Magical Boys Lost on Earth

Arthur IV Prince of Castela

A long time ago, if you had strength, social standing, and achievements, people would call you a hero.

Tales and poems would dramatize your deeds.

In the midst of this culture where the brave were idolized. In a castle that will inherit many of these stories, lived Arthur. A little boy who just woke up.

 He woke up as soon as the sun rose at his window. That morning he gazed upset with to the sky. His eyes narrowed, frowning with an open mouth. As if the sun had lied to him. But his baby face made him look like the most harmless being in the world.

Well, nobody likes to wake up and find themselves on a Monday morning.

Despite appearing to be nothing more than a small boy dressed in modest clothes, his golden hair was a symbol of royalty. His peculiar orange-sunset eyes were seen as a sign of a special gift.

Chores and duties filled the little boy's day since he learned to walk and talk.

Still sulking, he gets up from the bed.

The boy's room was modest and comfortable. The only simple, non-intimidating place he knew within the castle's gigantic, suffocating walls.

The first thing he did in the morning was to wipe his face in a bowl of water next to his bed.

Opening a small closet next to his bed he wore one of his only three pieces of clothing. They were trousers and basic white shirts, in addition to his red coat with buttons and yellow ribbons. To top it off, there were also his red boots.

He rolled on the floor while fighting ties and buttons for a while. When he was finished, he could see himself in the water bowl. Proud of the result, he leaves the room. Only to be dragged back inside by a maid's arm.

— It is a real wonder that you can already dress yourself, your highness, but you lack practice. — Said the maid in a sweet voice, while she buttoned the buttons in the right place and remade the ties.

The little prince blushed with the comment, confused whether he should be proud or ashamed. After finishing, the maid protests in a stern voice. — And don't stray from the path! I will be watching your Highness. — He grudgingly dragged his feet out of the room once more.

The Camelot Castle was peculiar since the 142 rooms were not divided by social class. The castle was big even for a fortress, it had five terraces, many ballrooms, and everything else you can imagine.

The point is that crossing it every morning was a difficult task and one that may even contain a little adventure. Especially if you are 5 years old and only one meter tall.

But our little prince looked forward to the adventure. He ran and jumped down corridors and stairs, consequently having several falls and stumbles along the way. Always arriving at his destination full of scratches and bruises.

The place he went to was used for the morning training of new soldiers, in which despite his age and social position, he always had to participate.

This was considered an initialization in the art of combat, which was common in those lands.

In his opinion, the training was not so bad when compared to the theoretical classes that came next.

Upon reaching the land yard, the Arthur finds a frowning old-man dressed in the same uniform as him, the general.

-This late, for cadet training! The general complained in a high-pitched voice. The other recruits formed a disciplined line behind the general. The little prince reluctantly included himself, along with the boys aged 15 to 18. At the command of the general, the train began. The five-year-old prince was not out of any exercise. Even though some of them had to be adapted to his size and strength. He started running for 30 minutes, followed by weight lifting. The apprentices pulled iron, wood, and stones, used to build the castle walls. Secondly, there was hand-to-hand combat and the application of weapons. A battle did not last more than 30 seconds. It was necessary to neutralize the opponent quickly, and the knights used techniques of immobilization and strangulation. In combat with wooden weapons, speed and precision were more decisive than strength or size.

Like any other child who found himself in this situation, Arthur often gave up halfway or started crying and rolling on the floor for a tantrum. The general, on the other hand. I treated him like any other cadet. Forcing him to get up and continue.

The prince always held a grudge against the general. The general didn't care. It was Arthur's nature to forget any grudge or anger after a good night's sleep.

As soon as the morning training ended, the other cadets returned to their duties while the boy passed out on the floor. Still covered with sweat he stayed there until a maid brought him a breakfast consisting of bread and fresh fruit.

Thereafter, he went to the stables for riding lessons. It was part of an apprentice's daily routine to ride a horse, in the case of Arthur a little pony. He was learning how to ride, jump from the saddle and falling to his feet, which was not always the case. The animals also had to receive careful treatment. They were well-fed, washed frequently, and once a year, presented to the King. Arthur had a gift for animals. He treated the little pony as his best friend. The pony even seemed to respond to the Crown Prince. The riding lesson was more like a fun game in Prince's eyes.

At the end of class, he was always covered in mud and his bruises multiplied. The big smile on his face showed that he had completely forgotten about these details.

A well-deserved bath was his only break in the morning. In new clothes, he would be led to a room that changed every day. Where he had to decorate maps, old stories, etiquette, and thousands of more things. He really tried hard to do it. But would only remember them if they seemed interesting.

He always followed obediently the same routine. As he preferred to do it once better than twice the same task.

At noon and 6 PM, he ate with his father, the King. He considered those to be one of the hottest moments of his busy routine.

His father lived for obvious reasons extremely busy, but at meal times he made sure to know every detail of the boy's day. Taking off his crown and leaving his cloak hanging in the corner. He was just a father of enormous body and heart who would sacrifice everything to protect those who were important to him.

The arrival of the afternoon, one hour before dinner, marked the end of the study period. At that time Prince would run through the walls searching for freedom and one time or another, he would appear in the servants' workshops just to play with them a little. He was used to try to get the servants' attention since there were no children of his age in the castle to play with.

So, he spent the evening until the sun goes down and the retreat hour arrives when the bells ring.

But that day, he was in a bad mood. He was so distracted that he ended up ruining the dinner while helping the cookers, that thought it was just another prank. That irritates the servants, even though they knew that all Arthur wanted was attention, this game had gone too far. So, they decided to complain to the King.

The King decided to let the servants themselves choose the punishment and apply it at sunset the next day.

At dusk the next day the little prince was looking for his next victim of pranks in the halls when he overheard the conversation between two cooks about the latest news. The cooks who realized they were being watched decided to scare him a little bit. They told that they were considering leaving him without food for a week and that only 100 lashes would bring him back to reason and that if he took the Castle throne it would be a disaster. Amazement transformed the prince's face.

His typical smile slowly faded.

His first reaction was anger. 

He had always followed the rules (or most of them) and tried his best to fulfill people's expectations about him. Still, they had labeled him a troublemaker (not that he wasn't). A blush went up to his face.

Every day he felt physically and mentally drained, and suffocated by the pressure of his position. Patiently waiting for the afternoon to arrive to gain a minimum of freedom.

Even so, the last sentence was the one that hurt the most, he feared every day that they didn't think he was worthy enough. The only one who believed him was the King.

This was the man who had sentenced him to be punished. When he realized his situation. Sadness clouded his features, loneliness flooded his mind. His eyes stung as he was fighting tears. 

He wanted to disappear, disappear somewhere in the ends of the earth where no one would see him cry.

When the cooks looked back to contemplate Prince's reaction he backed up in a grunt. Without thinking further, he ran as far as he could, away from the walls and everyone else. The feelings that burned in his chest hurt. He just wanted to escape the pain. 

He ran more and more. He passed guards and ignored the servants. And then, he came across the wall. He stopped and watched it as he heard his name being called from afar. The great barrier that separated him from the outside world, imprisoned him in the title of nobility. The anger returned and with the urge to break free he started to climb. He leaned on the roofs and stones of the wall. Even though the voices begged him to come back, he had already made up his mind. When he reached the top he felt the wind and looked down. His legs were weak only at the sight of the miniature road beneath him, he could feel his heart wanting to leave his body and it was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe. He wanted to cry again, what a coward he was! Then the clinking of the armor behind him makes him stand again. He had already gone too far to stop now. Jumping to the top of a tall tree, he left the desperate soldiers behind. The jump made his body fill with new energy. Fear made it all seem just like a great adventure. He jumped to the next tree and the sensation came again. The thrill of doing something risky beyond his limits and finally being free was incredible.

His eyes took on a new glow, he didn't stop jumping and climbing.

When his breath finally ended and he had already exercised all the accumulated energy he became rational again. But to fuel Prince's despair, he found himself in a totally unknown forest. His hands were burning so hard he could have sworn they were bleeding.

With his heart accelerating more with each step he slowly resumed walking as he scanned his surroundings for a clue to take him back to where he came from.

It was dark, but with his big orange eyes could see his surroundings perfectly, from the branches swayed by the cold wind to the many mushrooms on the damp ground. And it just made things look more frightening.

He swallowed hard when he realized where he was. He had made it, he had escaped. so why wasn't he happier?

He kept on walking. He winced at the look on the back of some animal. I wanted to run again, dig a deep hole, and stay there. But his breathing was still heavy, he had used all his efforts to get there.

By the first time, he left the capital. The excitement of exploring a new place was the only feeling that still comforted him. Before, he had never been more than a few meters outside the walls, but now he was lost somewhere far from any living soul. His expression hardened. Almost as if he were more than a little boy of 5 years.

He wanted to fix things, but now he had made things worse to a degree that he couldn't go back.

He kept on walking. Now with firm steps, assuming his own guilt.

The wind and the dark sky showed that it would rain soon.

Arthur settled in a hole under the roots of an old tree with a few yellowish leaves. His senses were extremely keen, he observed every movement in the forest and processed the meaning of each small noise. One thing crossed his mind. "I want to get out of here alive." 

Then, a question crossed his mind. What would he do next? Did he really want to go back to the castle where he would be punished?

He felt lonely and in a bad mood.

He wanted to cry again.

Unfortunately, if he did, the only living thing that would hear him would be the forest predators, so he definitely wouldn't cry.

He tried to breathe slowly and regain his composure. But the voices of the servants became more and more clear in Prince's memories.

Because he contained all of his anger at himself inside his body without expressing it with any gesture, he got an irritating headache.

It started to rain.

He was freezing and hungry, but deep down, he didn't want to go back to the castle.

No longer able to reason properly he took a red mushroom from the roots of the tree and took it to his mouth. It had no taste, the texture was also very rubbery, but it probably contained poison because his headache got unbearable and his whole wet body burned.

Princes don't cry, I caused it to myself. He thought over and over again.

The rain got heavier and the cold wind started to blow.

Involuntarily, tears began to run down his face mixing with the raindrops.

Slowly murmurs of pain turned to whispers that gradually became cries. When he realized, he was already shouting apologies. He extinguished all his strengths, cold and pale he dropped into the mud. "I want to go home" Was the last thing he thought.

He had a comfortable, heavy dreamless sleep.

When he opened his eyes he saw the familiar polished stone ceiling in his room, he was warm, well-settled in his bed, and he tasted medicinal herbs in his mouth.

The fever was gone, the pain, and even the guilt, he was back safe and sound.

He did not want to admit himself, but he felt tremendous relief when he realized that the same people who wanted to punish him had saved him. His eyes get wet.

When he looked to the side, he realized, that someone had been there for a long time.

A beautiful lady was sitting beside him while she stroked his hair affectionately. It was Moli, only Moli.

Who tied his shoes every morning, gave him a bath and food. She checked his daily routine and led him around the castle, always beside him.

Arthur wept and hugged the maid.

He was rescued by those who put up with him every day, offered him food, comfort, and more.

From then on, he would make it his goal to do his best to earn it all.

Moli was still stroking the prince's hair when she said:

— You have a visitor, my prince.