Now I was running again, only this time, it would be back to the castle. What was I supposed to do? I couldn't tell my parents what I saw. Drake was supposed to be dead and my parents would never believe me that a man had come back from the dead. I didn't even know if I could trust them. If that man was Drake, why would my parents have lied to me?

I was soaking wet but I didn't care. I didn't want to call my father or even talk to anyone. I was only about seven blocks away from the estate. People gave me strange looks and stared at me through the markets, shops, and restaurants. It wouldn't have been a good idea to look back at them. I had so much on my mind that I almost didn't notice them. Did other people around me know more about the incident that night than I did. Could I trust Kinji or Porcia or anyone? What if Emiko was part of their plan too? I would be surrounded by people in the castle and at school that probably were thinking that I was just an ignorant little royal.

I stopped running and leaned against the wall of a shop. I was so tired. How could I have even imagined of running that far? I knew how to get home, I just never knew how far it would really be.

"Your majesty? What are you doing out here? You're soaking wet. Your going to catch a cold out here." said a woman's voice beside me.

It was Porcia. I didn't want to see her but at this point, I couldn't just run away. That's all I have ever done. She was carrying some groceries plus an umbrella. I had found my chance to talk to her.

"I'll be fine. Those groceries look really heavy. Here. I'll carry the groceries and you carry the umbrella. Ok?" I asked.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm sure. Now let's go. My father is probably having a panick attack right now."

Porcia was confused but then gave me the groceries anyway. As we walked further down the street, I knew this was the perfect time to ask her. We were alone and there wasn't anyone who cared enough to over hear us.

"Can I ask you something, Porcia?"

"Of course."

"Do you know what happened to Sir Drake seven years ago?"

She looked at the ground and then back at the road ahead of us.

"He was shot during a mission, correct?" she asked.

"Yes. Are you positive something else didn't happen? Was he actually killed?"

There was a long pause again.

"Yes, your majesty. Sir Drake was killed in the incident." she replied.

I could already tell by the way she was talking that she wasn't sure herself. She always seemed confident when she would talk otherwise. If she were telling me the truth, I know she wouldn't be this nervous.

"Why do you take so long to answer? Are you lying to me? Please, Porcia. If you know something, please..... tell me. I need to know." I begged.

Porcia stopped and I turned to her. She never once looked up at me.

"I'm sorry but I can't tell you." she said quietly.

"Why not?"

"Because I was ordered not to. If you want to know more about Sir Drake, I suggest you talk to your father. Don't mention any of our conversation to him. Do you understand me?" she asked.

I nodded. We went on walking and Porcia did not say a word to me the rest of the way home. She didn't look my way but kept staring ahead of her. She looked scared. Arion was there to greet us at the door. Arion said something but I didn't pay attention and Porcia ignored him. I followed Porcia into the kitchen.

"Just set them there." she said, pointing to the counter.

I set them down and walked out. Arion stared at me as I walked down the hallway. I knew now was the time to ask my father. The only problem was, I had to keep calm and not get angry with him and start yelling. Even if he began to yell, I had to remain calm and not retaliate or I would get no where. I was finally at the door. I felt like I should be running away but I didn't. As much as I wanted to, I was already this far. I could hear someone walking around in there and it almost seemed like more than one person. I knocked on the door and as always, my father welcomed me in. I looked around the room but there was no one else in there. He didn't look up at me either.

"Father? I have a question for you."

"What is it?" he asked.

The conversation stopped for a moment but it had to be continued. I knew that I had to be confident because otherwise I wouldn't have been taken seriously. I kept eye contact the entire time even though I had such a urge to look down at the floor and ignore the conversation entirely. I had the courage now and if I would have waited any longer, it would be gone.

"What really happened to Sir Drake?"

That got his attention. He looked up from the stack of papers on his desk and straightened his glasses.

"You already know the answer, Koda. He was shot and killed during a mission." he replied.

There was another pause.

"You're lying to me. Aren't you?" I said, trying not to lose the calmness of my voice or my voice completely.

"What are you up to?"

"Sir Drake is not dead. What did you really do to him? He did not die in that warehouse. Why did you lie to me?" I asked, keeping a straight face.

He got up from his desk, almost tipping his chair over. His expression turned to anger. He walked over to me quickly and grabbed my shirt.

"Are you accusing your own father of lying?" he asked me.

I stared at him but did not answer. I never changed my expression because the slightest amount of emotion he could detect would mean the end of the conversation. He loosened his grip and finally let go. He walked back toward his desk and looked out the window.

"I don't know who you have talked to or if they told you different, but he is dead. I am finished with this conversation." he said.

We sat in silence.

"Did you kill him?" I asked.

My fathers fists had tightened. He turned his face to me. I had never seen him so angry. He took a book off of the shelf next to him and threw it at me. It had missed my head by only inches. He came toward me again but never tried to strike me. He only stared. I never flinched. I never thought my own father would ever get violent.

"Just tell me and I will go." I told him.

He backed away and then sat in his desk again.

"I'm sorry, Koda. An act like that will never happen again toward you, as long as you understand where your place is. Now, why do you think I would kill drake?"

"I don't believe you would. I need you to tell me what happened. It was the only way to get you to tell me." I replied.

He sighed, "Alright. Fine. You are correct. Sir Drake is not dead. When you ran away that night, Drake was the one, as always, keeping watch over your room. He was supposed to protect you but he failed to do so. You remember being kidnapped, yes?"

I nodded.

"Drake had gone to save you, along with the rest of the Eight Knights and they had succeeded. After you were hospitalized, I had talked with Drake. I didn't know if I could trust him to keep you safe. You are my only son and the only heir to the throne. I had relieved Sir Drake of all his duties and he was forgotten. Instead of disgracing him and his family, people believed him to be dead which was what he wanted. We had both agreed that it was best for him to leave the palace."

"You and I both know it wasn't his fault." I said.

"You have to understand that I made my decision because I wanted to protect you."

"If you wanted to protect me, why did you try to hurt me then?"

"You had left me no choice. You need to learn respect. Speaking out of turn is not a good trait for a prince. Do you understand?" he replied.

"Very well. You remember Emiko, right?"

"Yes."

"Sir Drake is her father, isn't he?"

He nodded.

I bowed to him as a sign of respect as he wanted and then walked out of the room. The door shut behind me. I leaned against the wall, staring at the stained glass window in front of me. The light had given away the rain drops as they ran down the cold glass. The hallway lights were not on. I didn't know who had shut them off but it was still light enough to see. It seemed so quiet. There were no maids wandering through the halls. I didn't even see any guards. I didn't understand why. I am only a prince, yet I was protected while I slept, while I studied, when I would go out, and even if I was just walking around the estate. I thought that my father, the king, would be better protected than me. I would have thought that he would be a main target for an assassin so wasn't there anyone at all protecting him? I could even feel the anger inside me. He seemed to worry so much about me but I swear I could see anger in his eyes toward me. I had never seen it before. If that book would have been any closer, who knows what could have happened. Was he even thinking about that or was he just ignoring everything? There are people everywhere trying to figure out ways to get him off of the throne. If anyone were to find out about this incident, they would have used that opportunity to get all of the people on their side. As angry as I was at him, I was still glad no one had seen it. The rain outside started to come down even harder. I could hear it against the window. Out of the fifteen minutes that I had stood there, I hadn't seen anyone come down this hallway. I snapped out of my little thoughts and just listened. I had heard noises while I was thinking but no one was there. Then, I heard a voice. It was coming from inside my father's office. I knew it wasn't his. There were no others in there but my father and I and no one had walked in so how could there be anyone else in there.

"I'm having second thoughts on my statement from before. I didn't think that the... child would even be close to ready. He showed an amazing amount of restraint during that conversation, no?" the voice said.

It was a man but he had an accent that wasn't from our country. It was from a neighboring country off to the north known as Shinso which was ruled by King Hajime Inoue. Although our countries had agreed to form an alliance, our countries are still not on good terms.

"The boy could be a king yet! I don't think that there should be anything to worry about. There is one matter I was sent here to discuss with you though." he said.

"What does Hajime want this time? Is it land, money, troops perhaps?" It was my father this time.

I could hear the man laugh.

"Oh no. Something much more valuable." he laughed.

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"The prince."

"What does he want with Koda?" my father's voice got a little louder.

"As you know, Koda has already come of marrying age. The eldest daughter of King Hajime is as well and-"

Father cut him off.

"Is he asking for a marriage proposal?" I could hear father get up.

"I don't think you understand the benefits of this marriage. This would form a complete alliance between the two countries. It could even combine the two into one gigantic country and Koda would rule over it." he said.

"Koda is already betrothed."

I heard the man laugh again.

"Your highness, I don't mean to be rude but you mean that noble's daughter? Royals are supposed to marry other royals. Not Nobles. Besides, I don't think anyone has heard from that family for a while now."

There was a long pause. Finally, I heard footsteps heading for the door.

"Well, I'll leave it to you to decide. Oh, and one more thing," the man's voice became more serious, "You should make up your mind quickly, Yukan. For now, his majesty Hajime is asking. It won't be long before the request turns into a demand."

The door suddenly opened. I looked up and saw the man's face. He was definitely from Shinso. He shut the door behind him and walked toward me. Then, he looked at my eyes. His expression turned into a smirk and he walked down the hall. I walked the other way. I knew I should not have heard that conversation. The more I thought about it, the better it was that I had heard it for myself. I knew that King Hajime's request wasn't meant to be taken as a way for his daughter to live happily ever after with me. I had met him before at various occasions and if there was one thing I knew about that man, it was that he was greedy. He also would not want to benefit our country. There had to be something in the marriage for him but I couldn't guess what it was. King Hajime did not have any sons. He only had four daughters. None of them could rule the two countries without a prince from another. If his daughter was as devious as he is, she could easily have killed me after the marriage and taken the countries for herself and dominate over other neighboring countries rather than creating peace. The only problem was, I had no idea what she looked like or acted like. I didn't even know her name. What would Hajime's motives be? Why would he choose our country? If anything, he would want our country for himself. I needed my father to tell me about this himself. If I was going to protect this country, I needed to make the right decision and sacrifice whatever was necessary to protect my people.