Jayden and Elizah spent the next few days having their secret practice sessions at the pond. Elizah was improving gradually. Things were going smoothly.

Until King Cyprian barged into Jayden’s room early in the morning, one fine day. Jayden had slept late the previous night due to Elizah’s training extending longer than usual. “Are you willing to come for a training session?” Cyprian’s booming voice echoed in the room.

Jayden groaned and got up from the bed slowly. He didn’t realize that his father had called him and slowly opened his eyes. After seeing Cyprian, he instantly jumped out of bed and said, “Sure, I’ll meet you in the grounds, father.”

Cyprian just nodded and walked out of Jayden’s chambers. Jayden made sure that he was out the door before he walked to his weapons shelf. His first impulse was to pick up a sturdy bow and a quiver of arrows, but he knew he wouldn’t have target practice with his father.

He looked around and saw a large sword on top of his box of paints. He didn’t prefer the sword since it was heavy, but to show his father his skills, he chose the sword as the best choice to impress him. He pushed the sword into the scabbard and attached it to his belt before he walked out of the room.

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“Finally, here comes the sleeping prince,” Jayden heard a voice mocking him as he walked out into the courtyard.

He turned to see his mother standing with her arm on his father’s shoulder. Jayden had always wondered how she was at the King’s side at all times without Cyprian snapping at her, but he never dared to ask her since her eyes held a smouldering rage in them.

“Did you sleep well?” his mother asked, with the mocking edge still lacing her voice.

Jayden had every urge to smack the grin off her face but had to keep himself under control to avoid her wrath. He gave her a quiet nod.

Cyprian gave him a smile. “Good. You’ll need your energy,” Cyprian said.

“Why don’t we try something different? I would love to witness a good duel between father and son,” Noxaura said.

They continued to walk from the courtyard to the arena. Jayden glanced at Cyprian. Surely his mother wasn’t serious. Jayden wasn’t strong enough to duel his father.

But Cyprian’s gaze was serious, and his eyes were somewhat glazed over as if his focus was not even on the conversation.

“Of course Noxaura,” Cyprian said simply as he unfastened his cloak and handed it to a nearby servant.

Jayden noticed the giant sword in his father’s scabbard and knew that he was in danger. A sword like that was a dangerous weapon. Even if Jayden tried his best, Cyprian had the advantage of weight and a more robust blade.

Besides that, a sword wasn’t Jayden’s weapon of choice. He would never manage to win this duel.

Jayden was contemplating his chances as they walked into the arena. Noxaura took a seat, and Jayden watched her and saw a smirk on her face as if she had planned the entire thing out to play itself against Jayden.

“If my son wins,” Noxaura said, “Then Jayden will be treated with a feast. But if Cyprian wins Jayden will receive 5 lashings from the King himself.”

Jayden wasn’t scared of the lashings, nor did he want a feast in his honour. But it still bothered him how Noxaura was somewhat laying all the guidelines for their duel.

“Isn’t that a bit harsh for a practice duel?” Jayden asked, and Noxaura glared at him.

“Oh, this is no ordinary practice. This is a test for a lot of things,” Noxaura said, gazing only at Cyprian strangely.

Cyprian unsheathed his sword, and Jayden did the same. They both squared each other and waited in position for the call for the first blow to be made.

“May the best fighter win,” Noxaura said and signalled for them to start.

Jayden slowly walked up to the centre of the duelling ring, and his father stepped in as well.

Jayden was careful to observe all the options for a weak point before he struck, but his father’s flashing blade caused his focus to waver.

Luckily, he defended the first strike quite well, and he gave a small sigh of relief. His forehead was beading with sweat, and he saw Cyprian grit his teeth. Jayden even noticed a feral glint in his eyes which was rather unusual.

Jayden took his opportunity to make swift strikes and lighter blows, but Cyprian defended excellently. Cyprian landed his blows on Jayden’s blade, and Jayden lost strength with each impact as if his energy was being drained out by someone else. His defence and attacks became sloppy, and he started to feel lightheaded. His grip on the blade seemed to loosen itself, but Jayden held on to it for dear life. Out of the corner of his eye, he managed to see Noxaura watching grimly.

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That moment of distraction was all that Cyprian had needed to finish off the duel. He aimed a blow at Jayden’s defensive stance’s weak point and successfully knocked the blade out of Jayden’s hands.

Jayden was left gasping in shock. He wasn’t surprised by the loss but was surprised at how agile the King was despite his age. Noxaura stood up from her seat and walked up to Jayden and Cyprian.

“I expected much more from you,” her voice wasn’t disappointed, but rather it was grim and oddly different from usual.

“Your mother’s got a point here. I really expected a good fight from you,” Cyprian’s voice was like stone, and his face was expressionless.

“Bring out the whip,” Noxaura commanded to a nearby servant.

The servant wordlessly walked out of the arena and returned with the whip in his hands. Noxaura practically snatched the whip out of the guard’s hands.

Jayden knelt without waiting for his mother to force him down. He was still somewhat dizzy and felt as if his life force had been sucked out of him. Noxaura lifted the whip up and unfurled it. She handed it to Cyprian, and her face carried a slight smirk. Cyprian lifted the whip up and brought it down on Jayden’s back.

A flash of pain erupted through Jayden’s back, and his muscles felt like they were being cut up. He wanted to scream out but kept himself in control. Cyprian lifted the whip again and again. Jayden had lost track of the number of lashes when everything had started to darken around him. He heard Noxaura’s vivid voice like a voice in a dream.

“Let this be a lesson Jayden Larkspear,” her voice echoed. And with that, everything went dark.

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When Jayden awoke later, he didn’t even remember what had happened that morning. But every single part of his spine hurt like his muscles had been butchered up.

He was back in his bed, and the covers were pulled up. He tried to set himself into a sitting position but couldn’t manage to even try.

“Careful, Your Highness. It’ll get worse if you try to sit up,” Jayden heard a servant’s voice from the doorway and tried to crane his neck to see who it was.

“What happened?” Jayden asked the servant, but his face was blank.

“I don’t know. You were out cold when I found you on the training ground, your highness,” the servant said. He set down the tray of food in front of Jayden.

The memories flooded through Jayden’s mind, and he had this overall settling feeling of frustration and sadness over him.

“How long was I even out?” Jayden asked when the servant began looking at him in evident confusion.

“Only a short period. It is barely noon now. Can I check the wounds?” The servant asked gently, and Jayden gave him a nod. He hadn’t thought Noxaura was serious when she meant lashings. They weren’t the direst punishment, but they were higher than his usual punishments.

“There seems to be no infection, do you need anything sire?” the servant asked him.

“There is one thing. Do you know the cottage at the edge of the forest?” Jayden asked.

“The Cohen household, sire?” the servant asked immediately.

Jayden gave him a nod. He took a small piece of parchment in his hand and scrawled a note in his messy handwriting.

“Hand this to their daughter. And don’t you dare tell anyone where you’re going or what you’re doing,” Jayden said and handed the folded parchment to the servant.

The servant just nodded, and he walked out of the room. Jayden tried to lift himself out of bed but failed miserably and just sank back under the covers. But there was something in the back of his mind annoying him.

You’re worthless, and you know it, don’t you. It was a thought that crept into Jayden’s mind more lately when he was alone.

You’re never going to make it as the King. You have no reason to be here. No one really cares for you. See, your own father lashed you. It won’t be long until you’re disowned. You know that for yourself. They were screaming in his head. It made things harder for him every day.

The voices were usually weaker and were easy to swat away, but today they seemed even more powerful. Jayden knew it had been a while since he’d tried to use his magic. Surprisingly, this was happening only after he’d stopped doing it, fearing being caught.

He let the voices wage war in the back of his mind and tried to drift into the bliss of sleep. But thoughts were swarming. He was thinking of Elizah again and how it hurt him to stay away from her. Even if he saw her only the night before, he was thinking about her once more.

There was something Jayden began to notice, the tiny fluttering feelings had increased, and his heart practically lept when he saw her. She would manage to make him smile, talk and laugh as if nothing was wrong. He could tell her anything. He never cared about what she’d think, unlike anyone else he usually spoke to. Sometimes when things were at their worst, a small talk with Elizah or just seeing her made him feel happy. He still had the painting he’d made stowed in his closet. It made him happy when he was alone, so it stayed in that closet. It was something Jayden couldn’t comprehend in the slightest.

While he was lost in blissful thoughts, he had one idea that came up and seemed strong enough to push away the other voices. I’ll make sure Elizah’s safe no matter what happens. He thought to himself and drifted into oblivion.

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“Well you put on quite a show,” a shadowed figure said as they waited down in the archive chambers again, as another figure walked into the room.

“I wanted to test the limits of my control,” the second said.

“Don’t you think you went a bit far? If the prince had died we would all be in trouble,” the first said, “Remember you are only alive because of me.”

“I’m sorry, I will be careful. But your abilities are stunning. I could control his movements easily,” the second said.

“Don’t get too full of yourself with this first test alone,” the first said and vanished out of the castle within moments.