2 A Flicker of Hope
1282 Words
Janus spent the next few days to compose himself. He laid down all the memories that were slowly coming to him. He had to know what he was facing.
He must admit that the Prince was really a jerk. And now he needed to save the Prince's ass since he possessed the Prince's body and use his name.
The Prince was selfish, highly ambitious, and incompetent. He was quick to anger and didn't see the value of those who served him. He didn't want to work; instead, he relied heavily on servants and goons. He often bribed shady individuals to do dirty work for him, things like espionage and petty thievery.
Furthermore, he left Janus in big trouble.
The Prince murdered the maid that was said to be working for his Brother Anders by HIMSELF! And for what? Only for provoking Anders! To make matters worse, the murder was witnessed by the castle's master-at-arms, who took an oath of loyalty to Anders secretly!
The Prince argued that the maid had been working for his brother to harm Marcus and him, but he couldn't present any evidence. The King himself humiliated him in front of the court and the Prince was ordered to stay inside the castle until the King decided what to do with him.
Janus was anxious. Due to the Prince's behaviors, no one loved him and wanted to help him. So Janus needed to go through the dilemma by himself.
Suddenly, the door open, and a lady burst in.
"Janus! Almighty Heavens. I came as soon as I heard. What happened to you?" she had glimmering blue eyes and auburn hair.
For the very first time since waking in this world, Janus felt a wave of warmth come across him. Her scent was comforting; the wave of resentment and hatred from the Prince's memories faded from Janus' mind.
If there were any people in this world willing to help him, it must be her, Yvaine. Yvaine was his sister and the only family member who cared for Janus despite all of his flaws. The Prince memories of her were fond -- they used to play in the rain together and have picnics in the gardens.
She touched Janus' cheek and inspected his arm.
A wave of searing pain hit him again. He still wasn't in good shape.
Anger flashed across her face, along with a tinge of concern.
"Why would you do such a thing? Come on now, Janus. I told you to write to me whenever any problems had, remember?"
Janus didn't know how to explain. He neither knew why the Prince did such a stupid thing.
She sighed and sat down on his bed.
"I wrote father to ease up on his restrictions on you. And after all of that effort, you go and pull something like this? You're a grown man. Act like it. I know things are hard in the castle, but you don't have to go at it alone."
Janus felt a pang of frustration. Everything had a price, and the price of becoming a prince was to deal with the trouble left by the Prince. He signed.
Yvaine must have seen this. She held his hand again and gripped it.
"Promise me you won't do anything stupid again, okay? And tell me when you're in trouble." She ruffled Janus' hair.
A wave of memories came in again. Yvaine was supposed to be on an errand for one of the Dukes on the Eastern Kingdoms. The King wanted her to find a suitable husband and train her skills for diplomacy. She used this opportunity to fulfill her love for traveling and seeing distant parts of the Kingdom. She should have been a thousand miles away, but now she's here.
"Thanks for coming, by the way. I really appreciate it."
She smiled but soon looked worried again.
"Father called in Marcus and Anders as well. It looks like he wants to meet with all of us about what to do with you. I told them to come with me to see you, but they weren't interested at all. "
Janus shook his head. He never expected his brothers. "What do you think father is planning?"
"I'm not sure. He's been talking about sending you off to a military camp or to a boarding school for delinquents. He said it might straighten you up. I know there was a rumor that he will execute you, but it's totally ridiculous. You don't need to worry about that."
Oh no. Although the rumor was absurd, the other two choices are bad enough. It means that Janus would lost his feod and be treated like a loser. A bad reputation would not hurt him more, but he didn't want to waste his time.
There was no escaping it. Janus needed to make up for what the Prince had done, and he had to act quickly. Besides, the robotic voice and the ring were still a mystery. They must have something to do with his presence here.
"What do Marcus and Anders think about me?"
"Marcus just laughed. Said he never thought you would be brave enough to end your own life."
"Anders is even worse, said it would have been justice for you to die as retribution for Deena's murder."
There was another pit in Janus' stomach. If the Prince coveted the throne so much, it would have been better to get to each of his brother's good side.
"I need to talk to them." Janus said. He sat up on his bed, feeling an urge of excitement but fell down just as quickly.
"No, you mustn't stress yourself out. Madam Padmey says you lost a lot of blood. You'll have to rest for a few days more at least."
"I'll need your help then. My recent incident did some damage to my memory, you'll have to fill me in."
#
Janus asked Yvaine to see him every day to keep him company, but this was just a ruse for him to learn more about the Kingdom. The Prince's memories weren't enough for him to see the big picture. He wanted to be more than an incapable prince. Although he would not be the King, he could have countless splendid future.
His sister gave her a copy of "Kalesia and its Wonder". He studied everything that this land had to offer, but he was most interested in its fantastic wonders. There were stories about Elona, the Dragon Queen, who plundered Mur' deen for its coveted gold, of the Urgini goblins going to war with steppe Orcs for the control of Mount Daimal. There were also the adventures of the seven Dwarves who fought the bandits of Jundai to protect the human peasants. This wasn't a storybook; it was a book of documented history. All of it was real, much to his amazement.
He was in a fantasy world. He was well-educated in the modern world, and he had a good chance to be a wisdom wizard. He had great confidence in his ability to learn new stuff. Furthermore, he could combine science and magic. He could be the first guy to fight against a dragon with a magical plane! The dragon riders in fantasy fiction suck! He could be much cooler than those guys!
But he was still a long way from realizing his dream. First of all, he needed to overcome the trouble in front of his face. The king ordered him to have dinner tomorrow and would sentence him then.
Tomorrow would be a turning point in his life. Luckily, he was not an incapable prince and well prepared for it.
He would give them a big surprise.
- Writer
