In an open valley, a young child ran joyfully, his laughter reverberating throughout the landscape. Not far from this joyful child, a woman with long blonde hair watched the child, following his every carefree movement with a tender gaze.

"Please be careful, dear," the woman spoke softly as she sat on the blue-tinted grass. She couldn't help but smile tenderly as she watched the child run around in the vast open valley.

As the child ran in the field, he noticed a tiny creature scurrying around. Excitedly, he tried to approach it quietly while holding back his laughter. Suddenly, the creature looked up and made eye contact with the child, then quickly ran away. The child couldn't contain his laughter, letting it out while chasing after the little creature.

The child tried to keep up with the creature, his tiny legs moving as fast as they could. Finally, he jumped and caught it in his arms. Rolling onto his back, the child laughed as the creature struggled to escape. When it did, it jumped onto his face and quickly ran away. The boy turned over and reached out for the creature. As it came closer, he rubbed its head. However, when he stood up, the creature ran off, leaving the giggling child behind.

“Mother, did you see?” the child said, rushing back to the smiling woman.

"I did, dear. Thank you for protecting me from that savage beast. I thought my life was surely over," said the woman, adding a touch of drama.

The child giggled, “Mother, that creature was harmless; it couldn't hurt you.”

“Oh, and how would you know, child.”

The child looked at her with a serious face, “It was in one of Father’s books.”

“Oh, really, and who let you see your father’s books.”

“Mr. Mel, but he only let me cause you said I could.”

“Oh, and when did I say that?”

The child smiled and sat in his mother’s lap, tilting his head back to look at his mother’s face, “When I told you that you were the best and smartest because you are my mother.”

The woman burst into laughter and said, "Perhaps Mr. Mel should listen to me instead of you next time."

The child giggled once more and began to sway while sitting on his mother's lap, his eyes moving around the vast, empty valley. The woman embraced the child, her arms tightly placed around him, placing her head on his head, and spoke in a pained voice. "Carter, we have to talk."

Carter woke up from the sound of an argument outside his room. He could not make out what was being said; it just sounded like noise. He grumbled before rolling over, covering his head with the pillow and blankets to block the noise.

“I don’t care! It’s not fair for you, Guardians, to do this. He is just a child.”

“Were you not a child when you went through something even worse? At least he will have someone to watch him.”

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“It’s because I went through that, that this makes me so upset. Why are you Guardians so heartless?”

“We are not heartless. We are doing what is best for him!”

“Best! How would you know what is best for him!”

“He is our crown prince! Not yours; your opinion means nothing! Now do your job, Seedling, and protect our crown prince.”

“VANIR!” Nesha screamed at Vanir as he walked away.

Nesha slumped against the door to Carter's room, trying to make sense of the past few days' events. She couldn't understand why they had made that decision or why the Seedling Union had agreed to it. What could they gain from this?

Just after Nesha, Sivie, Vanir, and Carter arrived in the meeting room yesterday.

“... We have already finished. You are no longer needed; bring the boy back to his room.”

“What do you mean done? What did you do while I was gone? The decision can not be final until we all agree!” Vanir screamed

Urther looked at the group before opening his mouth, “If you have not forgotten, we elders said those who are not here will be counted as a vote for whatever we want, and that is what was done. You four were not here to cast your vote, so we went with the plan we elders put forth.”

“You can not decide what happens to this child without his input. He deserves to choose what his life is like,” Nesha screamed.

“Seedling, you have no place to speak here,” one of the guardians said

“Quiet,” Cermin said, glaring at the one that just spoke, “We understand your concern Princess, but this needs to be done for the betterment of us, the race, and the child.”

“At least tell us the decision that was made,” Sivie said

“Calm as always, young child,” Bran said with a smile, “But we will leave it for now, just know that both of you Seedlings heavily influenced our decision.”

“Are we done? Can I go now?” Melry screamed as she ran out of the room, laughing manically.

“Honestly, I am just surprised she managed to stay for the last two weeks,” Cermin said, shaking his head, “Well, with that, I think it is safe to say that this is over, and we can all go back to our territories,”

“No, tell me what is happening! What are you trying to do to Carter,” Nesha demanded

“You will see tomorrow, Princess, just wait until then,” Cermin said calmly, looking at Nesha with her burning eyes. He sighed to himself, knowing how much she cared about this, but in the end, she was not a Feyrishian, so her thoughts could only be used to help with a decision.

“I demand to know now,”

Urther glared at Nesha, “Watch your words Seedling and know your place,”

“My place! I was given the right to represent your crown prince in this meeting, and as his representative, I demand to know what is happening,”

“Represent,” Urther scoffed as he threw his hands in the air, “Be pleased that we have not thrown you out with your life seed crushed for what you have…”

“URTHER!” Cermin screamed, punching Urther immediately, sending the old man to the ground a short distance from where he once stood.

Bran looked at Urther lying on the ground, “Be mindful of whose land we are on and the ones who watch us,” Bran turned to Nesha and Sivie, “I will personally talk to both of you about this latter, but first let us rest and settle what to do with Urther after that we will inform you of our and the Seedling Union’s decision.”

“The Seedling Union,” Nesha whispered.

“We would be most happy if you would do so, Elder Bran,” Sivie said, grabbed Nesha, and left the room before anything else happened, leaving the child alone in a room full of what seemed like predators ready to devour their prey.