but I knew one thing for certain:

Kings didn't cry.

________

Thoughts from 2017: I could make several complaints about my writing. But just... bless this boy. I miss him and I can't wait to write him again.